Smaller fin keel boats for offshore sailing?

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by MacSails

Two. Both are old enough to be interested, but a little young to crew. In a couple of years my eldest should be able to help out.

Two’s good, each gets a quarter berth or pilot berth and the adults hot-bunk the dinette when sailing thru the night or in a rolly anchorage. Otherwise they share the V-berth. Three kids would be hard to find enough dedicated berths without the boat getting a lot bigger.

Keep in mind that a drifter nor any other light air sail will NOT solve the problem of a short mast and or very heavy boat. A boat with a higher SA/D ratio (17 & up) probably has the potential to sail well in light airs and drifters, chute, CodeZeros and other nylon sails will enable it to sail well. A boat with a low SA/D 12-14 or 15) will probably not sail well in light airs even with the best light air sails. The result will be more motoring than you might like.

SA/D gives you an idea of the power to weight that a boat potentially has. In light to moderate weather is does a decent job of predicting boat speed. In heavy weather waterline length is the best predictor.

[MacSails]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

I just delivered two express 34's, and was quite impressed with the boat. Fast, very well built, and laid out for offshore sailing. One was delivery was from Hawaii back to the mainland (third in its class in the Pacific Cup) and one was just down the coast. The second was was for a J120 owner who was downsizing, and reportedly bought a boat which had been donated to the Boy Scouts for $20,000.

It certainly has a great reputation, and I might well overlook the fact that it is cored, but it seems to be vanishingly rare on this coast.

[Celestialsailor]

Originally Posted by argosail

Caliber 33 - much better for liveaboard
Yankee 30
Contessa 32 - much better for speed, I HAVE seen one for sale state-side but called the Contessa 33, check sailboatlistings . com
These all have skeg-hung rudders, often a must for offshore though open to debate

Much more likely to have tiller steering on the Contessa since often used as racers. No balsa in the hull for any, not sure about the deck.

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

I'll add my endorsement of the Yankee 30. I had one for 7 years, sailing in and from SF Bay. Did some racing, both solo and wiith crew, did several trips to SoCal islands and back and finally a round trip to Hawaii. All in all, logged around 25,000 miles. She was a delight to sail, stable, would self steer with a lashed tiller down to about 70-80 AWA and with sheet to tiller on most points of sail. A good all around S&S design for the ages.

Jim

I would agree with the recommendation of a Yankee 30, based on the quality of construction, pedigree (Sparkman Stevens). That said for a medium size family, a 30 footer might be tight. The other boats I would recommend is the Alan Gurney Islander 36...good speed and seaworthy with proper modifications and also the Pearson 365. Both these boats can be had for $30k and under and with a few bucks, turned into a very cruisible, fast boat.

[Joli]

We spent years racing/cruising full crew and double handed our Schock 35. Wonderful boat, quick, easy to sail and a great cruising boat for my wife and I and two kids. Not big enough or probably tough enough for ocean passaging but it would be fine for coastal. It was a fully cored boat.

[Glenn.Brooks]

Looks like you are in the northeast. Lots of older plastic classics in your area - Alberg 30 and cape dory are two similar Carl alberg designs you may run cross. There’s around 800 alberg 30’s built from around 1966 thru mid 80’s. Cape Dory went into production a bit latter. I see albergs listed for sale currently starting in the $5-$6k range for a basic weekender - up to as much as $30k for one or two fully outfitted for ocean sailing. I had an alberg30 for 10 years and found it to be a supberb boat for singlehanded sailing.

Iam in the camp that thinks smaller is better. So could recommend 24-30’ sloop would be a great boat to build sailing experience with, and be relatively modest in the pocketbook. many of these older Fiberglass hulls have excellent longevity due to their relatively heavy layup and generous amounts of resin used in the hull.

Good luck with your sailing career. Just jump in and learn as you go.