Alberg 30 as "bluewater" cruiser

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by mdc

Very clean looking one for sale near baltimore for $5000.


https://baltimore.craigslist.org/boa...457741232.html

That price seems way off to me though. Maybe he meant $15,000 even with an old engine since you can use a new 6-9.9hp outboard on this type boat which you can get for just $1700-$2500

[thomm225]

So it was mentioned above about the heeling of these Good Old Boats which is true.

Even going below for me to get my normal breakfast when on the boat and sailing (canned tuna fish and crackers plus maybe cold water) isn't easy even in the first video below.

(but) I have gotten so attached to this old boat after 10 years that I wouldn't mind trying a long distance sail on it one day. (to Bermuda maybe since I have already lived in the Florida heat for many years and am not big on dealing with traffic on the ICW for days)

Plus as a history major, I like the idea of sailing an old boat. (except mine will be loaded with computers, electronics, AIS, and solar panels!) Plus my plastic sextant.

Now I have found that I can get pretty much relaxed on the leeward settee while sailing and am now in the process of uncovering the settee that the PO covered over with cabinetry so I can have both depending on the wind and heel

First video is of a short 3-4 hour sail home in the early am catching the last of the nights wind before the day switch over.

You can see the heel and the wind is sort of midrange 12-17 Knots maybe but going below still takes some energy. It's pretty flat in the video as I am near the West side of the bay with the SW wind.

The 2nd video though is another story and I may have made some sail adjustments had I been forced to sail more than 5-6 hours in this. At this point in the video, the waves have not yet caught up the the fast moving front that would come in a bit so I was happy when I did get into Mobjack Bay which was about 8-10 miles ahead.

The wind was still up in that small bay but the waves were not...

Third video is were I anchored that night after dealing with the front in the 2nd video This is what anchoring in the open teaches you. Find a good spot if you care about sleep.

BTW I have redone the interior of my boat since this video was taken in 2017 probably due to what I saw in the video. And my Toshiba Laptop is about to go back on the boat since I have built up my tower with new motherboard, solid state drive etc, etc.. Too many wires involved with the RPI's

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iViRCw8KB2Y

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3I2zc0_7wY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uWwQ4iUfiyM

[soopad00pa]

This guy has been fixing one up and sailing it around the Caribbean on the (very) cheap...

https://youtu.be/oAMjQs4mM2o

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by soopad00pa

This guy has been fixing one up and sailing it around the Caribbean on the (very) cheap...

https://youtu.be/oAMjQs4mM2o

Pretty cool for him but for the rest of you were you to buy an old Alberg 30 the first thing is to remove that rusty engine and everything having to do with it.

Replace it with a new 6 hp extra long 25" shaft 4 stroke outboard at a cost of under $2000.

Then clean out all the sludge and oils from that old engine which will take quite a bit of time to get the stink out of either gas or diesel

[thomm225]

But as far as the heeling goes on these old CCA boats go, I guess it depends on what you are used to when sailing

My experience (minus the 15 years of racing) this video shows the type sailing I was used to having owned 4 beachcats before I bought my Good Old Bristol 27 cruising monohull which when compared is a palace compared to racing a beach cat for 100 miles and urinating in your wetsuit for warmed!!! (then freezing if not finishing the race by dark since you are wet)

A 100 mile race on a beach cat usually takes 9-26 hours depending

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIZhNviIar4

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

Folks above have made light of the heel angles associated with these CCA influenced designs, but to me they are quite important in a long range cruising boat. This opinion is based on experience, not the internet...

I owned a Yankee 30 for seven years and did a lot of day sailing, bay and ocean racing around San Francisco, and several trips down to So Cal and the channel islands and back, the latter up wind and up current... and I loved the boat. Then Ann and I took her to Hawaii and back, and we discovered how fatiguing sailing at 15 to 20 degrees of heel was w hen it continued 24/7 for 16 days (going) and 21 days (returning). That is slightly exaggerated, for there were some periods of lighter airs when the steady heeling was replaced by rolling! But the upshot was that I sold the boat and bought a different one when we set out on our long term cruising life.

And the Alberg will be just as tender and a LOT slower to boot. PHRF ratings: Alberg 30 228, Yankee 30 III 162 (West coast ratings)... that is over a minute per mile, and that's a lot!

Neither of the above mean that an Alberg can not be used for long range cruising, but IMO they should be factored into a decision about boat selection.

Jim

It's true. I am not sailing for days on end, but I am lucky in my design in that the stove and sink are opposite each other only two and a half feet apart and I don't have a dinette. In a little boat that is heeling a lot it is a hassle to do food prep and cooking. But in mine, which is unusual, I am able to lean against one side and prop myself up while working. Most designs, with the galley at the companionway, are not as handy that way.

[Mickeyrouse]

The Alberg 30 discussion re-surfaces here every 12 months or so. For a solid build, affordable, seaworthy boat at 30 ft it’s hard to go wrong. Every boat Carl Alberg built was designed to be seaworthy and they turned out lovely besides. I know of 3 A30’s that have circumnavigated, including my friend Terrell Adkisson in Altair 1975-1978. By today’s dock-queen standards they are, well, cozy. Find one, do the update and re-fit, take care of her, and she’ll sail longer than you will. I owned La Brisa (hull 589) for 10 years, cruising the Gulf Coast. I still miss her.

[Happ]

Originally Posted by PaulCrawhorn

Noted from past discussions - true?

Design too influenced by silly racing rules (MORC?)

For coastal, nice boat decent headroom

But for long passages, a very tender boat, not so stable?

Very wet cockpit in a blow,

short waterline 20' on a 30ft loa

can't point, go to weather in any kind of a chop

hobby horsing.

Go to YouTube and look up Atom Voyager. Atom was the name of this guy’s (James Baldwin) boat he circumnavigation in 1987. Yes it has a short waterline so you need to heal the boat more to lengthen the waterline. When it’s time to eat ease the heel a bit. Weather cloths help keep the boat drier. Remember offshore boats this size by and large have low freeboard’s.

It will most likely be my next boat and have James rebuild it.

[edlepera]

small voyaging sailboat LOA: 30’3” LOD: 30’3” LWL: Beam: 8’9” Draft: 4’3” Displacement: 9,000 lbs. Ballast: 3,300 lbs. (encapsulated cast iron) Sail area: 410 sq. ft. I would love to have one with a tiller

[hpaabor]

Yves Gelinas sailed an Alberg 30 Jean-Du-Sud around the world and made a decent movie about it. Its set up as a pay video and might be worth a look. He is one of my heroes so my view might be a little coloured.

Interview

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGpcKRL9dP8

Around the World with Jean-du-Sud (HD) CA$6.49

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG0elwG3IFo

[scareygary]

An acquaintance of mine from my marina fixed up an old Alberg 30 and sailed single handed all over the Pacific for years. He's returned safely, and not looking for a different boat!

[Mickeyrouse]

Originally Posted by edlepera

small voyaging sailboat LOA: 30’3” LOD: 30’3” LWL: Beam: 8’9” Draft: 4’3” Displacement: 9,000 lbs. Ballast: 3,300 lbs. (encapsulated cast iron) Sail area: 410 sq. ft. I would love to have one with a tiller

Most A-30’s were launched stick-steered. The wheel takes up too much room and adds weight ACR.

[Glenn.Brooks]

I owned and restored Dolce, a 1966 Alberg 30, mentioned above Re: winds of change, as a singlehanded cruising boat, for 10 years or so. In fact I sold it to the guy who eventually sailed it singlehanded (and short handed)across the pacific, and eventually tied up in near Tanjin, China - cross from Taiwan.

These boats are exceptional cruising boats. Very seaworthy, comfortable, easy to restore, and solid as a rock. Well that might be the wrong analogy, but you get the idea. The glasswork is superb, as most of them were laid up before the era of osmosis and blistering. The decks are cored, but the hull is solid glass, with little to no history of delamination or weakness showing up even today. The weakness in these boats is that they are pushing 50-65 years in age. So look for issues like deck leaks (bedding compound failing ), corroded screws, bolts and thru hulls, and soft deck coring - typical maintenance and restoration items common to every object that floats in salt water. The chain plate fastenings need upgrading to 5/16” bolts, due to a factory spec problem,(most have been corrected years ago) and most internal mast supports have delaminated and failed, and already been replaced. That’s about it for deficiencies. I built a hatch into the floor of my cockpit to give me easy access to the rear of my engine and shaft log. Also relocated dual battery banks under the cockpit to get them out of the bilge. Not a long list for a 60 year old vessel.

These boats are indeed CCA rule designed. So full keel, beautiful long overhangs and narrow, graceful lines. They heel over to their cove line carved into the hull just below the rail, then sail like a freight train. I’ve been out in 55 knots with 2 reef points and a small jyb and it sailed upright, like a duck. Very comfortable and stable. The narrow beam, 8’ + actually contributes to seaworthiness and a more comfortable motion.

One last point, comments above about Alberg’s being “slow” or not able to point into the wind are more or less nonsense. Any displacement hull is only as fast as the waterline length. So, Figure on around 6.2 -6.5 kits hull speed - 150 NM/day if sailed hard. If your looking to go faster on the water, buy a bigger boat. Or concentrate on sailing around the bouys on a rocket sled of some sort. Plenty of fin keel, modern designs will point 4 even 5* higher into the wind. But few will ever do a singlehanded circumnavigation. 7 albergs to date have done so, with at least two additional boats currently underway, and numerous ocean passages attributed to the fleet.

I enjoyed owing Dolce, and often look back on those times as a highlight of my sailing “career”.

[double u]

"...I’ve been out in 55 knots with 2 reef points and a small jyb and it sailed upright..."
"... Plenty of fin keel... But few will ever do a singlehanded circumnavigation..."
hmmmmm...

[Jim Cate]

"...I’ve been out in 55 knots with 2 reef points and a small jyb and it sailed upright..."

Perhaps he means that she didn't capsize!

And yes, the design is relatively slow. A look at the PHRF rating will demonstrate this fact unambiguously (as I mentioned upthread)... and averaging 150 miles per day is a dream inspired by either drugs or lack of cruising experience. Yep, I suppose that under exceptional conditions the odd 150 mile day will happen, but to average that distance in cruise mode is unlikely (!). As evidence, our best ever days run in the Yankee 30 was 162 miles, made in tropical Storm Gil in 1983... 30-40 knots on a broad reach with good surfing waves, flying a storm jib and no mainsail. For that downwind trip to Hawaii we averaged 130 mpd. For the mostly upwind return voyage it was just under 120... and we were driving the boat pretty hard due to work schedules. (And no reasonable person would deny that the Yankee is a faster boat than the Alberg).

Of course, these facts don't mean that one shouldn't go cruising in an Alberg 30... but also one should not be anticipating unrealistic performance figures.

Jim