inland water pocket cruiser

[dzg747]

I am looking for either new or used, any age but good condition, a forgiving easy to day sail cruiser for the upstate New York Finger Lakes. It should have as large a **** pit as possible for comfort of day guests, and, for my lonely by myself other weekends, a small cabin large enough to bunk down in or get out of the rain for the night. Don''t need a head or galley but won''t exclude one either if its the right boat. Racing or speed is NOT important, it need NOT be a light air boat because we get some pretty good winds through the lake valleys here. The land lubbers I bring along are not keen about a boat heaving over in a reach or rocking, so stability is important at the cost of speed. It was suggested that I look at an older full keel cruiser, say in the 27-32 foot water line range. My price range is open up to $80K to $100K new but like good deep sky telescopes and bomb proof quarter horses, used is my preference. Any advice would be helpful. Thanks.

[Jeff_H]

If I were sailing someplace like Lake Champlain with its typcially high winds I would probably try to find a fiberglass or cold molded Herreshoff Rozinante. These are wonderful little ketches that sail well and make great daysailers or overnighters.

If I were sailing on Keuka or Cayuga or one of the Finger Lakes that I am more familiar with, with a short sailing season and an awful lot of light air and heavy air days, I would probably try to buy a boat with more rounded performance such as an Alerion Express. These are mush more expensive ($50K to $60K on up.)

Jeff

[PatNowak9]

Jeff:
I''m looking for a similar boat and I think I''m going to pop for a new Colgate 26. I''m going down to Chicago to see one at Strictly Sail and then head down to Florida and sail one at one of the Colgate School locations to make sure I like it. Check them out at www.colgate26.com or at www.offshore-sailing.com.

Regards. Pat Nowak

[Jeff_H]

The Colgate 26 looks like a nice daysailor. They are seem to sail well, are good single purpose daysailers. I do have some concerns about the limited purpose nature of this design. It is clearly a good boat for the individual looking the for a simple daysailor.

I do think that I would try to find a used version as I expect that a lot of these boats are sold to beginner sailors who rather quickly are looking for more. I spoke to a fellow here in Annapolis who loved his Colgate but sold it after a year or so and bought a bigger boat that he could cruise.

Other less expensive options in this same vein are the Sonar (23 feet), the Impulse 26, and J-27 (a boat that I am not a big fan of).

Jeff

[Dana125]

Go to Pacific Seacraft, check out the Dana 24; for the kind of budget you indicate, this may be the ticket. Good resale value, trailerable. Plus, I don''t care what anyone says, a good head and galley are darn nice to have.