Hi all, I live in the LA area and have decided to buy a M15 as my first sailboat. It's really the only boat of this size that I find seaworthy enough for longer trips out to the islands. I am sure you agree :-) My problem right now is that I am not sure whether my 2004 VW Passat 1.8 Turbo will make a proper towing vehicle at the launch ramp. While the car is rated - at least in Germany - for 650kg (ca. 1400 lbs) of trailer weight, the car has only front wheel drive and, even without a trailer, is not easy to start smoothly on a steep - dry - incline, due to the turbo charger and also the manual transmission. Several knowledgeable M sailors have also recommended against using the Passsat as a towing vehicle, basically for these reasons. Soooo, I am trying to track down Connie Benneck of this site, who apparently tows or towed a M15 with a VW GTI 1.8T, a smaller and lighter version of the Passat. Specifically, I want to ask her what her experience is when pulling the trailer out of the water on a wet ramp. Do the car's front wheels get a good grip? Does she ever slide backwards? How steep is the ramp she is using? And so on. If you are on this list, Connie, I'd greatly appreciate your feedback. If not, maybe someone else who knows how to get in touch with Connie could forward this mail to her. My hope is that this list is small enough to make this work somehow. Many thanks for your help in advance! Robert Hess (unfortunately no relation to Lyle Hess :-( ) P.S. I am reading Robert Manry's "Tinkerbelle" right now and am seriously wonder whether the Montgomery line of boat was at least in part insprired by Manry's boat. Anyone know?