Lesuire 17 seaworthy? Honest owner reviews?

[Supertramp]

The little Hunters (16ft, 19ft) were pretty good and made offshore passages. Also the Swift 18. The difficulty with a trailable and seaworthy yacht is the compromises with weight, draught and rig. I had a lift keel Eagle 525 and was great fun but a handful in big winds and raising and lowering the mast was never easy. It behaved like a dinghy and was seaworthy so long as you respected that. A cockpit tent usefully extended the living space. The Leisure 17 is a heavier boat that behaves more like a yacht than a dinghy but is still not going to like big seas or strong winds. All boats are a compromise as said elsewhere seaworthiness is as much about how a boat is sailed as the boat itself. If I wanted a proper trailer sailer, then lift keels make a lot of sense and a proper A frame for raising the mast. Note for driveway storage the mast length might be a problem.

 

[ProDave]

Looking at lifting keels in the 17ft range there doesn't seem to be many that fit this?

Before the L17 we had a Frolic 18 with a lifting keel. No you won't have heard of it either. It was built by a small boat builder in Poole in the 1980's, ours iirc was sail No 35, I don't think many were made.

It was a very beamy boat for the size and had more cabin room than the L17 and a heavier boat. We did trailer launch and recover it once, then decided on crane in and out. But it was not a good sailor. In the right wind it sail okay, but too little wind and it suffered terrible lee helm and too much wind it was very tippy, even though the lift keel was encapsulated with lead ballast I don't think it was heavy enough, and upwind it suffered a lot of leeway. By comparison the L17 is a dream to sail.

 

[Yachtingsouthwest]

How easy is the mast to raise and lower on the L17s?

 

[KompetentKrew]

Does the Leisure 17 have a tendency to weather helm?

Looks like he's got a bit of tiller on in the yellow example, and maybe in the blue too?

 

[ProDave]

How easy is the mast to raise and lower on the L17s?

We normally do it with 3 people. One to pull the main halyard (extended) to pull the mast up, one to steady the mast on deck as it goes up, and the third to handle the furler for the foresail.

 

[dolabriform]

Does the Leisure 17 have a tendency to weather helm?

Looks like he's got a bit of tiller on in the yellow example, and maybe in the blue too?

When overpressed they do have a tendency to get weather helm, but manage the sail plan sensibly and they are ok