Hi,

My family is interested in what sailboat to buy and learn that can handle
offshore or perhaps ocean crossing. Older fits our budget better.

What type? How long?

I know this is vague but just trying to develop preliminary ideas to
consider.

thanks
marshall

Hi Marshall,
I would suggest starting with a sloop or Marconi rig, a single masted
boat with a
main and foresail. It is one of the simplest rigs to handle. For learning,
a smaller boat would have advantages, but for ocean crossings you will need a
larger vessel.
The disadvantage of a larger boat is that is has larger sail which require
winches and
can be a handful in a blow. Many of the newer boats have roller reefing jibs
and main sails, which would make sail handling easier, but more susceptible
to failures
which is critical on an ocean cruise. You can overcome some of the sail
handling
problems with a fractional rig, that is one with more than one mast. This
reduces the
size of the sails and usually makes the boat easier to balance. If you can
manage, I
would start with a smaller boat to learn on, and trade up to a larger boat
for your
ocean cruising. If you go with a sloop, try and get a boat with a keel
design that allows it to sail comfortably with main alone, usually a full
length keel does this. This
helps when learning, and is even more important on ocean voyages.

Sherwin D.

MarshallE wrote:

Hi,

My family is interested in what sailboat to buy and learn that can handle
offshore or perhaps ocean crossing. Older fits our budget better.

What type? How long?

I know this is vague but just trying to develop preliminary ideas to
consider.

thanks
marshall

For what you are talking about, assuming a family of four, it would be
hard to beat an Endeavor 32 if you can find one. Built like a tank,
reasonable speed, docile handling but responsive enough that you can
understand what the boat is doing while you are learning. Good
interior layout.

These aren't true blue water boats but have done long voyages.

You can see pictures and read about ours he

http://home.maine.rr.com/rlma/Boat.htm

--

Roger Long



"MarshallE" wrote in message
. ..
Hi,

My family is interested in what sailboat to buy and learn that can
handle
offshore or perhaps ocean crossing. Older fits our budget better.

What type? How long?

I know this is vague but just trying to develop preliminary ideas to
consider.

thanks
marshall

A lot depends on your and your family's level of experience and commitment.
Have you been offshore? If not, I'd suggest taking one of the many available
offshore/coastal classes, if for nothing more than to get a feeling for it.
It's not all peaches and cream. I'd also suggest chartering various boats of
different makes and sizes. This will give you some idea of the accomodations
you can expect, and the typical offshore class lasts for a couple of days,
so you'll get an idea what it's like to handle night sailing, standing
watches, etc.

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"MarshallE" wrote in message
. ..
Hi,

My family is interested in what sailboat to buy and learn that can handle
offshore or perhaps ocean crossing. Older fits our budget better.

What type? How long?

I know this is vague but just trying to develop preliminary ideas to
consider.

thanks
marshall

Never sailed mine in the ocean...bot I know they have crossed them.
Older, tough as nails, lots of weight...alberg 35

Lots of old 60's FG boats would do...... allied luders 33 would work.

He didn't start with a Luders 33 but he finished with one:

http://www.google.com/search?sourcei...in+graham+dove

Ric

On Sun, 22 Jan 2006 03:59:52 GMT, "MarshallE"
wrote:

Hi,

My family is interested in what sailboat to buy and learn that can handle
offshore or perhaps ocean crossing. Older fits our budget better.

What type? How long?

Buy an older 27 to 30 foot masthead sloop for next to nothing and do
some coastal cruising before you even think of offshore. It will teach
you a lot about sailing, and about what you want in a boat.

Ryk

Dave wrote:
On Sun, 22 Jan 2006 00:10:22 -0600, sherwindu said:


a fractional rig, that is one with more than one mast.


?????


What's with that??
I thought 'fractional rig' meant the jib only went a fraction of the way
up the mast.

Marshall,

My two cents. Last year I bought my first boat. 20 year old steel hull.

May I suggest this:

http://old.cruisingworld.com/steelpay.htm

And then this:

http://yachtworld.com/core/listing/c... pbsint=&ps=30

Or search (advanced) yachtworld.com for "33' steel sailboat".

My guess is that is the same boat described in the second piece above.

I have this same boat but with a cutter rig. Brewer still sells the
plans and suggests the cutter for open water cruising. The sloop
configuration is easier to sail in coastal waters but the
reconfiguration to cutter is relatively straight forward.

Steel is "unconventional" but so what. I can attest to the fine quality
of the hull, but not the interior. These boats were finished by the
owners. Mine is beautiful. She gets a lot of attention. I singlehanded
her from Shelbourne N.S. to Sydney, as a novice, so she must be both
"easy" and "forgiving."

Best of luck,

Howard


MarshallE wrote:
Hi,

My family is interested in what sailboat to buy and learn that can handle
offshore or perhaps ocean crossing. Older fits our budget better.

What type? How long?

I know this is vague but just trying to develop preliminary ideas to
consider.

thanks
marshall

It is...

--
"j" ganz @@
www.sailnow.com

"Don White" wrote in message
...
Dave wrote:
On Sun, 22 Jan 2006 00:10:22 -0600, sherwindu
said:


a fractional rig, that is one with more than one mast.


?????


What's with that??
I thought 'fractional rig' meant the jib only went a fraction of the way
up the mast.

"Dave" wrote in message
...
On Sun, 22 Jan 2006 00:10:22 -0600, sherwindu
said:

a fractional rig, that is one with more than one mast.

?????

Remember, the advice you get here is worth exactly what you paid for it!
G