New Sailor Needs Help

[RichW]

Hello, I am currently in the market for a new (old) sailboat. I'm currently looking at a 1975 Annapolis 26. To my knowledge, this is a pretty good boat to learn on as it was designed for the Annapolis sailing school before being replaced with their current Rainbow 24's.

Does anyone know what I should look for to let me know if the boat is worth buying. It is listed extremely low, $875. The price makes me worry that something is horrifically wrong with it. What typically goes wrong with these boats?

Lastly, the boat does not come with a motor. I read the owners manual for a late model Catalina 25 and the motor rating for it is stated as between 7.5-10Hp. What kind of motor should I be looking for as far as shaft length? Any tips?

Thanks to all that reply.

[Jeff_H]

The Annapolis 26 was developed for the Annapolis Sailing School after the ranbows which were a 1960's era design. If I remember correctly the boat was derived from a MORC racer/cruiser that had been designed and built by John Holmes of Nokomis Fl. It was intended as an inexpensive boat to teach basic coastal cruising skills and for Annapolis Sailing Schools Chesapeake charter fleet. They were good boats for that purpose sailing reasonably well in the moderate conditions that they were intended for. They were never intended as blue water sailers.

I believe that the Annapolis 26's were built by Tidewater Marine which I seem to recall was in part owned by the same people who owned Annapolis Sailing School.

While these boats were moderately robust, the ones that were in charter had a lot of hard use. but while they were moderately robust, the details were cheaply executed and not all that well done and the basic systems were not done in a manner that meets reasonably current standards and so have typically needed to be reworked or abandoned. A new owner would be quick to replace dangerously out of date equipment like the pressure alcohol stove, and that hurts resale prices. These boats were intentionally kept very simple which may appeal to some, but which makes them a hard boat to sell in a marketplace that expects a lot more room, performance and creature comforts than these boats will ever have. Still, they were good boats for their day, and they represent a good boat for thier original intended purpose.

It would be easy for one of these boats tp have a negative value, meaning that the cost of new sails and a motor is more than these boats typically sell for. Still and all if you found a decent used 4hp long shaft 2 stroke and some good used sails, the boat might be worth pursuing.

Jeff

[RichW]

Thanks for your quick reply. The boat comes with the sails, so I'm not worried about buying new ones. Here is the add:

1975 Titewater Boats Annapolis 26 sailboat for sale in Maryland

I'm taking a look at it Friday and will probably post up some pictures of it. Would a 4Hp longshaft move the boat?