Help w/trailerable 23 to 26 ft purchase

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Bill

Want boat to cruise Lake Tahoe and Cali. Bays and coast. Trailerable with centerboard. Must be well built and seaworthy. No bathtubs with a centerboard. Comfortable for non-sailor wife; i.e. semi-private head, comfortable cockpick, 5'6" of headroom, easy to swim off. Paceship PY 23 looks like a good boat, but have not seen one West of Wisconson. Any feedback would be appreciated. Bill in Reno
 
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Tom

H26 or 260

They have everything you named on your list plus they are water balast, so you can take more boat with you when you trailer. We have had our 1997 H26 for two years and everytime we sail her, we like her more. Just got back from a week in Door County, WI. Pulled her with a 89 F150. Great trip, the boat did well in all kinds of winds, from 5 to 25 knots.
 
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Mike

Oday 23, 25, Catalina 25

I don't know what your budget is, but my personal favorites that meet your criteria are the Oday 23 and 25, and the Catalina 25 (pop-top model). The Oday 23 is the only boat I found less than 25 feet long that has a "separate" head. All of the other models I saw had a curtain at best for privacy. 5'6" headroom on a boat that small is asking for a lot, especially if you want the boat to be trailerable. Remember, headroom on a boat that small usually means a deeper draft and/or higher freeboard, both of which work against your other goals of trailerable and easy to swim off of. The Catalinas have a great pop-top design, better than the Odays IMHO, and pop tops are a really neat way to get full standing headroom on boats that otherwise would accomodate it. I bought the 23 for a few reasons: keel/centerboard (ballast in permanently attached shoal keel), as opposed to swing keel (ballast in movable centerboard); big cockpit; good quality construction. I don't trailer my boat, so weight wasn't an issue, but I have been told that they are a bear to tow. You can't use the family car, you need a real truck with a towing package. This will be true for any "trailerable" boat over 20 feet that does not use water ballast. Its not that difficult to swim off of the 23, you just need to buy a $40 swim ladder and take down the lifelines. There are a lot of great boats that meet your needs, good luck and have fun.
 
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R.W.Landau

decisions..........

I owned a PY23 and my wife was not happy with it. There is about 4'-9" headroom. A great sailing boat! but creature comforts lacked. My # 1 pref would be an 89 or newer wing keel Catalina 25. Nice head room sound rigging no 1200 pounds of swinging log to drag through the water. Next is the O'Day 25 cb model. That is what I bought because of price and preferences. My wife went from a once a year sailor to every time I go, she does. The main thing was head room. The 25 O'Day has 5'-6" headroom. A nice size vee berth. These were the two winners for my wife. I like the 25 O'Day for the roomy decks when moving forward to do sail changes or anchoring. I like the cb version because it is trailorable and I can gunkhole it in 2'-8" of water. It sails reasonably well with the centerboard up. I prefer the midship main sheet arrangement over the Catalina 25 stern main sheet arrangement. got to run r.w.landau
 
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