I am familiar with the Folkboat, the Albin Vega and the Kigns Cruiser.

The Folkboats are great boats for what they are. They are not fast by
modern standards, but they sail very well. They are very seaworthy if
you consider the hull, but they don't have a selfbailing cockpit and
the bottom of companionway is almost level with the deep
cockpitfloor,. This makes the relation between the cockpit and the
cabin very good. The cabin is by modern standards rather small. For
costal cruising I think it is a nice boat if you can live with the
limitid acomodation. A nice boat for a 2 person 2 week cruise if the
sailors are youger than 50.
I like the boat.
Some versions have a selfbailing cockpit and a modified companionway
entrance. These modifications makes it a "go everywere boat" but it
doesent change the acomodation, and the freebord is a bit low for
oceansailing I think.

The IF (International Folkboat) is a GRP carvel folkboat with a
selfbailing cockpit. It has a "romier but more cramped" interior and a
aluminum mast with a larger foretriancle and a spinacer.

I also think that the vega is rather ugly, but for a cheap
masproduction boat of its's age it is actualy a fairly nice boat. I
does not have many vices, and if your looking for a cheap boat that
combines a certain practicallity with fairly predictable sailing
carecteristics It might be a good choise.

The Kings Cruiser 29 has more room than the former, but are small
compared to modern 29' cruisingboats. It could probably be sailed
almost anywere, but it is not a fast boat, just slightly faster or
than the Folkboat. I think they are fairly well build. A good
valur/price ratio I think, even if you probably could not get one over
here for 10,000 $. If you can get one for 10.000, and it is in decent
shape I think it would be a bargain (though i'm not very familiar with
US-prices).


"DSK" skrev i en meddelelse
...
Bobsprit wrote:

My list...while avoiding very, very old boats....

Bristol 27

Shucks, what about a Bristol 30? Or a Tartan 27?


Catalina 27

Malarkey. Not on anybody's list of "best" unless you gotta go with a
crowd. They are widely available and better than some.


Cape Dory 25 (70s model)
C&C 25 (70s)

Why not a newer 27?


Pearson 25

Too small. The Cape Dory 25 is barely a weekender. And rather than
avoiding "very very old" what you want to avoid is "poorly
maintained"
boats. It would be better to have a properly kept 35 year old boat
than a beat-up and neglected 5 year old one. Of course, that assume
knowledge about such things...

Here's a nice little heavy displacement English design
http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/0/8/65557108.htm

A Seafarer... smaller sistership to one a friend of ours has
http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/2/0/66440920.htm

To call this boat 31' is a bit deceptive, IIRC about 5' of that is
the
clipper bow. But they are really cool boats and capable small
cruisers.
http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/1/8/62482218.htm

Islander 30... a Bob Perry design, sails well and properly built
http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/7/6/33415976.htm

My family had a protoype of one of these... now *this* is a great
boat... actually I'm bummed to see one pop up at this price...
http://adcache.boattraderonline.com/6/8/2/45636682.htm

Here's a boat I don't like all that much myself, but others have
raved
about

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/listi...il.jsp?boat_id
=1189436

I was a little surprised to see a Sabre 28 pop up on the listings in
this price range. Also a Scampi 30 which is really a racing boat but
is certainly capable of being cruised.

Other boats that may pop up are the Morgan 30 (the CCA model, not
the
OI) or for that matter, the Morgan 27 which I mentioned just the
other
day. There are also Tanzers, Ericsons, Hughes, Rhodes, Paceship,
Dufour.... Any of these is likely to be better built and better
performing than a Catalina, Pearson, Cal, Columbia, or Hunter of
similar age & condition. IMHO the mass-produced boat are average,
not
built for serious sailing (except for racing as one-designs), and
while many of them are nice boats, they are not "great."

Fresh Breezes- Doug King