Tongue distance is the main reason I like the boat trailer retrofit. A friend and I both built the boxes for a trip. He had 8 guys and myself 6 that year. (we stayed on different lakes in the BW, but traveled the highways together to and from MN) He put his on a utility trailer with the bows pulled back from the front so as to clear the tow vehicle, which left a looonnng turning radius after the trailer axle. Mine had the drawback of the box being farther from the tow vehicle, which we thought caught more wind but allowed the canoes to be centered lengthwise with no dangling parts ::).
Flip a coin --- pros and cons of any setup.