Small cruiser/racer selection advice

rog123 said:
Thanks,

Interesting to know about the Eygthene couldn't find much info on them and good upwind ability is important to me.
Yeah the Sadlers look like a perfect blend of seaworthiness and fun sailing but most are over my budget, a few cheaper ones but no trailer and probably old sails.
As one poster pointed out I'd be too tall for the GK24 anymore standing head room in the Eygtheen?
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Standing head room, no. I honestly can't compare it to the GK24, because the last time I was on one of those I was just 10 years old so I had jumping head room!

I'm 6'4'' and my Eygthene wasn't too bad, it had more than the Sadler 25, but I definitely had to stoop. Both quarter berths were long enough and the forecabin was roomy enough.

If you look at one, pay close attention to the keel bolts and keel hull joint if she's out the water. They came with 2 rig options, a single spreader rig and a taller double spreader rig. As with all boats this age, many of them haven't been maintained for the last 20 years so a good inspection is necessary.
 
rog123 said:
Thanks,

Interesting to know about the Eygthene couldn't find much info on them and good upwind ability is important to me.
Yeah the Sadlers look like a perfect blend of seaworthiness and fun sailing but most are over my budget, a few cheaper ones but no trailer and probably old sails.
As one poster pointed out I'd be too tall for the GK24 anymore standing head room in the Eygtheen?
Click to expand...

The Eygthene is a nice little boat: I almost bought one. Almost as much room as the GK24 (nearly bought one of those too) but has more headroom, although you won't have standing headroom in anything of this size.

As everyone says, buy a good one (hull, equipment, rigging, sails, engine, kit), not a cheap one needing to be done up. It will be cheaper in the end and you'll have a good boat to sail now. I really would err on the side of saying better get one with an inboard diesel than a heavy outboard perched on the stern.

The racing fleet quarter tonners tend to be expensively rebuilt with new keels, sails, rigs, etc and won't be in the lower part of the price band as many of the boats mentioned in this thread. Note the Sadler 25 is a good boat but not particularly 'racy'. Don't dismiss it though as it is seaworthy and if you are planning on using a cheap drying mooring, you can get them with twin keels.
 
Quandary said:
You will not find a Ruffian 23 for your budget but it is a 1/4 tonner with real performance combined with rugged sea worthiness, I raced on one in the Irish Sea, North channel area with confidence and success, better performer than the Achilles 24 ( owned one and raced it in the same class as the Ruffians) and the Eyghthene, other boats in the class were GK 24s, Boleros and Sonatas, all great performers but not as tough as the Ruffian. Most have migrated back to Ireland, there are classes in Belfast Lough and Dublin Bay as well as in Hong Kong.
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If you have £4k - I know of an excellent Ruffian. PM me
 
Ceirwan said:
Standing head room, no. I honestly can't compare it to the GK24, because the last time I was on one of those I was just 10 years old so I had jumping head room!

I'm 6'4'' and my Eygthene wasn't too bad, it had more than the Sadler 25, but I definitely had to stoop. Both quarter berths were long enough and the forecabin was roomy enough.

If you look at one, pay close attention to the keel bolts and keel hull joint if she's out the water. They came with 2 rig options, a single spreader rig and a taller double spreader rig. As with all boats this age, many of them haven't been maintained for the last 20 years so a good inspection is necessary.
Click to expand...

Wow those are great memories to have.
Thanks for the advice I'll definitely keep an eye out but they seem harder to find that other boats out there.
 
The racing fleet quarter tonners tend to be expensively rebuilt with new keels, sails, rigs, etc and won't be in the lower part of the price band as many of the boats mentioned in this thread. Note the Sadler 25 is a good boat but not particularly 'racy'. Don't dismiss it though as it is seaworthy and if you are planning on using a cheap drying mooring, you can get them with twin keels.[/QUOTE]

Yeah I like the look of Sadlers but they're a bit out of my range unless I want a project which probably isn't a good idea.
Tbh I'm only looking for fin keels, probably a bit silly but I feel they may be a bit faster bearing no evidence that is!
 
PeteCooper said:
The Ecume had standing headroom for me - I guess I am about 5ft 9".
Click to expand...

Great to know thats sounds pretty good.
I'm leaning towards these as I've heard they perform well in light winds too.
I'll probably have to buy a new set of sails maybe the following summer though as most appear old.
 
Just wondering does anyone have any experience with the Pandora 22, especially the 23 footer?
I'm leaning towards larger boats like the Ecume de Mer as from what I've read they're nice performers especially upwind and in light airs.
However, the Pandora is tempting as I know they will turn out to be a lot less work and money in the long run.
 
Where is the OP based? NW England and N wales is a hotspot for pandoras and it seems eygthenes too. Abersoch has the racing fleet of pandoras and i know Liverpool has at least one Eygthene for sale locally- probably within budget but no idea of condition. 4k I think will relatively easily get a pandora in decent nick- I paid half that from Ebay and it was ready to go (and yet i am still constantly working on things. funny that.) The pandora is a great little boat, but do remember how narrow it is. Inside it's a job for me (6ft) to get my knees out of the way to do anything. The Eygthene is much, much beamier and although i have never been inside one i imagine it will feel a more comfortable space. I have no complaints whatsoever about the performance of a pandora- my first boat, and forgiving, well balanced and still strong as a house after 40 years and it feels quick for the size. i think either of these boats are a great starter, but I look at eygthene and it looks like a step up the ladder.
 
You could do far worse than a Sonata. There are plenty around and as they're raced competitively they invariably have plenty of decent kit and properly maintained rigging - after all there's nothing fast about knackered sails or breakages!

I raced and cruised on one extensively on the Medway and Thames Estuary for 10 - 15 years and never had any worries about its seaworthyness, they're surprisingly tough and capable boats. They go upwind superbly and are generally well behaved offwind - they don't tend to broach unless pushed really hard, give plenty of warning and recover easily, they won't plane offwind but surf quite easily.

Being quite light they appreciate a bit of weight on the rail but it's not essential, we used to cruise with two on board and race three up, we found four people on board to be a bit crowded but most boats race four up.

Accommodation wise they are a bit like advanced camping but they have four full size bunks, don't expect the interior to be smart but they're easily tidied up.

What's more they fit your budget - http://hunterboats.apolloduck.co.uk/boats.phtml?id=388

Cheers
Matt
 
EddBee said:
Where is the OP based? NW England and N wales is a hotspot for pandoras and it seems eygthenes too. Abersoch has the racing fleet of pandoras and i know Liverpool has at least one Eygthene for sale locally- probably within budget but no idea of condition. 4k I think will relatively easily get a pandora in decent nick- I paid half that from Ebay and it was ready to go (and yet i am still constantly working on things. funny that.) The pandora is a great little boat, but do remember how narrow it is. Inside it's a job for me (6ft) to get my knees out of the way to do anything. The Eygthene is much, much beamier and although i have never been inside one i imagine it will feel a more comfortable space. I have no complaints whatsoever about the performance of a pandora- my first boat, and forgiving, well balanced and still strong as a house after 40 years and it feels quick for the size. i think either of these boats are a great starter, but I look at eygthene and it looks like a step up the ladder.
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Hey I'm based in the west of Ireland which makes things a bit more difficult.
Theres a few Pandoras that I might go and have a look at around the place.
I'm starting to realize that I'd probably prefer something closer to the 26 foot mark though.
Thanks for the info though its given me a better idea of how they might feel.
 
Medway Matt said:
You could do far worse than a Sonata. There are plenty around and as they're raced competitively they invariably have plenty of decent kit and properly maintained rigging - after all there's nothing fast about knackered sails or breakages!

I raced and cruised on one extensively on the Medway and Thames Estuary for 10 - 15 years and never had any worries about its seaworthyness, they're surprisingly tough and capable boats. They go upwind superbly and are generally well behaved offwind - they don't tend to broach unless pushed really hard, give plenty of warning and recover easily, they won't plane offwind but surf quite easily.

Being quite light they appreciate a bit of weight on the rail but it's not essential, we used to cruise with two on board and race three up, we found four people on board to be a bit crowded but most boats race four up.

Accommodation wise they are a bit like advanced camping but they have four full size bunks, don't expect the interior to be smart but they're easily tidied up.

What's more they fit your budget - http://hunterboats.apolloduck.co.uk/boats.phtml?id=388

Cheers
Matt
Click to expand...

Yeah Sonatas and the Pandora were the two in that size category I was most thinking of.
Not quite sure which would outperform the other in case I decide to go for that.
But for now I want to look into bigger boats like the Ecume de Mer, Robber 3e etc.
Thanks for the info its all been great!
 
rog123 said:
Yeah Sonatas and the Pandora were the two in that size category I was most thinking of.
Not quite sure which would outperform the other in case I decide to go for that.
Click to expand...

The Sonata is a lot quicker than the Pandora - and quicker than an Ecume De Mer if performance is what you are after. If you want to know more about the Ecume have a look in the Archive section of http://yachtsnet.co.uk/archives.htm or send me a PM and I will be happy to tell you about them.
 
rog123 said:
Hey I'm based in the west of Ireland which makes things a bit more difficult.
Click to expand...

In that case definitely look at a Ruffian or Shipman 28. You should be able to get one in Ireland and sail it around to the west coat. There were a couple of Shipman's for under €5,000 when I looked earlier. Don't be put off by the 28' as being too big as they have large overhangs. They sail well.
 
PeteCooper said:
The Sonata is a lot quicker than the Pandora - and quicker than an Ecume De Mer if performance is what you are after. If you want to know more about the Ecume have a look in the Archive section of http://yachtsnet.co.uk/archives.htm or send me a PM and I will be happy to tell you about them.
Click to expand...

Thanks Pete appreciate the kind offer.
At the moment I'm just trying to gather as much info as possible and if I hone in on the Ecume it would be great to get the advice.
All the best.
 
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