Sporty small boat with ability to take the ground

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rexel235

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Hi , I'm looking for a small boat that is sporty, preferably cheap , yet can still take the ground , I liked the Beneteau first 210 and related ones but I don't think it can take the ground, oh and I need a guarantee of at least a 6"2 bunk . Kind of sounds like a unicorn boat I know .
 
We owned a Hunter Delta for several years, with her lifting keel she sat happily on the mud at low tide, not suitable for hard surface drying as the hull is directly on the mud. Sails like a witch, great fun, outboard in a well is a bit of a pain initially but she will sail circles round any similar size bilge keeler. I am afraid I do not know the berth length but at 6' 2" you will not have standing headroom. Find an owner and definitely one to try before you buy. A sailors boat rather than a caravan.

The hull was the basis for Hunters better known Horizon models, which do have more accomodation but despite claims their bilge keels would never perform as well as the fin of the Delta. Pays yer money, takes yer choice
 
One of the Parker range, maybe the 21. Lift keel and quick as I seem to remember.
I'm looking in the same criteria, maybe a trailer sailor, but not a lot on the market here in Portugal.
 
Bilge keel seawolf 26. You'll get the long bunk anyway. Here's a pic of what must be a 12 or 14ft berth on my fin keel version. It's so long I could not fit the ends in the pic. One end disappears far under the cockpit, perhaps 6feet in. IMG_20210627_122949.jpg
 
Slowboat35 said:
Parkers are excellent boats but quality of that kind does not come 'cheap'.
Click to expand...

Parker build quality was considerably improved over the John Baker produced Seals that Parkers effectively took over. With that goes price, so by the same token if "preferably cheap" is a requirement I'd be looking at all the John Baker Seals from the 22 upwards. They are perfectly good boats, but as they date from about 1970 onwards you need to have your condition inspection specs on when looking at one. I dunno about the 6ft 2 ins bunk requirement though. That could be an ask too far in many a small yacht.

I lived just up the road from Parkers for quite a few years, and also Pippin Yachts whose first workshop was all of 400 metres from my house until they moved about three miles away. Both are sadly no more They both made a superb product beautifully moulded and finished.

Seal 22 1978 7m Sailing Cruiser – Powerboats & Motorboats – Bournemouth | Facebook Marketplace
 
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I find it interesting .... I can remember when a small sporty would be a 15 - 16ftr .... 26ft was regarded as medium size.

To OP - I think a general online search putting Bilge Keel as a criteria. Lift Keels are OK - but some have still deepish fixed hull keels.
Then its a case of looking through....

To get a 6ft2 berth - then that would usually mean an open plan cabin style in the smaller boats.
 
Refueler said:
No actually today its not considering whats out there now.

Pal of mine just bought a B31 for 3000 euro ... fully fitted out.

Seems bottom has dropped out of the 2nd hand boat market - especially the pre 90's !
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It's long been the case in the UK, that you pay a premium for a boat which doesn't need a deep water mooring, in the cheaper end of the market.
In the Uk, much of the market is buoyant, due to covid travel restrictions and the lack of better holiday options.
I've paid more than £4k for a 14ft dinghy.
Even then, it's in the league where the capital cost is not a big multiple of the annual operating budget.
 
I have happily owned a bilge keeler so my view is not just prejudice, but OP asked for "Sporty"" and for me that excludes bilge keels, and triple keels even more. If accomodation is more important it becomes a wider choice.
 
johnphilip said:
I have happily owned a bilge keeler so my view is not just prejudice, but OP asked for "Sporty"" and for me that excludes bilge keels, and triple keels even more. If accomodation is more important it becomes a wider choice.
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If you sail dinghies, then all small cruisers are slow.
In my view, having sailed them a fair bit in the 1980s, the Hunter Duettes don't go too badly.
Quite a few bilge keel Hunters have had reasonably tidy results in the RTIR, which is always good for a rough guide.
There are some bilge keeled dogs about, but that's true of any keel configuration.
It's the old problem that bilge keel is not the first choice of the keen sporty sailor, so the people who sail them tend not to get the best out of them, so their shortcomings are exaggerated to varying degrees. Same as ketches, gaff rig, ... anything that doesn't fit the cruiser-racer stereotype really.

There's always multihulls.....
Strider 24 for sale UK, Strider boats for sale, Strider used boat sales, Strider Sailing Yachts For Sale Trailable Catamaran Strider 24 - Apollo Duck
Bunks look long!


But narrow!
 
TernVI said:
It's long been the case in the UK, that you pay a premium for a boat which doesn't need a deep water mooring, in the cheaper end of the market.
In the Uk, much of the market is buoyant, due to covid travel restrictions and the lack of better holiday options.
I've paid more than £4k for a 14ft dinghy.
Even then, it's in the league where the capital cost is not a big multiple of the annual operating budget.
Click to expand...

I've been watching the markets as my Pal was looking for a 30 - 38ft'r ... and I am looking for a bigger boat in the 36ft ~

UK seems to be strange as its not following the trend of others like Sweden .. Finland etc. When Winter comes to end - market has lots of good boats but prices are way low ... they only start picking back up as numbers of boats for sale diminishes and season is underway.
As I say UK seems to be carrying daft prices for boats ...
 
johnphilip said:
I have happily owned a bilge keeler so my view is not just prejudice, but OP asked for "Sporty"" and for me that excludes bilge keels, and triple keels even more. If accomodation is more important it becomes a wider choice.
Click to expand...

Seems you haven't sailed any of the boats where you have option of twin or single keel. Some years ago - PBO actually 'raced' a twin keel against its single keel version .. the difference literally came down to skippers and tactics. The two boats were similar in performance - accepted that the single keel suffered marginally less leeway.

Ever seen a Tandem Wing Keel ? That was RACE developed.

OK - I agree old tubs like mine with Bilge Keels are not race winners ... but I can say that my old Alacrity with a couple of good guys on board could show a pair of heels to quite a few .. we won a number of club events with her.
 
TernVI said:
If you sail dinghies, then all small cruisers are slow.
In my view, having sailed them a fair bit in the 1980s, the Hunter Duettes don't go too badly.
Quite a few bilge keel Hunters have had reasonably tidy results in the RTIR, which is always good for a rough guide.
There are some bilge keeled dogs about, but that's true of any keel configuration.
It's the old problem that bilge keel is not the first choice of the keen sporty sailor, so the people who sail them tend not to get the best out of them, so their shortcomings are exaggerated to varying degrees. Same as ketches, gaff rig, ... anything that doesn't fit the cruiser-racer stereotype really.

There's always multihulls.....
Strider 24 for sale UK, Strider boats for sale, Strider used boat sales, Strider Sailing Yachts For Sale Trailable Catamaran Strider 24 - Apollo Duck
Bunks look long!


But narrow!
Click to expand...

With my Father - we used to enter RTIR .. but she was lift keel I admit..... Snapdragon 23.
 
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