Pearson Electra for a first boat?

[kai34]

Hello All,
Its been a while since ive contributed to the forum, although im on almost everyday. Just alittle background before i get to the topic at hand.

I LOVE to sail
Im 22 years old
Recent college grad (i miss the free time already)
Just started working full time
Have sailed/raced 420's, lasers, j30, taylor 40, pearson 11m

Im looking to purchase my first keel boat. My intensions are to moor the boat (maybe a slip if i feeling spending the money) in fairhaven/newbedford harbor MA and sail buzzards bay. im looking for a boat that can get me to marthas vineyard, nantucket, block island for occasional weekend trip. Mostly i'll be single/double handing the boat for sails after work but would like to beable to take up to 4 people occasionaly.

My budget is sub $5000 so i know my selection is limited to an older sub 25' boat. At this point in my life i dont think i would like to go any bigger than that anyways.

Ive was considering to go look at a 1963 Pearson Electra w/, main, jib, genoa, spinnaker, solar panel and batteries. support electronics include radio, cd player, automatic bilge pump, head with holding tank, evinrude 6hp OB for 3,500.

From what I have read this boat is very wet, and it heels in moderate wind(im a dinghy sailor, i dont mind the salt water). Ive also heard since the boat is heavy that it can handle larger seas while feeling safe. its also not a fast boat but it handles well. (Also looks pretty, my observation) It doesnt have much head room in the cabin. I dont know if anyone has sailed this boat.

I know its the same hull as the Pearson Ensign so ive read about its sailing but havent got any accounts if the weekending on the boat is enjoyable considering i would probley would only spend nights sleeping in the v-berth or drinking acouple of beers topside.

If anyone has any ideas of other boats that fits the bill, knows about the Pearson Electra, or has commments in general please chime in. Thanks.

-Kai

[sailingdog]

The ensign would be a pretty good choice. The Ariel and Triton would also be good choices, as would the Cape Dory 25.

If you'd like to crew on a boat out of Fairhaven, I keep my boat there. PM me if you'd like to go sailing.

[cnc33voodoo]

I wouldnt buy 1960-anything,especially if you want to stay true to your budget.
I bought my first boat 8 years ago for 5k.ready to sail.
It was a 1975 mirage 24.They were designed by c&c in the early 70's,
originally planned for a one design class that was aborted due to another 24 design with a higher freeboard and their 25 was only a foot longer with way more cabin space.
Mirage yachts (c&c dealer in quebec) bought the plans and built lots of them (this is the boat that started mirage yachts in 1974).
Awesome light wind boat,sails and points extremely well,solid construction,standing headroom is about 5 1/4 feet,it could sleep 4(3 comfortably),had a head with holding tank,sink,stove,hanging locker,fair amount of storage space for its size,nice sized cockpit with 2 large sail lockers and a sloped deck.
I put mine thru many storms and high winds and always felt safe.
When I bought mine it came with a bulletproof honda 9.9,new harken furling,new winches,lines,blocks,cleats,traveller,cockpit cushions, 6 sails all in perfect shape and 1 spinnaker.The only issue it had was the nasty plaid interior cushions which I replaced for $1000 and leaky window seals which cost $70.
There are a few other boats I can reccomend but you remind me of my own situation when I bought this boat.
I was 22, had around 6k and just wanted to sail a boat I felt safe on that could actually sail well.
I couldnt find anything but crap for that money and noticed most people were unloading these for next to nothing due to bieng a non trailerable boat with a lack of headroom and bieng too old for racers, however, of the 4 or 5 I looked at I noticed all the boats had solid hulls and decks which is atributed to their build quality and I knew they sailed well.
This pic was taken from my dinghy with my freind sailing her.

[WouldaShoulda]

I looked at the electra when I was in the market.

Cool boat, but too heavy to trlr easily and too small for overnighting.

For 5k there should be some newer c-22's out there that are much less romantic but much more practical for cruising or racing.

[kai34]

sd- PM sent

cnc- those mirage 24's look nice, though there seem not to be any in my area (MASS). there are c&c 24's around though.

woulda- im not sure about catalina 22's. how are there build quality? are the 25's any better.

[WouldaShoulda]

Originally Posted by kai34

woulda- im not sure about catalina 22's. how are there build quality? are the 25's any better.

Compared to the encapsulated full keel and 2" of glass layup on the electra??

Crap!!

But people maintain and race 30 year old c-22s all the time!!

25s are nice too.

I only went with an O'day 272 because the Mrs. wanted a bigger boat and I preferred it's set up to the c-27.

[CalebD]

Also consider a Tartan 27'.

[kai34]

woulda- ok ill start looking at catalina's

does any one know about seafarer 23 i found one on this site Seafarer 23 | Sailboats , its an 84 and looks like its in real good shape or 5k.

[Jeff_H]

The quick take on this, The Electra was a great boat for its day. No two ways about it. Its day was 40 years ago.

The Catalina 22 was a less than mediocre boat for its day. Its day was 30 years ago.

With all of your sailing experience I would suggest that you would want a boat with better sailing ability than either of these and at least the build quality of the Electra (which was not all that great but certainly better then the Catalina).

The Seafarer built a variety of boats that size. The Dutch built 1960's era Seafarer 23 was a cool little boat for its day, actually a better boat in all ways than the Electra except with perhaps with regards to performance. The 1970's /1980's was a nicer sailing boat but not quite as well built.

Other options would be the C&C mentioned above, the Pearson 26 (great first boat if you find one in decent shape). My favorite older 23 footer is the Ranger 23.

Gotta go,
Jeff

[CBinRI]

FWIW, there is a Pearson Electra in my local fleet that is extremely competitive in PHRF racing and seems to do well in a wide variety of conditions. It does, however, also have the slowest rating (270+) of just about any boat that races on a regular basis.

While I cannot claim to have a fraction of the knowledge that Jeff has, I have noticed that he pretty consistently favors lighter boats and more modern designs. A Pearson Ensign was my first boat and I had a great experience with it. Not at all fast by modern standards (in fact, pretty slow) but stiff and forgiving and a big cockpit for social daysailing. You could do a lot wose, IMHO.