Boat search:Short hop coastal cruiser that sails well -gk24 or...?

Thanks all for ongoing suggestions and comments – starting to make some headway. A few comments I’ve jotted down whilst looking at suggestions, hopefully these won’t offend anyone – different horses for different courses…

Westerly Jouster spacious boat for the size, however I’d probably like to look a little larger and more modern.

Albin Vega is new to me – looks heavy ballast and seaworthy – will have to read up – suspect may be a little too on the steady side for a dinghy sailor!

Impala looks very tasty – however there doesn’t seem to be many around or much information out there on them.

Tiger looks ideal for cruising holiday. I have read terrible things about the sailing performance of Centaurs – should I be similarly worried by comparison?

T24 looks pretty rare. Found a few photos – looks like quite high topsides and. ... arrgh a wooden deck. Afraid I don’t have the time for a winter hobby too (!)

The Sonata looks quite reasonably priced and generally quite tidy. Lots seem to be lift keels. Do they hold it together in a sea? The Delta looks pretty spacious. I think I’m looking for a boat with an inboard (ease/economy/good in a sea), so that might be harder to find in these.

Twister – oh if I had the money, classic good looks – long keel and I imagine very good in a sea. I’m told by a colleague faster than they look too. There was a good joke in PBO about Rustler’s the other day – someone did a round trip of the UK, and they were only trying to manoeuvre a Rustler astern in the marina…

Trapper – Looks like plenty of boat for the money and well set up for cruising. Does the overhanging rudder it make very vulnerable? Being a dinghy sailor at the moment, not expecting to be an expert at manoeuvring straight away (!).

MGC 27 – wow. Draft towards top end at 5.4ft which starts to get trickier around here.

Think I’ve shortlisted either:
Day sailing/weekend cruise: Gk24, Eygthene 24, will also look at Hunters to see how they stack up against these. Can’t find much on Impala
If doing more cruising: Trapper 500, Sadler 25, Sadler 26, will look into MG’s…

Can any Sadler owners out there pass comment on the various Sadlers?

Cheers

Trev
 
Hi Trevelyn,

Consider also a Super Seal 26 by Ron Holland an early John Baker model may come within your range.Became a bit pricy when produced as the Parker 27

The original had internal ballast and not much in the lifting keel/daggerboard, so it is easy to pull up via a purchase.

Would win races too, but a knowledge of dinghy handling would be an asset, One was in a mini-transat once with a bit cut off the nose. Man called called Tatton- Brown may have been skipper. Good accomodation considering it is a very fast machine.Some did not have an inboard engine, I would fit a small diesel.
Good luck with search!
 
Agree 100% re. Super Seal 26. I spent 7 very happy seasons with one - good accommodation and truly exceptional sailing performance without being overly tender. Lifting keel means you can go anywhere, and there's a fantastic class association with loads of technical support.
 
Blimey... good thing I held back and didn't say that the rest of the Westerlys are ugly sisters next to the GK! (Yes days of crouching and severe neck pain would change that comment...)
 
I don't think you'll end up with one, but the actual performance of the Centaur is quite good, if a decent example properly handled.

My dad had a late one, it sailed pretty well ( he was ex dinghy, a huge advantage ) - the real problem was the 'feel' on the tiller, or rather the lack of it.

He'd previously sailed our Anderson 22 lift keeler, which has a tremendous feel on the tiller, just the right feedback but never gripes or broaches, and the rudder always stays immersed.

As we are both ex-BAe Harrier & Hawk trials test teams, Dad tried everything he or we could think of to improve the Centaur's feel, rudder tip fences, vortex generators, trail & leading edge extensions, you name it; in the end he gave up, saying 'he'd been spoiled by the Anderson'.

I would have suggested the Anderson 22 to you, as she's fast, seaworthy ( 3 have raced across the Atlantic, many have been through a fair bit inc' mine ), good interior for 22' with 4 berths & good sitting headroom,and has an outboard well.

In my view an outboard in a well is an ideal compromise, but this quickly disappears with larger boats.

On my A22 however, I can simply lift the engine and use an old breadknife to clear anything nasty around the prop' ( and that's worth a lot if risking being tethered by the stern by a lobster pot somewhere like Portland Inshore Passage ), I stow the engine and fit a fairing plug for a low drag hull when sailing, can take the engine home to work on it or for security, I don't pay through the nose for parts, and an engine change is a hell of a lot simpler ! I've motored across the channel in calms several times, a 5hp gives 5 knots, using a gallon every 2.5 hours.

Also the lift keel is well dsigned and she'll happily go on a drying mooring; this means a pictaresque sheltered mooring a short row from shore, rather than in the middle of nowhere at the mercy of weather & thieves like deep water moorings, and the tidal factor doesn't really matter as the harbour entrance and direction of tide are more restricted anyway.

The only thing against the Anderson for you is you seem to want something larger...if intrigued, www.anderson22class.co.uk

I've had a fin keel Carter 30 as well; nice enough boat, but after 3 seasons I sold her and bought my Anderson back !
 
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Trevelyan said:
T24 looks pretty rare. Found a few photos – looks like quite high topsides and. ... arrgh a wooden deck. Afraid I don’t have the time for a winter hobby too (!)
Click to expand...

Low freeboard, but high coachroof, yes.

The deck might vary boat to boat, but mine was plywood with GRP on top, and inside. It caused no problems in my ownership. It's perhaps more likely to go wrong than a balsa cored deck though.

Rare because they were expensive when new.

Draft may also be a problem.
 
looking at your requirements an MG Spring 25 might fit the bill.

Link to owners site http://www.freewebs.com/mgspring25/

The Spring 25 sails quite like a big dinghy and can be fast in the right conditions. Accommodation is good for its size with a separate double berth cabin squeezed in aft under the cockpit. Draft is 1.00m due to its wing keel and it can, on odd occasions and with care in selecting where, take the ground sitting on its wing and twin rudders.

There were eight in the RiR this year with some owners of boats from around the UK being invited to crew on local boats.

An idea of prices http://yachts.apolloduck.com/boats.phtml?id=717
 
The Centaur does seem to have a lot of followers. I've never been on one, however I have seen one or two sat moving not-very-fast-indeed in light airs, which would worry me. I think if I was thinking of doing more holidays along the coast (rather than weekend trips) then the temptation for this boat would be greater.

The Anderson looks like something a little different and seems to be thought of as solid. The idea of legs (tidal moorings a mixture of hard and soft bottom around here) makes me cringe - have 'enjoyed' all that on a friend's seamaster. I suppose I should take the point however that if it means there's a (lifting) fin keel configuration rather than twin keel this may pay dividends in sailing - presumably much better to windward? How do lifting keels in general cope in a blow?

I did look at Springs. Seem to have very mixed reviews. Quite like layout. Seen a few comments about build quality (generally only finish of trim though). Most worrying was mixed views about what they'd be like in a sea and suggestions that they could be a handful in a blow - perhaps not best first yacht? Is the MG 27 by comparison more sedate?

The search continues, thanks all for continued thoughts and suggestions...

Trev
 
Albin Vega's are pretty quick and a good compromise between easy handling, speed and comfort we have one for curising, not racing but can cover distance fairly quickly. The owners association is pretty active the link below is to the site if you want to do some more research:

http://www.albinvega.co.uk/
 
coastal cruiser

The tiger was by a diffrent designer (John Butler) than the centaur (Laurent Giles) fin keeled points better and is faster than the centaur very capable little ship, the pembroke was the fin keeled version of the centaur and the chieftan was the ketch rigged version with an aft cabin I believe.

JCH
 
MG Spring

I think that comments on build quality depend a lot on whether the boat is factory or home completion in most cases. Here is a link to my 1988 boat when I purchased three seasons ago http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2960379170099248514aXppwT

For what it is worth mine is OK in a blow; not the best but OK in conditions I choose. Reef to the conditions and expect to be a bit wet, as with any 2500kg boat. I haven't put mine through extreme weather but it is a 25 foot performance sailing boat so I tend to try to plan to avoid the experience.

FWIW and IMHO trying to find the absolute best compromise at the size and budget you have will mean you spend lots of time looking for the perfect boat and less time sailing.

I reckon that this by 'Boguing' sums it up really http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?t=197410&highlight=MG+Spring+25+++around+britain&page=2

Did I mention the separate double cabin aft :)
 
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joha said:
The tiger was by a diffrent designer (John Butler) than the centaur (Laurent Giles) fin keeled points better and is faster than the centaur very capable little ship, the pembroke was the fin keeled version of the centaur and the chieftan was the ketch rigged version with an aft cabin I believe.
Click to expand...

Three designs (afaik) used the 26 foot Laurent Giles hull:

Centaur: bilge keel, aft cockpit, sloop or ketch
Chieftain: bilge keel, centre cockpit, sloop only
Pembroke: fin keel, aft cockpit, sloop only.​

I don't think there was a centre cockpit fin-keel version, but I'm open to correction. Just for completeness, all the 31 footers were available with sloop or ketch rig:

Berwick: bilge keel, aft cockpit
Pentland: bilge keel, centre cockpit
Longbow: fin keel, aft cockpit
Renown: fin keel, centre cockpit​

Boy, did that company know how to use a hull design.
 
Mutlins,

I've seen some home-built boats which would put many a yard to shame, where people have taken their time and incorporated a lot of experience into a boat, rather than 'just another one on the line to finish'; yes there are some dogs around, but that includes some production boats...

I'd not arbritarily dismiss home built boats, if it fits the requirement simply go and look.
 
Focussing only on sailing ability for a keen dinghy sailor with limited spend and leaving you to decide about accommodation, condition etc. here is my list in performance order.
Hydro, Impala. Ruffian 23, Scampi, Trapper 300,, Trapper 240, Ruffian 8.5, Sonata, Eygthene, E boat, GK 24, Sadler, Delta.
There are others but these are all popular boats I have raced in or against and found hard to beat.
 
I would also advocate the T24, if you can find a good one with the superstructure in good order. Had many happy seasons on my mate's boat in all sorts of weather, but we learnt quite a lot about practical woodwork.

I have a larger boat now and offer the following for consideration:
http://www.easternyachts.com/catnap/index.htm
I noted that a copy of a 2007 survey is amongst the details, as well as some good photos both interior and exterior.

Rob.
 
Seawolf 26.

Good cruising boat and a Mark 1 version was 1st in class in the Round the Island Race 2010 so sails well.

But I am a teeny bit biased.;)
 
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