Elizabethan 30 or Not

[Noema]

Hello all

I am new here and please forgive me if I have posted in the wrong section and no doubt similar questions have been posted by many others!

I am relatively new to sailing and certainly couldn’t afford the boats I have gained my experience on. Hence I am interested to get your thoughts on the Elizabethan 30 re sea keeping/kindliness and family accommodation etc.

I intend to sail the North cost of N Ireland-West Coast of Scotland with my two children (9-&15) and my wife. I have a budget of 12-15K or maybe a little more. Comments and or other suggestions are welcomed.

Cheers!

 

[Duffer]

Welcome to the forum. I haven't sailed one but I am sure plenty of others on here have and can also advise on alternatives.

 

[richardh10]

Welcome

I've got an Elizabethan 29,and they are a very sea kindly boat. I would imagine the 30 is similar. I can highly recommend the Elizabethan owners Association and you can contact the secretary at EOASecretary@hotmail.com. They have masses of usful information.

I'm sure Evadne will be along soon - he is another owner

Good luck

 

[Robin]

Hello all

I am new here and please forgive me if I have posted in the wrong section and no doubt similar questions have been posted by many others!

I am relatively new to sailing and certainly couldn’t afford the boats I have gained my experience on. Hence I am interested to get your thoughts on the Elizabethan 30 re sea keeping/kindliness and family accommodation etc.

I intend to sail the North cost of N Ireland-West Coast of Scotland with my two children (9-&15) and my wife. I have a budget of 12-15K or maybe a little more. Comments and or other suggestions are welcomed.

Cheers!

I owned one for 5 years but sold it 25 years or more ago. I'm biassed but I loved that boat. David Thomas (he of Sigma fame) designed the Liz 30 and I think owns one now himself, or did a couple of years back and that says a lot. They were originally designed to be raced at Half Ton Cup level ( a rating formula) and to win a World Champs that was held where they expected to meet strong winds and have lots of hard upwind work. In the event the winds were very light and they were beaten by the Scampi design from Peter Norlin (I think). I'm sitting in my office now and can see 3 pictures on the wall of mine and I have a half model of her over the fireplace in the lounge, like I said I loved that boat!

Mine was called Callisto of Parkstone and it was last heard of in Scotland but was I think for sale last year, there are some nice videos of it on youtube if you do a search.

PS edit added. They are very different to the Liz29 which is a long keeler whereas the Liz30 is a fin and skeg.

 

[Kurrawong_Kid]

My wife and I had one for 10 years and cruised extensively with ours, together with 3 children who were 11, 8 and 4 when we bought her. As the children grew up the elder two drifted away in their late teens but the lad continued until he literally outgrew her (6'4" tall). She sailed very well and was easy to handle. Highly recommended. A slightly better accommodation is to be found in the Hummingbird, which was the same hull and rig but a different coachroof.

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

Welcome aboard. The Elizabethans have a lot of supporters and a very good pedigree. I have not sailed one, but i would like to.

I am sure you will have a few replies form other forumites who know the Liz 30

 

[Clyde_Wanderer]

I have the Hummingbird 30 which shares the same hull of the E30 but as a previous poster says more internal space vetical transom and more headroom, but probably a slightly smaller cockpit.
Here are links to Yachtsnet which have info on both.
C_W

http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/elizabethan-30/elizabethan-30.htm

http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/hummingbird-30/hummingbird-30.htm

 

[Judders]

Great boats.

If DTDB himself has one, of all the fantastic boats he designed, then that is endorsement enough.

They're very different to the long keeled 29 though. One is a racey (for the era) half tonner*, the other is an large folkboat derivative. We found this to our cost. SWMBO had sailed on DTDBs Liz 30 as a teenager and loved it but remembered it as a 29. I found a 29 we could afford but imagine her disappointment when it was compeltely the wrong design.

*not that early half tonners like the Liz 30, Albin Ballad and Dufour Arpege should be confused with later skiffier rocket ships like a Humphreys MG 30, Golden Shamrock or the one offs that dominated later on. It was a class that saw a huge amount of evolution.

 

[Noema]

Just to say thanks to everyone for the warm welcome and the advice which is really helpful and as this will be my first boat I don’t want to make a huge mistake.

I have also spotted a Cobra 850 with an impressive specification but again ill need to do some more research.

Thanks again and any additional comments or suggestions are welcomed!

 

[Blueboatman]

Great boat, great performance, great underwater shape, just make sure you can all fit in there comfortably( cockpit dodger and enclosure?).

 

[Noema]

Elizabethan

Just to say thanks to everyone for the warm welcome, the information and suggestions all of which is appreciated; another concern is head height as I am 6’2’’

Thanks again.

 

[Duffer]

I thought you might get some positive feedback! Let us know how you get on.

 

[Robin]

Just to say thanks to everyone for the warm welcome, the information and suggestions all of which is appreciated; another concern is head height as I am 6’2’’

Thanks again.

Headroom was better on later models which had a slightly lowered floor but the companionway hatch is designed so that there is more headroom under it when the hatch is closed, you will see what I mean better than I can describe it. We had the earlier version with a flat floor and deeper bilge but I'm 6ft and it was fine for me, but another 2" would have you ducking a bit, although better probably on the later one (or on the Hummingbird version).

 

[jonic]

Lovely boats, really lovely.