Anyone familiar with Montego 19 (weekender)?

[Snowdog2]

Hello,

My wife and I are looking to buy our first sailboat. Locally there is a 1986 Montego 19 for sale, but I can find almost no discussions or reviews of the boat online. Wondering if anyone can tell me their experiences with one. I would be using it off the outer cape (Cape cod). Another boat I am looking at are an older O'day 20. I am limited in weight I can trailer as I have a 4 cylinder Tacoma, so I can't consider a heavy boat.

Any information (aside from specifications which I have) would be helpful.

Thanks

 

[Mike1956]

I've sailed on one in the past when my father-in-law owned one. The boat was easy to launch because the swing keel went up inside of a trunk, and the boat sat low on the trailer. The keel is made of cast iron, and weighs 450# I believe. The cockpit was decent and the cabin was OK too. The only drawback I can think of was the mainsheet configuration. It goes from both corners of the stern to the boom and would hit crew in the cockpit, and sometimes get tangled on to something or other, usually when it's the worst time. The boat was great for going into shallow areas. They sail ok for a day sail, but I don't know if I'd want to weekend on one. The boat and trailer have to weigh at leat 2000#.

I don't know much about the O'day, but perhaps someone else does.

 

[Snowdog2]

Mike,
Thanks for the quick reply. Is the reason you wouldn't want to weekend on one due to size or handling for a longer trip?

Steve

 

[RECESS]

Just a couple observations. I am not familar with the Montego 19, just looking at pictures. It looks like it was built pretty bare bones for weekend stays. The O'Day 20 was built for a small family doing weekends and longer. You also have a dedicated supplier for the boat at D&R Marine so the boat is still well supported.

This is what the interior of a O'Day 20 looks like, not many 19 and 20 are built around room for a family stay, although West Wright Potters seem to get the most out of a 19 interior.

Another layout for the O'Day 20, this one most typical.

I am not trying to be a homer about this as I have an O'Day 25, but the level of specific supplies still being produced and support on forums is pretty high for the O'Day 20.

Good luck with your purchase, buy the boat that makes most sense to you.

 

[BobM]

I'd suggest that you move up to an O'day 22 or similar for a number of reasons. The 19 and 20 footers are lake boats and unlikely to have important things like life lines. Personally I'd prefer to have them sailing off the Cape, especially if the boat lacks a roller furler meaning you have to go forward to deal with the head sail. Your Tacos towing is still around 3500 gross (boat and trailer) so a 22 would probably be your max. The O'day 22 is 2000 lbs and the Montego 19 is about 1450.

 

[kenn]

I'd suggest that you move up to an O'day 22 or similar for a number of reasons. The 19 and 20 footers are lake boats and unlikely to have important things like life lines. Personally I'd prefer to have them sailing off the Cape, especially if the boat lacks a roller furler meaning you have to go forward to deal with the head sail. Your Tacos towing is still around 3500 gross (boat and trailer) so a 22 would probably be your max. The O'day 22 is 2000 lbs and the Montego 19 is about 1450.

I quite like O'day 22's and other 22's, but as the owner of a 19' boat I have to speak on their behalf.

Length doesn't tell the whole story. Our 19' boat was originally designed for sailing in/around Britain, which can be gnarly. We use ours on the Great Lakes, which can also get gnarly. So be sure to read owners' reviews.

Re interior size, yes you'll likely get more space inside a 22' boat, but again it's down to the boat's designer and how they chose to use the space. We routinely do a few long weekends per season on our boat and for the two of us, it's been comfortable. It's quite doable.

Our kind of boat often has a bow pulpit and (less common) a stern rail, Some owners have installed stanchions and lifelines, but many of us find them less than useful on this size of boat. Instead we ensure that the cabin-top handrails are sturdy, and we rig jacklines and use harnesses in rougher conditions. We have a roller- furling 130% genoa and a hank-on standard jib, and we always try to select the headsail carefully before heading out, to avoid changing headsails while underway. We use the roller-furling control line as a "pulldown" line for the hank-on jib, so in either case we can douse the headsail without going forward.

If you're going to do alot of overnighters or week-long cruises then yes the larger boat will usually be more comfortable, and have more room for stuff.

But don't write off a 19' boat (vs a 22) simply because of length.

 

[Snowdog2]

Thank you everyone. I have found an O'day 22 in really nice shape that I am strongly considering. Pricing boats is tricky, however. The 22 I found has very little fading or discoloration on deck, a small amount of typical fiberglass hairline cracking on the deck, the hull is painted last year so it looks excellent- and clearly has been maintained well, and the boat except for its first four years has been in fresh water. The trailer looks ok, and the motor is old but still good (longshaft 6 hp evenrude about 35 years old). Drawbacks on this boat are the motor being old, and the main sail being original.

I am also wondering if I would regret getting a shoal keel, rather than a centerboard.

 

[BobM]

You are right on the mark

Thank you everyone. I have found an O'day 22 in really nice shape that I am strongly considering. Pricing boats is tricky, however. The 22 I found has very little fading or discoloration on deck, a small amount of typical fiberglass hairline cracking on the deck, the hull is painted last year so it looks excellent- and clearly has been maintained well, and the boat except for its first four years has been in fresh water. The trailer looks ok, and the motor is old but still good (longshaft 6 hp evenrude about 35 years old). Drawbacks on this boat are the motor being old, and the main sail being original.

I am also wondering if I would regret getting a shoal keel, rather than a centerboard.

In my experience a sailboat with a outboard pretty much sells for what the sails, motor and trailer are worth. The boat is essentially free. A coat of paint on the topsides looks pretty but really doesn't add a lot of value. Hairline cracking is typical on O'days from what I have seen, but is the result of too thick a coat of gel coat during manufacture and is not structural.

Let's see if my theory works out. A set of useable sused ails for a boat that size is about $800-1000, the trailer is worth about $1000-1500 and the outboard is worth about $250-400. I have shopped for or purchased all of those items at one time or another. So the range is $2050 to $2900. Price is most likely at the higher end of the range if the trailer doesn't need any work (bunks / rollers okay, lights work and tires don't need replacing) or if recent repairs to sails or engine are represented.

How close did I come?

 

[Snowdog2]

Your price was closer to what should have been asked

In my experience a sailboat with a outboard pretty much sells for what the sails, motor and trailer are worth. The boat is essentially free. A coat of paint on the topsides looks pretty but really doesn't add a lot of value. Hairline cracking is typical on O'days from what I have seen, but is the result of too thick a coat of gel coat during manufacture and is not structural.

Let's see if my theory works out. A set of useable sused ails for a boat that size is about $800-1000, the trailer is worth about $1000-1500 and the outboard is worth about $250-400. I have shopped for or purchased all of those items at one time or another. So the range is $2050 to $2900. Price is most likely at the higher end of the range if the trailer doesn't need any work (bunks / rollers okay, lights work and tires don't need replacing) or if recent repairs to sails or engine are represented.

How close did I come?

the person was asking 5K -- too much --

And now I am back to looking at a 19 or 20' boat as I don't have a place to moor it and set up is so much easier.

 

[BobM]

Re: Your price was closer to what should have been asked

Good luck. I think you were smart to walk from a 19 footer for 5k unless it had brand new sails and a brand new motor.

 

[Dave Meissner]

You should be able to find a nice Santana, O'Day, or San Juan for under 3K. Dare I recommend a Catalina 22?