I will be working with a fellow I met a few years
ago in the boatyard. He and his father decided
to buy a boat and learn to sail. I can't remember
all the details--I think I recommended a cute
little Cape Dory that was for sale.

It turns out they bought a bilge keel Westerly Centaur,
that they were not too happy with. Mostly they were
unhappy because everyone told them the boat was a
dog. I think they could have had plenty of fun with it if
they put a little money into it.

It needed a bit of work and I guess the price was
right, and included a mooring.

Even poor performing boats can be fun to sail if they have
decent sails. I can't stand sailing 30 year old boats with
sails so blown out they can't point--imagine trying to get
upwind with a Westerly Cenaur with ratty sails?

http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/...ly-centaur.htm

In any event, I plan to take father and sun out
on HOOT to show them how good it can really
be with a nice boat with fairly new sails.

"DSK" wrote
Actively shopping for a boat has convinced me more than ever that one
reason why sailing isn't more popular is the number of crap boats being
aggressively marketed to beginners. And the only way to learn better is to
gain experience in better boats, which many sailors never do (at least,
over here).