Wansworth
Well-Known Member
Go too fastI keep telling you a Strider would be perfect. 7.3 metres, shallow draught, party space in the middle, room for a loo. What are you waiting for
Smallest viable boat advice
- Thread starter wanzap1
- Start date
Chiara’s slave
Well-Known Member
There’s no pleasing you, is thereGo too fast
doug748
Well-Known Member
I would look for a Sadler 25 .....and pay the yard twice a year to launch and recover onto the trailer. The rest is free and you have a good, capable sailing boat with enough usable room for at least shorter trips away.
I have even seen a couple of Sadler 26's asking under 7k in the last year, luxury.
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dunedin
Well-Known Member
There is a huge difference in living space between a 19ft narrow Hunter Europa (Squib with a lid) and a beamier slightly more modern 22 footer.
Joking on this forum aside, something like an Andersen 22 might be ideal. Or a similar sized Hunter Horizon, or even a Hunter Sonata if fin keel and basic interior is not a concern in return for excellent sailing performance. Personally an E boat with flat decks wouldn’t be on my list.
My late father towed a 22 foot Jaguar/Alacrity 22 for thousands of miles behind an old Land Rover - Scotland to South of France regularly, and even to Yugoslavia. Mast raising easily done at that size with a few helpers. Though he did end up craning on and off to protect the wheel bearings and brakes for the very long journeys.
Also towed a Sonata long distances - this had the benefit of a launch cradle which then went on a standard car trailer, so never got the road trailer wet (and easy to borrow a suitable trailer).
Joking on this forum aside, something like an Andersen 22 might be ideal. Or a similar sized Hunter Horizon, or even a Hunter Sonata if fin keel and basic interior is not a concern in return for excellent sailing performance. Personally an E boat with flat decks wouldn’t be on my list.
My late father towed a 22 foot Jaguar/Alacrity 22 for thousands of miles behind an old Land Rover - Scotland to South of France regularly, and even to Yugoslavia. Mast raising easily done at that size with a few helpers. Though he did end up craning on and off to protect the wheel bearings and brakes for the very long journeys.
Also towed a Sonata long distances - this had the benefit of a launch cradle which then went on a standard car trailer, so never got the road trailer wet (and easy to borrow a suitable trailer).
Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
There is a sadler 25.5 in Bradwell, complete with road trailer. Working engine, but running rigging is shot. Sails are Ok & there is a leaky window. Bit of a project, but you would get it for pennies & be able to tow it home & do any jobs on it. Sails like a witch.
Chap sailed it a bit but has now bought a larger boat. There is a mooring in St Lawrence Bay being laid for it this week at cost of £125-00 PA, paid up
PeterV
Well-Known Member
I’ve had a Hunter 19. Great fun but I’d say you need to be in your twenties to cope with the lack of space. If you’re happy with the weight a Hunter Sonata would be a good cheap buy but even better a Hunter Duet. Bilge keel with extra ballast so not as tender as a Sonata, has the advantage of an outboard well and loads of room inside compared with older boats like the Anderson 22.
Baggywrinkle
Well-Known Member
This was our Kingfisher when I was a kid, I remember the smell of fiberglass resin, mixed with a salty dampness and also the smell of matches and gas in the morning when mum put the kettle on. No running water, water was in plastic canisters, engine was a Johnson 6hp in an outboard well. We were a family of 5 - 3 kids, 2,4 & 6 years old and I slept with my siblings in the fore cabin and woke up to condensation dripping on me every morning - but it did have a real sea toilet!!!. It was definitely camping on water and our cruising ground was the Clyde and Western Isles up to Tobermory. The weather never allowed us to go past Ardnamurchan Lighthouse. 3-4 knots was the cruising speed. It was solidly built and being a bilge keel it could dry out, Tobermory harbour was best, we could walk ashore. Any you find today will probably need a complete re-build. I did a week long sailing course 2-up with my mum from Inverkip, round Arran and up from Campbeltown to Bute aged 9 or 10. Happy days, this was the boat that got me hooked. Pure adventure. Not sure I could live with one now though. My dad used to bring her home every winter on a hired car trailer and he worked on her in the garden. Since then we had an Albin Vega, followed by a Finnsailer 35 ... I left home, moved to Germany and bought a Bavaria 36 in Croatia and then a Bavaria 44 Vision, also in Croatia. I often thought about buying a Kingfisher and restoring it ... but I think this dream was fuelled by nostalgia more than anything else. Good luck with the search, a well sorted Kingfisher would be a lovely little boat IMO.
johnalison
Well-Known Member
Although I could just about stand in our 22' Cirrus, there is always going to be a comfort cost in any boat of that size or less. One thing that has changed since I had boats in the 20-30' range is the ubiquity of cockpit enclosures, and a decent one of these could make any small boat worth about half as big again.
Supertramp
Well-Known Member
Consider what you can gain with a smaller yacht - a lift keel or twins opens up access to places fin keels can't go. Especially in NI and Scotland.
Then you need decent headroom/space and a dependable sailing performance. Parker 21/235 or Hunter Horizon 23 would be on my shortlist.
Engine is a consideration - F5 in the North Channel might need the help of a decent engine. Inboard diesels really do trump outboard for me.
Then you need decent headroom/space and a dependable sailing performance. Parker 21/235 or Hunter Horizon 23 would be on my shortlist.
Engine is a consideration - F5 in the North Channel might need the help of a decent engine. Inboard diesels really do trump outboard for me.
ridgy
Well-Known Member
In that case forget Hunter 19s etc and get the biggest thing you can trailer and tow,.and pay to have the mast stepped by crane. I know someone who takes his X99 home for the winter and keeps it on his driveput on a summer mooring then taking home for winter
Egret
Well-Known Member
Look at a Hunter Horizon 23 with outboard in well - good internal space for the length, standing headroom if you're not too tall - guessing David Thomas and Peter Poland weren't particularly tall - and good sailing performance - should be able to get one in 'ready to go' condition - good value.
Simplest though is to find something locally in 'ready to go' condition, already on a trailer - some in my area but not necessarily suitable for the type of 'offshore' sailing envisaged by the OP.
Simplest though is to find something locally in 'ready to go' condition, already on a trailer - some in my area but not necessarily suitable for the type of 'offshore' sailing envisaged by the OP.
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Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
Is that such an issue in scotland? I thought that rocky shores were more vertical. Unlike sandbanks
ylop
Well-Known Member
There are some anchorages where depth needs some thought or where shallow draft would let you get closer to shore (less rowing, space when the big boats are all swinging about in deep water).
For the OP’s stated area it might also be handy for smaller harbours which fin keel yachts usually ignore.
AntarcticPilot
Well-Known Member
I think that @Wansworth needs to look no further than television for inspiration. There is technology first documented in 1963 that combines a small, readily transported exterior with a massive interior. Sadly, the exterior aesthetics may not match his desires, but I am sure the interior space of the Tardis would satisfy him.
Wansworth
Well-Known Member
Those pesky Dialecks would take up space!
Minerva
Well-Known Member
True, but we also have isle of Eigg, Arisaig skerries and loch Moidart to name but a few in that neck of the woods where the ability to dry out on the sand / creep into super shallow water could be a real pleasure.
Another left field option; evolution 26. Lifting keel but lockable down. Inboard engine. Decent head room, supposed to sail very well. It’s the E boats’ big sister and still trailable.
Supertramp
Well-Known Member
It's not an issue, just that shoal draft and the ability to take the ground opens up harbours and estuaries that are otherwise out of bounds. There are lots of places in the inner and outer Hebrides that offer drying or shallow anchoring.
It's an opportunity that can come with downsizing.
Daydream believer
Well-Known Member
Do many people who down size actually sail in those areas?
Minerva
Well-Known Member
Usually see a few Wayfarers each season plus wee drascomb types. Last season there was a chap sailing a dinghy little more than a canoe - think he ended up in Norway. Often see some silly looking (normally French it seems) repurposed extreme racing boats often with husband, wife and children on board. Some reckless folk even sail Bavaria’s. Never though to ask them if they were at the start or end of their sailing careers though.
Supertramp
Well-Known Member
No idea, but I grew up sailing around on a 22ft twin keel road trailered to Oban for the summers. We got all over the inner Hebrides. As did others in small yachts.
Now, having upsized, I find I'm staying in a whole new set of places, travelling between them much faster and wondering why Ardnamurchan seemed like such an obstacle.
The biggest difference is being able to carry food, fuel and water to cover a month plus, and that I can get to shelter in weather that would have defeated us all those years ago.
Now, having upsized, I find I'm staying in a whole new set of places, travelling between them much faster and wondering why Ardnamurchan seemed like such an obstacle.
The biggest difference is being able to carry food, fuel and water to cover a month plus, and that I can get to shelter in weather that would have defeated us all those years ago.
