Hurley 22 or Sonata? Any other suggestions sub £5k?

If you want to take the boat to different areas the Anderson 22 with a trailer is great. Also a good seaboat when singlehanded and fast enough to surprise larger boats under some conditions.
The E boat and Sonata benefit from self moving ballast. And sink if pushed in the wrong conditions.(allegedly )
The H22 and Pandora are prettier (arguably)
The Duette has somewhat better accommodation and looks more modern but is slower, and scarier in the rough I'm told.
I don't know about the others mentioned.
I have a connection , but my Anderson isn't for sale!
 
Westerly Jousters are very nice, but getting rather long in the tooth now, as the last one was made in 1976. Very well made (apart from the keel attachment - if it hasn't been beefed up, check carefully and sceptically) and unlike other Westerlies of the time it actually goes very well. As it should, because it was designed for JOG racing before the JOG racers all got old and fat and decided that the small boats they couldn't fit into any more were inherently unsafe.
 
Good memories of Snotty racing in Plymouth Sound in the mid 70's, but two of the most extreme things ever to happen to in a sailing boat happened in the Snotty...

1. Tacking in a 4-5, we got a riding turn on the easing sheet (I was on the "new" sheet), and she slammed around and went flat (as in spreaders touched the water) and I was up to my elbows in sea water leaning on the coaming...
2. We broached under kite, and the transition through 90 degrees in front of the Fox Terrier on our weather quarter was fast enough to make your head spin... and again we finished up nearly flat....
 
Medway Yacht Club has a good fleet of Sonatas racing on Saturdays, one of the nicer ones with lots of new gear is up for about 5.5k and there's another one without much use recently for much less than that.

Might be worth a trip if you're serious about getting one.
 
IMHO a better small cruiser/racer than a Sonata is a Ruffian 23: about the same speed as a Sonata and much more solid-feeling. Most are knackered now though, as to be honest are most Sonatas. The R23 I used to club race in the 1990s certainly was. I met one in Iceland long ago, and it was sailed there, so fairly seriously seaworthy.

Hurley 22 a great boat: interior really small though. Anderson 22 a good boat, but in really bad weather I'd rather be in a Ruffian 23 or Hurley 22 or an Achilles 24 - another option people have mentioned.
 
xyachtdave said:
Seajet!
Click to expand...

OK I'll bite at this one for your delectation...

One club weekend we went from Chichester to Bucklers Hard, then the wind came up to a solid F6+ on the nose on the beat back.

We were way ahead of a member's Rival 34, who was grudgingly impressed; " I had a Hurley 22, it would have stopped dead in those conditions ! "

Ken had been National Champion in Enterprise dinghies, so knew how to sail...

He always greeted me afterwards with " I hate that boat ! ". :)

For Andersons in really bad weather see

http://www.anderson22class.co.uk/buyers-guide/reviews-and-articles/
 
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Rum Run said:
If you want to take the boat to different areas the Anderson 22 with a trailer is great. Also a good seaboat when singlehanded and fast enough to surprise larger boats under some conditions.
The E boat and Sonata benefit from self moving ballast. And sink if pushed in the wrong conditions.(allegedly )
The H22 and Pandora are prettier (arguably)
The Duette has somewhat better accommodation and looks more modern but is slower, and scarier in the rough I'm told.
I don't know about the others mentioned.
I have a connection , but my Anderson isn't for sale!
Click to expand...

E Boats can sink, but I am not aware of any Sonatas that have done so in similar conditions. I have sailed and liked both. Also consider a Ruffian 23. We had a H22 racing at our club for years. I am sure is was seaworthy but soooooooo slow! The race officers hated waiting for it to cross the line whilst the rest of the competitors were in the pub!
 
Seajet said:
OK I'll bite at this one for your delectation...

One club weekend we went from Chichester to Bucklers Hard, then the wind came up to a solid F6+ on the nose on the beat back.

We were way ahead of a member's Rival 34, who was grudgingly impressed; " I had a Hurley 22, it would have stopped dead in those conditions ! "

Ken had been National Champion in Enterprise dinghies, so knew how to sail...

He always greeted me afterwards with " I hate that boat ! ". :)

For Andersons in really bad wether see http://www.anderson22class.co.uk/buyers-guide/reviews-and-articles/
Click to expand...

This is exactly what I hoped for!
 
If you are thinking of a Sonata, there is a good class association, with buyers guide, boats for sale and second hand bits. Keen racers change sails frequently and sell off the used ones.
 
I know of a Hurley 22 which beat down the sound of Mull into a F5 for 8 hours to Lochaline. We stopped in Tobers and waited two tides in the Harrier 20' trail sailer. The other boats with us ranged from 27 to 37 foot but they managed. The Hurley is a good sea boat IMHO. Don't knock it.

For the OP, Copland Terrier or Foxterrier are good 22' and 24' boats.

Leisure 23 is probably too sedentary.

Jaguar 21. 22 or 23 may suit.

Beneteau First 22 or 23.5 would work.

Jeanneau Tonic?

Seal 22, Parker 23, Teliga 21, there's loads.

As a cruiser I wouldn't look at Snotys, probably had a hard life, but maybe had money thrown at them, but who knows?

Have fun looking.
 
Seajet said:
I wouldn't fancy a Sonata's dinghy rudder fittings etc when the going gets tough, but each to their own...
Click to expand...

You may not fancy the Sonata as you already have your dream boat, but I am not aware of any particular failure points in terms of the fittings (including the rudder). Mine certainly saw heavy weather, and the Medway boats see many miles under their keels in all sorts of conditions - racing is always a good method or weeding out problems.
 
Once again, many thanks for all the feedback & lots of very interesting suggestions. For the moment, at least, I think I'm going to go down the Sonata route. I take the point that they're less seaworthy than some other small boats (although there seem to be plenty of accounts of decent passages in them, including in this thread), but I like that they're nippy, that there are plenty of them around, & also that class racing is an option if I fancy it. Plus the fact that so many of them are raced seems to mean that most come with a fairly decent sail wardrobe, including spinnakers, which is not the case with many cruising boats. (And also, as crewman has pointed out, that there will likely be plenty of sails available secondhand.) Looks like I might have to take a trip to Medway at some point.......

Thank you all again for all your help. Happy New Year to everyone, & fair winds for 2017!
 
Hopefully a working link here -

http://www.medwayyachtclub.com/items-for-sale/

One of the Sonatas mentioned listed if you scroll down. The other one has a (honest appraisal!) half hearted A4 advert in the gents, let me know if you want a copy and I can mail it to you. The owners aren't mates of mine, I'm just aware they are for sale.

I can put you in touch with the Sonata class captain if you'd like a spot of crewing too, their Saturday racing is usually well attended and very friendly.
 
it's disappeared from Apollo Duck so might have gone, but until recently there was an exceptional Super Seal 26 for sale in the yard at SYC at Shoreham. A bit above suggested budget but doesn't need money throwing at it for improvements or new sails. The owner did very well with it in club racing and moved up to a JPK9.60. Your J92 skipper will know him, or I can put you in touch if interested.
 
I don't know how old you are now but this is the experience of a sixty one year old man who still finds a modicum of adrenaline occasionally is a good thing. I got that from racing - it gave me a hit while I was working in the nine to five. As the job became a smaller part of my life I started cruising more. A boat that can take the rough stuff single handed is a marvelous thing. I have owned a sonata - an utter delight to sail. As responsive as a dinghy in light winds - a handful in heavy winds. She is designed to go well with movable human ballast - four blokes.

Thomas knew how to build a slippery hull.

At some stage in your life you are likely to have enough time to find the challenges that distance from home have to offer. I would go for boat that can take the rough stuff without the human ballast. One that has an engine in a well rather than hung off the back of a transom. One that can be reefed from the cockpit.

One that can take the ground without falling over

Schlepping up and down the same three miles of local river might eventually wear thin.

best of luck to you whatrever you decide on.

That is one of the great things about being a sailor, you can choose a boat that suits your sort of sailing

Dylan
 
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I dropped lucky and got a near-sorted Jaguar 27 for 5k. Of course, it cost another few grand to make it the perfect small cruiser it now is...
Don't look too hard...the right boat will find you ;-)
 
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