Boat shopping for small cruiser

[janep]

We are boat shopping for a sailing cruiser 26-28'. We have looked at Cape Dory 28's a CD 26 with outboard, a Watkins 27 and a Bristol 27.7. We are about to look at a Bristol 27.7 with Keel/Centerboard combo.

We are considering switching to a fin keel search because we hear how low performing the full keels are. We sail out of MA, where there is a lot of open water and one sailor tends to get quesy in rolling seas.

Questions are:
1. How low performing are the Cape Dory's. We never want to race, but pointing and decent sailing would be nice.
2. Does the Bristol sail much better than than the CD?
3. Will the Alberg designs all mean a lot of heeling even in light wind?

We have more questions about engines...will start a new thread for that!
(Volvo's, outboard on the CD 26)

[scottyt]

some full keel boats are better for the motion than fin boats.

now another point of view, keel centerboard might be nice as the bottom up there can be hard in places and the center board can give you a nice warning before hitting fiber glass.

i say sail on as many boats as you can and see what you like. walking the docks with a case of beer looking for a guy doing a short trip might help. go ask around its free, the wrorng boat is not

[PeterSailer]

If there is 2 sailboat, one fin keel and one full keel, that have the same water line.
they will both have the same hull speed but the full keel will need more wind to reach his hull speed. The full keel will probably be more comfortabe in heavy weather. The fin keel is way more maneuverable, you can turn around on a dime... If you sail over a line in the water with the full keel, nothing will happen but if have the fin keel, the chances are that it will get caught on the keel or in the rudder.

Full keels are a better option for serious cruisers, but for day sailing a fin keels are more fun.

This is a personnel choice.

[sailingfool]

You can look up the relative performance of different boats here:
PHRF New England - Handicapping - Base Handicaps

My personal experience is that the slower boats often are even slower in real life than the adjustments provided in their ratings, i.e. are less likely to sail to their ratings.

[sailingdog]

Have you tried sailing on a multihull? Many people who get seasick on a monohull do not get seasick on a multihull, since the type of motion is very different.