small boats

[Morski Krastavac]

Ahoi,I am looking for a daysail / weekender easy to handle for my wife and myself. I am fairly excperienced and own a 40 foot Bavaria laying in the Med, my wife only picked up sailing after we met and I would like to have something closeby, preferably trailerable so we can both enjoy and she can get some more experience. When I started to research I quickly realized that I know little about "small boats". Any suggestions on makes, models, perhaps about 20' to 25'. Thanks,

 

[LKYusnret]

I like my Hunter 260

Been from the Fl. Keys to Lake Erie with the stop over in the Bahamas once or twice. Great for the wife and I, AC and refridgerator can be placed on board. Pleanty of head room esp. with the poptop camper top and the enclosed head is a plus. my $.04 worth.Baums Rush

 

[Ranger Paul18580]

Check out the H216

I love my H216 and so does my wife. Easily trailerable. Giant cockpit. Super easy to sail. Easy to singlehand. Fast and competitive. Truly a trailerable day sailer. Not recommended for overnight but doable if you are tough and primitive...personally I prefer an elegant B&B!Don't buy from Nelson Marine in Alameda, CA unless you talk to me first. They cost me thousands of dollars. It is possible they have changed procedures but I don't know as they will not communicate with me.

 

[Before the Bell]

In a 26!!!

No offense, maybe I'm a weenie but LKYUSNET traveled from Florida to Lake Erie and the Bahamas in a water ballasted boat in the open sea! I'm apprehensive to go across Buzzards' Bay (14 miles) in a lead ballasted 25'!

 

[Joanie]

a few thoughts

Having spent 5 years sailing on a 28footer, when we decided to sell and buy a trailerable sailboat we looked for a small boat with stability. I wanted something not as "tippy" and tender as some 20-22 footers. So that meant we had to have something a bit heavier. We settled for a Quickstep 21, which we have found to be pretty stable and points well, an easy boat to sail. That said, however, coming from 28 to 21 is not as ideal as I expected as far as the roominess of the cabin. I think if I were going to do it over again I would go 24-25 ft, or at least a pop-top if smaller.See if you can take sails in perspective boats for sail, then you and your wife can see the sailing and comfort characteristics of each.Good luck!JoanieBest of luck!

 

[Bob]

Priorities

Headroom below, performance, stability in a blow, cabin accomodations, ease of launch/recovery, storage capacity, cost, size of tow vehicle, etc. Decide which are the most important to you and it is much easier to narrow down the choices. Without some priorities you are playing tennis in a cave.

 

[George H260]

Simple,

FLYING SCOT

 

[JB]

If you want to stand up in it, have a galley & private head, but don't care if it's slow and not too maneuvrable, there's the 20' Flicka. If you want a boat that's also very seaworthy, but quick and very easy to sail with roomy 8' cockpit, sleeps 4. Two on 7' quaterberths, and two very friendly in the vberth. 4 people can sit comfortable in the cabin, but you can't stand up in it. That would be a nice Cal 20.Both trailerable, although the flicka weighs 5-6000lbs. The Cal20 about 1900lbs. Of course the Flicka is expensive, the Cal 20 inexpensive and inexpensive to maintain.

 

[LKYusnret]

What can I say

We have done all that and more on our little pocket cruiser, we plan on doing the great loop on her in a little while. That trip is around the eastern half of the US all by water 6,600 nm and we figure it will take us about 14 months. We have been on board 2 weeks without touching land (we ran out of fresh water)have a 1K motor gen to power AC and charge batteries etc....we plan ahead, weather windows... we are NOT iron men and like our comfort.... John, Baums Rush

 

[Bill18593]

Hard to say...

Depends on your goal. We love out Hunter 25.5. Great boat. Handles like a much larger boat. Good performance, a little tender, but quick. Shoal keel model has kept us out of trouble (so far, knock on wood). You might also consider a J24 if you really mean daysailor and want performance. Then there's Catalina 25, O'Day 25, Colgate 26. All great boats with important differences depending on your personal preferences and where you intend to sail.Might also look at a Precision 23. Very nice as is her little sister the P21.These boats all have varying degrees of interior space in the cabin. A couple of them have pop-tops that will help with headroom, a couple have enclosed or at least private heads, basic galleys. I think the only one with an inboard option is the H25.5.

 

[George H260]

Hey,

I thought Morski wanted a trailerable daysailor!Once a boat reaches 23 ft or so with keel and multiple shrouds and rigging, doesn't that take it out of the daysailor range? To much work for me for a day or a weekend.All great picks though! I would like to have any one of them.