New Boat

[dougmarty]

My wife and I are in the process of buying a new (for us - ie used) boat to do some(mostly) coastal cruising between Chesapeake and Fla/Bahamas. We recently sold our Pearson 323, which we were very happy with, and are looking for a boat in the 38 - 40' range. We have narrowed the search down to Island Packet and Caliber - and wondered what everyone's opinion of the two boats might be - in particular, I have been pondering the rudder configurations of both boats - and wonder if Caliber's use of a skeg hung rudder is an advantage or not. Also have been pondering the pros/cons of roller mains....... Thanks in advance for your thoughts....
Doug

[camaraderie]

The Caliber is an excellent cruisers boat with decent sailing properties, great system design and excellent tankage. I like a skeg hung rudder and a more modern underbody. It would be my choice over an IP.

We put on a Schaeffer Boom Furler when we went cruising and have been most pleased with it's performance. Our main reason for installing one was safety at sea in that we could run the whole boat from the cockpit in bad weather. We did not like the in mast furlers for blue water since a jam at the wrong time would leave you no way to get the sail down (and the sailing performance would be somewhat degraded.)
The main downside is price since you need new mainsail along with the boom furler. Fortunately, we needed to replace the main anyway but our second choice would have been a Doyle StackPack or similar arrangeent.
We did add a power winch to raise the sail as it was too tedious to do it manually on our large main...but a large conventional winch would be sufficient on a smaller boat. We had great installation support from the factory and our local riggers as well so I am well sold on this particular brand but I've also spoken to Liesure Furl owners who are equally satisfied.

[dougmarty]

Thanks for your comments - I've been trying to come to grips with in-mast furling systems for the main - we've looked at a couple of very nice boats that have them (both IP and Caliber) - but for the reason you mention (jamming at the worst possible time and not being able to get the sail down) I just haven't been able to get comfortable with the idea.

Also appreciate your comments re: rudder configuration - I have a gut feel that a skeg hung rudder is stronger than the alternative - I wonder if any IP owners out there might have any comments on the rudder configuration of the Island Packet....

Thanks again.
Doug

[teshannon]

Doug,
As Cam said, a power winch to raise the main on a boat that size is a very nice convenience. I have one on mine that the previous owner installed. The down side to that is price. I looked at his records and it cost him over $6k all in. But if you're an old fart like me it's a life saver.