I've been sailing about 2 years and have come to the conclusion that I want a simple ballasted boat for 100% day sailing. That led me to look seriously at the 212 and 216. Can you help me with pros and cons? What do you all think?
I was at the Annapolis Boat Show on Monday and took a test sail on a Vanguard Nomad. It is an open boat like the 216 but has a lot of fun features. It comes with an Assymmetrical Spinnaker that launches out of a little well next to the cockpit. When launched, it extends a little bowsprit. Very Cool. The boat is very wide and stable. We transferred a couple of 200+ pounders from an inflatable dingy to the Nomad and it was not tippy at all. At one point, the Nomad was on a parallel course with a 216 across the harbor. The 216 was moving faster since we did not have a headsail up (The job is has a little roller furler) and my wife was getting the spinnaker up. But once the spinnaker was up, we quickly caught up and blew by. On the downside, the Nomad is self bailing which means there are 2 holes in the stern to allow water to flow out. They also let water come in so the last 2ft of the cockpit are wet. The boat weighs about 500 lb and 17ft long. The price is comparable to a 216. And...the Nomad is blue! I still want to sail a 216 but the Nomad was a fun ride. Markdb
C.D. would probably be a good person to talk to about comparing these boats although he skews to Hunter. Dave: Have you sailed a Nomad? How would you compare it to the 216? More Fun, less stable, cheaper, whiter, drier, simpler, more race-able, easier towability, simpler launching, easier setup, etc? Oh yeah. The Nomad had a locker big enough to store a little outboard. Markdb
Dan Both boats are nice sailors made of the advance composote materials so they both are very strong and durable and easy to maintain. The 212 is no longer made and is not quite the fast racer that the 216 can be. The 212 does have a place to lie down in the cabin and the 216 has an unfinished cabin with no bunks in it. i really like the 216's lead hydralic lifting keel and its specially ballanced rudder. It is the most fun I've ever had in a Monohull. I sailed it one time with 6 adults and the cockpit has more space than some fourty footers I've sailed. My vote would be for the 216 over any daysailor I've seen to date bar none! i wanted to sell my 23.5 to get one but my wife is stuck on cruising a few weekends a year so we'll keep the 23.5.
Dan, It is a great boat loaded for a good price. Soon Hunter will have an optional bow sprit and spinaker option which should add to the performance as well.
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