Changing boats

[tdc22462]

I presently have an O'day 25 with a retractable centerboard, but am considering a larger boat. I'm looking for suggestions for boats in the 27 foot range that are trailerable, preferably with a centerboard, and an accessable(double or queen) berth under the cockpit. Any suggestions would be appreciated.Thanks, Tom

 

[HukilauMike]

Crossing that line

Once you get above 25 feet, you have crossed that magic line: sailboats longer than that are generally not made to be "trailerable". You can put some 27 footers on a trailer, heck, you can put any boat on a trailer, but they are not designed to be trailered (like the Oday 25 was). A 27 foot boat is not just two feet longer, its also much heavier and has more volume. If you want a centerboard boat because of its shoal draft capabilities, then there are some options for you in the 27-30 foot range, but these are not true trailerable boats. If you really want to be able to take your boat to distant locations on even a semi-regular basis, you already have about the biggest, heaviest trailerable boat made.

 

[higgs]

It's trailerable, but.........

The Nor' Sea 27 is probably more than what you are looking for.http://www.vander-bend.com/norsea/

 

[Bill C320 Papillon]

check out

Com Pac yachts and Hake (seward yachts)  /www.seawardyachts.com/

 

[MoonSailer]

Water Ballast!!!

Go for a boat with water ballast if you are going to trailer. I had a Macgregor 26 for seven years. Sailed well and trailered even better than a Catalina 22....much faster too!!! #650s of ballast in a swing keel is a lot of extra weight that a water ballasted boat leaves behind. When I bought the Mac I expected a water ballasted boat to sail less well. But the Mac was extremely fast under moderate conditions especially down wind. Nice big berth under the cockpit and the V berth worked well too. In winter we slept in the back and in summer we slept in the V-berth with a wind scoop. Hunter and Catalina make water ballasted boats.

 

[Paul J. Rusyniak]

Tom, we have

a 2001 h260 for sale, date placed at this site 7/31.Paul

 

[tdc22462]

thanks

for the response.Just a clarification, I don't intend to trailer regularly, I just want the ability to do so (ie:a trip to the north channel)Paul your boat is a model I am considering, although I'm not totally sold on water ballast.(saw your ad)

 

[CalebD]

MacGregor 26S or D model H260

not the Mac 26M or X newer speedboats. I have helped sail and trailer a Mac 26S a few times and it is fairly easy to do once the 1000# of water drains out (for trailering that is) on the S and D models and are better sailors (read: older). Hunter also makes a water ballast 26 footer that some people here seem to like. I have a 27' Tartan that weighs nearly 4 tons and although some owners of this kind of boat do have trailers I do not as I would need a much bigger vehicle to tow it with than my current car. The space below decks on the Mac 26S seemed bigger than on my Tartan 27 without the headroom as the whole section under the cockpit is a large berth whereas this space on my boat houses the engine and lockers (so no berths under the cockpit). The Mac 26S seemed to have a faster hull speed (by GPS) than my boat but weighs a lot less so I think that my overbuilt 1967 sailboat is probably a safer boat to be on in bad weather. Every boat is a trade off so keep looking.Good luck.

 

[higgs]

Catalina 27

If you are looking for a boat that you can trailer, but will travel lift in the field suddenly expands to some very nice boat. The Cat 27 is maybe too wide to trail at 8"10", but it is worth looking into. I am not sure about Canadian laws. It is very roomy, a decent sailor, and can be purchased at reasonable prices. http://www.sailboatowners.com/boats/model.tpl?sku=3019286986161359&fno=20&bts=T

 

[MoonSailer]

Realistically think about the Use of this boat

We had a Mac 26 1988 D model I think. We towed it behind a Chevy S-10 everywhere from Kentucky lake in West Tennessee to Charleston SC and Panama City Fl. The S-10 had the 4.3L engine and an automatic transmission. We now have a Pearson 323. We really like the pearson but do miss the ability to take trips by road. We moved the Pearson from Panama city to Wheeler lkae in Northern Alabama and it took almost 2 weeks. With the Mac it would have taken a day. The Pearson is definately better under rough conditions and at sea in the gulf but now we are lake sailing anyway. We plan to take the Pearson cruising some day but with our current use a trailerable boat would be much better. Ramp launching opens up smaller lakes!!!! The lakes that we used the Mac on did not have any marinas with travel lifts. Also we stored the Mac in a barn during some winters.

 

[sand sailor]

hunter and macgregor do the water ballast

but you sacrifice stability in heavy wind i bought a santana 27 at 9'beam and a custom built trailer i do all right but its a 5000# boat for its size its light and fun to launch but sails really well in any conditions so dont rule out keel boats .some of the newer ones have wing keels that help alot in this situation.if i remove my keel i will probably reconfigure it

 

[Brian D]

Lancer 27 PowerSailer

The Lancer 27PS is trailerable and has a queensize berth under the cockpit. Wheel steering, but does not have a center board. It is fixed keel.

 

[MoonSailer]

Ramp Launching Fixed Keel

Again consider the use. Launching a fixed keel boat is a totally different proposition from launching a swing keel or daggerboard. We launched our Mac 26 on some shallow ramps that would not allow something with a 4' draft to launch. The Mac only needed about 20" to float. Remember too that it has to be depth above the trailer. So a 4' draft boat sitting 2' off the ground on a trailer needs 6' to float. Also in my experience I usually had to get into the water to get everything right on the trailer. I can't wade in 6' of water...much too short!!!! But if you are going to leave the boat in place most of the time and only trailer to lakes with good ramps and have a much heavier tow vehicle then a fixed keel boat could work. We actually left the Mac in the water at a marina most of the time and only trailered it on vacations and to move it from one lake to another..we got bored with the same lake after a year or so. The Mac had faults but it was not tender and was fast. We did have three headsails and two sets of reef points so that we matched sail area to conditions. The Mac had a pop top with a fabric screen so that we could have standing headroom. But standing headroom is over rated in a small boat. Satanding headroom means that you have a lot of extra windage that detracts from performance. Ideally the boat's hull should not have more area than is absolutely necessary for best performance. Also the big high volume hull presents more area to make towing more difficult. Unless you are going up a hill most of more resistence in towing comes from cross sectional area. Kinda like the load your anchor would have in a 70 kt wind.