Nothing ruins a regatta quite like getting your trailer hitch stolen (except maybe only realizing it is gone when you go to hook up the trailer to head home after a long day). While the best theft-proofing trick is--of course--to take the hitch off and lock it in the truck, here is an equally effective, and quicker solution: just make sure you always park the truck by backing into a space where the hitch is pinned against a wall, a tree, or even the ground.

This trick is especially useful when you drop off the trailer and roll into the hotel after a long day on the road: the last thing you want to do at that point is wrestle with the hitch when dinner and a warm bed are waiting for you. As long as the hitch is too close to an immovable object to be taken off, it is sure to be there when you need it the next day. The other bonuses of the "backed in" parking job is that your hitch is both hidden (which keeps it safer in the first place) and not sticking out into the parking lot where it could damage someone who gets to close to your truck during the night.

While this trick is not as, ahem, colorful as the theft-proof outboard, it is dead simple and works--in our experience--100% of the time.

So, with this nod to what may well be the busiest week of boat trailering all year (anybody have a good hack for negotiating the Mass Pike or Storrow Drive??), the Rowing Hackers wish everyone a safe round trip, sans a visit to the hitch replacement store, and, of course, fast times at all your filling stations on the way.

We're not kidding: have any hacks that help you through the third weekend in October, or any other big trailer trip? Share your tips--and hacks--in the comments below.

Have a great rowing hack for future inclusion here? Send it to us!