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Suggestions for Budget keeler 25-32 ft


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Looking for recommendations for budget keeler.

Want something for family to learn to sail and over night on.  Not looking to surf downwind -  stability / safety and comfort are the name of the game.

Needs at least three adult berths.

Been looking around on trademe, thoughts on the boats below?  Or other suggestion, $10k is near upper limit.

Davidson 28, H28, San juan 34, Tracker 7.7

 

Not looking for a restoration project, just want to get out and sail.  Would be great if the boat was capable of sailing to Barrier and Bay of islands.

Have sailed Dingy's and owned a 20ft trailer sailer back in the 90's, the finer points of sail trim still elude me but I can sail in a rough and ready manner and have my yacht masters cert.

Mike

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I'm not familiar with the San Juan, but from the other 3 designs you mention it sounds like you're on the right track for the kind of use you describe. H28 is an older concept than the other 2, doesn't have quite the volume and is slower.

That said, for what it sounds like you're after, any of the 3 including the H28 are well suited. Could also look at a raven 26, which are quite roomy for 26 feet and plenty capable. Probably best to look (as long as its something popular ish like the ones you mention) for the boat that's had the most love/use/money spent lately as you can find rather than focusing on just one design. Project boats can seem cheap at first but the cost of sorting them out can add up very quickly. Sails/engine/rigging/deck gear/instruments/refridgeration/batteries/lines/toilets/squabs/safety gear etc tend to all be more expensive than you think so finding one that's been at least maintained if not upgraded with these things is well worth it. 

 

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Easterly 30 is great. I bought it for same reasons. We've been to Barrier a few times. You are welcome to come and sail mine. My wife and I are getting a little bit older and are planning to downsize soon. https://kmccready.wordpress.com/?s=easterly

And here's my sailing story FWIW. https://kmccready.wordpress.com/2014/06/30/sailing/

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Raven 26 as advised by Raz is a perfect started yacht for what your family are seeking.
You'll pay between $5-15K depending on condition or how good the engine is, so $10K should get you a reasonably good one these days.

If you find an extra $10K under the mattress, my friend Brian has his junk rigged Raven 26 for sale.
Boat is moored in Auckland, despite him living in Canterbury.  
https://www.trademe.co.nz/a/motors/boats-marine/yachts/search?bof=6s8doi7b&search_string=raven 26

Junk rigs are super simple to sail, all sail raising and reefing can be done in seconds and from the safety of the cockpit - a real feature for someone with a young family to share the boat with.

 

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27 minutes ago, KM... said:

3 good responses all worth serious consideration there Full Circle.

I'd take Kevin up on his gracious offer for 3 reasons, 1 is you get to go for a sail, 2nd is you can use that to get a sort of datum so to speak and 3rd is his is a tidy E30 so an ideal opportunity to have a hands on of a boat that does fit your shopping list very well.

A shed load of H28's have gone offshore sailing and gone great...if not the fastest while doing it.

Ravens are very underrated by far too many.

I would throw into the mix one significance difference between say a R26/Easterly 30 and the longer San juan 34 to use your example, berthing costs. Also to a degree running costs. While going from 30 to say 35ft sounds OK you do run the risk of stepping up to a new 'cost bracket' in many things like berthage, sails and so on. In todays world buy a yacht is easy and you will be buying for a fraction of build/replacement cost so many sneak up a few feet to find the running costs jump disproportionally.

 

Good point about berthing costs KM.

That's one of the nice attributes of the Raven 26 - keep the berthing costs at the lower level, while still having a sh#tload of room down below.  In fact a Raven down below has as much if not more than some older 30 footers.

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Full Circle, I think the boat length you are considering needs to be refined. The range of 25 to 32 is like the difference between a miniVan and a small Bus. To be comfortable with say 3 to 4 on board, drop anything from below 28ft. Under 28 pretty much takes you into day sailors. 28 and above puts you into a different class of boat altogether, having likely been designed with a different kind of sailing in mind.
       Same can be said re the budget. 10K is a pretty small budget, but deals can also be had. However the difference in quality available between 10K and 20K is a whole nother world. Just remember that the more the boat is worth initially, should usually (although not always) reflect in what is needed to be put into the boat after purchase. Or even, is it worth putting anything into the boat afterwards.
      And finally, do not limit considerations to Boats of just 10K. I would look at a range up to say 20K. Many think their boat is worth way more than it really is. You can often come back at them with a list of maintenance issues and have the price reduced accordingly. Or just throw in an offer and see what happens.

On TM, there are several H28's in your price range at the mo. They are slow, but forgiving and were designed with cruising in mind. But be aware of the old Wooden ones in the area of the Bow sprit. That was a place of rot that takes some serious work and cost to fix. There are also a few others that range between 15 to 20K. A 1020 that started at a dollar, but is not near 10K and should go for a heck of a lot if there are people looking. Could be worth keeping an eye on in case there are not.
 

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re speed, the average cruising speed over distance for "cruising" yachts under sail, without wings and swing keels etc. is around 4 1/2 knots, the further you go the closer to that it will be. Of course if you start up the motor it becomes irrelevant.

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While you may not be looking for a project, any yacht in the size and price range you are looking will be a project.  You can expect that at least some if not the majority of major components are in their last few seasons of life, that paint finishes etc will need addressing within the season or ceratainly by next, that there will be some non-structural and maybe a hidden structural issue that will need work.

A survery will help, but a good survey will also cost 8% of your budget.

KM is on the money in the running costs thinking.  Insurance, mooring, fuel, the inevidible breakages.

My brother has a Raven 26 - it is a tardis, but when they got onto our 10m Spencer they thought they'd moved into Buck House.  The size difference between 25 and 32 feet is significant.  Four people in a Raven for a weekend better be good friends, four in a Cav/Townson/Wright 32 or something of that size can be more arms length.

Having said that, The Skipper grew up in a family of 6 cruising on a 25 foot Spencer.  Granted, they moved up to a 45 footer over time... 

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Couple of points with regards to the posts above. 

- the pros and cons of a junk rig can (and have) be debated on here till the cows come home. Regardless of the usability/performance etc, if i were in your situation and wanting to hone my fairly beginner level skills, I'd buy something with a more 'standard' rig which teaches you to trim and sail in a way that's more transferable to other boats. 

-someone above suggested don't go under 28 feet, then suggested an h28, which has less room inside than a raven 26. Up to you but I wouldn't draw a hard and fast line. 

-the various comments above about how much more boat you get as you move up to 30-32 feet and beyond are true. But a 10k budget is a major constraint. Trying to buy the biggest boat you can get for 10k is likely to leave you with a project needing heaps of time and money to get decent. If you can stretch the budget then by all means 30-32 feet will give you more space/performance etc. 

-the $1 reserve 1020 mentioned above isn't a 1020. It was sold 6 months ago on $1 reserve by a seller that said they had a serious health issue and then described as something like a Don Hardy design modelled on a 1020. Current seller says its a 1020 hull, but from the photos it looks narrower inside, so I'm not sure. Iirc correctly it sold last time for high teens, and at face value would be a nice boat for that (assuming no underlying issues) but don't buy it thinking you're getting a farr 1020 worth 50k for 20k.

 

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Well Raz, to me, my junk rig is 'standard'.  It's you guys in bermudans that are doing something different.

One of the biggest impediments, in my opinion,on learning how to sail as far learning wind angles, helming, and just getting to be 'out there' on the water, is effing about with that bermudan rig.  It's not the bermudan rig per se, it is all the gear and engineering, sail handling - it can all go wrong so quickly when learning in a keeler. 
(These days, I would learn to sail in a dinghy - you put one sail up and away you go. It stays up .  No mucking about ).

But if wants to teach his family in a keeler and actually gain the quickest amount of confidence and go places sooner than later - then a junk rig is ideal.

But yeah, each to their own, I know.

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I would seriously consider a Raven 26. Well balanced and ideal first keeler to teach the family how to sail and has as much interior volume as many older 30 footers.

We had one for 13 years. Several trips up north with 2 kids on board. You adapt to the space you have. We would all love bigger boats but reality sets in and financial restraints rear thier ugly head.

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First was the salthouse 25,a raven owner(ian scoffin) couldnt be leave the room compared to the raven.Salthouse tachyon (ex terry gillespies) only problem was the under forward bunk dunny, sold and still off te atatu.   a few yrs later brought a cav 26.  both slept 4,cav sailed better but the salthouse was comfortable with 10hp bukh.    For a 10/12k boat proberly cannot go past,most ravens still have the original ys8 yannmar.Problem with yachts is like any,at the price probably needs sail replacement. A good main and number 2 sufficient. 

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Nova 28?  Prob the smallest 28ft'er around but good little boats. 

If you're not in any hurry I'd wait until winter has set in when people haven't used the boat for 3 months and summer still seems like a ways off and they really want to get rid of it.

Keep in mind budget creep, I sold the idea of buying a boat to my non sailing partner with a budget of 20K max. 36K later... 😄

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1 hour ago, harrytom said:

buying is inexpensive,maintaining,Hmm how much 4ltsantifoul Oh have to haul out and on it goes.

 

...and don't even begin costing your time into it...  It'd break your accountant's little black heart.

If they had one.

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