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Old 14-08-2017, 09:57   #1
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sailingharry's Avatar

Join Date: Jun 2009
Location: Annapolis, MD
Boat: Sabre 34-1 (sold) and Saga 43
Posts: 2,282
Chesapeake Bay FP's

So the admiral and I are close to retirement, and seriously looking for a long term liveaboard/distance cruising replacement for my '79 Sabre 34. We are almost exclusively monohull sailors, but we did do a transit from Bahamas to Newport earlier this year (1000 miles, 7 days) on a Catana 43. Mostly downwind, winds to 50 kts and seas to 15 feet. Unfortunately, that has set our bar above our budget!

FP's are high on our list as possible cats (monohulls still hold the lead, but not by much). We are SAILORS, and as such we feel a boat should go from A to B mostly under sail. Not they typical charter deal, where the sails never get put up. In my 35 year old monhull, I routinely beat cruising cats that I see, on all points of sail and all wind conditions. But I wonder if that is their sailing skill (or lack of), and perhaps the new charter-centric boats with limited rigs and massive superstructure.

So, my point? The older FP's, mostly designed before 2000, have my interest. Lower profiles, aesthetically appealing, more sail (with lower center of effort), thinner hulls, and a steering station that doesn't split a crew of 2 into two parts of the boat. Models like the Venezia, Mahe, Lavezzi, Belize, and Athena all have my attention. Even better are the 1990-ish boats, like the Fidji and my favorite, the Casamance.

These boats are scarce as hen's teeth on the Chesapeake, and besides, I really can't see a broker taking me out for a joy ride without a contract in hand. I really want to see these older boats in real-world sailing conditions. Go out, set the sails, go upwind a few miles, downwind a few miles, etc. A good day sail, with no engines from harbor mouth to harbor mouth. Does anyone have any tips on how to accomplish this? Anyone want to take a friendly middle-aged couple (is 50-something still middle-aged?) out for a day sail? The admiral is an awesome cook, we'd be happy to feed you the whole way!

Barring a ride, I'd love to hear stories on sailing performance of these older FP's, with a focus on wind forward of the beam. My crippling fear is that I buy one and follow the herd -- running an engine much of the time under sail.

Harry
Rantum Scoot
'79 Sabre 34 MK I
Mill Creek, Annapolis
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