Cape Dory 30 or S2 9.2??

[JerryO39]

Hi,
I am narrowing my search for a boat.
My J30 choice has not panned out.
My reasearch leads me to the aforementioned S2 and Cape Dory 28 or 30.( some others too but I will keep with these for now)
Most of these boats are getting old and I can only hope to find a well taken care of vessel.

Any opinions or input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
JerryO
PS:I also like the Sabre 28 but am having a very difficult time finding any good info on it.It was mentioned in a previous post as a good choice for a boat.I see them for sale at resonable prices but not much else.Any ideas???

When I look at the choices of boats you are asking about I respectfully suggest that you need to take a bit more time before you buy a boat to figure out how you will be sailing and what you really want from a boat. These 3 boats just about could not be further away from each other on the spectrum of 30 or so foot boats. The J-30 is an older style race boat offering good (not great) performance and good (not great) accomodations. They are at best fast cruisers and have the compromises that come with being biased toward speed and being designed in the late 1970''s. The S2-9.2 was a mediocre boat in all regards. By mediocre I mean there is noting great about them but there is noting terrible either. I personnally have spent a lot of time around these boats and I don''t like the way they are built or detailed. The Cape Dory represents another extreme. These are boats that are biased toward being very traditional. Being very traditional comes with a high price as well. They are cramped down below, have a very uncomfortable cockpit underway and compared with a modern design they are painfully slow. In most areas of the Atlantic U.S. coast this kind of slow speed is a real disadvantage in that there are fewer places that you can get to in a day and it means a lot more motoring.

More to the point, if you are considering these three possibilities it means that you have not narrowed down you search criteria and come to an understanding of the type of sailing that you plan to do and what attributes you are looking for in a boat. I suggest that you take a break in your search and spend as much time as you can getting aboard and perhaps sailing on different types of boats. Keep notes on how each boat sailed and try to categorize its characteristics. Talk to a lot of people. When you are done you should be able to simply state more about your preferences in a boat,(i.e. fin keel, post hung rudder, good light air performance, moderate beam, aft head; or perhaps Salty lines, full keel, snug rig, narrow beam, long overhangs) and know why these will work for you.

This is a lousy media for conveying ideas such as these. I assure you I am not trying to put you down or be patronizing in any way but you really should do more homework and in the end I think you will enjoy the boat that you buy a lot more and keep her longer.

Respectfully,
Jeff

[divad]

Jerry,

I have a Sabre 28 which I''ve owned for 5 years, it''s a fantastic boat; what do you want to know? Here''s a rundown:

Built in Maine, still supported by the factory. First produced in 1972, early boats have Atomic 4 gas engines. In the late 70''s they went to Volvo diesels, and for the last few years they had Westerbekes.

External lead fin keel (4''6" draft), partially balanced spade rudder with small skeg. Solid glass layup, very well-built. Hull-deck joint is a through-bolted inner flange (the best kind of joint). Interior is entirely built-up with teak and mahogany ply; no molded pan (yay!). Beatiful, functional, comfortable interior for a 28'' boat.

Deck stepped, single-spreader masthead rig, awlgripped spars by RigRite. Traveler on the transom coaming on all but the last few examples (where it was moved to the cabintop - bad move). Very easy to singlehand. Pretty tender, but stiffens up nicely at 20 degrees and will handle just about anything you''re likely to encounter in coastal cruising.

Great boat. Want to know more?

-Dave

[JerryO39]

Thanks to Jeff and David for the input.Check your messages please David.I must know more about your vessel.
Thanks,
JerryO