Best used racer/cruiser from the 1980's?

[hinghambaysailors]

Hello-

My husband and I are interested in replacing our much loved 1970 35' C&C MkI with a slightly more spacious racer/cruiser (or cruiser/racer!) from the 1980's.

We are hoping to find a newer 36-38' boat that was both comfortable for weekend and week-long cruising with friends and family, as well as respectable for Weds. night racing and the occasional weekend regatta. Our price range seems to put us in boats from the late 70's-mid 80's.

We are considering Catalina 38's, Beneteau First 38's or Beneteau First 37.5's, or Pearson 36's. We only have experience with our classic C&C, so any information or advice on these boats or any suggestions for other boats would be appreciated!

My husband is very concerned about build-quality, speed, and aesthetics (all for a decent price!).

Thanks!
Karen

[Surfesq]

I really like the Beneteau First series. If you like your C&C than it is a logical step up in my mind. The Catalina and Pearson trend a bit more towards cruising.

[hellosailor]

Karen, don't forget the C&C Landfall series. Built by the same folks with the goal of fast passagemaking instead of outright racing, and generally well thought of.

[hinghambaysailors]

Thanks, hellosailor, we will add that to our list. We love our 1970 C&C which is rock solid and a wonderful boat (our first sailboat; we've had her for 5 years). We are just looking for something slightly larger with a few more comforts below, that is still a capable club racer...

[Faster]

You might want to take a look at the newer C&Cs in a similar size range, for example the late 80's 35 and 37. Even the early 80's 36s might seem significantly roomier than your (classic) vintage 35. Assuming your price range is in the 75-100K range, some of these models may well fit. Even an older C&C 40 might catch your fancy.
Seeing as how pleased you have been with the current boat, there's a lot of carryover in the C&C line that you may appreciate down the road.
I like the Bene 37.5 alot, it has an added advantage of short J measurement, larger mainsail that eases headsail handling and spinnaker work, but see very few racing in our area - not sure why but assumed they may not sail to their ratings.

[hinghambaysailors]

Thanks faster. We really like the mid-80's Beneteau First 37.5's, too- these are at the top of our price range (would like to keep it under $65k or so). We definitely will look at some early to mid-80's C&C's to compare with our boat!

[Newport41]

I was close to buying a C&C Landfall 38. The Landfall 35 is also very well thought out. The Cherubini designed Hunter 37 cutter is a great boat as well. I usually don;t think too much of Hunters but Cherubini has been a ledgendary designer. The other boat around that size that I've always liked is the Islander 36. Fast, well built, and pretty. As for the boat's you were already looking at, the First 38 is like the Hunter cutter. It's stands out from the rest of it's line up. And it's the quickest of the bunch.

[hinghambaysailors]

The search continues....We've looked at one Beneteau 38 that we liked, but that needed considerable work. We're now looking at a Jeanneau Sun Shine Regatta. Any opinions out there on this boat? We also looked at an Elite Yacht 364, but had considerable difficulty finding information about Elite Yachts on the web. Any suggestions?

[blt2ski]

Karen,

I do not have a sunshine, but an 85 Arcadia that is 30' long. I found an original owner, well kept up etc. The only problem I have had, along with other Jeanneau owners of 20'ish yr old boats, is the headliner foam is rotting, and is falling off the hull or cabin top. I am going to be able to fix my rig for about $750'ish myself, but got quotes in the $6-8K range for someone else. Look at this potential problem on the Jeanneau, and I have heard about the same problem with Benateaus in the same vintage, altho at this time, there were seperate companies, not under the same "Group Benateau" affilitation as today.

You can tell if it will be a racer version by where the mainsail track is at. If on the cabin, it will be a older SO version if you will, the main sail track is in the cockpit, it will be more setup as a racer, with typically a deeper keep, less wt in the keel/displacement etc. If you go to www.jeanneau-owners.com, There is a link to ALL Jeanneau models general discriptions etc.

I would also add Tarten to your list. Altho a bit more cruiser-racer than Racer-cruiser if you ask me! Islander, Cal's and Ericksons would also make good rigs too.

Marty

[Jeff_H]

Five years ago plus, I went through almost the same search as you. If you are actually looking for racer- cruisers (rather than a cruiser-racer), then I would suggest that you might want to consider adding the following to your list:

Beneteau 38s5: Luxuious interior at the price of performance.

Cal 40's: More cruiser than racer

Dehler 38: Well built fractionally rigged with quite a bit of Euro-panache.

Express 37: Great all around boats.

Fabola Diva 39: Good fast boat, that should be very easy to handle short-handed.

Farr 37: These were more racers than cruisers but in good shape they offer reasonably good performance and a reasonably nice interior (with optional vee berth) I thought that the rig looked a little vulnerable and was put off by the IOR hull form but you find these boats in nice chape pretty cheaply. They were also a little deeper than I wanted to go.

Farr 38 (Farr 11.6): Good all around boats. A little long in the tooth as an out and out race boat, but great short-handed performance cruiser. I ended up buying one in my seach and have been very impressed with the boat in a wide range of conditions. At the club racing level we have had 7 first, 2 seconds and a third the last season I raced her, and I have won all of the single-handed races that I have done with her.

Frers F3 (36): Nice design crudely executed by Hinterhoeller.

Frers 38: Nice design crudely executed by Carroll Marine.

Hood 38 (built by Little Harbor, Bristol and Wauqiez): these are good all round boats. They excell in a breeze or where shoal draft is an asset. Not so great in light air and are not the easiest boats to sail short-handed.

Hughes 38/Hinckley 38: These S&S designed early 1970's era were good all around boats for their day. Hughes built the hull and decks for both. Each built their own interiors.

J-39: Somewhat spartan but nice boats.

Oyster 37: I looked at one here on the Chesapeake. It was a pretty nice boat but it didn't ring my chimes.

Ranger One Ton: I raced these boats back in the 1970's. They were a little squirely but some of these boats have been adapted as distance cruisers. They are similar in concept to the S&S designed Catalina 38 but seemed to be better built and slightly better sailing boats.

Sigma 38: I thought that these were neat boats that made it onto my short list.

Sweden 36: Very classy boat but not that fast.

Tartan Soverel 39: Pretty well built but limited by their IOR origins.

Tripp 37 (Holby 37): Really well built, really neat boats. The full race versions has a bit of a spindley rig.

X119: Fast and fun