Sadler 29 - Fit the bill?

[Colin24]

Three years have passed since I purchased my first boat: a 24 foot long GRP MAB.
It cost me 4,000 to buy and has since cost me a bit more than that, in sails, moorings, and the toys we like to buy and stick on.

It’s been fantastic fun and I’m now hooked to the point that I consider myself to be a lifer.
Now I’m looking at getting a bigger boat (more importantly SWIMBO has given me the green light)
I’m not a very ambitious sailor, not interested in racing. I like to think I sail well within my own limits.
I have had lots of great advice from forum members particularly when I was a complete newby and looking for my first boat. This forum is in fact my best source of nautical wisdom, ll I know about sailing (not a lot) has been gleaned here and from my dazed kipper course.

Anyway the new boat – Sail out of the Orwell and local area, places within a day-sail.
Would like bilge keel. Solid safe feeling boat, the stiffer the better.
I’m nearly always single handed, so must be easy to handle solo.
Not too much of a slouch – my little 24 footer sails like a brick.

Budget 25,000 purchase price – a little bit of scope depending on condition.

The top of my hit list right now is a Sadler 29 it seems to tick all the boxes and ‘looks’ dead right to me.
I’m gathering as much info as I can from all avenues and would be keen to hear the forums opinion of this boat and it’s suitability for my sort of sailing.

Cheers

Colin

 

[Crowblack]

Sadlers good solid boats, sail and handle well - I've got a 26 which I singlehand and know of 29's which also get sailed one up.

For £25k it will be an early one pre say 86 - if you can stretch to £28/29k and can get one from 89 it will have more foam, plus other mods like extra windows, hatches, mid cleats, full teak seats and a better engine cover.

If you go over to the Mike Lucas Yachting web site there's a Sadler Forum and you'll get a lot of advice.

SWMBO might like em too as the later ones in particular with the extra foam don't sink !

Good Luck.

 

[jimi]

I love the Sadler 29, the bilge keeler is a good sail .. go for it.

 

[Gin]

You will get lots of recommendations for this boat- and every bit deserved too.

There is another important aspect to consider, in that a boat of this pedigree holds its value well and provided you are sensible with purchase price and adding gizmos then if you decide later that a further change is needed, your initial investment should be (largely) recoverable without too much delay

 

[reeac]

We've had our twin keel Sadler 29 for 4 years now and are very happy with her. She sails well, has a well balanced helm, feels secure under rough conditions and is comfortable down below. Our only criticism is that the galley space is restricted. Mostly we sail two up and we're aged 72 and 69. We started with a Centaur 9 years ago.

 

[samwise]

Can't recommend the 29 too highly. It was our first "big" boat and it fitted our bill perfectly. We sailed out of the Orwell and it carried us on some great trips across the North Sea and the East Coast cruising grounds.Bilge keeler perfect for our shallow waters. A really solid boat, good accommodation for a 29. Mike Lucas is your man for Sadlers, full of sound advice, knows the market and invariably knows the boat you may have your eye on. We bought our 29 through him and he sold it for us when we moved up to a bigger boat.

 

[DJE]

We've had this one for eight years now. Good solid sea boat, sails well even with bilge keels, absolutely no regrets.

More information here.
.
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[seaesta]

I am in a similar position but in my case I have had a Westerly 25 for 23 years and after sailing her all over the UK have got SWMBO permission for a bigger boat.
We looked at the Sadler 29 (and alternatives ) at the Southampton Boat Show.
The Sadler semed strong and has an excellent heritage. Whilst we were on board SWMBO asked me a killer question - where exactly will we sleep? On the 25 we are fine in our quarter berths but on the 29 the forepeek was cramped the saloon berths narrow and the stern berth claustrophobic. With this in mind we decided to keep the Westerly 25 for a few more years and spend a little money on charters to try out alternatives before buying - although the Southerly 110 RS did look good.
Also I have not given up on a longer term desire for a multihull.
Hope this helps - do try actually lying down in the boat before taking the plunge and if you do not need the accomodation then why not go trimaran which will be a lot more FUN!!
Martin

 

[billg]

The S29 really is all everyone says. Although rather slower than newer designs in very light airs she powers along in a decent breeze and feels very safe and secure. Yes the galley is a bit small but as a bonus you can easily get secure when using it at sea.

Although the forepeak is cramped for two adults it's fine for one adult or two kids. We mainly sail two (late middle aged adults) up and find the saloon perfect as sleeping quarters. The dinette double is a bit neat for two but is a luxurious single, and a very simple modification to the starboard settee berth makes it into another very acceptable single. The quarter-berth makes a commodious third berth when needed.

If your budget can possibly run to a post 1986 boat you'll find the extra window makes the saloon much lghter and the modified bulkhead above the galley improves both accessibility and perceived space.

 

[billmacfarlane]

Judging by the excellent description of your needs the Sadler 29 would meet them. I had one for 5 years and the only criticism I had about her sailing performance is that with the bilge keel version, when hard on the wind , the weather keel has a tendency to slap against the waves. The solution is to sail it upright as possibe. Apart from that she's as steady as they come. I agree with practically everybody else here to go for a post 86 boat as the fit out is better. Try and compare it with another boat e.g a Westerly Konsort or even a Merlin.

 

[pessimist]

Another vote for the Sadler. We sailed a BK 29 on the East Coast for 6 or 7 years and never felt the need to change her. Good on all points of sail, excellent under engine. We had the earlier model without the extra windows and found her O.K. If you can stretch to the later model, I'd go for it.

She'll not have as much space as a more modern design and won't sail as fast in light airs but they are super sea boats and not slow.

Go for it!

 

[VicMallows]

Just to add to the party, I completed my S29 in 1984 from hull-and-deck and still have her with no intention of changing .... so must say something! Absolutely no problems to date beyond the usual minor routine things.

I sail mine single handed 90percent of the time and the fore cabin and quarter berth have long been taken over as stowage space. As someone else said, the cabin berths are by far the best if only one or two on board.

Vic

 

[wotayottie]

In our club we have Sadler 29s, Westerlies and Moodies. You will do OK with any of the three, and they will be easy to re-sell if eventually you decide to do so. personally I would chose either Westerly or Moody because I have seen Sadlers with soggy foam and I much prefer a single skin solid grp lay up.

Dont expect any bigger boat to be as much fun as your first boat. They never are

P.S. One useful source of advice is your surveyor. Chose a surveyor, tell him you will use him when you find the boat you want, and ask for his advice on the relative merit of the various 29 footers. On this forum you will usually only get replies from advocates of the make of boat they own. Most people buy a boat , and think its wonderful until they fall for something else and then want to sell.