Silhouette or Skipper 17

[LenT]

+1 for the Hunter Tracer, but very few available.

 

[Black Sheep]

How about a Burnham 18? Not many about, but highly appropriate.

Dear me no. Awful boat. I don't think one has even crossed the Crouch successfully.

Now a Bradwell 18, on the other hand, is a brilliant vessel for hereabouts. Floats on wet grass. SA/Disp ratio of 22, so good and fast. But seaworthy enough to take you good distances. Much sought after, fine craft.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Perhaps I should open a museum in Burnham dedicated to Oliver Lee boats

It would be nice to have some sort of permanent collection somewhere. I think he was one of Britain's best boat designers and now one of the least known.

 

[ImSteve]

Well in the end I went with a boat Designed a few streets away, The Hunter 490 ...

Many thanks to those of you that contributed to this post, And a very big thank you to JumbleDuck for all his help :encouragement:

Merry Christmas
Steve

 

[sailorman]

Well in the end I went with a with a boat Designed a few streets away, The Hunter 490 ...

Many thanks to those of you that contributed to this post, And a very big thank you to JumbleDuck for all his help :encouragement:

Merry Christmas
Steve

A good decision, roll on spring

 

[PeterWright]

.. After watching the local squibs racing I started looking at Oliver Lee designs, and have discovered the Hunter 19/Europa, (was it ever lost ?) So the wife and I are on a mission to have a look at one in the flesh.

We are 99% sure that the Hunter Europa is the boat for us as it seems to meet all our requirements, We have choosen the Tri keel out of the two because knowing us we are bound to run aground, Though I am lead to understand that they don't settle to level on soft mud.. Also we will be transporting it on trailer and having retrieved bilge keelers before I'm quite happy with this setup.

Seems you've already arrived at the answer I was going to offer. In your first post, you said you wanted something bigger with a keel, so it's not clear to me that you want a cabin, although the two designs you cited both feature one. If the boat is for day sailing only, I would suggest a Squib - both beautiful looking and a dream to handle. However, if you fancy the odd night on board, one of the Squibs close relations such as the Hunter 19 would be ideal, although not as good looking. Either one will give you a much better sailing experience than any of the other designs recommended here and, despite the Squib Owners Association focus on racing I bet more than half the 800 odd built are used principally for cruising.

Incidentally, a fin keeled Squib is pretty easy to get on to a trailer - the racing folk do it all the time. Part of the magic of Oliver Lee's design is the combination of gret ability to stand up to her sail with shallow draft (3' 3"). Your no more likely to go aground than the racers who insist on short inshore tacks over the Burnham mudflats to beat the tide - as one of my Burnham crew once said "If you don't go aground occasionally, you're not really trying." (It didn't make me feel any better, as we struggled to get our 5'10"draft off the putty, while half the fleet overtook us). At least in a Squib you have he option of jumping over the side and pushing off!

Lastly, don't make your mind up just on the basis of looking at the options, follow Dantribe's advice and blag some trial sails - the Squib will really impress you then.