What boat should I be dreaming about?

[contessaman]

long keel designs...
In my limited understanding, isn't that the least performance orientated of the three types of keel?

where did you get that from? show me a bilge keeler that will outperform a long keeler to windward in anything of a seaway. besides, theres more to it than long keel or fin keel. For example something like a cutlass 27 is 'long' keel, but with a cut away forfoot. this is a good compromise. good sea keeping but with less drag than a 'longer long' keel.

The real question is WHO will you be sailing with? if you will always be sailing with plenty of crew get a racy half tonner you could get a nicholson 1/2 tonner or gk29 etc for 9 grand. theres a toledo 30 for sale down my club for something like 6 grand needs a bit of tlc but a great boat. you'd have 3 grand to spend on it.

If you are sailing on your own, or with family get a boat that will look after you at sea. you can still race it on handicap and you wont be afraid to use it if you can handle it easily.

as to what you should be *dreaming* about, surely a ron holland swan 39?!! what else?

 

[contessaman]

have a peep at these for reference:

gk29
http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/westerly-gk29/westerly-gk29.htm

nich 1/2
http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/nicholson-half-tonner/half-tonner.htm

arpege
http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/dufour-arpege/arpege.htm

cutlass
http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/cutlass-27.htm/marcon-cutlass.htm

vega
http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/albin-vega/albin-vega-27.htm

co26
http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/contessa-26/contessa-26.htm

if you think the co26 is a slow long keeler just ask jeremy rodgers how many times he has won rti!

forgot to mention the arpege in my first post. great boats. decent accommodation and dirt cheap. however lookout for spongy decks or at least budget for repair.

its a buyers market out there. Enjoy!!

 

[Avocet]

where did you get that from? show me a bilge keeler that will outperform a long keeler to windward in anything of a seaway. besides, theres more to it than long keel or fin keel. For example something like a cutlass 27 is 'long' keel, but with a cut away forfoot. this is a good compromise. good sea keeping but with less drag than a 'longer long' keel.

The real question is WHO will you be sailing with? if you will always be sailing with plenty of crew get a racy half tonner you could get a nicholson 1/2 tonner or gk29 etc for 9 grand. theres a toledo 30 for sale down my club for something like 6 grand needs a bit of tlc but a great boat. you'd have 3 grand to spend on it.

If you are sailing on your own, or with family get a boat that will look after you at sea. you can still race it on handicap and you wont be afraid to use it if you can handle it easily.

as to what you should be *dreaming* about, surely a ron holland swan 39?!! what else?

Just to add to what others have said, it really isn't just about straight line, smooth water speed. A lot depends on the sort of sailing you want to do. Before we had Avocet (the Cutlass) we had an Evolution 22. Both boats had about a 20' waterline length (suggesting similar maximum speeds) but in "real life" they were actually "chalk and cheese"! On Windermere (or on a flat sea), the Evolution was a quick boat, provided you had a good strong crew willing to trim the sails frequently and sit on the weather deck when beating. It would catch the wind like a dinghy, turn on a sixpence & do all that "round-the-cans" malarkey very well. On a beat, somewhere like Morecambe Bay, however, it was worse than useless. A big, beamy hull, no displacement (to speak of), just meant that every wave we hit picked the boat up and chucked it backwards a couple of boat lengths.

In contrast, Avocet (being less beamy that your average pencil!) just punches through the waves. On the other hand, Avocet isn't as good at flat water "round-the-cans" stuff, but can be sailed easily and at (almost) the same speed by a husband-and-wife crew without too much shouting and exhaustion. In tyical UK North West Coast conditions, I don't think there would be much to choose between them in terms of passage times. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of perfectly good reasons for not going for a long-keeler, but outright speed isn't necessarily one of them, in my opinion.

 

[chrisbitz]

Just to get back on topic, this thread isn't about "what's the fastest boat in a straight line?"

My comment about long keel boats wasn't meant to be rude about anyone's boat, but I was just imagining (with ZERO expertise) that having significantly? more underwater surface area than a fin keeler, it might not be a performance boat. But I'm happy to be corrected!

The original question was asking for suggestions about what boat is an acceptable compromise between cruising and performance. since I originally wanted a centaur, but having done a little racing now, I'd like something a *little* more in the performance direction, without sacrificing *all* cruising and comfort capability.

For instance, something between a Centaur (comfort) and a SHE27 (performance)? (I think)

thanks for all the suggestions so far!

 

[Kelpie]

Trapper 500? People seem to like them.
I like my Vega too Pretty fast for a 'long' keeler.

 

[Fire99]

This is an interesting thread since I'm kinda in a similar position. (Though less definite on when yet)

Though buying a boat is definitely a choice of the heart, your head does need to play a part. Especially when you've already owned a boat and got an idea what works for you and what doesn't.

I race a squib from time to time and racing does give you a feel on whether speed is a consideration for you and if you want a flighty boat or a stable boat or a compromise.

It's worth getting a little scientific and asking some basic questions:

Where do you plan to sail? If it's river / sheltered waters then a more flighty boat will be great. If you have aspirations to go out to sea then stable performance will become important.
Will you be sailing into the shallows and want easy drying ability?
Interior space. Do you want standing headroom? Do you want to spend a number of days on-board with comfortable accommodation or just functional berths and somewhere to sit when drinking your tea? Will you have others on-board where you want to socialise comfortably with them?

For me much of what I want is a compromise of all of the above but it means I can un-tick the boats that definitely don't meet the criteria.

Personally I'm warming to Hunter Horizon 26/27 but my only reservation is when I get out to sea whether it'll make good seagoing passage.

 

[pmagowan]

Twister. 28 foot, long keel excellent cruiser. Will win the odd race on handicap. Look lovely. I have a honeybee which is a similar design in wood. Heart rules head on boats

 

[Fire99]

Heart rules head on boats

Very true but if you ignore your head completely, it isn't long after purchase that your heart is shown to have overlooked some serious boo-boo's.

 

[NealB]

This looks like a well kept boat, at not a bad asking price:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/westerly-...ng_Goods_Sailing_Boats_ET&hash=item3cd1eb19c9

(Do I have to say, "no connection, etc...."? Ooh, I just did)