28' newport blue water ?

[bigwhyte]

simply put can i take this boat off shore !!

[SkiprJohn]

Yes you can if the rigging and rudder is good. Especially check the chainplates. Your photos didn't come through so I didn't get to see what you had sent.
JohnL

[bigwhyte]

this is the ad of the boat . thanks skiprjohn ! http://vancouver.kijiji.ca/c-cars-ve...QAdIdZ13145948

[little boat]

here's a review:

http://www.sailingmagazine.net/ubn_newport28.html

[Pblais]

simply put can i take this boat off shore !

I met someone that took one from Baltimore to Austrailia. Once he got there he met a woman and got married. They left the boat there and went back to Baltimore and started over again with a Benetau 36. He decided the boat was too small to sail around the world.

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by bigwhyte

simply put can i take this boat off shore !!

Yo Big,

these are cheaply and lightly built as an entry level boat. They have deck-stepped masts. Although the old one listed is priced right, it will never be a bluewater boat.

best, andy

[SkiprJohn]

Ok I got to see what you sent. In a recent post I discouraged a fellow from sailing from Florida to the Bahamas in a Mac 25.

This Newport 28 is twice as sturdy and will go where you want. One thing that I have noticed about the Newports is occasionally they develop blistered hulls. If you can check that out before you buy it would be good.

Deck stepped masts are perfectly ok for offshore work as long as the compression post is sound and the line of compression goes all the way to the top of the keel. The rigging needs to be sound.

Good luck on your decision.

Regards, JohnL

[Terra Nova]

Originally Posted by SkiprJohn

..In a recent post I discouraged a fellow from sailing from Florida to the Bahamas in a Mac 25.

This Newport 28 is twice as sturdy and will go where you want..

Deck stepped masts are perfectly ok for offshore work as long as the compression post is sound and the line of compression goes all the way to the top of the keel.

Regards, JohnL

Yo John,

you're right about the Newport possibly being the stronger entry level boat. I would feel negligent if I silently watched some well-intentiond sailor decide on that class of boat IF he required a bluewater offshore boat. The Newport 28 is fine for what it is, a near-shore weekender, starter boat. It was neither designed nor built for offshore work. And no realistic amount of labor and materials will ever change that.

Regarding deck-stepped (main) masts having a slight inferiority complex, it is not that the deck-stepped is no good at all, but that a keel-stepped mast is generally preferred for offshore work. Some small boats get by with deck-stepped or tabernacle masts for simplicity in trailer-sailing and canal cruising. But you might say most buyers of true bluewater boats insist upon a keel-stepped mast. Though a number of 'round-the-world boats have done it without.

None of this is critical if someone intends to sail from the slip to the protected bay and back. So a buyer must try to know and be sure of his needs in order to select one which is suitable.

best, andy

[AnchorageGuy]

From the Sailing review:

"Good looks, however, didn’t necessarily translate into good quality, and nobody will ever accuse Capital Yachts of overbuilding the 28. In fact, many construction flaws and cost-cutting measures have been well documented over the years. At the same time, however, the boat was never intended to be an offshore cruiser or racer, being designed instead as an affordable family boat for club racing, daysailing and weekend cruising. "

I know we all like to encourage folks to get out there and just do it. But encouraging someone to take chances in vessels that were never designed or built for certain conditions is not in my opinion very responsible. I know people do passages all the time in these boats but that does not mean we should represent them as "bluewater" or capable of doing more than they were built for. I see posts that say "pick your weather and you can do it. " You can't pick the weather, the weather picks you. Time after time our forecasts from the NWS turned out to be nothing more than a wild ass guess and the results would be disasterous for some of these boats. Five hours out of Miami and the weather goes to pot and someone on one of these boats could loose there life. We have seen time after time crews taken off boats that were designed for offshore use in the Gulf Stream after they "picked their weather." We have been on the Bahama banks in a full gale where boats have had hardware and fittings rippied from the deck and bow pulpits twisted like pretzels. This soon after the forecast of perfect weather. Boating by its very nature is risky and we do no one a service by encouraging foolish ventures. Those same folks that recommend "go for it" never have to deal with the consequences when things go bad. They then sit behind their computer and type out long dissertations on how foolish these folks were to go to sea in such a vessel.

[bigwhyte]

thanks so much to all of u this site has been a real eye opener.

[SkiprJohn]

Let us know what you decide and I hope you know that all of the responses you get are personal opinions from people with some experience.
Is a Newport 28 a bluewater cruiser, no, but I don't think that's what you asked. You could take it offshore just like I used to take my fin keel Catalina 22 offshore. Not a bluewater cruiser and even had a pop top (which I tied down) but I could go out in the bluewater for a day or two.
Hope you've gathered a good amount of information and good luck in whatever your decision is.
JohnL

[Twelvizm]

The one thing I worry about for the Newport 28 going across the ocean, is the almost complete lack of a bridge deck. The companionway opening goes almost completely to the cockpit deck. Additionally the cockpit engine access panel is prime for dumping water onto the engine, which if operating at temp, could crack the block.

[Souzag818]

Would I sail one across the ocean? No...

[Twelvizm]

I say this as someone who's looking at buying one that someone has outfitted as a blue water boat. Despite having the electronics and other assorted gear for seafaring, there's a lot that I would do to toughen it up to handle bigger waves. Redesigning the companionway/engine cover/cockpit drains would be first on my list. I'm also of a mind that almost any boat can be a blue water boat, as long as design/build issues are addressed, and the correct equipment installed.

[Jim Cate]

Originally Posted by Twelvizm

I say this as someone who's looking at buying one that someone has outfitted as a blue water boat. Despite having the electronics and other assorted gear for seafaring, there's a lot that I would do to toughen it up to handle bigger waves. Redesigning the companionway/engine cover/cockpit drains would be first on my list. I'm also of a mind that almost any boat can be a blue water boat, as long as design/build issues are addressed, and the correct equipment installed.

IMO:

1. Doing the modifications that you mention will raise the cost of the boat to the point where it would be better to pay more up front for a superior original build.

2. Some facets can indeed be beefed up, but it is hard to improve a basically inadequate hull build in a realistic way.

3. Amateur efforts at "improving" such a boat may well be poorly engineered or executed and never reach the desired result... and the amateur naval architect/shipwright will never know until it is tested to the breaking point.

A risky business, both fiscally and personally.

Jim