Small Boat Suggestions

[Sailpilot]

Hey Guys,

My friend wants to learn and have fun with a smaller sailboat. I'm coming to you because I am looking at larger and lost track of the smaller stuff. His experience level is Hobie cat and sunfish.

He wants...

Trailerable / garage storage
4 person min
good for beginner
Day-sailor

Thanks for the help in advance. I usually get more answers and ideas then I thought possible when I submit these type of post.

[lharmon]

If four means two adults and two kids then I might recommend a dyer 12.5. Very well made and good sailing. If your friend wants a little more boat then Cape Dory Typhoons may be a nice inexpensive choice and their ballast makes them very stable. There are lots of great choices both new and used.

[Alden68]

CD Tyhoon is a great boat. Also, consider an 18 or 20' catboat. Perfect little cruisers and relatively easy to sail as long as you are prudent with reefing.

tell him to go here Web Site Navigation Map

[T34C]

Pearson Insign.

[Freesail99]

I sailed on a capri 22 last year in the Delaware river, fun boat.

[bobmcgov]

Picnic Cat, Vanguard Nomad, Flying Scot. A cabin is a bit of a waste on any boat under 22', since it's cramped and eats cockpit space. But 22' is too big for most garages. So I'd go with an open cockpit. The nice attributes of a catboat: just one sail to worry about (thus easy for one sailor plus passengers), low center of effort (less heeling in gusts), short mast (light to raise) placed way up front, so the cockpit is clear. Here's the Picnic Cat:



Not going to win any races, but stable with efficient use of space. Performance boats tend to be fussy about where crew and passengers sit; it requires a surprisingly large boat to squeeze four on the windward rail.

[poltergeist]

For roomy daysailing (no cabin), with four+ in the cockpit, and yet still fitting in the garage, the Flying Scot and similarly sized Rhodes 19 are great choices. Proven designs, plenty of solid used boats out there.

My Scot on the trailer fits diagonally in my conventional two-car garage (currently a boat renovation shop), and the mast also fits, pulleyed up against the ceiling. It's got a huge cockpit (as does the Rhodes). I can pull it with my V6 Accord (although I won't take it terribly far), it launches easily, it can be singlehanded well. Set up is simple, but it can certainly be tuned for performance.

The Daysailor is a somewhat smaller choice, but probably perfectly suitable, too.

Kurt

[Sailormann]

Siren 17 sailboat for sale

[zaliasvejas]

Consider a Thistle class dinghy
What a riot! You can have a comfortable sail for four or you can go surfing with a spinnaker. If you flip, it rights fairly easy...
It is 17' long and is a great club racer and comes with wonderful community of thistle sailors. Just that is worth the price of admission...

[Hartley18]

This might seem a bit obvious, but to be quite honest with you, the best boat for you will be one that:

a) You can buy locally and
b) Suits the area you are sailing in (coastal, lakes, rivers, whatever) and
b) You like sailing

You said you are looking for a 4-person trailable day-sailer that is kind on beginners... there are a lot of boats out there filling this criteria (including the original - Hartleys!!)

Look around at anything in good condition in the 14' - 16' mark in either plywood (easy to fix when you hit something) or wood/fibreglass (almost as easy to fix but slightly less maintenance) in your price range..

..then convince the seller to take you for a sail. If you don't like it - try something else. When you buy something you like, come and tell us what you bought and we'll happily tell you how you can invest your hard-earned cash fixing it up!!

Good luck with the hunt!