# Noobie--Just purchased my first boat: Holder 14



## Steveosuburbs (Mar 20, 2015)

Hello, everyone! 

So, a childhood dream of mine was to sail. As a kid I use to memorize parts of sailboats and recite them to my dad. Right before I was born, my mother use to race sailboats--so I grew up with her talking about it, but not actually having a boat. I never had the opportunity to invest one, until recently. I am 23 now. I was walking down a beach when a gentlemen told me he was trying to get rid of his sailboat and trailer. 200 bucks and the sailboat is in perfect shape, he kept it in his garage since he got it. 

My first boat is a Holder 14. My question is, with experience, how rough of water can this boat go in? Im assuming the size might not allow it to be too far out in the bay or ocean? Is it a good boat to learn on? I have lessons set up for spring, and I will only be going out with experienced sailors before I go out on my own. 


This is jumping the gun-but I would like to do a camping/sailing trip from NY to VT. I know all the primitive and campground along the way. I figured it be a blast. Is this boat too small for that sort of trip? Im assuming it is, although I have friends who have done similar trips on Kayaks. 


Thanks for any feedback!


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## blutoyz (Oct 28, 2012)

Perfect size to learn on...good for you!!!

It is a fair weather boat so stick to calm days 7-10kn wind and you will be sailing like a pro and looking for a bigger boat in no time at all. You won't be going too far out in this boat.

Welcome


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## vega1860 (Dec 18, 2006)

Congratulations! That looks like the perfect boat for learning to sail.

Test your limits, but watch the weather.


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## SHNOOL (Jun 7, 2007)

Great boat to learn very forgiving... Vagabond 14, and Holder 14 are the same boat. The rig is simple learn but complex enough to give you skills that will transfer to other larger sloops.

After taking a swim a few times and learning to right the boat you'll have first hand knowledge why it's not a big water boat. Big water, doesn't mean NO fun, because that boat will plane with the right encouragement, and can chisel a smile on your face that'll be hard to remove for days.

My good friend bought a vagabond 14, when I bought a Capri 142. Very equivalent boats in performance. It was fun to setup mock races and learn the boats weaknesses together.

You WILL have a lot of fun, and island bumping and tent camping shorelines with it are certainly doable. But our collective prediction is 2-foot itis will get you sooner rather than later, and you'll be bucking for your first keelboat before you know it.

Recommendation from someone who has been there though... Keep the Holder 14 as well. There are those days when its just nice to grab the small boat, and slap it in the water, and go tearing on a reach out in a 20 knot warm summer breeze kicking up a wake on a 14 foot sailboat. That kind of raw skip like a rock type of feeling is sometimes lost as the boats get bigger.

Enjoy the boat.


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## CalebD (Jan 11, 2008)

Steveosuburbs said:


> Hello, everyone!
> 
> ...snip...
> 
> ...


Singing with the choir: you will enjoy sailing the Holder 14'. It is a great starter boat.

I'm a little more curious about your camping trip idea between NY & Vermont. This idea makes me think you want to use the canal system from the Hudson River to Lake Champlain. This would be a better choice than going out on the ocean to try to get from NY to Vermont because, of course, Vermont has no coastal shoreline ;-).
While I think that the H14' is a bit small for this sort of adventure I am also sure it could be done. I would check with the NY State Canal authority to find out if there is a minimum size boat they allow in their locks. I'd also suggest that you would want a small outboard motor, or at least some oars or paddles as you are not likely to have wind everywhere in the narrow channels of the canals. The H14' is going to be crowded with all your gear and perhaps another person.
Thirty or forty years ago people did do trips such as you envision with little or no trouble from the authorities. But in these days of the Nanny State there are so many more rules and regulations that I'd be sure to research everything very well before hand.

You are going to enjoy sailing the Holder 14'.


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## Steveosuburbs (Mar 20, 2015)

SHNOOL said:


> Great boat to learn very forgiving... Vagabond 14, and Holder 14 are the same boat. The rig is simple learn but complex enough to give you skills that will transfer to other larger sloops.
> 
> After taking a swim a few times and learning to right the boat you'll have first hand knowledge why it's not a big water boat. Big water, doesn't mean NO fun, because that boat will plane with the right encouragement, and can chisel a smile on your face that'll be hard to remove for days.
> 
> ...


Thanks for the advice! Greatly appreciated! I cannot tell you how excited I am! It's all I day dream about and I'm starting to have dreams about it.


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## Steveosuburbs (Mar 20, 2015)

CalebD said:


> Singing with the choir: you will enjoy sailing the Holder 14'. It is a great starter boat.
> 
> I'm a little more curious about your camping trip idea between NY & Vermont. This idea makes me think you want to use the canal system from the Hudson River to Lake Champlain. This would be a better choice than going out on the ocean to try to get from NY to Vermont because, of course, Vermont has no coastal shoreline ;-).
> While I think that the H14' is a bit small for this sort of adventure I am also sure it could be done. I would check with the NY State Canal authority to find out if there is a minimum size boat they allow in their locks. I'd also suggest that you would want a small outboard motor, or at least some oars or paddles as you are not likely to have wind everywhere in the narrow channels of the canals. The H14' is going to be crowded with all your gear and perhaps another person.
> ...


Thank you for the great advice! I will definitely research the trip very well beforehand, and make sure I am confident in my sailing and have the proper equipment as well as a small motor before/if I make this trip. Along the canals, are there places to tent camp? I'm assuming there has to be.

For now, I am just going to focus on taking this beauty on the bay near me to learn and have fun. I truly cannot wait--in fact, I'm so excited I can't even focus on my school work for the last few days. I'm afraid I have the bug and I haven't even started sailing yet. My dad use to take me on his boat every weekend and I always had the time of my life growing up. I can already smell the fresh air!


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## Breezy (Mar 21, 2015)

I just bought a Holder 14 as well! It's still winter here, but I am looking forward to my first sailing class and getting her out on the water. One question I have is what size trolling motor I should look at as my 'backup newbie situation fixer'. I am looking on CragList and have seen a number of them with 3 speeds and 15Lbs of thrust or 17Lbs of thrust... would that be enough to get me to shore on a lake if the sails were dropped?


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## SHNOOL (Jun 7, 2007)

A 17lbs thrust minn kota will certainly get the boat moving fast enough to get you back to shore. If winds REALLY wind up though, probably won't make you go real fast.

This is exactly what I did for my Capri 14.2.. I bought the cheapest new minn kota wired up to a deep cycle marine battery, and it propelled the boat to probably 4 knots.


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## CalebD (Jan 11, 2008)

Nice Schnool. I like the way you mounted your trolling motor to the transom of your Capri 14.2.

That said, for you new Holder 14' owners, I wouldn't go running out to buy a trolling motor just yet.
I'd prefer to just carry a canoe paddle or two and a small anchor.
Your H14 should sail in even the lightest of wind. 
With too much wind you may be able to sail your H14 with just the main sail up.
Learn to sail the boat first and then decide if you need a motor, or not.

For average day sailing a motor is likely not necessary.
For transiting narrow canals that may have current, a motor might be absolutely necessary.


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## ultraclyde (Jun 4, 2014)

I bought a Vagabond 14 last summer to learn on - also my first boat. You'll enjoy it a lot, they're fun. I'm inland so I don't get to play on the salt, but I've found the boat to be very stable. Having said that....Not sure I'd want to do that long a coastal cruise in one.

I'm running a Minn Kota Endura C2 or some such - it's the 30lb thrust that's the cheapest fresh water motor they make. In light air it will move the boat fine on 3/5 power. In 15+ knot gusts, it takes full throttle. If I were having to fight high winds and a strong current or tide....well, I might be looking for something else, probably one of the tiny portable outboards. Of course, that's with two people in the boat usually. One note - this winter I moved my battery up to the forward cubby and it REALLY improved boat balance, overall stability, and helm response. Much more than I really expected.

If you have Holder specific questions or just want to see pictures of other boat set ups, there's a fairly active owners' group on Facebook. It seems these little boats are having an upswing in popularity.

Here's my boat the day I bought it:


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## CapnSantiago (Jul 17, 2007)

My first boast was a Holder 14 (I think they're actually made or designed by Hobie). Lot's of fun, wish I'd of kept it. The only thing I didn't care for was mine was older with a dagger board that inserted vertically and was of a height that fouled with the boom when retracting. Later models have the swing board that's much more convenient to operate.

If you'll forego the motor you'll learn so much more about sailing (although there may be some frustrations in that learning curve). A paddle can suffice or you can waggle the tiller and make headway of the wind dies. Keep it simple, it'll be more fun in the long run.


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