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Old 15-10-2010, 19:34   #1
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Sort of Newbie Looking for Direction

Hello from PA. I did a lot of Sunfish sailing as a teenager, then did not sail for many years. My husband and I are "empty nesters" (though still paying for college tuition) and took the ASA 101 course last summer. We are thinking about buying a trailerable sailboat for lake sailing, and day sailing on the Chesapeake Bay. Can anyone point me to the best place on this forum (or to any other online resource) that will help us figure out what type of sailboat best meets our needs. I think I need "small sailboat ownership 101". Lol!
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Old 15-10-2010, 19:55   #2
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Sounds like us 6 years ago.

For us, the answer was a Catalina 27 Tall Rig Wing Keel. I also would look at the Catalina 30. Great beginner boats for the Bay.

We started out thinking trailerable (Catalina 25), but when we looked at one it was just too small for my Captain to sleep in. In retrospect, I also think we wouldn't have gone sailing nearly as much if we'd had the hassle of putting the boat in the water each time. However, lots of people do it, so maybe we're just lazy. However, I would suggest you get someone to let you try out the process before you decide.

I'd be glad to answer specific questions about our experience if you have them.

Carrie
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Old 15-10-2010, 19:57   #3
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I don't know where the small boat stuff is on the forum, but I have had three smaller boats. I had a Tyler 22 from England, a Chrysler 22, and a Pearson 27 Renegade. All of them taught me a lot about sailing. Small is good. Enjoy your sailing adventures.
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Old 15-10-2010, 20:19   #4
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putting on my flame suit... but check out the Macgregor 26.

Awesome boat for what it is - hybrid power/sail - sleeps 6 - launches in 12 inches of water - can be pulled by a fullsize car or small truck (larger the better, but have seen many cars pulling it with little trouble).

Inexpensive to buy, use, and maintain.

Check out www.macgregorsailors.com or www.ne-ts.com (I am the webmaster at ne-ts)

Looks like we are having a blast here
North East Trailor Sailors • View topic - Boston Harbor Rendezvous Report

No they are not the cutting edge sailing, but it does offer a low cost, high fun option.

We have our new 'real' sailboat.. but still have the Mac for when we want to explor areas our other boat can't go!

Now, let the Mac bashing begin!!





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Old 15-10-2010, 20:19   #5
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Welcome aboard! Find local sailing groups as quick as possible so that you can get on the water with a variety of boats. There are a number of groups on the Chesapeake, especially around boat brands. What part of PA are you from?
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Old 15-10-2010, 20:35   #6
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Thanks for all the replies folks. We live in Chester County, PA. We are about 1.5 hours from Havre de Grace MD. Closest local sailing is Marsh Creek Lake (about 20 min. away) or Lake Nockamixon (about 60 minutes away). Both lakes are on the small side. We are thinking of this as a "first sailboat", with the thought that we can "move up" as our skills improve (and we are no longer paying college tuition...). So, I still think we are looking for something we can trailer fairly easily. Coincidentally, we need to replace a car fairly soon. So we are also considering "how much car" we need to tow "whatever" boat. Too many decisions!
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Old 15-10-2010, 21:01   #7
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Raised 2 girls as a single dad and taught them how to sail on Marsh Creek Lake with a 19' Hobie and 19' Flying Scot. They spent their summer days on MCL. We would take both boats to the Havre on weekends. Depends on what you really want to do. If you really want to learn to sail, then the trailerables are great for basic skill development (spend as little time driving and more time "learning to sail"). Everyday, right after work for a couple of hours one summer and you'll be ready for a step up. Anything under 24' is barebones camping for overnight, but a great step up for more sailing experience. We moved up to a Sabre28. Just get started. Look for people that you can crew with. Agree with Carrie above, once you get a larger boat, keep it in the water.
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Old 15-10-2010, 21:57   #8
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consider boats in the 22' range with a swing keel.

Imagine having to back up a trailer with a boat on it. 22' is plenty. What is your comfort level with trailering? That should probably tell you the length of boat you want. Swing keels make great day sailors and are the way to go for trailering imho.

cheers and welcome aboard. Hope you find the boat you want soon and start enjoying it. Find your way to yachtworld.com of course and check out the thousands of small sailboats available.
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Old 15-10-2010, 22:10   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LynnandBob View Post
Thanks for all the replies folks. We live in Chester County, PA. We are about 1.5 hours from Havre de Grace MD. Closest local sailing is Marsh Creek Lake (about 20 min. away) or Lake Nockamixon (about 60 minutes away). Both lakes are on the small side. We are thinking of this as a "first sailboat", with the thought that we can "move up" as our skills improve (and we are no longer paying college tuition...). So, I still think we are looking for something we can trailer fairly easily. Coincidentally, we need to replace a car fairly soon. So we are also considering "how much car" we need to tow "whatever" boat. Too many decisions!
We pull with a Land Rover Discovery II. Can be purchased fairly cheap, easy to service (despite their reputation) and can pull just about anything you can throw at it! Our discovery has air bag suspension, so we can lower the tounge making launching/recovering a LOT easier! plus it keeps it level trailering.

you should also see if there is a trailer sailing club in the area. We find it is enjoyable to sail with other trailer sailors. It is also a great support system.
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Old 15-10-2010, 22:27   #10
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Welcome aboard CF. This is the place to be - I did a search (it's on the bar at the top - use the google custom search!) and here are the first few threads I found about Trailer Sailors:

http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...lor-22091.html
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ler-23397.html
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...lor-30433.html
http://www.cruisersforum.com/forums/...ler-40767.html

It would seem that trailer sailors are a nifty way of getting further afield. I know a coupe of folks in Kuwait have them simply because there are no berths! Enjoy your browsing!
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Old 16-10-2010, 10:50   #11
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hello newbie, welcome to the cf, im sure you will find lots of helpful advice here as i have not been on this site very long but so far everyone here is awsome and helpful,... good luck
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Old 18-10-2010, 05:11   #12
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I'm not sure whether this is the appropriate place in the forum to ask this question, but if it is not, someone please direct me to the appropriate subforum. Thanks! Anyway, is there anyone on here who has had experience sailing the Vagabond 17, also known as the Holder 17. From my (inexperienced) perspective, it seems to have many of the features we are looking for--trailerable, light weight, option to stay on board for a night or two. Any other similar size/weight boats you would recommend over this one?
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Old 31-10-2010, 13:31   #13
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Aloha and welcome aboard!
I've no experience with the Vagabond but have experience with Catalina 22s and with West Wight Potter 19s. Each could be pulled by a small old Toyota Pickup and are good learning platforms as well as fun campers.
kind regards,
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Old 31-10-2010, 20:23   #14
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The two boats that immediately come to mind for me are the Catalina 22 and the Cal20.

There are lots of both models available used.

Being interested in the Holder 17 you might also be interested in the Holder 20.
The Vagabond 17 and Holder 17 are different though similar boats, beam, displacement and ballast are different and possibly also sail area. For comparison purposes below consider them the same.

Comparing:

Vagabond/Holder 17, 850950lb so easier to tow, swing keel so easier to launch but extra maintenance issues generally and safety issues in heavy winds. With 500lb crew and gear aboard SA/D of 19.3/18.4 so looks good in light air. Hobie was involved in the manufacture of these boats so I imagine they are still well supported.

Holder 20, 1160lb so similarly easy to tow, drop keel so easy to launch like a swing keel but bolted down so sturdier while sailing. With 500lb crew and gear aboard SA/D of 22.6 so looks great in light air. Hobie was involved in the manufacture of these boats so I imagine they are still well supported. The big downside is the low ballast weight, this boat really walks the line of being a dinghy and it looks like the accomodations are the same or a bit smaller than the Holder 17 despite being 3' longer. I assume the keel bolts down similar to the Hobie 33, it may however be more like a daggerboard that drops due to board weight and comes back up with a pulley system. In that case safety and maintenance is probably on a par with a swing keel or slightly better.

Cal 20, 1950lb so towing requires a bigger vehicle, fixed keel so harder to launch but fewer maintenance issues generally and no special safety issues in heavy winds. With 500lb crew and gear aboard SA/D of 17.2 so looks good in light air. Good support from Seal's Spars, OEM out of business.

Catalina 22, 2490lb so needs a serious tow vehicle, swing keel so easier to launch but extra maintenance issues generally and safety issues in heavy winds. With 500lb crew and gear aboard SA/D of 15.8 so looks OK in light air. OEM still in business and providing good support.

HOLDER 17 Sailboat details on sailboatdata.com
http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=4436
HOLDER 20 Sailboat details on sailboatdata.com
CAL 20 Sailboat details on sailboatdata.com
CATALINA 22 Sailboat details on sailboatdata.com
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Old 01-11-2010, 17:18   #15
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Adelie, thanks so much for the detailed response! I appreciate that time that took. My husband and I came across a great deal on a used Vagabond 14, and we decided to buy that as our "learning boat". We had an opportunity to sail it once, and I think we can have a lot of fun with it while we take our time considering a larger (but trailerable) boat. We looked around for Vagabond 17's and did not find any in our area--and they are out of production, I believe.

I am sure that we will move up to a somewhat larger boat, as the shallow seats are pretty challenging for our aging knees as we shift from one side of the boat to the other when tacking. Hopefully our experience with this little boat will help us decide whether we want a larger daysailer or a pocket cruiser. I wish we had a little more warm weather left in PA; I suspect we had the last sail of the season on the weekend.
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