Birdseye
Well-known member
If you want something both older and cheaper then there is an Arpege for sale at my club for 7500 asking.
32ft cruiser/racer, what would you buy to sail single handed?
- Thread starter ifoxwell
- Start date
flaming
Well-known member
Great boats, but a bit racy for the OP I'd have thought? Especially the A31. And not really that great a rep shorthanded. I've done a bit of sailing on an A35, and whilst they can clearly be very competitive, I did find it a bit tweaky, and I'll never forget sailing against one of the first here, who would have everyone except the driver and the kite trimmer on the bow when going downwind in the light in a desperate attempt to get the arse out of the water. Quick they may have been, but it looked ridiculous.
Cheburator
New member
Funny you should say that. I have written instructions by Jeanneau to do that on the JOD in light airs as the flat and wide arse, great it may be for planning in a blow, is a right drag in light airs. Imagine what it must be like on Elan 45s...
Judders
Active member
The advice from the Hunter 707 class was to put two crew in the "forepeak" downwind.
If you're ever seen the "forepeak" of a Hunter 707 you may well think that any skipper who tried would struggle to find crew pretty quickly.
If you're ever seen the "forepeak" of a Hunter 707 you may well think that any skipper who tried would struggle to find crew pretty quickly.
flaming
Well-known member
I have a friend who was very excited to be asked to crew on one of the big shiny carbon things. Begged us to be allowed to skip off on us for a day at Cowes to do so. Forecast was light, so we said ok.
He spent the entire day down below in the forepeak, his only role in the racing was to be one of 3 similar cave dwellers pull the kite down through the forehatch. They didn't even know they'd finished until the engine was started.
I cannot imagine inviting someone to come for a sail then not allowing them on deck.
Georgio
New member
I would have thanked that particular skipper by leaving my lunch behind, not my idea of racing for fun.
Georgio
New member
For other ideas you may wish to take a look at the Solo Offshore Racing Club website for what their members race with.
SORC held an intro and training day on Saturday just gone that was well attended by a range of boats that included a Parker 275, 2x Contessa 32's, Dehler 33, JPK1010, SunFast 3200 and 3600, J105, A35.
SORC held an intro and training day on Saturday just gone that was well attended by a range of boats that included a Parker 275, 2x Contessa 32's, Dehler 33, JPK1010, SunFast 3200 and 3600, J105, A35.
TSB240
Well-known member
Not that I am biased but I see the overall winner was in a Hanse 291/301 based on the Aphrodite hull.
I have not raced mine but in cruise mode the self tacking job is a doddle to use. Off wind I set a bigger overlapping laminate Genoa.
Don't know how well they handicap but there are more than this solo one doing well in big events.
It's a boat for a short ass though!
roblpm
Well-known member
Cool.
A couple of points. The Sorc website is great except it doesn't seem to publish full race results so it is a bit difficult to work out how particular boats are doing? Maybe its top secret?!
I have a Parker 275. Would be good in light winds single handed I think but in higher winds the lack of a proper keel and weight on the rail would be hard work I think? Would be very interested to know who it is and how they get on.
Lastly my father used to live in Gosport. Unfortunately he died so I haven't got a base there! Its a bit of a way to get to the races from Edinburgh!
roblpm
Well-known member
Also interested to see how the Contessa 32s get on.
Judders
Active member
The only one I know of racing is White Mischief which does very well. Pretty too.
https://www.hanseyachts.com/media/documents/test_review/252095.pdf
Georgio
New member
The results are all there on the site, you will need to do to the race reports for last season and then view the results from there.
The solo round the island is normally the race with the biggest entry, I have done it for the last three years.
The Hanse has done very well, it helps that the skipper is a very good sailor IMO and the boat sails well to it's handicap.
Georgio
New member
There were two Co32's racing on and off with SORC last year, I was one of them and plan to do quite a bit more with them this season. Managed to get some pretty reasonable results in the events I entered and finished 3rd overall in IRC 2 for the inshore series.
The other Co32 owner has sold and moved to a Sunfast 3200, there are a number of them in the SORC fleet.
I have subsequently persuaded two more Co32's to try solo racing this season. While the design is much older than most of the boats racing in the fleet I find that they are a good platform for solo racing and very manageable.
Most of the solo boys and girls race with a smaller head sail to make tacking easier and I do the same although it's still an overlapping genoa due to the 70's masthead rig with a skinny main.
roblpm
Well-known member
Oops. Got them thanks
Judders
Active member
When I decided I wanted a Contessa 32 years ago, a chum pointed me towards a Centurion 32.
Having sailed both I have to say I think the Centurion is the better boat. However, I would never underplay the great benefit of having an OD. Even in a handicap fleet, having a few others of the same design is a massive learning curve and keeps you honest (you can never say 'it wasn't our conditions today' when another boat the same is six places ahead of you).
Having sailed both I have to say I think the Centurion is the better boat. However, I would never underplay the great benefit of having an OD. Even in a handicap fleet, having a few others of the same design is a massive learning curve and keeps you honest (you can never say 'it wasn't our conditions today' when another boat the same is six places ahead of you).
Georgio
New member
Never sailed a Centurion but it does look remarkably similar on paper.
The other benefit of a well known (and well raced) boat such as the Co32 is that there is a great support network of owners via the class association (and the original builder). There is a huge wealth of information available from long-standing owners and the association on how to get get a boat up to speed or info on the best way to fix stuff that breaks or wears out.
The other benefit of a well known (and well raced) boat such as the Co32 is that there is a great support network of owners via the class association (and the original builder). There is a huge wealth of information available from long-standing owners and the association on how to get get a boat up to speed or info on the best way to fix stuff that breaks or wears out.
michael_w
Well-known member
Scampi. With the OP's budget, fettle her and have very good sails, a real rating bandit, will eat most boats for breakfast of a similar size upwind and they'll all give the Scampi time.
Judders
Active member
Ain't that the truth. Not much worries an Impala on a beat but we got done by a double handed Scampi once last year. I think my Co owner almost bought one that evening!
Judders
Active member
If we're mentioning Contessas, Centurions, Arpeges and Scampis, we should probably mention the Albin Ballad and the Elizabethan 30 too.
All built along the same lines and all rate well for passage racing but all need big headsails to really get going which is not ideal for short handed.
Has anyone raced a Sadler 32 seriously? Given that David Sadler designed it as an improvement on his design for the Contessa, it ought to be as good?
All built along the same lines and all rate well for passage racing but all need big headsails to really get going which is not ideal for short handed.
Has anyone raced a Sadler 32 seriously? Given that David Sadler designed it as an improvement on his design for the Contessa, it ought to be as good?
mrming
Well-known member
There was talk of good autopilots earlier. The brand used by serious ocean racers (including Classe Mini) is NKE - a gyro stabilised system where a lot of work has gone into the programming to allow it to keep high performance boats on their toes. It also uses a hydraulic ram to steer which is very powerful and can react very fast when needed. It's not cheap though - the whole package including the instruments could run over £10k. The advantage is that it could turn many boats into a great single hander. If you know you can absolutely rely on the auto-pilot then you can concentrate on setting the right amount of sail and getting your nav and weather planning sorted.
