Hi everyone,
I am in the process of deciding on a trailerable, comfortable cruising yacht
(ca 23 ft) and found the Vagabond 23 of Jacques Mertens and the Roberts 246
of Bruce Roberts.
I would be interested in contacting builders/owners who like to share their
experience with this yachts. Of course, any hint for similar designs I have
overlooked is very much appreciated.

Regards
Gerhard

Gerhard:
You might want to ask this question at www.trailersailer.com they have
several forums that might have some insights too.
Danny

"Gerhard Ludwar" wrote in message
...
Hi everyone,
I am in the process of deciding on a trailerable, comfortable cruising
yacht
(ca 23 ft) and found the Vagabond 23 of Jacques Mertens and the Roberts
246
of Bruce Roberts.
I would be interested in contacting builders/owners who like to share
their
experience with this yachts. Of course, any hint for similar designs I
have
overlooked is very much appreciated.

Regards
Gerhard

"Gerhard Ludwar" wrote in message
...
Hi everyone,
I am in the process of deciding on a trailerable, comfortable cruising
yacht
(ca 23 ft) and found the Vagabond 23 of Jacques Mertens and the Roberts
246
of Bruce Roberts.

I'm biased. I sell several of my designs on Jacques' site and receive
royalties from the sales.

But I also happen to think Jacques' technical support is first rate. Lots
of very quick responses to builder's questions. I think that sets them
apart.

I think that Bruce Roberts designs ugly boats. I have heard (2nd hand) that
his plans leave a lot to the builder's imagination i.e. they are not that
complete if you are a beginning builder.

--
Evan Gatehouse

you'll have to rewrite my email address to get to me
ceilydh AT 3web dot net
(fools the spammers)

Gerhard Ludwar wrote:
Hi everyone,
I am in the process of deciding on a trailerable, comfortable cruising yacht
(ca 23 ft) and found the Vagabond 23 of Jacques Mertens and the Roberts 246
of Bruce Roberts.

Not sure there's any comparison. The Vagabond is a great sailing boat
and will give any racer a fun time. I've seen this boat sailing and it's
enviable. While the Roberts 246 appears less barge-like than some of
his designs, he doesn't have much reputation for performance. If you're
at all interested in sailing performance, then you should sail one
before committing to building one.

Hope this helps.
Doug King

You might want to contact Justin Pipkorn; he built a Vagabond Plus 20'
a few years back and has a pretty complete website on his experiences:

http://www.amateurboatbuilding.com/P...ight/index.htm

He does rate Jacques' service as first rate.

The other boat I like is the Princess 22 Sharpie, at B&B Yacht
Designs. Its a 22 or 26' cat ketch design, and is pretty sharp. The
designer, Graham, frequents my forums at messing-about.com to answer
questions on-line, and is always just a phone call away ("your dime,
our time" is his motto on phone support). You can see the Princess on
his web site at:

http://www.bandbyachtdesigns.com/princess.htm





On Fri, 21 May 2004 11:26:18 +0200, "Gerhard Ludwar"
wrote:

Hi everyone,
I am in the process of deciding on a trailerable, comfortable cruising yacht
(ca 23 ft) and found the Vagabond 23 of Jacques Mertens and the Roberts 246
of Bruce Roberts.
I would be interested in contacting builders/owners who like to share their
experience with this yachts. Of course, any hint for similar designs I have
overlooked is very much appreciated.

Regards
Gerhard


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