looking for keel/centerboard design

troyaux · #1 (**permalink**) 03-19-2002

I am looking for a boat that has a combination keel/centerboard design in the 27-30'' range maybe up to 31-32 ft if it was priced right.... anybody know what boats wouod fit this description....

I saw a luger 28 on the market
I also saw a oday28?
don''t know anytthing about them.. Ideas anyone?

Jeff_H · #2 (**permalink**) 03-20-2002

The Luger 28 was a very inexpensive, very poorly built kit boat. They sail very poorly by any objective standards. They were primarily designed to be the biggest boat that could be trailered. Back in the 1970''s there was one in the next slip to my boat. The owners were new sailors who had bought a partially completed Luger and finished it themselves. They were disappointed in the boat''s sailing ability and over a period of months I sailed with them quite a bit and tried to get the boat to sail better, changing rake and hardware positions etc. Installing new hardware I was not impressed with the glass work.

The Oday 28 is an alright boat. They were built in large numbers and are reasonably common. Some had OMC saildrives. I would avoid one of those. These are nice coastal cruisers but not boats that I would want to go offshore in.

Regards
Jeff

JohnDrake · #3 (**permalink**) 03-20-2002

If you are looking for a solid but inexpensive boat for offshore, you might want to look at some of the older Bristol''s. The Bristol 32 in particular is shoal draft, certainly considered offshore and can be had at a good price. Not sure it would be my absolute first choice: by today''s standards they are slow and do not have large cabins. Still, they have a tremendous following...which signifies to me that people like how they sail and that you will be able to sell it should you decide to move up. I also think they have very nice lines.

I know an older couple who sailed theirs across to the Med and down to the islands each season for many years. Their kids would fly down and spend summers with them in the islands, so I guess it had enough room... at that time.

It depends on your budget and what kind of boat you want. A more modern 32ft would be much more spacious, faster and have much more updated wiring. But...if you want an offshore 32ft for under 20k, I think a Bristol would be on the short list.

I think Jeff might have more suggestions and more info on the attributes of different designs. Also, there is a thread somewhere on pocket cruisers.

Hope this helps.

garyp · #4 (**permalink**) 03-20-2002

Troyaux: What is your price range? I have been researching keel/centerboard craft & might have suggestions.
Gary P

soverel28 · #5 (**permalink**) 03-21-2002

Anybody know anything about the mid 60''s Soverel 28.
This one is a MORC racer which has a keel/centerboard.

Jeff_H · #6 (**permalink**) 03-21-2002

Sure...There were two Soverels, a father and his son. The Son designed a series of very successful race boats and just died in the last few months.

The Father was a retired naval officer who went into boat builing business. He was a no nonsense kind of a guy who built a no nonsense kind of a boat. The Soverel 28 was his first production boat. Even for its day it was simple and spartan but very solidly built and very practical. There was a certain military like quality to these boats that scared off a lot of people but in many ways made a lot of sense. Soverel was an opinionated guy and many of the details (like the standard mint green deck color)reflected his idiosyncratic view of things.

Actually, I had forgotten about the Soverel 28 but it would be a near perfect boat for Troy.

Regards
Jeff

soverel28 · #7 (**permalink**) 03-21-2002

Thanks Jeff for the info in the Soverel.
I have a picture of mine if anybody is interested.It is on the Sailnet personal
pages under soverel28.

Jeff_H · #8 (**permalink**) 03-21-2002

Nice Photo. I forgot that there was an ''overnighter'' version of the Soverel 28 and a standard MORC and cruising version. Yours was the overnighter version. I don''t believe your model actually was a MORC legal design because of lack of headroom. MORC had a minimum headroom and an accomodations requirement. The standard model had a much shorter cockpit and a doghouse cabin aft of the trunk cabin on your boat. The Doghose resulted in a lot of headroom for a 28 footer.

Jeff

linusisabell · #9 (**permalink**) 04-29-2002

Soverel28, What sort of information are you looking for with regards to the Soverel 28?

As for Troyaux, I have to agree with Jeff_H, I grew up sailing/racing the "Dog Housed" version of this boat on Lake Erie with my family. Very solid boat, Mom and Dad would load myself, two brothers, a cousin, and family friend (co-owner) onto this boat for 2 week cruises around the great lakes (We''d fight over who got to sleep on deck). The boat also has a very competitive PHRF rating. As for club racing, Mom & Dad were still winning club races (double handed) against fully crewed newer/larger boats a couple of years ago. Although the boat was originally designed to be raced with a full crew of 6 plus, don''t let some of the old articles you might read about the boat scare you off. This was a lot of boat to handle in its day, but is very mild by todays standards (not to mention slow, heavy, overbuilt, and somewhat spartan). Dad has since moved up to a larger boat (not much newer though) and his partner bought out ownership in the Soverel (So it is still in the "Family"). Not to mention lots of great memories!

soverel28 · #10 (**permalink**) 04-30-2002

linusisabell, I think it was your dad, he sent me a brochure on this boat. It was much appreciated.