Taking the plunge

[AndreasNYC]

OK, this is the year.
I am ready to buy a little sailboat.

Essentially I want something small, and reasonably fast.

Would like to be able to sleep on board and use the bathroom on board, dont need anything else.

Most important is that it can be single handed easily because sailing partners are hard to come by.

I live in the NYC are.

20-30 FT is fine.

any suggestions?

Andreas

[Lake Superior Sailor]

Wow, what are you used to sailing? Just a small sailboat= 8ft. pram ! Lot of people live on your idea of small....Dale

[chuck53]

Are you going to trailer the boat, keep it at a marina or tie it to a mooring ball?
Are you going to be sailing out in the ocean or in more protected waters?
When you stay on board, is it just a day or two or longer?

You do realize there is a HUGE difference in everything about the boat when you look at a 20 footer vs. a 30 footer. You need to narrow this down some.
What have you looked at that has caught your eye?
What's your budget for purchasing a boat?

[jameswilson29]

J/24

[AndreasNYC]

I was going to keep it at a mooring ball near Manhattan during the on season.
Store it somewhere during the off season.

25 ft is the most I think I will need.

2-3 days on board at most.

less than 20 K

I have looked at a lot of boats, went to the MD Sailboat show.

There is a LOT to choose from and even more opinions.

I guess the main sailing area around here is Long Island sound which is reasonably protected (so I have heard).
I guess I would also like to sail south do NJ etc.
Not really sure how bad it gets there.

[AndreasNYC]

I think it should be obvious by now that despite all efforts I am not at all experienced.

So yes I guess my conception of small is off.

I like the J/24 however I would prefer something with a wheel.

I guess thats because I am under the impression that its harder to short hand a J/24 because there is no way of fixing the rudder while you go to mess with the jib lines, and they are not near each other.

Are there J24s that are set up for being sailed single handed?

[chuck53]

OK, you looked at lots of boats, but which one(s) really caught your eye that you could see yourself sailing around in?
With a budget of $15-20k, I can see you easily finding a 25 footer in nice shape. I was afraid you'd come back saying you wanted to keep it under $3k.

[AndreasNYC]

If you think 25 is longer than necessary I am more than willing to go shorter.
I do have a decent budget, but I try to have more good sense than money.
I figure the only way to become a sailor is to sail, regularly. So I guess the single handed thing is most important to me of all because finding partners is an endless problem.

[Lake Superior Sailor]

To single hand a boat, the boat is set up by the skipper to his or her personal feeling, Most skippers are still tweeking the system as they sail though the season! Just because it works for one doesn't mean it works for all! Tillered or wheel is a choice that makes no difference vs. single handing. You might start by deciding shoal draft center board,or keel. ....Dale

[chuck53]

Are you aware that auto pilots are available for both wheel and tiller stearing? I used to have a Catalina 30 with a tiller and auto pilot.
Obviously I'm biased towards Catalina's, but go to Yachtworld and some of the other boat classifieds and take a look at a Catalina 25. I think you will be pleasantly surprised at what you see. go to the Catalina owners forum and check that out as well.