chesapeake bay sailboat?

[bruce123]

i welcome the thoughts or experiences of anyone who can suggest the ideal sailboat (30'' to 34'') for the chesapeake and sometimes a little farther. most of my sailing is single or short handed and i plan many weekends aboard and some 3-10 day trips. resale value is becoming very important to me as i now have a 25''sailboat that isn''t selling and i may be forced to use it as my dinghy. i''d like a boat that offers light air performance, and at least some blue water peace of mind. i''m willing to consider from 1980 on, in sloop, cutter, or ketch rig. for now, i think my search is narrowed to island packet, aloha, bristol, sabre, tartan, endeavour... i have around 60k to spend, but its ok if i don''t spend it all. shoal draft or a swing keel would be a plus. Suggestions?

The Chesapeake really rewards lighter faster boats with more sailing days, more places to go on a weekend and more sailing time during your time on the water. You have a very strange mix of boats that your seach has "narrowed to" namely,"Island Packet, Aloha, Bristol, Sabre, Tartan, Endeavour" There is no pattern to this list. The Endeavor and the Island Packet make no sense if you''d, "like a boat that offers light air performance" and represent both ends of the quality spectrum. The Sabre and Tartans are good boats for the Chesapeake with good all around sailing manners and reasonably good build quality. Bristols fall in a category all of their own with each model having its own characteristics somewhat unique from the other Bristol models-some good and some really anachronisms. How the Aloha got in here is another mystery but they are closer to the Bristols than the other on this list.

If I were trying to find boats that meet your needs and are suitable for the Chesapeake, I would keep the Tartan and Sabre in your list and add;
Beneteau First 32s5
C&C 33 and 34
CS33
Carroll Marine Frers 33
Dehler 31, 34, 98
Farr 1020 (would be one of my first choices in this list)
Mirage 33
Pearson 10M
Tartan 30,31,33,34
X102, X99

At least that would be my first thoughts.

Bedtime, Good luck
Jeff

[catketch]

Bruce

We''ve sailed the Chesapeake for well over two decades. We''ve done so on three very, very different boats. 29 footer with 5 foot fin keel and a racing rig. 18 footer with a 2.5 foot cutaway keel with roller furling and full battens. Now we sail a 40 footer with 4 foot draft board up and 9 down with 900 sq foot of sail area.

All three are good in light air (and very easy to reef), have choppy water-friendly hulls, and the 18 and 40 footers could gunk-hole with the best of them.

Not one of these boats had anything in common with each other (something JeffH seems to think necessary) other than they meet our need to sail more than power, to sail in comfort, and to access as much of the Bay''s margins as possible.

Walk the docks of the marinas in your area and see which boats go out the most often with their sails up. The list will be very diverse and at least half of them will meet you needs.

Right now we are considering a 50 foot steel-hulled skipjack with tandem centerboards and twin screws.