Please, name some boats under 20', that can be rigged and lanuched easy, that is stable on windy days; maybe very hard to get the sails in the water; a keel boat would be good, the ease of the launched is very important;
daysailer
- Thread starter Tom Colley
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I am not sure that they ever made such an
animal. keels and easy launching aren't often used in the same sentence. Trailerable and a high level of stability can be had with water ballast. If the wind blows hard enough you can knock a boat down but you sort of have work ar it. Almost all of them are easily rigged for launching and equally easy to stow the rig when you are through for the day.
animal. keels and easy launching aren't often used in the same sentence. Trailerable and a high level of stability can be had with water ballast. If the wind blows hard enough you can knock a boat down but you sort of have work ar it. Almost all of them are easily rigged for launching and equally easy to stow the rig when you are through for the day.
SF Bay Pelican
We sailed ours in and through the San Juan Islands it was a fun boat for those waters
We sailed ours in and through the San Juan Islands it was a fun boat for those waters
What Ross just said. No keel = Easy launch
which is why many boats of the size you asked about (<20') have centerboards only. I am not sure about water ballast in boats under 20' but I believe that MacGregor makes a Venture 21' which might have that option. If you don't have a water ballast to give stability you need to bring along some crew (rail meat) who will sit on the high side of the boat when asked but this can get to feel like work for some. That said the Rhodes Mariner 19' is a nice small pocket cruiser that you can almost comfortably spend the night on. It has a centerboard and is pretty stable for it's size. I think it draws about a foot and a half of water with the keel up so should be pretty easy to launch and take out. I own a Lightning 19' sailboat which is really a racing sailboat that draws about 6 inches of water so it is a piece of cake getting on and off the trailer. You will need to bring Bubba and a six pack or two to keep it flat when the wind pipes up but it is a fast boat that people race in 20+ knot winds. There are quite a number of other small sailboats to choose from in the under 20' category: Snipe, Thistle, Blue Jay, Flying Scott come to mind and there are many, many more. Part of the answer to your question might be related to where you intend to use your boat. Inland lakes, rivers etc you would want something like the Lightning which can get into really shallow places with the board up. If you want to go out on Lake Erie then something more substantial (and slower) like the O'Day (Rhodes Mariner) 19' might do the trick although I hear it can get a bit rough out there on Lake Erie and I suspect that it is a bit far from Rocky Fork for trailering unless you have a friend up in Loraine or elsewhere. O'Day makes a pretty nice 17' Daysailor which would be pretty easy to set up and trailer but I would stay at the dock or launch ramp if the wind was piping up to 20 or so. This link shows some Lightnings sailing during a race: http://www.lightningclass.org/index.asp This link show a Rhodes 19 for sale at an incredibly high price: http://www.sailingtexas.com/srhodes19e.html This link show an O'Day Javelin (from this website): http://album.sailboatowners.com/detail?photo=590 I suggest you click on the 'Boat Info' tab at the top of these pages and check out some of the boats and their specifications. There are also owner's reviews of most of these boats as most people really love the boat they're with. Have fun and good luck.
which is why many boats of the size you asked about (<20') have centerboards only. I am not sure about water ballast in boats under 20' but I believe that MacGregor makes a Venture 21' which might have that option. If you don't have a water ballast to give stability you need to bring along some crew (rail meat) who will sit on the high side of the boat when asked but this can get to feel like work for some. That said the Rhodes Mariner 19' is a nice small pocket cruiser that you can almost comfortably spend the night on. It has a centerboard and is pretty stable for it's size. I think it draws about a foot and a half of water with the keel up so should be pretty easy to launch and take out. I own a Lightning 19' sailboat which is really a racing sailboat that draws about 6 inches of water so it is a piece of cake getting on and off the trailer. You will need to bring Bubba and a six pack or two to keep it flat when the wind pipes up but it is a fast boat that people race in 20+ knot winds. There are quite a number of other small sailboats to choose from in the under 20' category: Snipe, Thistle, Blue Jay, Flying Scott come to mind and there are many, many more. Part of the answer to your question might be related to where you intend to use your boat. Inland lakes, rivers etc you would want something like the Lightning which can get into really shallow places with the board up. If you want to go out on Lake Erie then something more substantial (and slower) like the O'Day (Rhodes Mariner) 19' might do the trick although I hear it can get a bit rough out there on Lake Erie and I suspect that it is a bit far from Rocky Fork for trailering unless you have a friend up in Loraine or elsewhere. O'Day makes a pretty nice 17' Daysailor which would be pretty easy to set up and trailer but I would stay at the dock or launch ramp if the wind was piping up to 20 or so. This link shows some Lightnings sailing during a race: http://www.lightningclass.org/index.asp This link show a Rhodes 19 for sale at an incredibly high price: http://www.sailingtexas.com/srhodes19e.html This link show an O'Day Javelin (from this website): http://album.sailboatowners.com/detail?photo=590 I suggest you click on the 'Boat Info' tab at the top of these pages and check out some of the boats and their specifications. There are also owner's reviews of most of these boats as most people really love the boat they're with. Have fun and good luck.
Small trailerable ideas
You are pretty much limited to swing and lift keels in a trailerable under-20-foot boat that is easy to launch at a ramp. These are links to manufacturers of smaller boats that I like, but all are available used too: West Wight Potter http://www.westwightpotter.com Compac http://www.compac-yachts.com Precision http://www.precisionboatworks.com Our first boat was a H216 (21') foot daysailer with a swing keel. We first kept it rigged and on the trailer at the dry storage lot one block from a boat ramp. It was half the cost of moorage and meant we could keep it rigged AND on the trailer instead of wasting precious sailing time rigging the boat every time we wanted to sail. Also, it wasn't that easy to rig. However, the boat ramp became tedious for many reasons (crowds, intoxicated boat operators, parking, etc). After one summer of that, we were very happy to pony up the extra money to put our boat in a slip on the water. Most people will use a boat in a slip way more than a trailered boat.
You are pretty much limited to swing and lift keels in a trailerable under-20-foot boat that is easy to launch at a ramp. These are links to manufacturers of smaller boats that I like, but all are available used too: West Wight Potter http://www.westwightpotter.com Compac http://www.compac-yachts.com Precision http://www.precisionboatworks.com Our first boat was a H216 (21') foot daysailer with a swing keel. We first kept it rigged and on the trailer at the dry storage lot one block from a boat ramp. It was half the cost of moorage and meant we could keep it rigged AND on the trailer instead of wasting precious sailing time rigging the boat every time we wanted to sail. Also, it wasn't that easy to rig. However, the boat ramp became tedious for many reasons (crowds, intoxicated boat operators, parking, etc). After one summer of that, we were very happy to pony up the extra money to put our boat in a slip on the water. Most people will use a boat in a slip way more than a trailered boat.
20' daysailor
I sound like a broken record, but the CAL 20. A draft of only 3' with a bulb keel (almost all the latest hot boats today from the newest Beneteau's to the awesome Maxi 86's use this design). Cal 20 had it in the 60's). One of the finest, best balanced, fast, easy to sail, safest(cannot be capsized) all around small sailboats. Roomy (cockpit will comfortably fit 6-8 people), cabin will sleep 3-4 people. Because they are still so popular parts are easy and cheap to get. The best attributes... inexpensive to buy, inexpensive to maintain. And is so seaworthy it's raced in fleets in the San Fransisco Bay routinely in 20-35 knt winds. A Cal 20 was singlehanded from SF to Hawaii thru six days and nights of gale force winds several days of dead calm and arrived in 22 days safely. It can easily be trailored (All the racers trailor theirs, they never leave them in the water. It's also listed in the book "20 foot sailboats you can sail anywhere" How do I know all this to be true, I own one, along with my Cal 34. The Cal 20 is the reason I got the Cal 34 when I wanted a bigger boat.
I sound like a broken record, but the CAL 20. A draft of only 3' with a bulb keel (almost all the latest hot boats today from the newest Beneteau's to the awesome Maxi 86's use this design). Cal 20 had it in the 60's). One of the finest, best balanced, fast, easy to sail, safest(cannot be capsized) all around small sailboats. Roomy (cockpit will comfortably fit 6-8 people), cabin will sleep 3-4 people. Because they are still so popular parts are easy and cheap to get. The best attributes... inexpensive to buy, inexpensive to maintain. And is so seaworthy it's raced in fleets in the San Fransisco Bay routinely in 20-35 knt winds. A Cal 20 was singlehanded from SF to Hawaii thru six days and nights of gale force winds several days of dead calm and arrived in 22 days safely. It can easily be trailored (All the racers trailor theirs, they never leave them in the water. It's also listed in the book "20 foot sailboats you can sail anywhere" How do I know all this to be true, I own one, along with my Cal 34. The Cal 20 is the reason I got the Cal 34 when I wanted a bigger boat.
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