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us yachts?

2K views 5 replies 5 participants last post by  SloopJonB 
#1 ·
My wife and I grew up sailing but could never afford a boat ''til now. . .

I came across a ''83, 25'' us yacht at the marina (fresh water)while looking at a catalina. The boat has great curb appeal so I took a look. The teak has been re done in cabin and bottom done last June.

Boat is in great condition but I am not sure because I can not fine much info. My concern is finding parts ect. If the boat had a name of the top three I would have already bought it.

Can anyone shed light on this boat
 
#2 ·
This was sent to me as I have recently purchased a US Yachts 25' 1981


The US 25 is much maligned in my opinion... the build quality is usually the complaint... maybe so, but these boats are 30+ yo, and like most, if neglected, suffered from any neglect. You'll find the boat holds up well as the winds pick up, but it's not really a light air boat. The only way to sail it in under 5 knts true, is to own a drifter, or a 170 genoa.

The 25 with the fin keel is a VERY stable boat, loves to sail on its ear, and has plenty of rudder feel right up to 40 degrees. My brother owned one for about 10 years. Loved it, but never spent a dime on maintaining it.
 

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#4 · (Edited)
This is a decade old thread, but since it came back to life, here is my understanding about these boats. I briefly worked for a dealer who sold these boats prepping them and helping buyers learn to sail. I also raced on one for a while. They were better boats than their reputation would suggest, but they also did have some build quality issues that showed up very quickly as well. Most were minor like vinyl hull liners mildewing and separating from the hull, but some like self tapping screw fastened hardware were much more serious.

The deep keel version sailed pretty well upwind and was not too bad reaching. I agree with KatieJai that these boats were heavily dependent on big light air sails. My recollection was that the boat I raced had a light and a heavy #1 genoa, both of which were 155% sails. The light #1 had almost no range, topping out at something like 8 knots. Modern kevlar sail cloth would eliminate the need for a light and heavy #1.

I don't know what boat Katiejai was sailing, but these boats were quite tender and needed to be reefed or have a headsail change to a smaller jib at comparatively low wind ranges (somewhere around 12 knots). While they could be heeled to comparatively large heel angles(somewhere near 35-40 degrees) once there they would wipe out quickly, and unexpectedly at the limit.

The history of these boats are pretty muddy. At the time there was a rumor (probably spread by Buccaneer) that these boats were designed by Doug Peterson and then later claimed to be designed Gary Mull's office. But there was also a lot of discussion at the time that both offices denied involvement.

The molds were said to have come from Chaser, a defunct IOR race boat manufacturer. It was widely agreed that the US 295 came from Chaser and it was a Doug Peterson design. But it was much less likely that the smaller US Yachts came from Chaser since they did not resemble the limited production smaller Chasers which were also Peterson designs.

At some point Pearson bought the US boat molds from Buccanneer, modified the deck and interiors, and renamed them. I know that Pearson put the 27 and 29 into production, but it has always been my understanding that they did not produce the 25 or 22 other than a couple boat show prototypes, which I have heard it claimed were rebadged US yachts rather than boats molded at Pearson.

Jeff
 
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#5 · (Edited)
Jeff's spot on, and that quote from above was from me...

I don't recall the 25 being a wipeout machine, in fact it was remarkable, you could still steer it down at 35 degrees. My brother's boat didn't have a 155, and we didn't even wanna sail it unless there was whitecaps, cause the boat was no fun with the blade jib until then. But I recall him setting the trim on the sails, boat heeled at 30 degrees, letting go of the rudder, and being able to walk forward on the boat, with the boat holding a heading for at least 30 seconds. I'd not try that with my S2, with a tiller pilot sure (I do it all the time).

The US 27, with a 170 drifter on it, would BARELY move with 6 knot winds.. But at about 10 knots of wind (with the same sail), you were washing the windows... weird boat. I don't recall that boat rounding up much either.. we weren't happy racing that thing unless there were small craft advisory's up (yeah it was that much of a slow boat).

The 25 seemed like a much more civilized boat than the 27 under sail... The 27 felt kind of like trimming sails on a brick... but that could have been because we had the fixed prop, inboard model, with a wheel. I hear the outboard, tiller was more responsive. My memory might be fuzzy though. Its been 15 years since I sailed the 25, and nearly 25 since I sailed the 27.
 
#6 · (Edited)
I always understood the 25 to be a remake of a Quarter Ton hull so the big gennie aspect would fit.

The 22 was a re-do of the Mull Ranger 22 Mini Tonner so it seemed they were trying to improve their terrible image by switching to fast, if somewhat dated hulls.

I'm interested in the comments about a Chaser smaller than the 29 - I never heard about any boats from them other than the 29 & 33 - both Peterson Tonners.

Anybody have any details on any smaller boats they built?
 
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