what small boat is the easiest/quickest to go from trailer to sailing?

[eSailor]

I am looking for something to play with on the local small lakes in my area (PA). What small boat (no motor) is the easiest and quickest to rig and get out on the water? Sunfish? others?

Goal is to have something that I can go for a quick sail after work, etc..

The cheaper the better.

[SlowButSteady]

You can't get much simpler than a Laser.

[Tempest]

I started with a sunflower 40 years ago...I think it weighed about 50-60 lbs and it fit on the luggage rack of my truck!

[CalebD]

A foam hulled boat like the Sunflower or Snark would be light enough to car top and not use a trailer but I'd prefer a Sunfish which is a bit heavy for car topping, although I've done it.
Lasers are fun, fast and weigh about the same as a Sunfish.

There are a bunch of small sloop rigged trailer sailors to choose from. Something like a Snipe or and O'day Daysailor up to a Mariner 19' and beyond. The quickest and easiest boats to set up are always the smaller ones and having a deck stepped mast mounted boat usually makes raising the mast much easier.

The Holder 14' is a nice boat too for what it is.

Look into San Juan 21's or Catalina 22's if you want overnighting possibilities.

I basically learned to sail on Sunfish and I still do. I plan to volunteer again for a youth sailing program this July that uses Sunfish sailboats. Lots of fun, wet, and easy to setup and break down. Leaky Sunfish hulls (or any other hull for that matter) can render the boat unfit for sailing. Usually you will notice this after a few hours of sailing the boat in any waves and wind. If the hull fills up with water it will get very sluggish almost like a drunken whale.

[CapnA]

I've owned Sunfish and Lasers over the years. The Laser is more fun to sail (quicker and more strings to "tweak"), but there is nothing quicker than a Sunfish to rig and launch.

[eSailor]

thanks for the insight. I think my father-in-law has an old Snark in the shed that he has not used in years. I think I will go and dig around for the sails and see what kind of shape they are in. Also, I should be able to toss it in the back of my F250 long bed :-).

[MarkCK]

Have you thought about a Catamaran. I nice beach cat would be fun to sail are easy to trailer and set up. If you were closer to the midwest I could sell you one for around $600.