My first sailboat.

[Belle25]

A little about me. I have zero sailing experience and want to buy a sailboat. I'd like to skip the sailing dinghy phase and start with a keel boat. Before this thread, I spent considerable amount of time browsing tru this forum and posted a couple of replies. Here is my 'current' decision,
Catalina 22 or 25...
After a minimum amount of sailing classes, I wanna end up in one of those two and start the fun.
Good idea? Bad idea? What are your recommendations? Other boats that I should consider? Bigger or smaller sailboats maybe? Revision of plans necessary?
Thank you.

[DMF Sailing]

Originally Posted by Belle25

A little about me. I have zero sailing experience and want to buy a sailboat. I'd like to skip the sailing dinghy phase and start with a keel boat. Before this thread, I spent considerable amount of time browsing tru this forum and posted a couple of replies. Here is my 'current' decision,
Catalina 22 or 25...
After a minimum amount of sailing classes, I wanna end up in one of those two and start the fun.
Good idea? Bad idea? What are your recommendations? Other boats that I should consider? Bigger or smaller sailboats maybe? Revision of plans necessary?
Thank you.

You're in Jersey? Invest in classes here. Get up to ASA 103, and you'll be sailing Catalina 22s with an instructor, with other members. After a season of that, buy your boat. EDIT: It looks like they start you with the Catalina 22s in ASA 101. The better for you!!

https://asa.com/schools/new-jersey/b...boat-charters/

[Pandor]

Hi, Belle. I think either would be a fine be boat. You should have no be problem with either of those as your first boat.

[manitu]

Hi there , and welcome to the sailing world!

Now , there is much good to be said about starting with a dinghy.
Me , although having had a lot of small powerboats , I started my sail career with a 33 foot fin keel boat. I had a laser dinghy for a short period as a kid , but I never really learnt to use it properly.

But my 33' was a narrow and light folkboat , and I've had my share of hard docking's and groundings with it. Being a light boat , it never took any real damage from it.

The thing with light boats, they react fast to your input. It's so much easier to learn when the boat reacts at once when you trim the sails or adjust course.
My current boat is 35' but it's three times the boat I had before. (the folkboat)
Where I could feel the reaction when I adjusted something and the folkboat just shot away , In my current boat I have to look at the speedo for like 15 seconds , to check if I got it right.

While I guess I'm in the "a keelboat and a dinghy do not compare" crew, Ive have a confession to make: I just bought a Snipe two-man dinghy!
Dinghys are just tons of fun , and there is no reason you can't have both!
And I'm quite shure it will help me in my keelboat sailin too.

.manitu

[Spot]

Hello Bella,
A series of classes in the same or similar boat you are thinking of buying sounds perfect to me. Take the classes then buy the boat after hands-on and window shopping. Another consideration is whether you will be trailering the boat, having to rig and un-rig as part of a sail or will you have a place to slip or moor or the boat so it is in the water more ready to go? I trailer mine so I can avoid the slip fees and travel to different lakes. Closest lake is 1 mile, next biggest is 50 miles, farthest I have been is a little over 500 miles one way. I would say try some dinghies and day sailors too and see if the combination of rigging and sailing one type versus another speaks more clearly to you.

[jimbunyard]

If 'zero sailing experience' means you've never been on a sailboat, before you do or buy anything, rectify that situation.

As for skipping the 'dinghy phase' sure it's possible, but certainly not the best plan of action.

Besides being a hell of a lot of fun, most gain a fairly crucial lesson from their tiny boat experiences, intuition.

My first sailing was done on a Penguin, followed by a Sunfish, a Lightning and then windsurfers.

If I had it to do again, I'd have started with the windsurfers, for anticipation and intuition of how to respond to the wind's vagaries, as well as how to read it's subtleties, they are without equal.

The problem might be that the 'big' boat might seem a bit boring after the little ones, especially for a motorcycle racer.

As for the 22 vs the 25, that depends on your planned usage. For a liveaboard (!) the 25 might make more sense. For gunkholing maybe the centerboard 22 makes more...

Fairly objective reviews of both are here

https://www.practical-sailor.com/sai...he-catalina-25

https://www.practical-sailor.com/sai...ft/catalina-22

[sailingabe41ds]

This is so easy...take your ASA class and practice on the 22 before you do anything. Then you get the 25. That was easy.

Abe

[DMF Sailing]

Originally Posted by Belle25

A little about me. I have zero sailing experience and want to buy a sailboat. I'd like to skip the sailing dinghy phase and start with a keel boat. Before this thread, I spent considerable amount of time browsing tru this forum and posted a couple of replies. Here is my 'current' decision,
Catalina 22 or 25...
After a minimum amount of sailing classes, I wanna end up in one of those two and start the fun.
Good idea? Bad idea? What are your recommendations? Other boats that I should consider? Bigger or smaller sailboats maybe? Revision of plans necessary?
Thank you.

Belle, one reason I pointed you to this ASA school/club is because they start you out on the boat you want to buy.

Some may argue that you need to go through all manner of dinghies and such. At our ASA school in Boston, I've seen dozens of dozens of absolute beginners master our beginner boats, 27' Solings, in a matter or weeks. Size is not the issue. Ease of handling is.

Tons of people skip the dinghy/laser phase. It's taking seriously the on-board experience of the ASA 101 phase (or equivalent) that matters. Both for you to learn from experienced people, and to decide you love sailing.

I've given you $0.04 now, so I'll shut up and let others argue.

[jimbunyard]

Well yes, but what did you start out on... not arguing, just curious. I dont even know what ASA101 is, so I've not a leg to stand on there.

[DMF Sailing]

Originally Posted by jimbunyard

Well yes, but what did you start out on... not arguing, just curious. I dont even know what ASA101 is, so I've not a leg to stand on there.

Fair enough. ASA 101 is the equivalent of RYA 'day skipper.'

Thanks to my Canadian sea cadet dad, I 'started out' on the Bristol 22 (Pictured w/ Dad).

[EDIT: Sorry, I'm an Old, so I can't figure out how to make this a vertical :-| ]

Looks a bit like the 1972 version of a Catalina 22 ;-)

Morgan Classic 33, your boat, Jim, looks like a beautiful boat

[LittleWing77]

Originally Posted by DMF Sailing

Fair enough. ASA 101 is the equivalent of RYA 'day skipper.'

Sorry DMF, but I will respectfully disagree that ASA 101 is NOT the equivalent of RYA anything.

RYA training is the world gold standard. Nothing the ASA offers would ultimately be equivalent to RYA qualifications

Kindly meant,
LittleWing77

[wolfgal]

hey girl! welcome!

i'm not a boat owner yet either, but my experience so far has taught me something that could be helpful to you

learning to sail, building confidence, getting experience, getting a few certificates..., yes, yes, yes, baby steps. but, at this point, before buying a boat, i would recommend that you experience some rough weather, some hairy-scary moments while sailing.

why? some folks are fine when others are not: there's panic, there's white-knuckled paralysis, and there's just-start-yelling-at-everyone-else mode... all kinds of reactions can be had. knowing yourself, how you handle these situations, is important and only you can jump this hoop.

some folks never come back from that hairy-scary SHTF moment and bag it, even after having sunk their savings into a boat.

so, i recommend that, before buying, you test yourself and assess whether you still love sailing while in rough conditions.


good luck to you!


wolfie

p.s. if you are young and really want sailing to be an important part of your life, do yourself a huge favour and avoid settling down with a non-sailor. each and every day, make sure all of your decisions point in the direction of your dream. life is much too short for detours.

[wolfgal]

more advice for you:

pick up a copy of
Know Your Boat: The Guide to Everything That Makes Your Boat Work
by David Kroenke

it is a beginner's guide to understanding boat systems. if you do not know much yet, this should take the mystery out of it, help you know your way around the bigger books that follow

[jimbunyard]

Originally Posted by DMF Sailing

Fair enough. ASA 101 is the equivalent of RYA 'day skipper.'

Thanks to my Canadian sea cadet dad, I 'started out' on the Bristol 22 (Pictured w/ Dad).

[EDIT: Sorry, I'm an Old, so I can't figure out how to make this a vertical :-| ]

Looks a bit like the 1972 version of a Catalina 22 ;-)

Morgan Classic 33, your boat, Jim, looks like a beautiful boat

Got nothing to do with age, as far as I know there's no way to rotate pictures via an on site tool; it has to be done externally. (typical capitalist site-owners)

Here you go, I use paint, but others say there're easier ways.


Thanks, you'll make the 52 year old wench blush. For a 250.00 (plus a few thousand for little stuff like engine, sails, yard fees, glass & resin, etc., and oh yeah, 'free' labor) Katrina victim though, she still looks pretty good, and has really nice lines...to me anyway.

[DMF Sailing]

Originally Posted by LittleWing77

Sorry DMF, but I will respectfully disagree that ASA 101 is NOT the equivalent of RYA anything.

RYA training is the world gold standard. Nothing the ASA offers would ultimately be equivalent to RYA qualifications

Kindly meant,
LittleWing77

Pardon mon ignorance. I actually had no idea.

I was looking for something that meant "non-American first sailing class that gives you a certificate that an ASA-affiliated club will accept as the basis for sailing daysailer" and plugged in the first thing I thought off. Thanks for pointing that out, Wing. I move to strike my comment from the record Belle, I apologize for posting that piece of misinformation.

Chastened, in a good way,

DMF