Downsizing to a pocket cruiser/Trailerable Sailboat?

[fireman182]

Hello

Anyone here have any experience downsizing from a 30+ foot boat to a pocket cruiser between 20 to 26 feet?

Looking to make the switch from big heavy cruiser to something smaller in an effort to get out and enjoy it more.

[Wolfe10]

Where do you sail?


Day sail, weekender or extended overnights?


Performance or comfort?


Approximate budget?

[fireman182]

Originally Posted by Wolfe10

Where do you sail?


Day sail, weekender or extended overnights?


Performance or comfort?


Approximate budget?

I currently have a Westsail 32 on the great lakes. We originally got the boat as a weekend getaway with sailing as a secondary priority.

Weve changed our priorities and we now like to spend the day at the boat instead of spending nights. We get out less and less to sail. Its a great live aboard cottage but not what I want to do anymore.

We see the small boats go out more and with less effort. Prefer to do weekend getaways cruising while decreasing expenses.

Budget is about what I could sell a Westsail for.

Considering Falmouth Cutter 22, Nor Sea 27, Bristol Channel Cutter 26/28

[Adelie]

You need to consider what you will tow with and maximum capacity of that vehicle.

C&C Mega 30.

[fireman182]

Looking more for peoples experiences going to smaller boat from a larger one.

[5BTM]

Alberg22
Shark 24
DS 22

[sleepy]

are u selling ur westsail??

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by fireman182

Looking more for peoples experiences going to smaller boat from a larger one.

I downsized from 44 ft to 26, but the 26 was a Contessa. Slow as a slug and very wet ride. But a beauty! BAD decision.

If I were doing that, I would look for something fast and light with some beam.
Keep the boat simple and easy to maintain and put away after a sail.
You are not overnighting, so why not? Downsizing is difficult enough without losing a ton of speed also.

Forget the Nor Sea 27. Bristol Channel Cutters 26/28 are cool but about the same situation as your Westsail really.... a bit complicated and plenty of maintenence.

Falmouth Cutter 22, are fast boats. The Falmouth 22 will out sail your Westsail a lot of the time, so there's that I guess.

But maybe you want a fun boat.

[Benz]

If your goal is to daysail only, why not get something sporty that will be fast and fun? The boats you listed are heavy for their size, and meant for shorthanded passagemaking. Also they're pretty pricey, when you could get a small Catalina for a lot less.
If you must have a full-keel, liveaboard sort, my biggest requirement for small boats is headroom--gotta be able to stand up inside.
By the way, @celestialsailor was selling a WS28 very reasonably. If he still has it, that'd be my first choice for a smaller, heavy boat that's easy and fun to sail.

[JeffBurright]

I downsized from a 30-ft to a Northwest 21 that we tow around the Pacific Northwest with a F250 diesel. We left the 30-footer in Mexico, and our theme with the smaller boat was simpler exploration of our home waters. Every summer we take it up to the lake an hour away and spend weekends sail-camping, and we've also taken it up to the San Juans, on Columbia River trips, and very seldomly on a day trip somewhere. The latter is more of a pain than is usually worth it, what with the trailer logistics and raising/lowering the mast. Nowadays we can get from launch dock to trailered and secured in 1-2 hours.



After a few days my back starts to hurt from not having the standing headroom, and I don't think we would do it if our model of boat didn't have a head with a door. Dinghy stowage and towing is a bit of an issue also, and we have tended toward using a SUP as time goes on to save the hassle of an inflatable dink. Our smaller boat is a bit of a pig too for upwind sailing, with a short fat profile and prone to significant heel in higher winds, which has made me miss our old larger boat at times, especially with the big winds on our summer lake. A performance sailer this is not. This model has lots of space down below though, which makes the tradeoff to a smaller boat more feasible for the type of use we want.



All that said, we've done up to two weeks on the boat in the San Juans and had some great little adventures and waterborne memories over the past 7 years. We have a 3-year-old boy that's grown with the boat, and it's just about right sized for the three of us. Nothing beats a downwind sail followed by hot cocoa around our little woodstove.

[fireman182]

Originally Posted by sleepy

are u selling ur westsail??

Considering it yes

[fireman182]

Originally Posted by Cheechako

I downsized from 44 ft to 26, but the 26 was a Contessa. Slow as a slug and very wet ride. But a beauty! BAD decision.

If I were doing that, I would look for something fast and light with some beam.
Keep the boat simple and easy to maintain and put away after a sail.
You are not overnighting, so why not? Downsizing is difficult enough without losing a ton of speed also.

Forget the Nor Sea 27. Bristol Channel Cutters 26/28 are cool but about the same situation as your Westsail really.... a bit complicated and plenty of maintenence.

Falmouth Cutter 22, are fast boats. The Falmouth 22 will out sail your Westsail a lot of the time, so there's that I guess.

But maybe you want a fun boat.

Ya thats true. The old cruisers can be difficult. I think you're right simple and easy is a priority. Did you have any regrets selling your 44 foot boat?

[fireman182]

Originally Posted by JeffBurright

I downsized from a 30-ft to a Northwest 21 that we tow around the Pacific Northwest with a F250 diesel. We left the 30-footer in Mexico, and our theme with the smaller boat was simpler exploration of our home waters. Every summer we take it up to the lake an hour away and spend weekends sail-camping, and we've also taken it up to the San Juans, on Columbia River trips, and very seldomly on a day trip somewhere. The latter is more of a pain than is usually worth it, what with the trailer logistics and raising/lowering the mast. Nowadays we can get from launch dock to trailered and secured in 1-2 hours.



After a few days my back starts to hurt from not having the standing headroom, and I don't think we would do it if our model of boat didn't have a head with a door. Dinghy stowage and towing is a bit of an issue also, and we have tended toward using a SUP as time goes on to save the hassle of an inflatable dink. Our smaller boat is a bit of a pig too for upwind sailing, with a short fat profile and prone to significant heel in higher winds, which has made me miss our old larger boat at times, especially with the big winds on our summer lake. A performance sailer this is not. This model has lots of space down below though, which makes the tradeoff to a smaller boat more feasible for the type of use we want.



All that said, we've done up to two weeks on the boat in the San Juans and had some great little adventures and waterborne memories over the past 7 years. We have a 3-year-old boy that's grown with the boat, and it's just about right sized for the three of us. Nothing beats a downwind sail followed by hot cocoa around our little woodstove.

Wow that sounds great! Its amazing the opportunities that open up with a small sail boat that can be trailered.

Looks like it was worth downsizing. Great story thank you!

[Ungvar]

We downsized from a Fantasia 35 (35 ft, 24000 pound) live aboard to a 21 ft trailer sailer about 6 years ago.

Best decision ever, while we spent more nights on the 35 footer, we sail the trailer sailer so much more and in so many more interesting places. With the trailer sailer we can be from Ontario to Florida in 2 days. A couple month long trip in the 35 footer. Ontario to Cape Breton, 2 days. Storage /mooring fees are zero, we keep it in our drive way.

And the trailer sailer sails better than our heavy old long keeled beast. It accelerates faster, it maneuvers better. Hardly ever need to use the engine where as with the big old 70s boat the Deisel was critical to just about everything.

All the trailer sailers you listed are heavy with big rigs and will be a pain to launch and rig. When it comes to trailering light and fast are good.

[thomm225]

A friend of mine sold his Westsail 32 and got a Cape Dory 25.

He put an electric outboard in the well and bought new sails for it.

He likes it because it's so easy to single hand as compared to a Westsail 32 (docking etc)

My boat is similar (Bristol 27)

Easy to sail, dock, maintain........

His boat (the Cape Dory 25) was free, mine almost free at $2,000