Dear SA members,
I am looking into purchasing a nice keel boat/sport boat and am looking for some opinions on what could be a good fit.
I live in Seattle (moved here a few years ago), so would mostly sail on the Puget Sound/Lake Washington etc. I am looking for a boat that has an active class in the area, ideally with one design races. I am definitely not looking for a new boat, and would buy used.
I come from dinghy sailing (I used to own a Contender to race competitively and also sailed 505s and other performance dinghies in the past), so I want as much sailing sensation as possible from a sport boat. I want the boat to be able to plane downwind and generally be responsive. I am also in my late 20s so interested in a boat that is somewhat dynamic. Being able to race one design would be great, it is just the cleanest form of racing, so a local fleet would be great.
Also, my girlfriend does not know how to sail yet, and I would want to teach her on this boat. I realized just sailing by myself with a dinghy is gonna end up as not sailing very much if the time cannot be spent together. It is thus important that at least to a certain wind speed you can double hand the boat. What also drew me away from a dinghy is the wish to be able to also just go for a relaxed after-work sail with some friends, which is generally difficult to do on something like an i14 or a 505. If some very basic accommodations would be available on the boat, like a place to crash, that would be great but no fancy things are required (we usually do basic tent camping so I am not looking for any higher level of comfort than that), in case we want to stay somewhere else over night. Being a good boat to sail is more important than that though. Trailerable would be great, so races in the Gorge or the Bay could be an option.
Regarding prices, I am looking for something around up to 20k.
What I thought could be interesting so far:
- Melges 24: Might be a bit too brutal, considering how much rail meat you need to sail them fast, but open to other thoughts.
- J/80: I know, many say it's not a real sport boat, but it generally seems to fit the requirements.
- J/70: Probably difficult to find for less than 30k, but maybe worth thinking about, fleets seem to grow everywhere.
- J/22: From my point of view a nicer boat to sail than the J/24. Symmetric spinnaker kind of goes in the way of easy handling though.
- Moore 24: Old school, but there seems to be a fleet here, and I think it generally looks like a fun boat.
Maybe there are other good ideas.
I would definitely try to crew on each of the boats before, since I only sailed the J22 and the J24 so far out of the boats above. I am not in a rush to make a decision, but the improving weather over here makes me want to get out on the water.
Any opinions?
I am looking into purchasing a nice keel boat/sport boat and am looking for some opinions on what could be a good fit.
I live in Seattle (moved here a few years ago), so would mostly sail on the Puget Sound/Lake Washington etc. I am looking for a boat that has an active class in the area, ideally with one design races. I am definitely not looking for a new boat, and would buy used.
I come from dinghy sailing (I used to own a Contender to race competitively and also sailed 505s and other performance dinghies in the past), so I want as much sailing sensation as possible from a sport boat. I want the boat to be able to plane downwind and generally be responsive. I am also in my late 20s so interested in a boat that is somewhat dynamic. Being able to race one design would be great, it is just the cleanest form of racing, so a local fleet would be great.
Also, my girlfriend does not know how to sail yet, and I would want to teach her on this boat. I realized just sailing by myself with a dinghy is gonna end up as not sailing very much if the time cannot be spent together. It is thus important that at least to a certain wind speed you can double hand the boat. What also drew me away from a dinghy is the wish to be able to also just go for a relaxed after-work sail with some friends, which is generally difficult to do on something like an i14 or a 505. If some very basic accommodations would be available on the boat, like a place to crash, that would be great but no fancy things are required (we usually do basic tent camping so I am not looking for any higher level of comfort than that), in case we want to stay somewhere else over night. Being a good boat to sail is more important than that though. Trailerable would be great, so races in the Gorge or the Bay could be an option.
Regarding prices, I am looking for something around up to 20k.
What I thought could be interesting so far:
- Melges 24: Might be a bit too brutal, considering how much rail meat you need to sail them fast, but open to other thoughts.
- J/80: I know, many say it's not a real sport boat, but it generally seems to fit the requirements.
- J/70: Probably difficult to find for less than 30k, but maybe worth thinking about, fleets seem to grow everywhere.
- J/22: From my point of view a nicer boat to sail than the J/24. Symmetric spinnaker kind of goes in the way of easy handling though.
- Moore 24: Old school, but there seems to be a fleet here, and I think it generally looks like a fun boat.
Maybe there are other good ideas.
I would definitely try to crew on each of the boats before, since I only sailed the J22 and the J24 so far out of the boats above. I am not in a rush to make a decision, but the improving weather over here makes me want to get out on the water.
Any opinions?
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