Beneteau Evasion 36 Sailing Capability

[LngTmSlr]

I'm an inland and coastal cruiser in US Pacific Northwest and Canadian British Columbia waters. Desiring to extend our sailing season, we have been looking at Pilothouse and Deck Salon options. In these waters, we do a lot of upwind work, often with a short steep chop. With that in mind, I'm looking for feedback on sailing capabilities of the Beneteau Evasion 36.

[Rick Nordby]

We have a 1991 Evasion 36 in the PNW. I know of only one other in the area and it is for sale in the Point Roberts area. The name is C'est Si Bon. Are you looking at it or another one? If you are looking at C'est Si Bon the owners have my email and permission to share it with any prosepective buyers.

We've had ours since 2000 and absolutely love it. We will never have another boat without a pilothouse. We have raced in the past but now only cruise. The sailing ability of the Evasion is great as far as our needs go. It does have a shoal draft keel which obviously is not the best for upwind work. We also have a roller furling main with no battens. The absence of a roach on the main doesn't help us in the upwind speed category either. However the pilothouse in our minds is the only way to go here in the PNW. As you know there is a fair amount of time when we don't have wind here and the ability to motor along inside wearing a t-shirt while everyone else is bundled up in the rain is worth any small trade off in windward ability to us. Also at anchor the panoramic view from inside beats the interior of the standard sailboat cabin any day. Finally when it gets hot, opening all those ports creates a breeze which is always cooler than on deck. Without them it would be pretty warm inside.

We've been from Olympia to the north end of Vancouver Island many many times and around Vancouver Island twice with it and are planning on heading south to Mexico this summer.

Good luck.

Rick
S/V Winterhawk

[LngTmSlr]

I've been looking at the listing for a"94 Evasion 36 currently located in Sidney BC., YW# 12976932. There is a sale pending, so I'm too late unless the sale fails to close.

I appreciate your comments. They confirm my predictions and encourage me to continue the quest for a pilothouse at this point in my sailing career.

Thanks so much for the response.