Cape Dory 28 for a new guy

[Far North100]

Greetings all,

First off, I'm you would call a new guy to sailing. I've only been on a sailboat a few times. Sailing is something I have wanted to get into for a while and I am finally in a position where I can start working towards that.
I am looking for a good boat to learn on in sheltered waters (not interested in biting off more than I can chew). There is a cape dory 28 for sail that I am looking at. I've looked it over and the hull seems sound. (I actually used to build fiberglass boats, so I'm pretty confident on judging the condition of the hull). My main question would be if this is a decent boat to learn on. I've been on the water a lot, but that was always on powerboats. Like I said earlier, I've only been on a sailboat a few times before and don't want to get something more than I can handle. 28ft seems on the bigger side of what you would want to start out with, but then again, I'm not much of a judge on that. I have friends who have sailed before who don't mind teaching a thing or two, but I wouldn't want to count on having someone else around overtime I want to go on the water. Anyone out there have experience with this boat model? Would a Cape Dory 28 be a good boat to learn on? Or should I look for something else?
Thanks in advance for your input.

[tenchiki]

If you are new to sailing, I would start with a MUCH smaller boat. Generally, the smaller the boat you learn on, the better a sailor you end up. The smaller boats react much faster (that is, faster feedback to you as you are learning what to do), there is much less to go wrong and to get between you and the sailing. When things go wrong (and they will when you are learning), you can do a lot of damage in a 28ft sailboat! With a dingy, you might only end up wet...
Generally with a car-toppable or small trailerable, you don't have to worry about slip fees, haulouts, (mostly) insurance, and when things break or get lost, they are a lot cheaper and easier to replace. Plus, you can try out different places to go sailing.
When you have spent some time learning, then you will have a better idea what kind of bigger boat to get.

[laika]

Tenchiki makes some very good points, and based on vibe I get from your post I guess I'd agree. But it really depends on where you're heads at. If you're looking to simply learn to sail and just have some fun on the water, then a smaller boat makes a lot more sense for all the reasons mentioned. But a cape dory 28' isn't necessarily too much boat to learn on and could be a great boat to begin cruising on if that's what you're looking for. In my experience, the learning to sail part is a lot faster than the managing the onboard systems part of a cruising boat.