hello all, I am a hobie sailor and wanting (need) to move to a trailable boat 24 or so ft; I like a classic look boat , in and out of the water most week ends and trailing 1 to 6 hours to good waters. Is the Cape dory 25 a good trailable boat and easy to launch and retrieve or other suggestions on models?, all of the sailing will be done on fresh water and probably single handed. Thank you for any help, direction, suggestions and your time. Cisco
Which trailable boat is best? confused, help
- Thread starter PrairieSailor
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Cape Dory is a fine well made boat but ya Need to consider the draft carefully for launching.. There are some nice boats by a few other companies that have less launch draft and are pretty good looking.. Check out Seaward: http://www.sailingtexas.com/sseaward24104.html
There are some others, whose names escape me.. (CRS)
have fun in the hunt !
There are some others, whose names escape me.. (CRS)
have fun in the hunt !
PrairieSailor,
Check out a book "The Complete Trailer Sailor" by Brian Gilbert. He covers tons of stuff trailer sailor related but more importantly he has 50 or so pocket cruisers with pictures and statistics in the back. It might help you decide. A couple of things I would look for were I to buy again:
1) 25-26 feet
2) water ballast
3) shoal/swing keel
4) enclosed head
5) wheel steering
Seward has a few interesting models, rather "shippy" looking for me but the design seems very functional and sails on thin water.
Check out a book "The Complete Trailer Sailor" by Brian Gilbert. He covers tons of stuff trailer sailor related but more importantly he has 50 or so pocket cruisers with pictures and statistics in the back. It might help you decide. A couple of things I would look for were I to buy again:
1) 25-26 feet
2) water ballast
3) shoal/swing keel
4) enclosed head
5) wheel steering
Seward has a few interesting models, rather "shippy" looking for me but the design seems very functional and sails on thin water.
I've sailed for over 40 years. Seen em' come and seen em' go. Look at MacGregor for ease of launch and rig. Catalina and Balboa for comfort although they are pretty heavy and harder to launch/rig. Sounds like you may want to beach. Swing keel. It's not like kicking the tires. Like Dscribner says checkout Complete Trailer Sailer from the library. Lots of info to make a decision. Fair winds, Old Salt...
i spend 90% of my time in the cockpit. some of the boats are all cabin and no cockpit like the mac 26.
Depents what you are looking for , here on the Canadian prairies there are a lot of trailer sailers for sale ( just got to look in the right places) I Like the older ones from the 70's -80's They are well build and good to handle .
I had a San Juan 26 which was classified as a trailer sailer but she was big and heavy.
I think I would be looking for a San Juan 23, sirius 25 or even hunter they are pretty easy to set up ,
jmo.
I had a San Juan 26 which was classified as a trailer sailer but she was big and heavy.
I think I would be looking for a San Juan 23, sirius 25 or even hunter they are pretty easy to set up ,
jmo.
Try this link. http://s.sailboatowners.com/index.php?option=com_mfg&Itemid=85 Some good observations.
JerryA
JerryA
Hello all, First thank you for the input, now the responses to the many open questions and comments:
Pull with a Chevy Avalanche; budget @ 7K to 9K: yes speed a bit important but not on the top (most important is to get wife on the water as company and solo sailing as I lost my crew to University); beaching I will say important – most sail at Diefenbaker, SK and Clear Lake, MB (also plan to sail lakes on the Canadian Shield - La ronge, Nemeiban, etc); when I started looking I was inclined to a Mac 26 due to water ballast, easy rigging and pulling and then I deviated to a more classic looking boat and stumbled like a kid on a candy store, do not know what to pick ! AHHH - it is true in the Canadian Prairies a few used boats around but again, what to buy as I am sure I am not going to buy and try and if I do not like it will be ease to sell. What is the difference between a Mac 26M & 26S?; any week spots, any particular model/year to stay away from? 89 vs 91 or mid 80's...What About O'Day's?
Thank you all again, Cisco
Pull with a Chevy Avalanche; budget @ 7K to 9K: yes speed a bit important but not on the top (most important is to get wife on the water as company and solo sailing as I lost my crew to University); beaching I will say important – most sail at Diefenbaker, SK and Clear Lake, MB (also plan to sail lakes on the Canadian Shield - La ronge, Nemeiban, etc); when I started looking I was inclined to a Mac 26 due to water ballast, easy rigging and pulling and then I deviated to a more classic looking boat and stumbled like a kid on a candy store, do not know what to pick ! AHHH - it is true in the Canadian Prairies a few used boats around but again, what to buy as I am sure I am not going to buy and try and if I do not like it will be ease to sell. What is the difference between a Mac 26M & 26S?; any week spots, any particular model/year to stay away from? 89 vs 91 or mid 80's...What About O'Day's?
Thank you all again, Cisco
The D, S, X and M are all water ballast. The D and S are displacement hulls with the D having a dagger board and the S a swing keel. The X and current M are powersailers. Lots more room inside, but don't sail as well as the D or S.
See if this helps....
http://forums.macgregor.sailboatowners.com/showthread.php?t=103649
I'm confused about the comment on a small cockpit on the Macgregor. The S and D have a tiller, so the cockpits are long enough to sleep in if you wanted to. The X and M have wheel steering, so that takes up some room.
We have an S and love it for "our needs". If you sail shallow water I'd look for an S as it is very forgiving if you hit something since the centerboard swings up. These boats are really easy to trailer and launch. We had never sailed before we got the Mac. We have never had a problem launching or trailering and learned within a few days (5-6) how to get the boat from point A to point B sailing,
Sum
Our Trips to Lake Powell, UT - Kootenay Lake, Canada - Priest Lake, ID
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Sumner, that helps a lot, thank you , I am looking at a 89 for CD$ 6,500 (is this reasonably?) , no easy mast, no furling jib, but obviously a D ( dagger board) so not to keen on it now.
Walt, I know I will be slower than the 18 but as long as I can get a bit of adrenalin flowing I will be ok !
Cisco
Walt, I know I will be slower than the 18 but as long as I can get a bit of adrenalin flowing I will be ok !
Cisco
I know the CD$ complicates things and Mac's seem to go for much more up there than down here. Check this out to get some ideas.....
http://boat.jaxed.com/cgi-bin/boat....gor+26&itm=&state=&ps=&pe=&ys=&ye=&submit=+GO+
We paid $7500 for a '90 S in good shape (old sails), but some other good stuff. We have spent more than that again in outboard and other items to hopefully make it a good cruiser we can stay out on for long period of times. I've seen S's less than that now and D's under what you quoted, but that is in the states. I don't know what complications it is for you to buy here, but it might be worth the hassle.
Good luck,
Sum
well,We are selling our tylercraft twin keel 26 cruising sloop on a trailer set up for trailer launching. its 7500. and is refitted and is most strongly built with great lines and standing headroom inside. if you are interested , call me at 415 713 6876 Tim
Have you considered ComPac or Seaward? Great boats, very traditional style, reasonably easy to trailer. Will probably run more money than that 89 CD, though. OTH, they might be less expensive in total if the CD needs work...
A Mac is easier to trailer and launch - but the styling is less classic and more modern.
OC
tich tor ang tesmur
Cockpit size
Comment on the cockpit was meant to recommend that the cockpit size be taken into consideration. I have never sailed on the mac 26, so it may have been a poor example. I used it because when I stand on the local marine dock looking down, the cockpit of a mac 26 looks small to me in relation to the cabin. this makes a good point in that one should actual sit on the boat and measure it to compare.
The Cape Dory 25 is an internal ballast, full keel design. Very nice boat. If the mast is on a tabernacle, I guess you could trailer it with the correct trailer and tow vehicle. Otherwise you need a crane to step the mast and a deepwater launch ramp. Not good for trailersailing. Cape Dory 25
I love the classy Cape Dory, but I'd move on to a more practical trailerable boat. If you like traditional lines... Catalina 22
or Catalina 25 is the way to go.
But.............. If I were going to trailersail singlehanded, and I was coming from a beach cat background I'd get the Capri 22, a higher performance version of the Cat 22.. I love this boat!!!
Here's a video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xd1QYvhpMO0&feature=player_embedded
FYI, I pulled all this info from the sailingtexas site.
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