Catalina or Hunter

[boatman61]

Its all very well waving military and sports oriented women around.. that's like waving the elite male sailors around.. but how does this equate to the average middle aged office male or the average housewife just starting out..
Get real.. not everyone wants to be a Hobie Hero.. and fewer still can physically hack it..

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Its all very well waving military and sports oriented women around.. that's like waving the elite male sailors around.. but how does this equate to the average office male or the average housewife just starting out..
Get real.. not everyone wants to be a Hobie Hero.. and fewer still can physically hack it..

Okay, I'll let it go. I do believe though that you can learn a lot on a small fast boat.

Also, you bring up another good point. And that is when you said few can hack it. That's very sad that some folks still think this. Visit the local gym during the aerobics classes and I think you might be surprised.

But yes, many folks only in their 50s cannot ride a bike 30 miles in a couple hours or run a couple miles. Then they wonder why their bodies are going to pot and they are pulling muscles so easily.

And they aren't all military these female athletes:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madonna_Buder

Also since I let it go, can you at least take her out on your monohull on a decent day when the wind is blowing a little? Here's the Old Bristol bringing us in while I'm trying to learn how to use a camara. Hey, I never had 2500lbs of ballast to work with before. It's hard to have fun on one of these old monohulls so you gotta go out when there's a breeze........

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gRccc0PBkkI

[CruisingCouple]

Originally Posted by mistersmith2017

I believe the last year the Cherubini Hunters were made was 1983. (I have a 1983 Hunter 30)

There was sort of a mix there for several years when Hunter's engineering group took over design and the John Cherubini/Bob Seidelman boats were still in production. Our 1981 Hunter 22 was considered to be a Hunter-designed yacht. And although it was produced until 85 it was almost an exact copy of the Cherubini designs with the wedge shaped cabin trunk and relatively narrow beam, with a swing keel added by Hunter to make it trailerable.

The Hunter 37 cutter was first built in 78 and is a Cherubini boat. It was produced until 1985. The Legend 37 in 86 was a definite departure from the Cherubini influence.

So there was a "gray area" mix for 5-6 years. The Hunters are considered "price point" boats and while they tend to lack on fit and finish, the structural design of any I have looked at, worked on or sailed is dang stout. Hunter has always added extra glass laminate in critical stress areas and don't have problems with things like the lee shrouds becoming slack due the boat flexing with the rig under load. And in some of them, like our Legend 37, the interior fit and finish leaves a little to be desired but I can't fault the boat on design and layout of systems for ease of maintenance and upgrades along with decent tankage with lots of room to add more or add equipment without major modifications. And Marlow-Hunter's technical support, even on older boats, is pretty impressive. They have not failed to answer one question that I have had on our Legend 37 in the process of doing our refits here.

[DDabs]

Owned an '88 Hunter Legend 35. Sailed her to the Tortugas from Sarasota a few times. What a delight to sail, especially with her 6'6" draft. I'm not really a fan of the new Hunter-Marlows, although the 40 ft. model doesn't seem too bad.

[CruisingCouple]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Its all very well waving military and sports oriented women around.. that's like waving the elite male sailors around

I sort of read into it that h20's wife is a little unsure of the whole thing. And I would say that's more "normal" if she has never been on a sailboat (or has limited boating experience at all). My wife waitressed on a private yacht for a year when she was 19. She hated the waitressing part but absolutely loved the yachting part. She's been hooked ever since. But you couldn't get her on a Hobie if she was stranded on a desert island and the Hobie was the only way off it.

[Hud3]

We bought a Hobie 16 when we were in our mid 30s. My wife had never been on any kind of boat before. She loved sailing on the Hobie, as long as it was a sunny, warm day with winds less than 15 knots. I never pushed it with her aboard, and she was never interested in holding the tiller. When I was on my own or with a friend, I'd push the boat hard. I learned to sail on that boat, and it taught me well. The feedback is instantaneous and dramatic, so you very quickly learn what works and what doesn't. After you get the basics sorted, you learn the nuances. The Hobie will definitely teach you to sail.

We went on to chartering over a couple of decades, then after retiring bought an ODay 222, and finally moved up to an Island Packet 380. In spite of the fact that my wife never had any interest in actually sailing a boat herself, she found that she really enjoyed being on the boat while I sailed it. Taking it easy and not pushing too hard was the key to keeping her engaged.

When I suggested cruising in the eastern Caribbean, she was hesitant. Six months on the boat in unknown territory seemed to intimidate her. So, I suggested that we charter an IP 380 from Island Yachts in St Thomas to give it a try without the commitment. She agreed, and we spent two fabulous weeks cruising the USVI and BVI. At the end of the charter she didn't want to come home. I sailed our boat from Virginia to Tortola with the help of three friends. My wife flew down to join me.

We ended up spending the next two cruising seasons leisurely moving up and down the Lesser Antilles. She never took part in the actual handling of the boat, but absolutely loved being a passenger. Fine with me--I had set the boat up for single-handing.

For us, the key was to find her comfort zone, and then not push the envelope.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by CruisingCouple

I sort of read into it that h20's wife is a little unsure of the whole thing. And I would say that's more "normal" if she has never been on a sailboat (or has limited boating experience at all). My wife waitressed on a private yacht for a year when she was 19. She hated the waitressing part but absolutely loved the yachting part. She's been hooked ever since. But you couldn't get her on a Hobie if she was stranded on a desert island and the Hobie was the only way off it.

Yep, that Hobie sailing sure looks scary. Actually, learning to sail on a lake using a Hobie 16 when the winds are light is maybe one of the very best ways to learn.

And the cost can be as low as $800.00 for an old boat and trailer to as high as $22,000 for a high tech A Class Cat. Realistic price for a decent boat and trailer though would be around $2500 to $3500. Not bad for someone just starting out and unsure of whether sailing is for them.

Southern Utah Sailors: Southern Utah Yacht Club Celebrates its 3rd Regatta

You can also tell someone that is a bit worried about going across a 1 mile wide lake on a Hobie 16 that the boat is actually strong enough to be used in heavy surf jumping waves or racing in the Atlantic Ocean from Florida to Virginia Beach.

Prerace picture Sardis Lake, MS.

http://www.deltasailing.com/PhotoAlbums/?g2_itemId=383

[thomm225]

Another good thing about learning on a Hobie Cat is that once you put the plugs in the hulls, they are sealed so that your 1 mile sail across that lake in 5-6 knots of breeze is pretty darn safe for the average newcomer. If anything goes wrong or the wind drops, you can paddle in by hand.

But on a 25 year old 30' Monohull there are tons of things that can go wrong especially for a person unfamiliar with sailing or even boating.

Recently, we had a new guy that went out for a sail from our dock. He was very excited and having fun. Another guy about 70 from our dock was out and noticed how low New Guy's boat was in the water.

He sailed over and by then new guy and crew were in total panic. Old guy jump aboard and closed off a seacock that had a rotten hose that had split attached to it which was about to sink the boat.

If you are trying to learn to sail, tack the jib, operate the radio, figure out how to get away from and back into your slip, it's possible that you don't know what a seacock is or that on some boats you can sink from a rotten hose on a stuffing box (or other thru hull)

As a kid I remember a guy in our town that waited his whole life to get that sailboat. He finally did in his mid to late 60's. He went north to Maryland and bought one. He was so excited he decided to bring it down in early Spring.

In early Spring, the Chesapeake Bay is still very cold and the winds can still crankup heavy. Long story short the boat sank and they found him dead and at the top of the mast where he had managed to tie himself. The boat probably sank due to a rotten hose on a thru hull etc.

I often kid about how easy sailing is to learn, but me and many others on here grew up around boats so we learn a bit here and there sort of piecemeal. For the guy trying to go from ground zero directly into sailing AND handling a large boat all at once is a big step.

New guy may not have CF help once he leaves the slip.

On a Hobie 16 though or something similar, sailing across that lake or pond getting the feel of the sheets, seeing how the sail works, and knowing that if something happens you can probably swim to shore where someone may be sitting in a lawn chair watching the whole time. That's a good feeling for new guy.

See pictures below of your average Hobie (NACRA, Prindle) regatta. And yep, many of the ladies did handle the food etc, worked on the committee (power) boat or just sat on the beach, read a book, and watched the whole regatta rather than race.

But usually they would go for a "cruise" with husband or boyfriend afterward when the testosterone level was a bit lower.

2003 Broken Mast Regatta :: Delta Sailing Association :: Memphis Sailing Club at Arkabutla Lake, Hernando Point, MS

[CruisingCouple]

Originally Posted by Hud3

In spite of the fact that my wife never had any interest in actually sailing a boat herself, she found that she really enjoyed being on the boat while I sailed it. Taking it easy and not pushing too hard was the key to keeping her engaged.

I think every husband/wife team finds that comfort zone to make sailing enjoyable. When we had our powerboat I always had to run with both tach needles into the red and my wife did not enjoy that at all. She wanted to idle around and enjoy being on the water instead of seeing if we could trim the boat out and get 75 mph out of it on the GPS.

When we got our Hunter 22 and learned how to sail it my wife thoroughly enjoys being at the tiller. She learned how to read the water to detect changes in the wind and became a very proficient helmswoman. I might not be paying attention because I'm too busy fishing and she'll call out need to be ready for sail trim before it's even needed because the wind is changing. It's what she found that she likes to do. She thoroughly enjoys cruising at 5-6 kts on the sailboat with the boat heeled over instead of throwing a big rooster tail with all 600 horses online on the powerboat. We used to go screaming past the sailboats burning 40gph with a 150 foot roostertail, on and off the throttles pounding the waves to keep the props hooked up, and my wife would look at the sailboats and say "I wish we could do that....."

So we ended up selling the powerboat because she didn't want go out on it anymore after we got into sailing.

[sailorboy1]

Originally Posted by CruisingCouple

We used to go screaming past the sailboats burning 40gph with a 150 foot roostertail, on and off the throttles pounding the waves to keep the props hooked up, and my wife would look at the sailboats and say "I wish we could do that....."
.

And what do you now think about powerboats going by with a 150' roostertail?

[CruisingCouple]

Originally Posted by sailorboy1

And what do you now think about powerboats going by with a 150' roostertail?

Well, I must confess that I rather enjoy the sound of those big block 502's with open headers

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by CruisingCouple

Well, I must confess that I rather enjoy the sound of those big block 502's with open headers

Awesome, NASCAR goes to sea. There goes your peaceful day of sailing.

[CruisingCouple]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Awesome, NASCAR goes to sea. There goes your peaceful day of sailing.

Yeah, the powerboaters have just as much rights to have fun on the water as sailors, I guess. So everybody has to have tolerance for everybody else.

And it is kind of fun to watch the folks that have the 35-40 foot cats with twin Roots-blown Sterling 950's. Those boats will go 140+ and on calm days they take them out and push them right to the limits. 500 gallons of premium pump gas is nothing for four hours of fun on the water.

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by CruisingCouple

Yeah, the powerboaters have just as much rights to have fun on the water as sailors, I guess. So everybody has to have tolerance for everybody else.

And it is kind of fun to watch the folks that have the 35-40 foot cats with twin Roots-blown Sterling 950's. Those boats will go 140+ and on calm days they take them out and push them right to the limits. 500 gallons of premium pump gas is nothing for four hours of fun on the water.

Yeah, I can definitely understand. I used to run my 1968 40 Johnson wide open on my 16' plywood Chincoteague Scow. It was great!

[CruisingCouple]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Yeah, I can definitely understand. I used to run my 1968 40 Johnson wide open on my 16' plywood Chincoteague Scow. It was great!

Oh yeah. And really it don't bother us sailors much. The Apostle Islands Offshore Powerboat club runs a few events every year and we get 3,000 hp Douglas Skaters, and you name it, that come to run in the event.

APOSTLE ISLANDS FUN RUN 2012 - YouTube