OlderThanMe Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 Ever since last spring I have been into sailing when I took sailing class at college. My sailing partner and I got the highest scores in the class and won every race but one. We had 20 year old Hobie 16 catmarans that we raced in and some newer Hobie Getaways for cruising around. (slower.. but more controllable when lifted onto one hull) Ever since then I have thought about building a little monohull boat. Maybe a 20-25 footer or even smaller. Just something that I can pull with a small/ medium truck. Not a race boat, but something that could be taken on a weekend cruise and be comfortable for up to 4 people but still be quick enough to be fun. It should look like a classic boat with a nice dark wood deck. Something like this Glen-L 25 This AMIGO design is nice and a little more compact. Anybody here sail or have their own boat? I know it will take 4 or so years to build the thing and about $10,000-$14,000... Well worth the price though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZR8ED Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 Been sailing my whole life. I have my CYA level 5 sailing Optimus's CL14's Albacores, Code 40's, Lasers and Hobiecats. I was a sailing instructor for 1 summer as well. I have owned and raced Lasers and Hobiecat 18's, and even took my Hobie to the North American Championships. I Currently have a monohull cruising sailboat. Grampian 26. Sleeps 5 6ft head room, fin keel, very agile and still competitive to this day. Great in light winds, over sailed in heavy (full mast head rig) I sail on Lake Ontario. Man. I miss my Hobie.. Nothing like flying a hull, and hear the rigging hum when it is perfectly balanced. Though wave jumping and flipping them is not new to me Scott. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted February 19, 2008 Author Share Posted February 19, 2008 Scott, I love flying a hull! Especially going solo on one of the cats. The very first day on the boats was spent learning how to flip them over properly and not kill ourselves. It was about 50 degrees outside on that day! I'm really liking that Amigo design. Lots of people complain about boats being such a drain on the wallet...but Z's are the same way! I hope to finish the design of my boat in about 2-3 years and then start aquiring parts and materials. Have any pics of your Grampian 26 Scott? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Juday Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 Multihull sailor for 30 years. Prindles and Nacras mostly. My wife and I currently have a pair of Hobie Adventure Islands (16' kayak based trimarans) that we sail here on the Sacramento river. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted February 19, 2008 Author Share Posted February 19, 2008 Dan Juday, Wow! It sounds like you really like sailing! For some reason I think the boat guys might have the best Z car fenders...LOL I found this wonderful little boat that is a 25 footer and custom built... BLACK SKIMMER I really like the plain interior although it is a little bit cramped. Capacity for 4 is fairly important for me though. Maybe if it was a little wider it would have a better capacity for more people I'm thinking of designing/building a little 10 footer this year just to get some experience in boat design. There are many good places to get inspiration on the web... HERE is an awesome buildup of a Vagabond 20 footer with a lot of photos. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZR8ED Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 There are lots of boat plans out there. No need to reinvent the wheel so to speak. Especially when learning. Hobie trimarans? I have never known anyone that had one. I've seen video, and of course seen them at the boat show. Prindles and Nacras.. I crewed last minute on a Nacra 5.2, and really got some great multihull racing experience with a friend with a prindle 18. Wow the memories that come to mind thinking of my catamaran days! I'll try to dig up some pics. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TrumpetRhapsody Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 I love small-boat and cat sailing, but haven't had an opportunity to do much unfortunately. When I get out of school I'm hoping to get a 20-30ft monohull with a cabin. Like you say, something nice and comfortable for 4+ people for weekend sleep-in trips would be nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gareth Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 Been sailing for 9 or 10 years already - I used to race on Optimists (I hated mine, I called it "a sailing wardrobe" because of it's shape), Lasers (only for a little while) and Zoom8 (small class intended to replace the Optimist). I also did windsurfing, but just for the fun of it. My dad used to have a Hobie 16 and 18 (Tiger Formula 18), but he sold both and bought a 1904 Thames A-Rater, which is a beautiful piece of naval engineering, and considering its age and true worth, he bought it for next to nothing. As of now, we are restoring it to as-new condition, but it's going to take a lot of time. The smallest details are the worst thing that you can imagine - EVERY wooden panel that lies on the deck is glued AND riveted to the deck itself, and there are lots of these panels... Here are some pictures taken by the previous owner: My dad also has a boat built in the 80s, which is a perfect replica of a German sports yacht made in the 1920s. It sails like a dream, but I can't wait for his A-rater to be finished. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted February 19, 2008 Author Share Posted February 19, 2008 There are lots of boat plans out there. No need to reinvent the wheel so to speak. Especially when learning. Hobie trimarans? I have never known anyone that had one. I've seen video, and of course seen them at the boat show. Prindles and Nacras.. I crewed last minute on a Nacra 5.2, and really got some great multihull racing experience with a friend with a prindle 18. Wow the memories that come to mind thinking of my catamaran days! I'll try to dig up some pics. Scott, That is really cool. Yeah I have seen plans for smaller boats for very cheap and even free. I'll probably find one that I like an use it. I'd love to eventually give a hand on a real boat sometime. I love small-boat and cat sailing, but haven't had an opportunity to do much unfortunately. When I get out of school I'm hoping to get a 20-30ft monohull with a cabin. Like you say, something nice and comfortable for 4+ people for weekend sleep-in trips would be nice. That's cool TR! For me, I feel as if anything much over 25' would be too big to store or tow with my truck. I'm going to need my own place too to start such a project. I get enough flak from having the Z around the house...lol Gareth, That is a beautiful boat! I love it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZR8ED Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 Alright. I don't have many pics scanned. (no internet when I did most of my racing in the 1980's no digi cameras! hehe) My Hobie 18. I'm showing off the name of the boat. I designed and painted the lettering myself. Having some fun in heavy winds on the G26 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted February 19, 2008 Author Share Posted February 19, 2008 This is one of the 16's that I played with down at PCC(I'm not the scrawny guy there). They were really beat up though but they were still pretty quick. The sail that I found was the fastest (withoput changing any settings)was a black and white sail(#96504) that was really ripped up LOL. It was setup perfectly though. Before our midterm race (which my buddy and I won by 400+ feet...LOL) we drained about 5 gallons of water out of the hulls. After the race we drained about 15 gallons of water from the hulls. LOL it was sitting about 5" too low in the water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-TARD Posted February 19, 2008 Share Posted February 19, 2008 If money were no object, I would have me a Volvo Open 70. 30+ knots with a monohull, how cool is that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cygnusx1 Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 I've been sailboarding since about 85 if that counts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Derek Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Started out in Optimist Prams when I was 9, went to Flying Juniors for a few years, moved into big boat offshore racing at 14. Graduated to fore deck - bow man and raced pretty much continuously until I was 25 or so. I raced on everything from a John Alden wooden ketch to a Farr 30. I took up windsurfing for a while and raced a bit but nothing serious. I was then talked out of retirement to do bow work on a Farr designed 42. This thing was very exotic and was the most serious boat I ever raced on. We did very well racing on Biscayne Bay and SORC off shore racing. I was on that boat until just before hurricane Andrew. My knees just couldn't take the punishment anymore. Fore deck is a young mans sport! Now I'm land locked in the middle of the state! Derek Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
(goldfish) Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 I spent many years on a Nacra 5.7, one of the faster sail boats that size. My problems with the mono hulls of that size are the weight. My dad's compaq 19' is about 2500lbs alone. The the trailer to hold that and any other thing you want to take with you. If you can sleep on it, you start to take camping weekends. Then you almost need full size trucks to tow it, and last a long time. Maybe a trimaran would be a good thing to look into.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZR8ED Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Mono Hulls are heavy.. My G26 weighs in approx 7000lbs fully outfitted. 4000lbs of it is the keel. Draws 4ft of water too. Too big to effectively travel/tow. Comfortable for cruising though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
carusoracer Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Unfortunately little Hobie Cat and Multi Hull sailing as the Lake I grew up sailing on a very choppy, Lake Erie. I have raced and sailed mostly Mono Hulls everything from Laser,Thistles,Highlander,Flying Scot small one design Boats to J24,T10,MORC and J29,J34,J35 and Farr 45's. A great Boat in the the 26' Ft range is the S2 7.9. Very well made overnighter that is a quick boat and good down wind speed. No matter what you Sail it is better than not Sailing at all. "Sailing forever,yardwork whenever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZR8ED Posted February 20, 2008 Share Posted February 20, 2008 Haha just got an email telling me that my second photo (Me at the tiller, and my brother inlaw sitting on the life line/rail) looks like a vodka or (insert popular liquor) magazine ad. hehehe That's funny. Or maybe a Ck fragrance ad.. Bwahahaha! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eec564 Posted February 21, 2008 Share Posted February 21, 2008 I have a Catalina 36 and simply LOVE it. Too large to trailer (without a bigrig) , but amazing creature comforts and very easy to handle. In your size range I'd keep several things in mind. You're going to have to step the mast to trailer it around. That's a fair amount of work on anything over 20', just from the weight of the thing, and should really be done with two people. Any boat with a keel rather than a board sits surprisingly high off the road on that trailer. I figure a Cal 20 needs at least ten feet vertical clearance to move around. Keep that in mind if you have any low hanging branches in your yard. I actually would recommend a Cal 20. Not exactly what you're looking for, in terms of 'classic' look, but can be outfitted very nicely. With a nice keel their very stable and you can take four or five people out at a time. Their not quite ocean material (while possible, not terribly comfortable) but work fabulous on lakes. Here's a nice deal, if it's accurately listed, although way out of your area. http://sfbay.craigslist.org/eby/boa/581142855.html The transferable slip is a major selling point around here. I stay docked on the coast, Pillar Point Harbor, Princeton By The Sea (El Granada/Half Moon Bay). Add (or make) a trailer and you'd be set. If you trailer the boat yourself you could actually do the bottom job for not all that much, although there are many merits to having it done by a boat yard. Mostly because bottom paint is quite toxic. Done that way to stuff doesn't grow on it. Well, as much, stuff still finds a way, but it makes PPG look friendly. If you really want to build one, keep in mind four years is a lot of time you could be sailing, would you want to go four years without a Z? Shipbuilding also has a VERY steep learning curve. I'd go with a nice used boat sold ready to go, or a great deal on one not needing much work, AFTER I had paid for MY OWN professional to do a survey of it. That is, if you're going to invest more than a few hundred. You will need the boat hauled out to have the survey done. Not really needed on really small stuff (22 and under) but I'd do it religiously on anything where the survey costs came out to be 15% or less of the purchase price. Just think about buying a car, be sure of what you're buying. Double so with a boat, you can't pull over and call for help. Quadruple so on a plane... -Eric Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OlderThanMe Posted February 21, 2008 Author Share Posted February 21, 2008 With the drought we are having here in Georgia, Sailboats are going dirt cheap. Lake Lanier is down soo far its not even funny. Such as this 22' Chrysler Bucaneer The idea of a used boat does sound attactive for a first bigger boat. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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