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sailingjeff

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Hi,
I am quite new to yacht sailing, although Ive sailed dinghies for years now but I am considering buying a yacht. Ive been looking at old quarter tonners but keep getting put off by comments about being twichy or lively or difficult to handle in a strong wind etc plus the - if its been raced hard it will be worn out.
I only plan to sail the solent in the first instance, with the family, just to gain a bit more experience and if the forecast looks bad it would be unlikely that we would sail. I would really like to know therefore whether this idea of a quarter tonner is mad and I should go for somthing a little more sedate!
(small cruiser)
I figured that reefed in, even in a reasonable wind, there would not be a great deal of difference between them and other light displacement boats - Etap 22 /23, beneteau first 21.7, hunter duette, but maybe I am wrong in my thinking ?
My only yacht experience to date is a sadler 34 and a beneteau 323 so quite different from boats I am looking at. ( plus the dinighies of course - laser, ent and mirror, wayfarer )

If anyone can help with any comments I would be very grateful.

Thanks:confused:
 
If you are panning to introduce the family to sailing then something a little more sedate, and with better accommodation, might be more sensible although if you are all used to sh*t racing dinghies you might find it a bit boring.

Try to take candidate boats out for a test sail.
 
sailingjeff said:
Hi,
I am quite new to yacht sailing, although Ive sailed dinghies for years now but I am considering buying a yacht. Ive been looking at old quarter tonners but keep getting put off by comments about being twichy or lively or difficult to handle in a strong wind etc plus the - if its been raced hard it will be worn out.
I only plan to sail the solent in the first instance, with the family, just to gain a bit more experience and if the forecast looks bad it would be unlikely that we would sail. I would really like to know therefore whether this idea of a quarter tonner is mad and I should go for somthing a little more sedate!
(small cruiser)
I figured that reefed in, even in a reasonable wind, there would not be a great deal of difference between them and other light displacement boats - Etap 22 /23, beneteau first 21.7, hunter duette, but maybe I am wrong in my thinking ?
My only yacht experience to date is a sadler 34 and a beneteau 323 so quite different from boats I am looking at. ( plus the dinighies of course - laser, ent and mirror, wayfarer )

If anyone can help with any comments I would be very grateful.

Thanks:confused:
Click to expand...


The first thought that springs to mind is that you mention your family.

After a boat or two, most of us realize that our partners are a key factor when going sailing.

If your partner is an experienced dinghy sailor then you have won the sailing lottery of life.

If not, many women do not like the twitchy things that boats do or particularly, sudden heeling.

Many of us wanted to start out with a performance boat but settled for something a bit more conservative. This seems to work out pretty well , then you can starting working on getting what you really want.

I'm sure you are going to have loads of fun.
 
Derek Saxby at Marchwood Yacht Club currently has a very nice quarter-tonner called 'Haywire' up for sale, very well kept boat and I know he regularly sailed it single-handed, so it can't be that much of a handful! The only place I've seen it advertised is on the club notice board, and I don't have any more details to hand.
 
Do you know any rag and stick owners who could be prevailed upon to take you and your brood out for a jolly/daysail on a sunny day? That way you aren't faced with a steep learning curve at the same time as introducing the family to wobbly flappy sail boats and can be relaxed and enjoy it. If that went well you could charter something for more daysails to confirm it's an activity everyone enjoys before buying your own; buying a boat then discovering 'erindoors suffers worse mal-de-mer than Nelson, or the kids hate it "'cos it's BOOORRRING!" will mean dinner off the mantlepiece for a while.
 
sailingjeff said:
Hi,
I am quite new to yacht sailing, although Ive sailed dinghies for years now but I am considering buying a yacht. Ive been looking at old quarter tonners but keep getting put off by comments about being twichy or lively or difficult to handle in a strong wind etc plus the - if its been raced hard it will be worn out.
Click to expand...

I sail an elderly quarter tonner mostly single handed(coincidentally for sale:D) and she is anything but twitchy. When set up correctly I can go for a wander round the decks for a few minutes without using the autohelm. She is comfortable in large seas, and reasonably quick - as a comparison she was over 90 minutes quicker than a Moody 27 on a trip to Ireland(roughly 100 miles). Last season with 2 of us onboard we were doing a steady 6.5 knots hard on the wind with full sail - very dry and comfortable. It is virtually impossible to get the decks underwater, which is not the case with many 'cruisier' designs from the same era. When you get a bit newer than mine then yes quarter tonners did become twitchier with much bendier rigs and more power.
So I guess it depends on what you mean by an old quarter tonner.
 
So I guess it depends on what you mean by an old quarter tonner.[/QUOTE]

Thanks for the replies so far.

I had looked at a couple both late 70s. A trapper and a robber. Not full of creature comforts I agree but I think for weekends they would be fine accomodation wise. I did look at GK24s as well but they seemed much less roomy inside.

I am thinking that perhaps I should contact some clubs and see if I can get a sail on one ?
 
ostell said:
Perhaps something comfortable for all the family? A Westerly Centaur?

Where abouts are you, someone may help
Click to expand...

Thanks.

We are in St Albans so either south or east I was thinking of as a sailing area. Probably south.

I did start by looking at centaurs etc but quickly decided that I wanted somthing a but more fun to sail:)

The family both sail to some extent also.
 
sailingjeff said:
Thanks.

We are in St Albans so either south or east I was thinking of as a sailing area. Probably south.

I did start by looking at centaurs etc but quickly decided that I wanted somthing a but more fun to sail:)

The family both sail to some extent also.
Click to expand...

I had this quandary. 3 children, and a wife who is a nervous sailor. I brought a super seal 26, as it allows us to have a boat that sails well, is forgiving, and has enough accommodation for weekends away.

Also think about where you are likely to keep it, as fin keelers can limit your options to deeper water moorings.
 
Two more options for you are the Trapper500 and the Westerly Tiger. As you have already looked at the 28 and 300 versions This option is a better bet for family sailing and accommodation/facilities. They are good performers and safe boats; whereas the other Trappers mentioned would need to reduce sail quite early, the 500 is a different beast and will give a safe passage and still be raced,say in handicap or RTI which I believe they have won in the past.

The Tiger also is a wolf in sheep's clothing in performance and whilst looking like a Centaur will out perform them on all points of sail and has a fin keel, but also has the interior facilities needed for a weeks cruise or more.
There has been one for sale for a year on the Hamble that I think is newer than my own and should be priced around £8.5K, the only contact for enquiry is 01489 575372 on the card in the boat, and still afloat.
She looks in good condition externally.

(No connection) just a keen Tiger owner myself!

ianat182
 
quarter tonner.

If you can sail say, up to fireball standard in F6 in flat waters, you will be able to control most situations in a quarter tonner.Difficult to find accomodation as well as performance.
Trapper 300 maybe?
Super Seal 26?
Eythene by Ron Holland(a small Shamrock30) should be good value.
If you look at 1/2 tonners under the old RORC rule(S&S 30, Carter 30), these offer accomodation, headroom, seakeeping,and manners.
A Club Shamrock will be twitchier, will still win upwind legs,and with a smaller jib and one reef will have great cruising potential.
A boat of this age will date from
70's and the owner will need to be around to explain history and renewals.
If you are lucky enough to find a lovingly cared for example of an older design such as the above,your only problem will be shifting it on again when the family find it too small.
I was lucky, in the good times, the boatyard took a trade in against a new boat.
Good luck with boat searching!
 
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I lived in St Albans and sailed on the east coast (River Blackwater) The moorings/marinas are cheaper, the traveling is better,the M25 west is a pain and dare I say it I prefer the whole sailing area compared to the Solent.We usually try and keep it a secret though.Just my opinion by the way.
 
Decide on the mooring/sailing area before you decide on the boat. As already stated, drying moorings are significantly cheaper but not as convenient as marinas. Then it all depends on your budget. Generally people don't sail as often as they think they're going to or as far. Most 26 footers and upwards will have enough accomodation for your needs and be quite safe for short coastal passages. Centaur, Sadler, Trapper, Mirage etc.............
Also don't forget that advertised prices are only aspirational - boats at the moment are not selling well and a cheeky offer will often be accepted.
 
My first yacht was an Impala 28, seemed a reasonable mix of seaworthy and good performance. They must be pretty cheap now if you can find a good one.
But they were either outboard powered or 'afterthought' 1GM which can be quite noisy.
When you said 'old 1/4 tonner', I thought of things newer and more radical than the trapper, there was a 1/4 tonner on ebay lately for very little money, looked a rather more hairy beast than the trapper/twister era.
 
SailingJeff,

I have a dinghy racing background too, though have been 'skippering' cruisers since 16, sadly a while ago now.

There are plenty of good responsive boats around, without going to Quarter Tonners.

I cannot overstate this, as others have mentioned try to sort out where you will be keeping the boat.

In the Solent area one can barely give away a small fin keeler, as the berthing / mooring fees will be similar to a much larger boat.

Marinas are the ultimate in convenience, but you're always at the mercy of the owners re. price hikes, gates out of action, silting not dredged, etc and of course VERY expensive.

Deep water swinging moorings tend to be in the middle of nowehere requiring a sometimes hairy trip in a tender akin to a small lifeboat !

Beware most deep water moorings may have the cruiser floating nicely, but access to & from the shore is usually still very tidally restricted - still expensive, and where does one keep the tender ? Vulnerable to thieves too.

I have tried all these options !

I quickly returned to my lift keel boat on a half-tide mooring; such moorings are usually close inshore, so easily reached in a sensible tender, also have a lot going on to peer at, and sheltered.

The tidal 'restrictions' tend not to matter when one considers tide at harbour entrance etc, and of course many marinas have sills or lock gates anyway.

Also half tide moorings are a lot cheaper, though I'd stay with this even if more expensive...

If looking at any mooring of any type, do check car parking, somewhere secure to leave the tender, and tidal access for the tender.

Good luck, sj.
 
As a lady sailor, I would repeat the good advice given to you regarding considering your wife and family. Ask them, involve them and take notice of what they say. ;)
 
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