Should I consider a ketch as a first boat?

[flightlead404]

I'm looking for my first boat, or first one I couldn't pick up and put on the roof of my car anyway.

Up to now I've been avoiding ketches, focusing on sloops. I've looked at a couple of cutters but they didn't fit the bill.

I've come across a mid-eighties Pearson 365 ketch that meets all my criteria except its a ketch.

This is for FL keys gunkholing, probably coming up north in the summer, possible Bahamas in 2022.

[psk125]

You don't have to hoist the mizzen if you don't want to. On a reach it might add .5 knots. Once you're anchored it can be useful for keeping you pointed into the wind.

[Group9]

One other advantage to a ketch is that they generally have a lower overall mast height than a comparable sloop rigged boat of the same length. That can be significant if there are lower bridges that you have to get under in your area.

[Rob_P]

I'm still looking and dreaming but from what I see, a ketch isn't any more difficult to sail than a sloop or cutter. There are more lines but that's about it. Based on what I've read, Amel used to only build Ketches in the beginning because they're easier to sail shorthanded when only 1 person is on watch during passage. If it were me, and for me it is, I wouldn't rule them out.

[hukilaumike]

You won't be able to take full advantage of the rig until you get some experience, but there's nothing inherently more difficult about sailing a ketch over a sloop. The biggest issue with that boat as a ketch is that the mizzen is smack in the middle of the cockpit, taking up valuable room. On top of that, you have the additional cost of maintaining the mizzen rigging and sails. I'd be considering those two things before pulling the trigger on this boat.

[Sparx]

Ketches are just fine. Nothing difficult about sailing a ketch. I could go on about the advantages of a ketch, but instead I will summarize that if you have found a boat you like the fact that it is a ketch is not a concern.

[Jackg]

I have a 32' ketch, rather small for that rig, but love it. Some of the reasons:


- More strings to pull. We are sailors, after all, and it's fun to adjust sails.
- More sail combinations possible, making it easier to balance the boat.
- The mizzen boom is useful as a loading boom for the dink's outboard motor.
- When the wind pipes up we drop the main and sail under jib and mizzen, keeping the boat beautifully balanced.
- On one trip back from Bermuda in a bad gale we hove to under just a reefed mizzen, which sure beat going forward to raise the staysail.
- More stays means more things to hang on to.
- Ratlines on the mizzen stays are great for navigating in coral.

- The mizzen staysail doesn't do much for us, but looks really cool!

[Mike OReilly]

My first boat (at least the first I owned) was a ketch. Great rig. Sure, there's a bit more standing rigging, and sailing this rig is a little different than a simple sloop, but there are a lot of benefits to this type of rig. I certainly would not avoid a ketch.

The Pearson 365 is a great boat. I looked long at hard at a few before settling on my current boat (a cutter).

[LLCoolDave]

There were a handful of Pearson 365 sloops made. They pop up for sale every now and again. The ketch does make it harder to have a bimini and solar power. If you like the 365 and want to gunkhole then a Pearson 35 would be a great boat. Its a sloop. It has a shoal draft with a centerboard. Prices are very simiar to the 365. I own a 367 which is the same hull, cutter rig with a ft deeper draft and larger rudder. It has a bit nicer interior than most of the 365s, more wood, no pilot berths. Bristol 35.5 is also a nice shoal draft/centerboard boat in same size.

[skipmac]

Second all the above comments.

I've owned ketches, sloops and cutters. For some specific reasons I wanted sloop or cutter rig for my current boat.

Based on my intended use for longer passages I wanted a sloop or cutter because it will point higher so better for long upwind sails. Florida to the USVI is a long upwind slog so it matters there. For shorter trips and less of a need for a long beat to windward I wouldn't let a ketch be a deal breaker.

[flightlead404]

Originally Posted by LLCoolDave

The ketch does make it harder to have a bimini and solar power.

Ah, I had not even considered this. This could be the deal killer.

[TrentePieds]

Quote: "...meets all my criteria except its a ketch."

What, precisely, is it about ketches that worries you?

TP

[Jdege]

I just bought my first cruising boat, and it's a 37-foot ketch.

Haven't done much with it, yet, just got it ready to sit through the winter.

But I have to say, getting the sails off of the boat, into my compact car, and into a closet in the house for the winter, was a lot easier than I had expected.

More sails means smaller sails, which means easier to handle.

[FionaJC]

I have a 34' Colvic Victor Ketch. I was worried about having two sticks as I was just a dinghy sailor and did all my courses on a single stick. I have had my boat for 20 years and I wouldnt consider going back to a single stick.

Just sail and forget about it. Its easier when you jibe as your main boom and sail isn't as big. Its nice and stable and when you need to reduce sail it has a nice balance of rolled genoa and reefed main.

In rolling seas it gives a sort of help against the rocking.

Its no harder to sail than a bermuda rig. I have a saloon being a motor sailer so I have 200W of solar. VHF and Radar on front stick and AIS/ spare vhf on Mizzen.

[Bamboo1]

Hi,
Our first boat was a ketch and couldn't recommend them highly enough.
You have so many sail options and we found ours so stable.
I would recommend self tailing winces and we use our mizzen winch to lower and raise the dinghy on its David's.
Whichever way you go, enjoy and safe sailing.
Cheers,
John.