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Moving on up

6K views 23 replies 13 participants last post by  blt2ski 
#1 ·
My boys, after five years with my 25'Seaward, want to go on more long range adventures now. They're 15 & 17. We sail western LI Sound from Manhasset to Norwalk, and want to be able to venture to Block Island, Marthas Vineyard/Nantucket, maybe up to Maine. Overnights on the hook and/or marina stays. 1-2 week trips (or longer) not out of the question.
As I often sail alone for evening jaunts, I'd like to keep the max LOA at 30'.

Been thinking about, in alphabetical order:
Bristol 29.2
Cape Dory Intrepid 9m
Hunter 30 (early 80's)
Sabre 30 (a MkI or II, Mk IIIs are out of budget, which is <$25K)

I value traditional topsides with opening ports (my Seaward has 8) and a modern underbody, wiith a skeg protecting the rudder. I want to be able to make some headway in less than 10kt breezes.

Opinions and insights? Other boats for my Yachtworld searches?

Thanks,
Mike
 
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#2 ·
The Cape Dory, while a nice boat has a somewhat dated design and certainly does not have a modern underbody. This will not be a fast boat. By Brother-in-law has had two (Typhoon & CD25D) and they begin to have some issues with crazing of the gelcoat and cockpit delamination after so many years.

Hunters from the 80's are pretty good boats; a friend and his wife cruised 2 years on a 37.

The Sabre 30 is a very nice boat; I've had 2 Sabres (28 & 38) and can write volumes on construction, etc. While it has a more modern underbody than a Cape Dory, it's not what I would call "2000's modern". This boat does not have a protected rudder but to be honest, I'm not sure that you need it given your requirements. On this boat, the keel is deeper than the rudder so your keel will impact anything before the rudder. Sabre's quality is excellent and you can't go wrong with one. It's good in light air and very sea-kindly. PM me if you'd like more details.
 
#3 · (Edited)
A C&C 30 would fit the bill too, or a harder-to-find Ontario 28. I'm assuming you're not interested in a Catalina 30 - probably the roomiest of the bunch in that budget/size range?
A few more...

Ericson 30+; Express 30 (Canadian by Steve Killing);S2 9.2A or near sister Sunstar 31;Aloha 28 (Brewer); Islander 30; mid 80s C&C 29 MkII; Most of these under budget leaving some room for goodies...

Happy hunting!
 
#4 ·
Sabreman,
The Intrepid 9M is a fin-keel.

The Sabre 28 is also under consideration, but I don't want to be wishing for 2' more in a couple of seasons. I'm sure my crew size will be changing as the older one goes off to college etc. so a 28 could work...

Faster, I don't dislike Catalinas, they're kind of on the list. Looking for something a little more distinctive. A C30 tall rig would be nice in the light airs we get and I could go newer with a C30 and still be in budget. Going to check out the C&C and Ontario though. Thanks for the ideas.

Now I know why the Admiral likes to shop!
 
#5 ·
The Intrepid 9M is a fin-keel.
You are right!. The web site that I looked at had a watermark in th e background that had a full keel. I humbly stand corrected.

Looking at the sales brochure, the boat reminds me of my Sabre 28. With that said, I agree that the Sabre 28 may not be a large enough for your needs or worth the efffort of searching purchasing etc. Go for the 30. I know of one in VA that may go cheaply; no one has been on it in years. I hate to see it sit there.
 
#7 ·
Another boat for your list is a Tartan 30. Fin keel, skeg hung rudder, sturdy and pretty good motion in the water, important if the family is anchored out for a few days at a time. It would be tight inside with 2 teenagers, but is a great 2 person boat for the future, and not hard to single hand with a few updates to sail handling equipment. Has up to 4 opening ports. A tall rig was sold that would help with your sailing abilities in low wind.
 
#8 ·
More choice= more confusion...

I would second the idea of looking into a Tartan 30 (or the Yankee 30, FWIW).
If you are interested in adding another solid and fast boat or two into the mix, a couple of well constructed and fast 30 footers would be the Ericson 30+ and the Olson 911S, the later built by either original builder Pacific Boats or later ones by Ericson.
Another classic with a nice easy motion at sea is the Cal 34-3. The Mk 2 has the same hull, but I like the interior in the Mk3 a lot better.

LB
 
#11 ·
I would second the idea of looking into a Tartan 30 (or the Yankee 30, FWIW).
If you are interested in adding another solid and fast boat or two into the mix, a couple of well constructed and fast 30 footers would be the Ericson 30+ and the Olson 911S, the later built by either original builder Pacific Boats or later ones by Ericson.
Another classic with a nice easy motion at sea is the Cal 34-3. The Mk 2 has the same hull, but I like the interior in the Mk3 a lot better.

LB
I'd third all the selections above.
 
#9 ·
Great ideas, thanks! Tartan 30 tall rig sounds like an interesting option, as well as Ericson Olson. The Cal 34 may be too much boat for my confidence level in soloing.
There's a sad Sabre 30 on the hard in Long Island that I did a walkaround and she's more project than I'd go near, especially with a project sitting in the garage for close to a decade. How bad's the one in VA, Saberman?
Mike
 
#10 · (Edited)
How bad's the one in VA, Saberman?
Probably about the same as the one that you saw. She's on the hard and 3 years ago the cockpit drains were clogged, so there's a foot of water in the cockpit. I peeked down below and there was water on the cabin floor; the bilge had overflowed. The running rigging is shot and the cushions are probably all moldy.

You should have no problem finding a good used Sabre 30. The ones that I saw in a quick scan are a bit more than the $25k that you set, but you should be able to get something nice at about $30k.

This one looks clean: 1981 Sabre 30 Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

This one looks like it's had several inches of water inside (and selling for 1/2 what it should): 1981 Sabre 30 Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

This one doesn't show well: 1986 Sabre 30 Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com

Why do people leave so much junk and dirt on their boat and then post the pictures in the ad?
 
#13 ·
That'll open up a lot more options for you! Good luck.
 
#14 ·
lots of boats

Hey,

Here are my thoughts:

If you really plan on spending a week or longer aboard, I would want a bigger boat. If you only plan on spending a night or two aboard then 28-30' would be fine. The problem with 30' boats for an extended time period is there isn't enough space to put all the 'stuff' you'll want to bring. When you are in sleep mode with all the berths used, there won't be any room to move around. A 33' boat will have significantly more room.

I think that just about any commonly available racer / cruiser from the 80's would meet your needs. Off the top of my head this would include:
Catalina, Hunter, Beneteau, Jeanneau, O'day, Pearson, Newport, Cal, S2, Sabre, Tartan, Irwin, C&C, etc. etc. etc.

Do you want any particular features in a boat? Things like shoal vs deep draft, swim platform, wheel or tiller steering, traveler mounted on cabin top or in front of wheel / tiller? What about interior features like pressure hot and cold water, refrigeration, propane stove? Decide on things like that and you will start to rule boats in or out.

For example, my boat stays on a mooring and I board from my dingy. My family and I also like to swim off the boat. So I required a boat with a swim platform. I also wanted the traveler on the cabin top so no one could trip over it when they moved around the cockpit. The boat had to have wheel steering, inboard diesel, self tailing winches, and decent interior features. In my price range that didn't leave too many models (like Hunter, O'day, Newport).

Spend time going to brokerage yards and climb around a range of boats until you decide what you like or don't like.

Good luck,
Barry
 
#17 ·
Why bother showing a photo of an engine like that???

Barry,
Point taken about stowage, but more often than not I will be doing day sails of <6hours with a crew of 0-2, so keeping it around 30' will make me a lot more comfortable single handlling it. I sailed a Catalina 320 for a week and it was a handful trimming and tacking by myself while crew was below. Doable, but it wasn't pretty.
 
#18 ·
Those photos are so sad. They're an affront to all things nautical and proper. On the other hand, they make my engine look positively pristine, so I'll show them to the Admiral.

It's quite possible that they run flawlessly, but given the state of the engines and the surrounding areas, I think that it points to the general level of maintenance.

Yuk :puke
 
#19 ·
Good luck Mazzy.

We just went through this and settled on a Catalina 310. We bounced around in budget a lot, from around $75K with financing to $25k for cash.

When we were looking at the $25K range the boats that had my interest the most were the Sabre 28 & 30, the Pearson 28 & 30 and C&Cs in 27 to 30 range. I also considered Ericsons and O'days. Some friends at the marina have an Ericson 27 and an O'day 272. Both boats sail great for the money and there were lots of deals on it. The Ericson was purchased for $15K and the O'day for $6K. Neither were "project" level boats and were sailable with just a good detailing inside and out.

One piece of advice I would give is to try and make friends with a local broker. They typically have access to a sold boats website that summarizes the asking and sail price and length on the market for boats sold through yacht world. In doing this, I was able to figure out that the boat models I was interested in were generally selling for 10% or more off of the asking price. I then recalibrated my search settings on yachtworld and found the boat I wanted in my price range.

The other thing to keep in mind is that boats on yachtworld are through brokers who generally get a 10% commission. Boats through sailboatlistings.com are from private sellers. This is a little far from you, but the URI boat program and the Mass Maritime Academy have donated boats for sale that can often be good deals.

Good luck and happy sailing.
 
#20 ·
A mig 80's Jeanneau Attalia or the slightly smaller Arcadia might fit you bill too. There are 3x as many attalia's around vs the Arcadia. SunDream or sunlight 28 or 30 are newer models in and around the same length.

Reality is, ANY boat with a fin keel, enough SA/disp to move in light winds will be fun and better than what you have. I would suggest closer to 30-32' if you can. Also boats where all of the sheet lines are with in reach of the helm make life easier too. Most Catalinas have the main sheet on the cabin top, which is hard to reach from the helm.

Marty
 
#22 ·
weephee,

A Columbia would fit the bill too. Sometimes we posting get the more common brands, forget about the lessor common brands. Columbia is probably one, Ranger, San Juan has a 28, 30 and 34. I do not recall the Ranger offerings when built......

Marty
 
#23 ·
....I do not recall the Ranger offerings when built......
Marty
Ranger produced a nice line of boats in the 70s/80s. Also remember there were two Rangers... the California ones and the Kent WA boats too. - very different.

The California Rangers offered were pretty much all Mull designs, with a cruising and a racing line. Under the Cruising line were similar looking models at 23,26,29 & 33 feet. Pretty decent sailing boats, the 26 is a bit of a PHRF sleeper. The so called Racing line featured the 28, 32 and 37, also by Mull, but with racier gear, a bit less room and with IOR based tumblehome hull designs and more extreme higher aspect rigs. Pretty boats, though. My brother owned a 28 for a time, it was a real broach machine in our typical heavy breezes where we lived at the time.
 
#24 ·
The Kent company is STILL in business! The little Ranger tugs you see floating around here, that is the SAME company, same place on HWY 99 north of Federal Way Wa.! The little Minto sailing dinghy is still available in IIRC Gig harbor now, and a place in BC. Some of the line is still around.

The R26 sailboat is a sleeper! Rated well for what it can do too! There is a local one here in Seattle that cleans our clocks for the most part. We also have one in our club, but they are not up to snuff on sailing it yet. but it did do well in the Bellingham area for a long time from what I have heard about it.

marty
 
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