Lawski
New member
I am considering buying a pioneer 9 for cruising/racing out of Hartlepool. Does anyone have any advice/ information which I may find useful. e.g.How manoeverable are they in tight spots?
I am considering buying a pioneer 9 for cruising/racing out of Hartlepool. Does anyone have any advice/ information which I may find useful. e.g.How manoeverable are they in tight spots?
I have a friend who owned one, and we sailed on company (St Kilda) on one occasion.
A fairly early Van de Stadt design, so eminently seaworthy (2-way trans-Atlantic): tough and durable build quality: no manoeuvrability problems, a good performance in its time, but no match for modern lightweight skimmers. Tight accommodation.
I am considering buying a pioneer 9 for cruising/racing out of Hartlepool. Does anyone have any advice/ information which I may find useful. e.g.How manoeverable are they in tight spots?
Does it go to windward?
Yes designed by VdS init.
There are a couple on the East Coast that race & win offshore & X channel
Apologies - had another Pioneer 9 in mind.
Launched November 8, 1969
I am considering buying a pioneer 9 for cruising/racing out of Hartlepool. Does anyone have any advice/ information which I may find useful. e.g.How manoeverable are they in tight spots?
Does it go to windward?
When inspecting your prospective purchase take a good look at the mast step arrangement, most have been reinforced to overcome a minor build defect. The job is simple to do (3 hours) and only cost is a piece of angle iron and a few bolts.
If you need more details on what I had to do to my Pioneer please message me. The defect can be spotted by the deck becoming slightly concave or probably more noticeable by the wooden beam underneath it in the cabin starting to sag slightly.Does anyone have any tutorials or more details on this?
Up to a few years ago, Aziz was alive and well on the Tamar river. Owned by an itinerant live aboard who fell out with the locals. Haven't seen or heard of either since.There's a book called "When I Put Out to Sea" by Nicolette Milnes Walker, who was the first woman to sail single-handed across the Atlantic in 1971 - in a Pionier 9 (as she spells it), Aziz.
Marked in my copy of the book, by my father, who owned one in the 70s, is the comment: "The bilge pump was in a stupid place, inside the heads compartment. I had to lift the floorboards, open the exit cock of the toilet and put the exit pipe from the pump into the toilet bowl..." I don't know if they have improved the system, but I vaguely remember something of the kind when I was a little girl.
Two blokes sailed my Dad's Pioneer, Tio Pepe, to Fiji, where the mainsail blew out and she foundered on a reef, about 150 miles from her destination - so what vyv_cox said, but make sure the sails aren't worn out.