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rhys wrote:
.... What's next,
a C&C Mega?

heh heh heh and why not?

wrote:
I'm not the original poster and I only brought up the MacGregor
for the purpose of comparing it to the Bayliner.

However, now I'm getting more curious because the consensus
seems to be that the length of the boat is not an issue.

No, it isn't. AFAIK the smallest boat to circumnavigate was 17' and it's
been done in an open 19' boat. The issue is partly the stores load,
and partly the ability to make distance good in a wide variety of weather.

So please tell me if you know of any trailerable bluewater or
ocean-going sailboat (under 30' LOA and 8.5' beam) that has
a water ballast and a retractable keel.

Well, I guess it depends on what you define as "bluewater." Personally,
I think that is a marketing term designed to appeal to the
baggywrinkle-and-corncob-pipe crowd, who want to pretend they're sailing
clipper ships around Cape Horn while they're actually daysailing a
fiberglass one-design around an inland lake.

Or do you think it's not possible to build one because a heavier
ballast or keel is needed for stability ?

I not only think it's possible, I've sailed a water ballast 19'
trailerable cruiser (sort of a racer-cruiser, but AFAIK very few were
ever raced) in fairly heavy weather (40+ knot winds). Maybe I know a
little about it, maybe not.

My wife & I shopped for a trailerable cruiser for quite some time, and
wanted to emphasize the practicality of it for trailering. Many people
are content to spend an hour or more getting the rig set up when
launching, we preferred to get on the water & go. We looked at about 100
boats over a year and a half. The boat we picked (after rejecting it in
the first round) was a Hunter 19, no longer made. It's not built any
better than the average Hunter, maybe worse, but it's a small simple
boat. No plumbing and very little wiring for them to f#%# up!

It stood up quite well to ten years of fairly hard use, although we
always took great care of it. The current owner is quite proud of it,
enjoys it a lot, and says he still gets compliments on his "new" boat.

I would sail that boat to the Bahamas, or across short stretches of open
water, but I'd pick my weather pretty carefully. One reason why it's
suitable for cruising is that it has a fairly well-shaped hull for
carrying a load of stores. For a TransAtlantic crossing, I'd want
something with a bit more room to stretch out, and a sturdier set of
hatches. Is water ballast an issue? You might consider a boat like a
Bolger Micro (there's a 19' Long Micro). In any case, the skipper makes
a lot more difference than the boat.

An excellent book on this subject is "Tinkerbelle" by Robert Manry.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

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