"Capt. Rob" wrote in message

My friend is now in her 70's and has decided to sell her J27 and slow
down quite a bit. A Nordica 30 is on her list of retirement boats.
Here's what she likes about the Nordica:

Obvoiusly a woman of refined tastes.

1) Very slow, easy going boat offering no challenge to her. She's got
bad joints.

Even better... the vessel almost sails itself. It's very forgiving and the
real teak hand rail placement make for secure entry to the warm wood
interior.

2) Bad interior quality is a plus as she will redo it with her
boyfriend. He's a cabinet maker.

Oh perfect.... he'll have no end of enjoyable shipboard projects. Have you
ever seen a vessel that wasn't a series of projects?. Well okay those
bleach bottle knock-offs with the shelf liner interior that mimic the
functionality of a Mac26X interior don't count.... but who the heck would
plunk down cash for one of those?

3) She's quit racing and the snailish Nordica will never tempt her to
race locally.

Wonderful.... this will only result in having her squeal with pleasure when
she easily passes a french import! Tell her to leave a few spots open on her
well adorned trophy cabinet... without even trying I won 4 trophys on mine.

4) She is done with long range cruising and the primitive Nordica
interior will be a large closet for her at best.

Primitive is a wonderful adjective.... pure simplicity in form and
function. This allows for a vessel that even berft of all the
electro-nautical gizmos... still undertakes with grace & power the task it
was designed to do.


5) Investment is not an issue. She'll die with this boat...especially
in lighter air.

When sufficent funds are not an issue.... neither is investment. Once she
has sailed this type of boat.... there will no longer be the self doubt and
second guessing involved with so many of those "off the rack" vessels. If
she's looking for the "last boat"... she can't do better than the Nordica.

6) Poor upwind ability is not an issue. She wants to sail downwind and
avoid heeling.

Well then... she'll be delightfully surprised with the upwind performance
and absolutly smitten with the elegance of a balanced vessel downwind.

7) Prices for these boats are typically quite low. 3 links all show
under 20K, which is very cheap for a 30 foot boat. A nice Catalina 30
is a lot more.

Only a few of these vessels were ever produced.... in 3 Models. It seems the
lower cost models were generally abused and quickly dumped on the U.S.
market. I looked at 4 in Canada before buying mine.... which happens to best
their top of the line model. You can tell this by the stainless and teak
bowsprit and pair of stainless 30lb CQRs, oversized rigging and cleats.


Any tips for her? I'll forward them.

Yes... shop in Canada. She could also look into a Halman27.


Thanks,

Heh.. No Problem!

CM-