Boat Buying Advice

[captneeen]

Been power boating for a very long time and recently decided to try sailing for a while. Always loved it but never had an opportunity to try until now. I hope to learn to sail on one of these boats I am looking at but would like the boat I end up in to be a keeper too so I don't have to go out and buy another one once I find out I really do love it.

The three boats on my short list are:

1988 26D Macgregor
1994 22' catalina capri
1986 23' Hunter

I have a slip and will not be trailering the boat but I do want the boat to be trailerable so I can bring it home myself. These boats all have trailers and they are all in the same price range.

Looking for advice - pros/cons for each, things I should look for when checking them out....performance I should expect compared to each other - any other recommendations for boats likes these that I should consider?

rally lost on this and don't know what way to go, some advice would go a long way.

Thank you -

captneeen

[Dockhead]

It would be good to know more about where you intend to sail -- lake? bay? open ocean? What kind of sailing you want to do -- cruising? day sailing? party cruising? weekend on the water? With kids? Without?

None of these will be much good for open ocean. Briefly:

MacGregor -- this is a hybrid between motorboat and sailboat. Critics say it is the bastard child of a bad sailboat and a bad motorboat. I would say it could be great fun on a lake for puttering around without wanting to do any hard sailing. Quite comfortable inside compared to your other options. You could sleep on it without feeling like you're camping out.

Catalina 22 -- a nice, basic trailer-sailer. Perfectly decent day-sailer (or maybe "rough sleeping" overnights on occasion) for lake or protected water. Will sail much better than the McGregor but will be much less comfortable inside.

Hunter 23 -- quite similar to the Catalina.

[captneeen]

Intended use would be day sailing in and around boston
harbor and islands. no kids, no overnights.

should clarify, the macgregor is not the motor sailer, it is
a swing keel with sail only.

CaptNeeen