Kestrel 22

oughtoc

oughtoc

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Question for the panel. Want a small wooden first boat for me and the dog and some day sailing with the daughters. I'm a dinghy sailor by trade. Spotted a kestrel 22 for pennies. From the hull shape I'm guessing she sails, but not exactly fast. Any experiences on one of these that anyone can share? Seakindly, single handed ok etc.

Thanks in advance.
 
Sorry to be negative Grub, but, at risk of offending other owners!, they were cheap boats when built, a long time ago!

If it,s for peanuts, thats what it,s worth, don,t buy a BURDEN!

Good Luck, Bill.
 
Cant say from a sailors point of view as i never even managed to move mine /forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif But if you do a forum search you will find most find them great boats and easy to sail .
Heres Nicky II another Kestrel i was looking over .

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And of course Flare , No 1 of her class .

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KBT might well be right, and there really is no such thing as a free lunch, but I would not be so quick to prejudge the issue. That sort of boat has a lot of advantages for family weekending.

Personally, and I appreciate other people have other priorities, I would definitely make sure it comes with a road trailer that can at least be easily made roadworthy-- perished tires, seized brakes, duff lighting sets and knackered launching winches are all normal and easy and cheap to replace or repair, serious structural rust would be a walk-away, for me anyway.

Why? Well, a good trailer means winter storage will be easy and possibly free, and if you're the energetic sort you can even launch and retrieve for day sailing so you don't have summer berthing charges. You can take the boat anywhere you want to sail, easily and cheaply, and you can bring it home to work on it.

Coming from a dinghy you'll find a boat like this easy to live with and a comfortable transition to cruisers. The gear is small enough for your kids to handle and it'll go places a fin-keeler won't.

I've never owned a Kestrel but it has a good reputation and is probably a better boat than the plywood Silhouette that was my first step up from dinghies, and I had a heap of fun in that tub, believe me. You can't hardly expect a 22-ft boat to be fast, but looking at the hull I'd have thought she was stiff enough to feel safe and still sail reasonably.

So unless it's a real basket case, the price is cheap enough and you're happy to do a bit of work, I say go for it. With caution.
 
Used to crew a wooden one in the Irish Sea back in the 60's, nice well balanced boat, and well worth bothering with - IF the hull is basically sound.

Being clinker built they need a certain degree of skill to repair/ replace planking or frames, and anything less than a well kept wooden one is most definitely suspect. If its going for pennies, then there is probably a pretty good reason and you need to nose it out. Dry rot, wet rot, nail sickness, loose fastenings etc; all mean plenty of grief and cash, and no chance of getting afloat for quite a long time yet.

Also if you are not familiar with clinker built boats - for the first week back on the water - they leak! Leak like a seive until the wood has taken up and swollen back to its proper position. You will not get away with trailer sailing, unless you do it every week to keep the timber moist. Let the hull dry, and you will spend your sailing trips pumping like fury, and with wet feet!
 
My first boat was a plastic kestrel 22,dont know how she compares to a wooden one,but she used to sail quite good,good accomodation to.
 
Thanks guys.

I understand the pitfalls of a wooden build, but the classic forum exists because we all have a love over logic approach to these boats.

Glad to see the sailing qualities haven't been shot down. That makes it a goer.

For info it will be on a drying trot mooring on the Dart, so not trailer sailed. It's my favorite part of the world.
 
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just get it -

all that stuff about wooden boats being hard to keep up is bollox.....

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... if you have a good one to start with.

One that is "for sale for pennies" is not likely to be, and will need a huge amount of work before getting anywhere near the water.

Some of us buy boats to go sailing in. They buy new(ish) GRP.

Some of us buy boats to work on. They buy old wooden boats.

The rest of us buy something in between: proportion of working time to sailing time depends on taste and pocket.

Middle category owners in extreme cases rarely actually go to sea.

It doesnt matter which category you belong to - you will enjoy your 'boating', but buy a boat in the wrong category for you, it just becomes hard work, or worse.
 
What defines a classic?there are plenty of plastic classics about,as for the Kestrel as its basicly sound and its cheap to buy go for it,you might even enjoy yourself in the process. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
I used to sail regularly on a kestrel, she was suprisingly quick and very stiff.She had a Vire inboard set to one side it suited her very well, great lifting keel to when we went aground ten turns on the handle and we were off again. That brought back some great memories.
 
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You will not get away with trailer sailing,

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Curious. I trailer-sailed clinker dayboats over quite a few years very successfully. I certainly don't remember being up to my ankles in water. And I know several local fishermen who just haul their boats up on the beach between trips, mostly clinker too. Never heard them complain about wet feet either.

I see no reason at all why a Kestrel couldn't be trailer-sailed, though if she's been permanently on a wet mooring she might need the nails clenching up and a good slap of paint.

Maybe the water is wetter down your way? /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
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Nice one on Ebay - in good nick, and ready to go:


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The wooden ones look really charming in my eyes, and frankly if herself wasn't quite so jealous and demanding of time I might buy one myself-- for trailer-sailing!--and possibly doing the French canals the easy way. (Trail boat to France. Put in water. Have three weeks pottering about, drink wine, eat cheese, meet people. Trail home.)

But that GRP one just looks ucky. Sorry. Maybe it's just my appalling prejudice.
 
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