Bristol Corsair 24 vs Marieholm International Folkboat (IF 26)at

[ryanjdillon]

Starting out with the idea that we would sell up everything and move ourselves and two dogs onto a live-aboard cruiser, we quickly realized that it would be a much more costly and prohibitive a thing for us to swing at the moment. This being the case we have narrowed it down to boats that we can keep on a mooring in Mission Bay, San Diego (we live in Ocean Beach) for a modest $650/year. The main catch being the 25' maximum LOA

Depending on whether or not we can convince the IF 26's eligibility for a mooring (actually a 25'10" LOA), it will be hard to decide between the two boats. Assuming both boats are in comparable condition and price (they aren't but for comparison sake...), is there anybody out there who is familiar with both boats and might have an opinion on which they might suggest, drawbacks of one to the other, etc?

Both my wife and I sail, and I have researched everything to exhaustion and am now just hoping to get a big picture take from folks.

Thanks!

[omaho5]

I sail one one at my boat yard from time to time. For a twenty four it has room. It has much more room than my Cape Dory 22.
The 24 is a very good heavy weather sloop.
I would not want to spend continuous long periods on it though.
In this range I would look at a Cape Dory 25D-Not the straight 25.
Roomy and stout.
Hard to fault the 25D in any way. Much better for resail, too

[lobstahpotts]

I would agree with omaho, but I don't know about the availability of CD25Ds in your area. Having sailed extensively on a typhoon and two 30s, I cannot in any way fault the sailing ability of Cape Dorys in a fair wind and the lines are beautiful. One cannot forget about the Cape Dory roll, though. I am not very familiar with Mission Bay and do not know what kinds of swells you would be facing, but really any heavy displacement full keel boat may not be fun. Why, may I ask, have you narrowed the choice down to the two boats mentioned herein?

[omaho5]

Lobstahpotts knows best. San Diego is pretty MELLO sailing as I recall.

[lobstahpotts]

Indeed. It will no doubt be a fun adventure for you guys, and hopefully the first step to the cruising life we all wish we were living.

[ryanjdillon]

My hope is to get some offshore practice on the boat, slowly working towards my lifetime goal of (maybe solo) ocean passages/circumnavigation. There are also large kelp forests in the area, particularly around an isolated surf break that I love ("Ralphs" at the end of Point Loma).

I am not opposed to considering something else, but I am working on a relatively small budget (<$10,000). That being the case, I don't feel as confident in light air models (Cal, Catalina, Coronado) of similar vintage and length (<25'), and Pacific Seacrafts, etc. are often more than I can budget. I have considered just going the slip route, which would open up a number of boats, but it would run me close to $3000/year more for storage.

Lastly, I am very fond of more traditional boats, reminiscent of wooden sailboats. These tend to be much less common... I have had my eye out for a Cape Dory for close to a year down here and haven't come across one for sale.

[ryanjdillon]

I am a little concerned that the air is too often too light down here, but the owner of both the Bristol and the IF said that it has never been much of an issue for them. I race fairly often on faster boats, so this doesn't necessarily need to fill that niche for me. Though, I don't want to have days where I stayed at home because 5kts doesn't cut it.

[lobstahpotts]

Location is indeed the problem. Compared to many other brands, relatively few Cape Dorys were made and many of them have stayed relatively close to East Taunton, although they have spread out globally.

Are you averse to buying a boat in another location and transporting? It would require more initial outlay, but transporting is not as difficult as it may seem. There is a current discussion on the Cape Dory Board re: whether a 25 will fit into a shipping crate, and the consensus there seems to be that it should. If you are at all interested, the article can be found here:Cape Dory Boats - View topic - Does a Cape Dory 25 fit in a 40 foot shipping container?

Also, are you willing to buy a "fixer-upper" per se? What kind of experience do you have and do you have the time to commit to fixing a boat, potentially while living on it?

[mitiempo]

I wouldn't pass on the folkboat. Not real roomy for its length but a great sailing boat, even in light air. From the examples I have seen very well built.
A Marieholm International Folkboat Page

[omaho5]

You could consider a Pearson 26...Very nice sailing boat. Needs a good survey.