ghostlymoron
Well-Known Member
Thinking about new boat. Sadler 29 seems to tick most boxes twin keel roomy good sailer but I don't like the dinette layout. Not practical offshore imho. Are they all this layout ? if so what alternatives ?
sadler 29
- Thread starter ghostlymoron
- Start date
JimC
Well-Known Member
Never sailed one myself but we used to have one in our club (a twin keeler) and, on our club cruises, I remember that she customarily sailed a higher angle of heel than the other boats. Not saying this is a damning fault but it was noticeable as I remember. We currently have a Sadler 26 twin-keeler and she does not share this characteristic being comparably stiff to the other boats. Two similarly sized twin-keelers that I regularly sail with are Westerly Konsort and Hunter Horizon 30, both good boats IMHO.
prv
Well-Known Member
Confused 
The Sadler 29 doesn't have a dinette layout:
Pete
The Sadler 29 doesn't have a dinette layout:
Pete
Seajet
...
Pete,
looks like a dinette layout to me.
However I rate the Sadler 29 very highly having test sailed an early twink keel examle with Martin Sadler.
An excellent sailors' boat, as long as the priority insn't 3 double aft cabins !
looks like a dinette layout to me.
However I rate the Sadler 29 very highly having test sailed an early twink keel examle with Martin Sadler.
An excellent sailors' boat, as long as the priority insn't 3 double aft cabins !
TimBennet
Well-Known Member
Confused
Pete
Sadler called that 'C' shaped berth to port a 'dinette'.
Obviously not to be confused with what the rest of the world called a dinette.
My confusion is I can't understand what that 'C' shaped dinette gets up to at sea that makes it unsuitable for off-shore trips.
cliff
Well-Known Member
And to me!
I also fail to see what makes it unsuitable for off-shore trips.
doug748
Well-Known Member
Some Sadlers were fitted out at home but mostly from kits supplied, so the layout will be pretty typical.
As the port side "C shaped dinette" is shallow, long and very open (prv's photo illustrates this nicely), it would be very easy to modify. A pull out berth, or deep secure lee cloths would be easy. You could retain the table, abolish it or make a smaller one. The ultimate offshore luxury would be a sea berth with deep lee boards.
I have seen a similar boat with a berth atop commodious drawer stowage in the traditional manner.
As the port side "C shaped dinette" is shallow, long and very open (prv's photo illustrates this nicely), it would be very easy to modify. A pull out berth, or deep secure lee cloths would be easy. You could retain the table, abolish it or make a smaller one. The ultimate offshore luxury would be a sea berth with deep lee boards.
I have seen a similar boat with a berth atop commodious drawer stowage in the traditional manner.
johnalison
Well-Known Member
I owned a Sadler 29 for 14 years and was very pleased with her. She was fin-keeled and sailed very well. We sailed often in company with a couple of 32s and were easily able to keep up with them until beating to windward in more than force 4, when they would walk away from us. The freeboard and slab sides meant that we needed to reef early but she didn't heel excessively compared to most other boats of her size.
The accomodation works pretty well and the saloon is more like a traditional one than a dinette and the bunks are comfortable both to sit and sleep on. In particular, the quarter berth is very large and can be shared with stowage. There is a proper chart table and comfortable heads. The main weakness is the galley, which is a bit small, though adequate. Coming down the companionway can be confusing to the uninitiated, but the main step is safe, unlike the Trapper 501, where you risk sliding into the sink.
Our boat had lee-cloths fitted from new, so sea-berths were not a problem. We didn't have the rather ugly vinyl cushion shown in the photo above, though I can see the use for it. Our quarter-berth was vinyl-covered for practical reasons. Boats after about 1985 were built with modern resins and are probably a better buy. It was a better package than most other boats of its time and sailed very respectably.
The accomodation works pretty well and the saloon is more like a traditional one than a dinette and the bunks are comfortable both to sit and sleep on. In particular, the quarter berth is very large and can be shared with stowage. There is a proper chart table and comfortable heads. The main weakness is the galley, which is a bit small, though adequate. Coming down the companionway can be confusing to the uninitiated, but the main step is safe, unlike the Trapper 501, where you risk sliding into the sink.
Our boat had lee-cloths fitted from new, so sea-berths were not a problem. We didn't have the rather ugly vinyl cushion shown in the photo above, though I can see the use for it. Our quarter-berth was vinyl-covered for practical reasons. Boats after about 1985 were built with modern resins and are probably a better buy. It was a better package than most other boats of its time and sailed very respectably.
robmcg
Well-Known Member
How is this more likely on a Trapper? Both have a sink next to the top step, just on a different side. Are people more likely to fall to starboard than to port when going down a companionway?
johnalison
Well-Known Member
There is a substantial ridge on the Sadler step and the sink is partly recessed under the bulkhead which makes it a little awkward to use. I always felt nervous entering my friend's Trapper at sea but not on my Sadler.
JimC
Well-Known Member
Yours was the fin-keeled version whereas the one I recall was the twin. Possibly some difference in stiffness?
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prv
Well-Known Member
As far as I'm concerned, a "dinette layout" is one with a forward-facing settee and an aft-facing settee, facing each other across a table, which generally reaches to the side of the hull. Everybody faces either forwards or aft. Like a Centaur A layout, or a Leisure 23. On a Sadler 29, most people face inwards as in a conventional layout - ok, you could perch a couple of people on the vestigial cushioned appendages fore and aft, but you wouldn't unless you had lots of bodies on board.
By your definition, just about anything over 28 feet or so that isn't a narrow-gutted long-keeler would have a dinette, because by that point the normal amount of beam means there's nearly always a little bit of athwartships cushioned top.
Pete
VicMallows
Well-Known Member
I never fitted a table in my 29 (semi-kit from new) and have never missed not having one. Indeed I would now find the cabin extremely cramped and awkward at sea if I did have one!
Agree with comments about the galley. About the only feature I would really fault......though it has never actually hindered cooking, and I prefer to wash-up on deck anyway.
Steps: yes, you get so used to going down facing forwards (as you would anywhere other than a boat) that when you go aboard a 'normal' boat you are in danger of going head-over-heals
(original design with massive companionway/engine-cover moulding .......later boats have a more traditional 'ladder')
SUNDASH, Sadler29, 1984
Agree with comments about the galley. About the only feature I would really fault......though it has never actually hindered cooking, and I prefer to wash-up on deck anyway.
Steps: yes, you get so used to going down facing forwards (as you would anywhere other than a boat) that when you go aboard a 'normal' boat you are in danger of going head-over-heals
(original design with massive companionway/engine-cover moulding .......later boats have a more traditional 'ladder')SUNDASH, Sadler29, 1984
Cantata
Well-Known Member
I had a twin-keeler for 5 years. She was 'initially tender' - in not a lot of breeze they heel to about 15degrees but then they stay pretty much at that angle as the wind builds until you become over-pressed.
Flew in light airs. Not so good to windward in a chop as the root of the weather keel tended to break surface and slam. We liked her a lot, though, only really moved on to get some more space.
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robmcg
Well-Known Member
Right I can see now. I was confused as our Trapper has a wooden batten forming a ridge between the top step and the sink.
Seajet
...
Just how big is the plughole in this scary Trapper sink ? A direct tunnel to Davy Jones / Narnia ? 
ghostlymoron
Well-Known Member
sadler26
It must have been the Sadler 26 I was looking at that had the dinette. http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/sadler-26/sadler-26.htm
The 'C' shaped settee would be fine offshore.
It must have been the Sadler 26 I was looking at that had the dinette. http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/sadler-26/sadler-26.htm
The 'C' shaped settee would be fine offshore.
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Scomber
Well-Known Member
hi
we,ve had our 29 about 8 yrs-based cardigan bay-numerous trips to places such as scotland -ireland-scillies -even with our teenage offspring and friends in tow it's all been great fun and even in a blow always felt safe
we,ve had our 29 about 8 yrs-based cardigan bay-numerous trips to places such as scotland -ireland-scillies -even with our teenage offspring and friends in tow it's all been great fun and even in a blow always felt safe
johnalison
Well-Known Member
Just how big is the plughole in this scary Trapper sink ? A direct tunnel to Davy Jones / Narnia ?
More like a direct line to the nearest A&E with a broken ankle if you're not careful. Quite a few boats are like that; I think the Shipman 28 was one.
