first time buyer

[larry w]

Start with...

If you really want to become a good sailor, take a class or get a mentor, then buy a smaller open boat to learn on, like a Lido 14 or similar and sail it for a season. Smaller boats are less investment and WILL PUT YOU IN CLOSER TOUCH WITH THE WIND AND WATER AND MAKE YOU A BETTOR SAILOR. Then get at least a season or racing under your belt. Nothing improves your skills like racing. If the passion still burns, then go forward. If you find you don't like it, no big loss.

 

[Raleigh500]

Great topic

Lots of issues here.One is learning to sail. Yes, schools are a great idea. I also favor learning to sail on a dinghy or open boat, precisely because they are less forgiving, and I think they make you a better sailor sooner.On trailering: I found that having to raise and lower a mast takes so much time that it just about kills the usefulness of the hobby. If you can't keep the boat at a mooring or in a slip, then at least keep it in dry storage at the marina. Then you can leave the mast up all the time, saving at least 40 minutes to an hour of time on each outing.For trailering, I favor keeping the boat in the 22-23' range, so that a mid-sized pickup truck or SUV can launch and recover it. If you try to trailer a 25-footer, you need a super towing vehicle that you otherwise probably would have no occasion to own.Finally, if you can moor or use a slip, then yes, the 25-footers are a lot easier on accommodations, from headroom to private potty.

 

[Shippy]

Lots of advice

I agree most with teh advice of taking a class first. I had sailed on friends boats, on captained charters in the keys and carrib, but the one that did it most for me was taking a non-credit course at the local community college. only two sessions in the classroom and 4 sessions on the instructors 36 foot catalina. The other students weren't really into it, so I got a lot of helm time plus got to work all of the sheets, once even during a little summer t-storm. Great experience; very cheap and forever planted the sailing bug into me. I immediately found an ASA school, did the classes. We learned on the capri 22 which was good although spending the night or week-end would be less than desireable. I continued chartering from the ASA schhol at a discounted rate the rest of that season and by the end of that first year I bought our first used boat, a hunter 29.5. This was the ideal first boat for us....large enough to have a gally, beds and real head plus had most of teh systems of larger boats (furling jib, in board diesel, batteriues, fixed keel, etc) yet was small enough to manage and learn. 3 years later, that boat is for sale now and we have moved up to a hunter 356.

 

[MoonSailer]

Trailering opens your Horizons

Our old Macgregor 26 1988 model. Was easy to trailer and raise the mast. We kept it at a marina most of the time at a local lake. But once or twice a year we would haul it somewhere for a week. We hauled it to Charleston SC. Panama City florida and Kentucky lake Also there were several lakes near our home in East Tennessee so we moved it around spending a year or so at each lake. So we explored Watauga ,South Holston ,Douglas and Cherokee lakes. Cheerokee was the largest and South Holston the cleanest and smallest. With a larger fixed keel boat moving the boat around would involve hiring a crane and a trailer. With the Mac we just hauled it in the fall and put it back into a different lake the next spring. Bottom painting washing and waxing all are easier on a trailerable boat. When the hull got too slimy I could just take it to a wand type carwash to pressure wash the hull.  We now have a 32' 12400# boat and trailering it anywhere is not cheap.

 

[Ben16737]

Do not forget maintenance & parts

I won't give you too much advice on which boat to buy. I would recommend small; I think you are on track with the 22ft range. My first, and current, boat is a Capri 22. We love it; it has limitations as far as overnighting that I think the standard Catalina 22 would address. But we like daysailing more than weekending.What I will talk about is budget - talk to owners about the sorts of monthly and yearly maintenance that a boat needs, particularly one that will stay in slip instead of on a trailer. Good bottom paint is $150/gallon. You'll most likely get a used boat that will need new sails and halyards within a few years, and they don't come cheap either. Are you handy? Anything that you need a professional to do, vice doing it yourself, will cost you.So, whatever amount of money you have available to spend, don't come anywhere close to that amount in your purchase price: leave a healthy amount for fixing stuff. If you buy an inexpensive boat and maintain it well, you'll get a lot of enjoyment out of it. If you buy expensive and don't maintain it, you won't enjoy it as much and it'll spend a lot of time sitting at the dock.

 

[dbop]

thanks

thanks for the advice and taking the time, it's exactly what i was looking for and very useful. Welcome any more comments. Thanks all.

 

[Terry Cox]

Our first sailboat was a Hunter 28...

Great first boat for a beginning cruising family. A very reliable inboard Yanmar 2GM diesel, easy to solo sail, rugged, comfortable for overnighters or longer. Never raced and no desire to. Did take a class on boating safely mainly because it provided a ten percent discount on our insurance premium.Studied books on sailing and trimming then practiced on the water. That was eight years ago. I would still do it the same way again.Terry

 

[gary]

thoughts

I have sailed/owned a variety of boats from 40 ft keel boats to sailing dinghys. If you want to learn, get lessons or sign on as crew with someone willing to teach before buying your own boat. There is a lot to be sail about learning on a small centerboard dinghy type of boat. Your mistakes are much more obvious. There are some boats out there that you could turn around very very quickly if you wanted to move up, such as a flying scot which has tremendous resale capability. I fear that if your first boat is a mid to high 20 ft cruising boat, the frustrations of learning to sail combined with family tension could squash your dreams early!Keep it simple first! Even a sun fish!Keep in mind safety and the US Power Squadron's courses that will be a great way to learn and meet people.

 

[walt]

my .02

I have been windsurfing for 20+ years (10 years of this, windsurfing ran my life) so had some "sailing" experince but I basically just went out and bought a Catalina Capri 16 (small fixed wing keel) about 5 years ago. I had a Laser buddy who knew little about keel boats help me set up and sail it the first time and we "mostly" figured it out and had a great day. I sailed this boat over the next few years and was very pleased with it. This last winter, I bought a 1990 Macgregor 26S thinking I would use it as a trailer on a lot I plan to build on when I retire (neighbors would complain about a real trailer but not a sailboat). However, after fixing up the old Macgregor 26S (or 26C) up and sailing it this season from light winds to filled in white caps, I am just hugely pleased with it but trailering is also important to me (original poster didnt care about trailering). The boat sits low on the trailer so is very easy to get on and off of the water without messing with tongue extension etc and its got this great mast raising system. When you pull the boat out of the water, you dump the ballast so its easy to tow and I have had only two monohul sailboat but have to say the water ballast exceeded my sailing expectations - I think it works well. We pulled the boat from Denver to Lake Powell this summer - no problem even going over 11.5K elevation mountain passes and two adults, two kids and two dogs camped on the boat for four days. It got a little crowded but were doing a similar trip again next year if that says anything. These old classic 26 Macs are best for someone who enjoys updating and to some extent re-designing some of the cheap original hardware (especially the rudder area) but in my opinion, they turn out to be top notch TRAILERABLE sailboats. My little Catalina was a great boat but Im selling it mostly because the larger cabin of the Mac is so nice and the Mac is about as easy to trailer/set up even though almost 10 feet longer and its a fun to sail and reasonably fast boat - and the classic water ballast 26 foots seem to be easy to re-sell if needed. One extra peice of advice Id throw in on the first boat - get a used one which is popular and well known. More than likely, your going to sell it after a few years when you figure out what you really want and popular known boats are easier to sell - if your fairly lucky, you might end up spending very little to own the boat. Id also throw in a Catalina 18 into the mix, not sure if this was already mentioned.FYI - pictures of our trip to Lake Powell in June of this year http://analogengineering.com/powell/

 

[CalebD]

Nice photo log of Lake Powell, Walt

I too like the 'classic' Macgregor's for trailer sailboats (26S etc). They can take you places you would likely not otherwise go, as evidence your photo log. The nice flat bottom, centerboard and water ballast systems make it pretty easy to tow and launch. But on to wind surfing.If you can wind surf you can sail a boat. While wind surfing you are the standing rigging and sheets, halyards and essentially, the rudder and ballast. I owned 2 wind surfers and was a big fan in my 20-30s but have not done any wind surfing myself for a few years as I know the physical demands it can put on me. It is also nice to have a real tiller to help me come about when on a sailboat engendering the idea that I might not get wet doing so. Wind surfing is great. Hook in and hold on.

 

[piseas]

First Boat

My first boat was a Catalina 22. I loved that boat. It had a retractable keel, which has advantages and disadvantages, but overall, it was a great first boat. I had taken it to Catalina Island several times and spend a week living on it. I is an easy boat to sail, very forgiving and a solid and safe boat. I have a larger Catalina now. Good luck.