alant
Well-Known Member
Any aficianado's with personal experience of these?
Really under-rated. My dad had one for about three years and he and I absolutely loved it. He sold it because it was hardly getting used
I still wish he'd kept it.
A little bit tender when it got really windy, but fantastic performance in light winds, and if I knew then what I know now (not much!!) then strong winds would have been good fun too, you just need to know how to depower a fractional rig.
Good accommodation for its size and seemed well put together. If I was in the market for a 20' trailer-sailer it would be right at the top of my list. In fact I can't think of a boat that size that I would rather sail, but that may be me looking through the slightly rose-tinted glasses of nostalgia....
Think of a little Sonata with a lift keel (better arrangement than the LK Sonata's swing keel) and you get the picture. Way way better (IMO) than competitors such as Swift 18 etc. The only other one I'd look at would be a Gem Micro, but that's smaller and more dinghy-like.
Hope this helps.
F5 and up really, but then its only a 20' boat. I should say that it was quite a long time ago (ie about 20 something years) since we had it. If we'd reefed it down and bladed everything out it would have been fine and would have been a great little cruising boat. I think my dad expected it to sail like a Pandora or something that is substantially stiffer. Personally I now prefer tweaky boats that you have to work in a breeze.
There used to be one on Windermere, and I think he did ok in the light stuff (<F3) but wasn't overly competitive when it got windier.