Hi
@lindsaytodd,
I started sailing a Bombardier 3.8 as a kid, self taught, and then a sailboard. But I didn't sail at all from my mid twenties until nearly sixty. Busy doing other things. In 2017 we bought a Macgregor 26S classic. I probably would have bought something a little bigger--maybe a Hunter 260--but my wife wasn't at all sure she was going to like sailing, so we bought something cheap that I could be happy sailing on my own if it turned out she didn't like it. As it turns out, she does like sailing, so w've sold the Mac and are looking for something more comfortable. I'm retired now so we can do some longer trips.
There are only two things keeping me out of a Seaward 32RK. One is price, but I could actually stretch to that price level if everything else was perfect. But I also feel that the 32RK is just a bit too big for the kind of trailer sailing we do. We keep the boat at home and tow and launch it every time we sail. We do generally go for multiple days at a time, so the time spend launching and rigging the boat is "amortized" over several days of sailing. But, even so, my sense is that the 32RK is just a bit too big and heavy for that kind of operation. And, as I said before, the 26RK is just a bit too small. Again, if it were just me, then the 26RK would be fine. But it feels a bit small inside for two people to spend, say, a couple of weeks on.
For a long time the boat at the top of my short list was the Hunter 260. But I've recently decided to up my budget so I'm now looking at some other boats that I had previously rejected as being too expensive. I'm looking very closely at a couple of models from TES, in Poland. TES has a Canadian distributor and I've talked to a couple of TES owners here who are very happy with their boats. TES makes a range of trailerable boats from about 24' up to 28' that are all cruising oriented, with galleys, heads (and marine toilets), good headroom (more than 5'8" even on the smallest boats), and European-style A-frame mast-raising systems. I still think the Hunter is a great boat but the TES boats have a couple of features I really like that the Hunter lacks, including "walk arounds," which I've decided is something I really want.
I was advised by the TES 28 owner I talked to that the 28 is probably too big for regular towing and launching. Not so much the boat itself, which he says launches fairly easily. But the mast is heavy enough that it's a chore to rig and stow, even with the excellent mast-raising system. But I'm looking very closely at the other models.
