I'm underwhelmed with the quality of new boats. Price just doesn't seem
consistent with what you get.

Boat selection is dependent on a lot of different factors and sailing
conditions. For used boats around 25', there are a lot of good boats.
I like the Hunter 25.5 for our sailing conditions. Its a little tender,
but for a 25, its got a big cockpit and a lot of room below. The
sailplan favors wind below 15 knots. Its got a long waterline and is
pretty fast. We have a shoal keel model with 3'3" draft since we sail
in a fairly shallow lake. We haven't stayed on her, but understand some
people cruise for over a week at a time on 25.5s. There is a pop-top on
the cabin to gain a foot or so of headroom aft of the mast. Boat comes
with either an outboard or a one-lung yanmar inboard. We have the
outboard model. Easy access to the motor and it can handle a little
better in tight quarters than the inboard. Also has fewer maintenance
concerns than the inboard, but we have had the outboard quit on us.

Catalina 25s and O'Day 25s are popular models in this size with swing
keels. Plenty around under $10K.

Bill


(Tudor) wrote in news:627f90dc.0411291901.18e8f690

:

This is probably going to sound like a very open-ended question, but
if you were an inexperienced sailor looking to buy a new 23 foot
sailboat with a swing keel to be primarily used in river and bay
cruising, what would you choose?

And how about if you were looking for a used 25 foot sailboat with a
swing keel in very good condition under $10,000?