new to sailing-in market for 1st boat

jhasailing · #1 (**permalink**) 07-06-2002

i have sailed hobie cat / catamarans recreationally for a couple of years and recently joined a sailing club and took a beginners sailing course. my wife and i are intersted in buying a boat for daysailing, trailoring, and weekend cruising in mid-west lakes. we are interested in something 17-25 feet that is easy to sail and a good first boat to really learn on. looking for suggestions on boats or website reviews that can help guide our search. thanks in advance

Jeff_H · #2 (**permalink**) 07-07-2002

Probably my first choice recommendation for a first boat that fits your description )and which are really reasonably priced) are the Ranger 23''s. Good simple boats with very nice sailing abilities. They are quite responsive without being tricky to sail. They were built in pretty high numbers and have stood up reasonably well. If you are looking for a trailerable these might not fit the bill in that they are fixed fin keelers.

Other nice keelboat choices are the C&C (AKA Grampian Classic 22, and BlueJacket 23)22, J-22 (early boats had an interior), J-24,Tanzer 22

Trailerable choices might include Beneteau First 21, Paceship (AMF)23, Santana 235, S2 7.9

Not quite as good trailerables might include
Catalina 22, San Juan 21, Oday 21, 22 & 23.

Good hunting
Jeff

bullseye · #3 (**permalink**) 07-08-2002

depends what your budget is....

if youve got a tight budget i''d recommend looking at a Clipper,they range from 17ft to 32ft,the 21ft being the most popular i think.
swing keel,very easy & forgiving to sail great interior room for weekends away & for around $1500-4000 US id say.

bullseye · #4 (**permalink**) 07-08-2002

http://www.trailersailor.com/forums/clipper/index.cgi?

Jeff_H · #5 (**permalink**) 07-08-2002

I am not sure that is a boat that I would ever recommend for a beginner. I worked for a company that sold these boats commissioning them and providing lessons on sailing and rigging these boats. These were pretty poor quality as new boats nearly 30 years ago and I can''t imagine that surviving examples would be in very good shape unless extremely lightly used or seriously upgraded. I thought that they were pretty mediocre sailing boats as trailerables went.

Respectfully,
Jeff

rbh1515 · #6 (**permalink**) 07-09-2002

Why do you say a San Juan 21 would not be so good?? I grew up with one of these and my father still has it. 30 years old and its still going strong. You always have to be careful when buying an older boat, but IMHO the SJ21 is a nice little boat that sails great and is easy to trailer. There are a lot of them out there and it would be easy to find their web site. Price is very reasonable.
Rob

rbh1515 · #7 (**permalink**) 07-09-2002

http://sanjuan21.net/national/

Jeff_H · #8 (**permalink**) 07-09-2002

First of all, I personnally like the San Juan 21 and in fact listed the San Juan in a pretty short list of boats that are good first boats. That said, I do not think that they are as ideal as the other boats on the ''A'' list. The way I look at it they are good first boats, better than most, but just not quite as good as some others. No offense intended.

Respectfully,
Jeff