Opinions sought on Canadian Sailcraft CS-40

[Lake-Effect]

Originally Posted by robert sailor

I don't entirely disagree with Sealubber as the best boats Canada produced are over 20 years old. Past that time period Canada built some wonderful sailboats and the list is a long one.

There's your answer right there. What production sailboats have been built in Canada within the last 20 years?

(My friend Dave at CL Boatworks makes some nice solid little sailing dinghies in Canada. Damn things last too long, though, so the 'new' market remains soft)

All the CS boats I've seen are solid and loved by their owners. When I was working for a mechanic, the 30 or 32 ft CS's had really poor access to the stuffing box and coupling, requiring me to be stuck upside down in a cockpit locker trying to work... misery. Don't know if the 36+ boats are like that.

[Southern Star]

To my knowledge, the last cruising sailboats/motorsailors produced in Canada were the catamarans from PDQ (reputation for great quality), the cutters from Gozzard (ditto) the motorsailors from Bruckmann (ditto, ditto) and the Kanter yachts in aluminum (again, fantastic quality).

Brad

[eyschulman]

Back to the CS boats. I looked at one several years ago and did not buy. There was a crack in FG floor at galley turned out with research due to a previous grounding there was probably deeper damage which I did not stick around long enough to ferret out. Also there were cracks in the top of the plastic water tanks. Aside from those faults a nice boat.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by JulieMac

We've been in the market for a 38-42' coastal cruiser for the last year.

Last summer we looked at a number of late 80's Ericson 38's and some early 80's Sabre's and Tartans. The Ericson 38 we wanted to make an offer on was sold a few days after we saw the boat.

I spotted a late 80's Canadian Sailcraft CS-40, designed by Tony Castro. It's local to us, here in the Great Lakes, and needs no shipping-a big plus.

Does anyone have any experience with this particular model? It's similar to the CS 38 Merlin, only bigger. This particular one is a 5' shoal draft model. Wing keel and deep keel models are available for sale on the east coast, but that defeats the purpose of buying a local, fresh water boat.

We'll initially use the boat in Lake Michigan, with the goal to end up in Florida or the Bahamas when we retire. (probably not as liveaboards)

Opinions, anyone?

I just posted this on another thread:


Call/check the brokerage at Torresen Marine in Muskegon Michigan. Lots of gently used freshwater boats. This is the case all over the Great Lakes. We sail in nice weather 3 months per year, no salt, no sea critters.

Note - there is a CAL40 on the list - one of my favorites of all time.

The Sailboat Specialists Since 1965 | Torresen Marine

Torresen Marine, Inc. - The Sailboat Specialists (Muskegon, MI)

[jackdale]

I have sailed a CS 40. It was a nice boat. I loved the galley; that really matters to me. Good coastal cruiser.

[JulieMac]

Originally Posted by jackdale

I have sailed a CS 40. It was a nice boat. I loved the galley; that really matters to me. Good coastal cruiser.

Did the boat you sail have a deep, shoal or wing keel? Just curious about the pointing ability and other aspects of the boat you liked, or felt could be improved.

[JulieMac]

Originally Posted by Vasco

CS 40 is a nice boat. Not many built. There is no CS38, you must mean the CS36 Merlin. Both are Tony Castro designs. Solid glass hull below the waterline. Vacuum bagged above. It would be a great boat for Bahamas. Hardware is all quality. They changed the configuration a bit from the first one that had a sink in the aft cabin. The first one was owned by Hans Fogh. Check out the CS owners site on Yahoo for more info.

Thanks, Rick. Is your Merlin a deep keel, wing or shoal draft? I wouldn't mind having the shallow keel for exploring more areas, but am afraid of giving up pointing ability and VMG.

[robert sailor]

You can't have it both ways. Nothing will go upwind like a deep keel but a well designed shallow keel will do a pretty good job. Offshore a deep keel is not as advantages as many think because with larger seas you want to foot off anyways.

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by JulieMac

Thanks, Rick. Is your Merlin a deep keel, wing or shoal draft? I wouldn't mind having the shallow keel for exploring more areas, but am afraid of giving up pointing ability and VMG.

My Merlin has the patented Hydrokeel which is a wing. About 5"03". The rudder is the same depth! Been aground many times. no problem wiggle off backwards.

[mikefossl]

We have sailed our CS40 across the Pacific from Mexico to Japan and now halfway back to Hawaii. Never had a cause for concern with the design. Ours is a deep keel, tall mast version and has maintained a 6 knot average speed on all our long passages despite being weighed down by all of our cruising gear.

I've found that the anchor locker did leak through some incomplete fiber-glassing in the top corners. This would typically occur when going to weather in a big sea. I glassed over the corners from the inside and made a plug for the anchor opening and that problem has gone away.

The bilge is shallow but we added an auxiliary pump with a header and multiple pickup points so we can pretty well suck the bilges dry on either tack.

After 5 years on the boat, we don't feel any compulsion to trade her in.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by satdiver

Mark was is or was a big time drunk

As for Bob Perry, I personally don't like him

Really ! ... is that slander or libel, I get confused.

I'll pass that on to Mark when I see him next week.

[S/V Alchemy]

Originally Posted by Lake-Effect

There's your answer right there. What production sailboats have been built in Canada within the last 20 years?

Saga Yachts is doing quite well, for all I know. They are on the short list if my lotto ticket pays off.

[boatpoker]

Oh Canada ............

Bruckmann Yachts

Kanter Yachts

Gozzard Yachts

Wiggers Yachts

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by S/V Alchemy

Saga Yachts is doing quite well, for all I know. They are on the short list if my lotto ticket pays off.

Original Saga went tits up owing a lot to suppliers. Run into the ground and then the principal went on to Pacific Seacraft and we all know what happened there. Bankrupt.

[boatpoker]

Bruckmann now building SAGA