On Jan 10, 8:59 am, wrote:
On Thu, 10 Jan 2008 08:50:30 -0800 (PST), "



wrote:
My wife and I are still looking for a 27 foot used boat, for summer
cruising north from Port Townsend, WA, where we live, mainly if not
entirely on the inside of Vancouver Island. Our price range is $8,000
- 12,000

We want a boat which has
- solid construction
- good stability - not too much heeling
- adequate performance upwind
- moves in light air

We're narrowing our search down to boats within a reasonable distance,
and I wonder if anyone has opinions on the relative merits of the
following for this type of use

Catalina 27 - 1987
San Juan 28 - 1978
O'Day 272LE -1987
Ericson 25+ -1976
Morgan 27 -1971

I mention the age as I think construction quality has varied
over the years with some of these makers.

Thanks in advance for any comments

Richard

The canadian built CS27 (Canadian Sailcraft) fits your criteria and is
considerably better built than most, or all, of the boats on your
list.


The CS is an eastern boat, hard to find out West, and rarely if ever
for under $12K. Much better to look at the Cal line: you could
probably find a Cal 27 in your range, and I bought a Crown 28 for $12K
last fall. They're WAY better built than the Catalina/Oday/Newport,
sail very well especially in heavier weather (but still good in light
air: after all, they're West-coast boats!)

Ericsons are strange: the 26, 28, 29, etc are FAST, but the 27 is a
slow full-keel boat.

Another one to check out is the C&Cs: I don't personally like them for
some unknown reason, but they're quite well-built and very fast. Be
careful when comparing them though: the C&C 27 came in about 5
"marks" (Mk I, Mk II, etc) and they're quite different from each
other. Also most have been raced, as in "run hard and put away wet"
and they show it.

Also: plan on spending at least $5K or so on ANY boat that age -
there's just things that go wrong that need fixing...

Finally, I'll say a Catalina 27 would probably do you just fine, just
as it has for thousands of couples and families over the last 30
years.

druid
http://www.bcboatnet.org