Solid Used Boat

[Michael W.]

Hello everyone: I am new to this forum )or even to chatrooms), so I don't even know what I am doing.

Here is my question: I am 47, have been sailing since the age of 13, and am getting ready to buy a boat, but don't know which.

I remember reading in some cruising magazine about used good cruising sail boats to buy, i.e. "best buys between 27 feet to 35 feet," but can't remember where.

Can anyoine make any suggestions as to what boats are good, undervalued, and good buys?

I want something safe, not fancy!

Thnaks for your help

[boredinthecity]

Hi Michael

You may wish to read the thread Long keel 28/32 ft? in the Monohull part of the forum.

Paul

[GordMay]

From “John’s Boat Stuff”:

BEST OFFSHORE CRUISING BOATS
http://www.johnsboatstuff.com/Articles/best.htm

CHOOSING AN AFFORDABLE OFFSHORE CRUISING BOAT
http://www.johnsboatstuff.com/Articles/lowcost.htm

And From “Cruise News”:

OFFSHORE and COASTAL CRUISING SAILBOATS
http://cruisenews.net/db/boattypes.php

From 48̊North
“Selecting a Cruising Boat, Part I” ~ by John Neal
http://www.48north.com/mr_offline/jonneal1.htm
“Cruising Boat Check List” ~ by John Neal
http://www.48north.com/mr_offline/chklist.htm

From “Shibui Chronicles”
“How to Choose a Cruising Sailboat” ~ by Brian & Mary Alice O"Neill
http://www.sailorschoice.com/cruisin...ui/Shibui4.htm

HTH,
Gord May

[Jeff H]

It would be helpful to tell us more about what you are looking for and how you intend to use the boat. There are a lot of good buys out there in specific categories and what may be a good buy for one person and one sailing venue may be a really bad idea in others. There are some very basic questions such as:

Where do you plan to sail?
What kind of sailing do you plan to do? (i.e. Race, coastal cruising, going offshore, etc)
How do you prefer your sailing? (i.e. Where are you on the spectrum from like performance to don't care if the boat sails as long as it is roomy?)
What sort of budget do you have in mind?
How many people do you plan to sail with?
Do you have a particular idea about how big a boat you would want?

With that kind of info we can probably either give you some suggestions or else refer you to sources.

Jeff

[CSY Man]

Synergy beating home.....

Light winds, flat water, light boat...?

10 knots?

And still healing....?

Aye, ya performance sailors.

My old heavy CSY 33 would not even move, heel or pay attention in them there above conditons...She would just drift around wondering when or where the game is starting.

That being said, I have considered removing tools, spare-parts, generators, anchors, chain, spare diesel and water (Not the 8 cases of beer however) just to sail a bit better.

A modern light-weight performancer 33 foot sail boat displaces perhaps 10,000 lbs with a 30 foot water line, and requires maybe 10 wind driven HP to reach hull speed..?

An old fat 33 footer displacing 25,000 lbs with a 25 foot waterline
would need 25 wind driven HP to get to a lesser hull speed?

Hmm, from 10 knots to 20 knots of wind speed would Quadroople the force..?
And the drag would increase even more..?

Aye, Mr Jeff H, how much would the heavy boat benefit from getting read of 1,000 or 2,000 lbs of weight...Would I even feel the difference?

Would I feel the difference installing a folding or feathering prop?
Or is the basic boat so slow, fat and heavy that the above would not matter...?

(She does however wake up and got to work around 18 to 20 knots, in comfort and style..At that wind speed however, the waves are bigger creating a bumpy ride, and spray be flying...Style and safety perhaps, but comfort is lagging behind despite the displacement. It seems that we are always beating into the wether, regardless which way we sail....Paying the price for less than clean living....?)

[Jeff H]

At that point the winds had just increased into the high teens. NOAA's Thomas Point weather station showed gusts into the mid-20 knot range. The picture was taken shortly after I had tacked, and just as I had sailed into a gust. I am actually steering with my left hand and getting ready to lower the traveller with my right. The heel angle measures roughly 28 degrees which is a bit excessive but which also flattened out once I had dropped the traveller and added some backstay tension. Ultimately I added a flattening reef as well.

Frankly, I was on the edge of overcanvassed for the conditions. Needing to make sail trim adjustments in a building breeze is the price of having reasonable performance down into the 2 or 3 knot wind speed range.

Regards
Jeff

[CSY Man]

Roger that Mr. Jeff.

A freak gust of wind heeled yer boat in what looks like calm conditons.

Been there myself, sometimes they come out of nowhere and any boat, heavy or light gets pushed over quite a bit..

From the the above pic and sea-state, I thought ya were onboard a big dinghy that leaned over in a light breeze.

Hmm, wrong again...Stay tuned...next post will be right on target...

[Irish Ayes]

Seas look really calm for the wind condition to push that size boat over.

Gusts have done the same to me.

What model boat is pictured and when was the picture taken?