Trailorable low heel boat

[jackvz2000]

Hi,
I am looking for a boat that can go on a trailor but only to get in and out of water twice/year and will be trailored only a half mile or so. I also want a good, stiff boat easily single handed for sailing in Puget Sound. Suggestions?

[CharlieCobra]

Low heel? What is that? I take my Venture 21 out on the sound without issues but I can tell ya that when the wind comes up, she will heel. Depending on your budget, I'd look at the O'Day 25's or an older boat like a Mac 26C or D.

[Cruisingdad]

Catalina 250 with a fixed keel are trailerable. Avoid a water ballast. I have owned a 250. Nice little boat for the price.

[SailinJay]

Catalina 22 comes in both a swing keel (five-foot draft) and a fixed keel (I believe it's 3.5 feet). It's trailerable, but you're going to have to raise and lower the mast (unless that half-mile has no overhead obstructions) each time you launch and haul out.

Heeling is a function of how you sail. The closer to the wind (close-hauled or close reach), the more the boat will tend to heel. You can control the angle of heel by how you sail. Most sources say that 15 degrees of heel is about where you want to be. While getting the rail wet can be exciting, excessive heeling angles actually are less efficient in terms of speed.

[Jeff_H]

If you are really looking for a trailerble boat that won't heel much then I think you probably are looking for a trimarran. As others have noted heeling is a part of sailing and I know of no trailerable monohulls that don't heel a whole lot more than a well designed non-trailerable. By their very definition, what makes a trailerable a trailerable is a limited beam, and a limited draft, and a limited ballast weight, in other words all of the things that make a monohull stabile.

If you learn to sail well, you can minimize heeling some by proper sail trim, sail choice, and reefing when the time comes, but you will still heel on a trailerable far more than a properly designed boat that is not designed to be trailered.

Respectfully,
Jeff

[sailingdog]

I'd mention that the new Catalina 22 and 25 are no longer water-ballasted boats.

[FrankLanger]

I think you might find the Bayfield 25 meets your needs--a very traditional, well-built, lovely looking boat, with good interior space, lovely woodwork and very, very stable. It's a good cruising boat, but doesn't go fast. Built in Ontario, Canada, quite a few of them available at reasonable prices.
Frank.