Comparison of production sloops

[skipperr100]

Island Packet is my favoite. Thouroughly enjoy it for all the right reasons.

[Sabbatical II]

Originally Posted by TopperHarley

Hi,

I was wondering if anyone could provide a few thoughts on the pros and cons of various current model production yachts.... Are they all the same or does each manufacturer differentiate ?

Subjective personal opinions welcome !!

The few that come to mind are; Beneteau, Jeanneau, Hanse, Bavaria, Catalina, Hunter

Thanks,
Craig.

These manufacturers are all alike in that they are around the same price give or take $20,000, so they are competing for the same customers. Because they are all competing at the cheapest end of the market, as a manufacturer they have very little ability to be radically different from their competitors. There is nothing wrong with being cheap either. In my opinion they all represent excellent buying in Australia at the moment. I have sailed on Beneteau, Catalina, Bavaria & Hanse but not Jenneau. Out of all of these I like the Catalina's best. However you need a boat to suit your requirements and if you want to be able to sail single handed in mainly enclosed waters I think that the Hanse wins by a long margin for 2 reasons.

1. It's the only one that comes standard with a self tacking headsail. This would make it considerably easier to sail on Sydney Harbour or Pittwater.
2. The Hanse product is very well supported by the local agent (Windcraft). I hear nothing but praise their customer focus.

See you at the boatshow!

BTW - I have no connection to Windcraft except that I test drove a 400e and then chose to build a semi-custom Bluewater Cruising Yacht (which will also be at the boat show) instead.