Looking for Suggestions for a Trailer Sailboat

[forsailbyowner]

i had the aquarius 23 the balboas smaller counterpart.Great design, the skiff swing keel. Didnt like the rudder arrangement. A swing up keel should be paired with kick up rudder.

[countrybimm]

we got on a sandpiper 18 foot.retractable keel, sleeps four, head in the front of it.pulls easy and also no troubles getting it onto the trailer.only downfalls are that the turnbuckles are easily damaged when raising the mast without supervision, and the halyards seem to have a mind of there own.2400 can we paid for it, so for the price was good.would i buy another?...maybe.but were hard on a equipment and need bulletproof everything.normal sailers might love it...just a option....

[Ahnlaashock]

I have been looking at the Aquarius 23's myself. There are two in town for sale. One is a complete boat, but the man has converted it to what he calls a terminal trawler with a small outboard and what looks like a seating area, sunning area in top of the cabin where the mast should be. Very little water needed to launch, and maximum interior room on the small boat.
The second one was having the cabin area re-done and the man died. At least that is the story. It started off at 1000 in an Illinois listing. I almost bought it, but he wanted 1200 by the time I got in touch with the man handling the sale. He has since put new tires on the trailer and has it in St. Louis. He wants something like 1860 for it now. And it needs enough interior work that he is showing pictures from another boat to show what can be done instead of actual pictures of the boat.
Such a boat, while not a racer by any means, would seem to be the perfect Midwestern trailer boat for week end to week long trips. A good boat at the right price will drift by!
Rookie thought process. Drafts about the same as a loaded river jonboat. Easy to launch and recover. Leave the mast home and go spend three days on your favorite fishing lake if you wanted.

[BlueSeas]

There are a lot of good Catalina 22s around for $2000. With the extra money, put on new standing and running rigging and have a ball.

Lots of them produced and parts readily available.

That's what I just did anyway!

[denverd0n]

I used to own a San Juan 23. It was a great little boat that sailed wonderfully and was reasonably comfortable for weekending. It had a swing keel (which is perfect for the shallow water around Florida) and an easily tuned rig. In terms of building experience before moving up to a bigger boat, I think it was darned near perfect.

My wife was a little bit intimidated when she was towing it, although she did fine and never had a problem. In fact, it once bounced off of the hitch while she was driving (not going very fast, thank God!) and she handled it perfectly and with amazing aplomb. The point is that any trailer boat with a decent cabin is going to be fairly large and heavy to tow. If your only experience is towing small utility trailers and the like, expect a bit of a learning curve. I was backing our quadruple horse trailer into the barn even before I had a drivers license, so it was no big deal for me. It just depends on your experience.

In a boat this small the cabin space and amenities are always going to be limited. It is more like camping on the water than really "living" in the boat. And the only standing headroom (for either my wife or me) was with out head sticking out of the companionway. Nonetheless, my wife and I enjoyed our San Juan very much for weekends on Tampa Bay, Charlotte Harbor/Pine Island Sound, and in the Keys. Had we ever gotten around to it, I would have felt quite comfortable sailing it across to the Bahamas, given an appropriate weather window.

[Homespun]

I know you said 20-26 feet, but you might also check out the West Wight Potter 19. Very easy to tow (water ballast) and by all indications well built for what it is. You might also be able to find some Hunter 23.5s in that price range or close to it. They are also water ballast boats that were built from 1993 to 1996 (I think). Someone else mentioned the Macgregor 26S (NOT the later "M" or "X" hybrid motorsailer models) and that could be option but you might find more Macgregor 26D's in your price range, which were made in the 80's as opposed to the "S" models which were made from 1990-1995. The "D" stands for dagger-board and the "S" stands for swing keel, but they are pretty similar otherwise. Lastly, the Catalina 22 is a good choice for your price range. There are a LOT of them seemingly everywhere in the country.

[SkiprJohn]

I second what Homespun says about the WWP 19 but they are hard to find and expensive.

Although smaller on the outside, the WWP 19 is about as big as a Catalina 22 on the inside and has all the features of a larger boat. They are good sailers and well made, but not as fast due to a shorter waterline.

I've sailed our club WWP 19 many times and they handle well.

regards,

[Freckleface24]

Go classic and get a J24 they have a small cabin and races for them are common at many places they're so fun to sail and expierience sailing in races will help your wife get a better grasp on sailing. Its also perfect for just easy going cruising around and pretty fast and majestic looking.

[piratesteve]

i have a mac26x, easy to load/unload, very forgiving on the water, good ship to learn on, can be handled singlehanded... room enough for weekend cruises... gets a little "small" for a week long trip.....
good luck with your search.....
fair winds & high tides
steve