wrote:
I know this stuff has been covered over and over, but please refresh
my memory about what might be the "best" 18-23' trailerable (read
swing keel/centerboard) boat. *When I sell my beloved cruiser and
return home for a couple of years of rebuilding, I'm going to need
something to satisfy the occasional sailing jones.

Glad to hear you're not planning to 'swallow the hook' entirely.....

Needs to be something built well, sail reasonably well, be reasonably
easy to rig, and have some kind of cuddy cabin two people could camp
out in for an overnight if desired, *Oh, and be under 10K, 5K would be
better, including trailer. *

Huge variety of possible answers. It really depends on how much weight
you want to trailer, and how much work you're willing to do rigging/
launching.


Some boats off the top of my head- Catalina 22, Santana?, Hunter,
Oday, etc. *Anyone ever do research to determine what might be a good
one to zero in on?
Don't worry, I don't expect any serious answers, but will be
pleasantly surprised to get a few!


Define "serious."

There are at least several thousand types of boats answering your
description. The Catalina 22 is probably the best known, their best
quality is that they're well-known and easy to resell. There is also a
serious group of one-design racers in this boat. But it's heavy for
it's size, sits very high on the trailer, and is generally a lot of
work and PITA to rig & launch & recover. Not surprising since it was
designed long before any modern conveniences were applied to this type
boat.

The S2 6.7 and 6.9 are drop-keel (ballasted daggerboard) trailerables
that are quite well built and will sail rings around the Catalina 22.

Precision 18 and 21 are keel-centerboard boats, also very well built,
more modernistic-looking. Sirius, Spindrift & Starwind are no longer
in production but they built some nice trailerables.

There's literally tens of thousands of boats like this
http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listi...oat_id=1813944
which built in small numbers by small companies... sometimes just one
guy who had the dream to be a boatbuilder... which are pretty good
designs and available for very little. The problem is to evaluate how
practical they would be in everyday use - for example, I mentioned the
flaw of sitting high off the ground on the trailer, which is a problem
for two reasons. It takes a steeper pitched ramp to launch them,
possibly a tongue extension (big PITA) and they also are more
difficult to get aboard & work on while on the trailer (and more
dangerous if you fall). Then there's the issue of rigging the boat...
raising/lowering the mast can be arduous & hazardous... I personally
know a lot of people who have blown out disks or otherwise injured
themselves doing this.

Loco mentioned the Merit 22
http://www.sailboatlistings.com/view/6866


Interesting article from long ago, evaluating the San Juan 23, Merit
22, Sirius 22, Tanzer 22, and Starwind 223
http://www.widgetsailor.com/sbjourna...als86/st1.html


I picked a Santana 23, a late-1970s MORC racer with a daggerboard.
It's a fun boat, but the rig is very tall & twangy for everyday
trailering... if you can leave it rigged up at a club or marina, like
we do, it's as practical as anything and a great performing boat.
http://community.webshots.com/photo/...35692614YSMXSu


Here's a great resource, most of these folks love the trailer-sailing
life.
http://bbs.trailersailor.com/forums/...ilor/index.cgi

Hope this helps, glad to hear from you again Mike!

Fresh Breezes- Doug King