Newbie Buying Advice

[Lakesailor]

Seajet of these forums has definite ideas on this boat. They can suffer from spongy bottoms! There are quite a lot of them about. To be fair it doesn't look as rank as some laid-up boats can.
Outboards are a bit of a minefield. I've just bought a 4 hp Yamaha short shaft for £250. You may need a long shaft unless the bracket will fall low enough, so count on spending £350+ unless you come across a bargain. There aren't many bargains with outboards. If you know nothing about them go to a dealer.
If the sails really are OK it looks worth consideration. If you can get someone who knows something about boats and GRP to have a look, so much the better.
They are pretty good boats, to my mind. I knew someone had a nice example on Windermere which he sold for about £2300

So your price of £1500 seems reasonable if it really is as good as it looks.

My new motor ( I will be making a lower bracket to get the leg 3" deeper into the ewater)

 

[Jim@sea]

You also need to consider if the trailer is road legal. This trailer does not look as if it will have brakes. You are allowed to tow up to 750 kilos with an unbraked trailer. You can probably find out how much a Jaguar 22 weighs.
Personally if I was buying a small boat I would go for something a bit larger like a Corribee or an Achilles 24, With that size boat you could spend a week on it and cross the Irish Sea or Channel.

 

[Seajet]

Conks01,

Lakesailor is right, I've mentioned this here before; I have seen two lift keel jaguar 22's ashore left sitting on the ballast stub of the keel - standard practice - where the hull moulding was so weak it had sagged around the keel stub like a pudding !

Check the one you're looking at, is the bottom concave around the keel stub ?

One things' for sure, it will be just as lightly built; combined with the large hatch - it's an American design ( Catalina 22 ) so intended for hot climes, but a large hatch does not aid seaworthiness in heavy weather.

As long as the hull is the right shape ( for now ) the Jaguar 22 would be adequate fun in light to moderate conditions; no good saying ' that's all I intend to go out in ' as heavy weather creeps up on everyone sooner or later, and the Bristol Channel does not take prisoners...

Other snags with the Jaguar 22 are that the lift keel is a swinging plate type which means the centre of gravity of the ballast is not as low as a fixed or most vertically lifting keels, re stability and carrying sail + the great potential for wear on the hole in the plate and the pivot bolt.

She has the outboard on the transom rather than in a well, so one has to lean over and face backwards to adjust the controls when berthing ( there are other snags ) and the loo is under the forward bunks; these latter points are by no means restricted to the Jaguar but are symptoms of what I call lazy design.

My Anderson 22 has a vertically lifting keel with the ballast weight on the lower end for max effect, the engine is in a cockpit well so easily accessible, and the loo is separate; it will also sail rings around a Jaguar and is happy in heavy weather, 3 have crossed the Atlantic - you could get an early one for under £2,000 ( in which case please contact me, I run the owners' association and know what to check ).


Jim@sea's suggestions are good, the Corribee is actually 21' and a tiny boat for that, and rather slow but very seaworthy, several have sailed around Britain inc Ellen Macarthur on hers, and I believe they have crossed the Atlantic - tiny inside though.

The Achilles 24 is also tiny inside for 24', but is a fast seaworthy boat with a good reputation; she was part designed by the same bloke who did my Anderson 22, Oliver lee.

Jims' comments about trailers are very valid for all boats, if you imagine dunking in seawater then leaving ashore all year it's not hard to see why a lot of old trailers are the steel equivalent of a string vest, and seawater is not kind to brakes and bearings.

Also any lift keel boat which has been wintered on a trailer should be double checked, as it will not have been possible to lower the keel plate for maintenance; I and many other A22 owners keep my boat on high trestles with the keel down every winter for this reason since my Father came up with a cheap and simple but strong method of making trestles to suit, see pic in ' Buyers' Guide ' in the website in my signature below ( I'm not at my own PC so can't insert the image here ).

I still think you need as much experience as you can grab before actually buying a boat, a year crewing other peoples' would be invaluable if you can find someone or several people in need of the company of a crew, there are lots of owners in that situation.

Andy

 

[Lakesailor]

You also need to consider if the trailer is road legal. This trailer does not look as if it will have brakes.

If you enlarge the first shot you can see the handbrake mechanism. So it has brakes fitted. Whether they work or not is a different matter.

 

[sarabande]

hmm, that handbrake looks as if it has been left pulled up, so there's a chance that the brakes will be seized on.


Whilst there are many good points about the boat, there's an awful lot of small fixing and fettling to do. And that is time and money.


Look elsewhere for other boats. You will have gained a lot of experience out of this one.

 

[TQA]

My first cruising boat was a Jaguar 22. I sailed it across the channel, Troon to Stornoway and back and Pula to Albania and back in the Adriatic. Mine was a swing keel. You will need at least a 4 hp long shaft on a swing up mount. A 4 wheel trailer is bstbd cetter but I managed OK with a 2. Very big stbd cockpit locker which easily takes a roll up Avon and 2 hp outboard.

Replace the keel cable. I am not sure I would be happy about keeping it in a mud berth unless it was very sheltered.

I had a lot of fun with mine and learned a lot.

 

[penfold]

I still think you need as much experience as you can grab before actually buying a boat, a year crewing other peoples' would be invaluable if you can find someone or several people in need of the company of a crew, there are lots of owners in that situation.

Andy

I second this and other comments on similar lines; don't buy a boat now, go sailing and find out if you like it and what kind of sailing you like. If you haven't been motivated to take up knitting by this time next year, then think about buying; at the very least you'll have a much better idea about what kind of boat would best suit the kind of sailing you enjoy.