Looking at an s2 7.9

[SailingLoto]

I have an opportunity to make an offer on a 1984 s2 7.9

Boat has set unused out of water on a lift for the last decade or so. I understand these are balsa cored hulls. Anything special I should look at other than the typical sailboat things? I've been around a few s2s but nothing this racey.

What are your thoughts on the s2 as an upgrade to my current c25 swing keel? I daysail on a lake, no racing, minimal overnights.

Thanks in advance.

 

[jssailem]

Never sailed one. You should know what reviews say.
Here is Practical Sailor’s observation.

S2 7.9 - Practical Sailor

Since 1974, Practical Sailor’s independent testing has taken the guesswork out of boat and gear buying.

www.practical-sailor.com

The association reports 400 were built. Designed to be a one class racing boat. It will be light weight design and spartan interior. Racing boats get used a lot. Often offered for sale when they loose their edge and can no longer stay up with the pack. The association states “ New sails are required, prerequisite to join association “

Good luck.

 

[FastOlson]

We used to cruise in company with a couple that cruised their 7.9 a lot. It's a minimalist interior, but it's all there , as the saying goes. Main feature is an enclosed head. Roomy boat and it sails very well. Nice deck layout. They had a small OD fleet here, but only for a few seasons; it proved difficult to keep 5 of them on a starting line.
Their boat was later trailered down to Mexico by a subsequent owner who was living aboard some, and sailing a lot.
I wonder if the OP is looking at the outboard model with the drop keel, or one of ones with the rare option of a fin keel or an inboard?
Anyhow, get a good survey of the cored hull. (true for all the S2 "Grand Slam" series)

Compared to their Cat 25, the will be a real joy to sail. Absolutely.
And don't get stressed over the word "racing".... yeah, you can do that (heck, people have seriously raced OD in Catalina 30's in SF, for years) , but firstly the S2 is a really fast and fun sail boat.

 

[SailingLoto]

Never sailed one. You should know what reviews say.
Here is Practical Sailor’s observation.

S2 7.9 - Practical Sailor

Since 1974, Practical Sailor’s independent testing has taken the guesswork out of boat and gear buying.

www.practical-sailor.com

The association reports 400 were built. Designed to be a one class racing boat. It will be light weight design and spartan interior. Racing boats get used a lot. Often offered for sale when they loose their edge and can no longer stay up with the pack. The association states “ New sails are required, prerequisite to join association “

Good luck.

I had read that. I have no intention on racing it, the spartan interior is fine since I may occasionally sleep on it for a night, but that's it... my house and warm comfy bed are a mile away.

I am going to go knock around on it, see if it sounds solid. The cored hull is my biggest concern. It sounds like a blast to sail though.

 

[SailingLoto]

We used to cruise in company with a couple that cruised their 7.9 a lot. It's a minimalist interior, but it's all there , as the saying goes. Main feature is an enclosed head. Roomy boat and it sails very well. Nice deck layout. They had a small OD fleet here, but only for a few seasons; it proved difficult to keep 5 of them on a starting line.
Their boat was later trailered down to Mexico by a subsequent owner who was living aboard some, and sailing a lot.
I wonder if the OP is looking at the outboard model with the drop keel, or one of ones with the rare option of a fin keel or an inboard?
Anyhow, get a good survey of the cored hull. (true for all the S2 "Grand Slam" series)

Compared to their Cat 25, the will be a real joy to sail. Absolutely.
And don't get stressed over the word "racing".... yeah, you can do that (heck, people have seriously raced OD in Catalina 30's in SF, for years) , but firstly the S2 is a really fast and fun sail boat.

Outboard, and I believe it's a fixed keel. If work takes me by the dock today I will verify. I know the fixed keel was way more rare.

The cored hull is a bit of a concern on a 40 year old boat, but on a lift I can tap around and see what she sounds like. Being a cored hull, is she ok to leave floating?

 

[Jumpstart]

If it is the fixed keel it will have a double spreader rig. Could it be a S2 27 which looks like the 7.9 but is more cruise oriented. They only made about 6 fixed keel 7.9s used mostly for MORC racing.

 

[SailingLoto]

Good to know. It's a 7.9 drop keel. I checked it out today. Should get a look at it next weekend with the lift down so I can look at it inside and out.

 

[quadrille38]

My first boat was the 6.7 (22ft) version of this boat. S2 built the 22s first and then later upsized to produce the 27s. Was a well built, fast and stable hull. As you say very Spartan inside but was a good boat. Mine was a 1980 model. Was actually the factory demo when I bought it.
The design was a retractable keel. Vertically retractable into a trunk that ran up through the middle of the cabin. Winch on top of cabin to crank it up.
The 22 was very trailerable and drew about 10 inches with the keel up. About 4 ft with it down. The 27 could also be trailered although as you can imagine a bit beefier vehicle to do it. I pulled the 22 with a Pontiac Grand Prix.

S2 did have solid reputation for the quality of their glass work. It’s something they’ve generally been noted for.
Some history - a guy named Leon Slicker built power boats under the Slickcraft brand until he sold the company to AMF corporation. He had a non compete that prohibited building power boats. After a few years he got into sail boats under the S2 brand. Some of the early boats weren’t great sailers but they got better. When the oil embargo of the 1070s ended and fuel prices started to go down, and the non compete expired Mr. Slicker decided to get back into power boats. The S2 brand quit Making sail boats and began producing Tiara and Pursuit power boats.
I think if you look at the Slicker era slickcraft (before AMF kind of destroyed the brand), the S2 sail boats and the Tiara / Pursuit lines I think you will see generally high quality boats with what I’d say is very high quality glass work.
Since my S2 I’ve owned an O’Day, a Catalina, and now a Hunter. All good boats in many ways but none of the latter had the quality of glass work as my S2 did.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

It's a very nice boat design and quality wise and surely a more desirable boat for sailing performance, but I suspect it won't be as comfortable as your Catalina 25. They are both so similar in size. What is your preference? Performance or Comfort?

 

[Indysailor]

I have not seen a 7.9 fixed keel. I know there is the 8.0 which is a fixed keel and is more roomy than the 7.9. If it's a 7.9, whether you race or not, this boat is fun to sail and is fast. It points well and has a lot to offer if you're interested in improved performance over a C25. It also has a very comfortable cockpit, except for the shin breaking traveler. If it's a 8.0, it will still be a nice boat, more comfortable overnight than the 7.9.

 

[SailingLoto]

I have not seen a 7.9 fixed keel. I know there is the 8.0 which is a fixed keel and is more roomy than the 7.9. If it's a 7.9, whether you race or not, this boat is fun to sail and is fast. It points well and has a lot to offer if you're interested in improved performance over a C25. It also has a very comfortable cockpit, except for the shin breaking traveler. If it's a 8.0, it will still be a nice boat, more comfortable overnight than the 7.9.


It's definitely a 7.9, it says it in huge numbers on the side. It looks fun. Unfortunately I had some health issues and haven't been back to look at it up close yet.

 

[Indysailor]

We'll, it appears they did make a small number with a fk, according to Practical Sailor. The ones I've sailed have been very nicely built, you'll feel likes it's quite solid compared to a Catalina 25.

 

[SailingLoto]

Well, years later now and it has been given to me. Unfortunately, she's well beyond saving. The hull coring is gone... lift has cracked and left holes in the bottom. Decks are soft. I'm patching the holes and towing her to the trailer in the next few days. She will be going to a friend who has 2 other 7.9's he races in Florida as a parts boat. I'm keeping the kicker, spinnaker and a couple bits of hardware for my time and effort.

 

[kappykaplan]

Such is boat life . . . At least her parts are going somewhere useful.

 

[SailingLoto]

Got it loaded up today