# New to sailing



## Indymille (Oct 13, 2013)

Hey everyone, my name is James. I'm 32 and have always wanted to sail, now I'm looking for my first sailboat. I have no idea what to get but I'm leaning towards a 25'-30' for my first boat. I hope to spend no more than 5,000, not including improvements. I'll mainly be cruising large lakes in the Midwest and will be living on the boat most of the time. Any help is much appreciated.


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## DonScribner (Jan 9, 2011)

Jim, 

Welcome to the asylum. New to sailing? If I may be so bold, in you price range, consider a 25 or shorter trailer sailor. A little less space but if you' ll be on "lakes", that suggests you plan on towing it. Plus, it's easier to drop $5k, hate sailing then sell and recoup that loss than sinking $20k and all the associated costs of a bigger boat and moving on to something else. You may (and should) love sailing, but if it doesn't agree with you ? Start a little smaller and make all your mistakes, and there will be many, near shore. Then buy a big girl and make me jealous. 

Get The Complete Trailer Sailor by Brian Gilbert. Lots of great information on many boats. It can help you decide.

Don


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## Indymille (Oct 13, 2013)

DonScribner said:


> Jim,
> 
> Welcome to the asylum. New to sailing? If I may be so bold, in you price range, consider a 25 or shorter trailer sailor. A little less space but if you' ll be on "lakes", that suggests you plan on towing it. Plus, it's easier to drop $5k, hate sailing then sell and recoup that loss than sinking $20k and all the associated costs of a bigger boat and moving on to something else. You may (and should) love sailing, but if it doesn't agree with you ? Start a little smaller and make all your mistakes, and there will be many, near shore. Then buy a big girl and make me jealous.
> 
> ...


Yes I'll be pulling it around, so I'll look into 25 and less in that case. I'll check out the trailer sailor for sure. Thanks!


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## chuck53 (Oct 13, 2009)

Dumb question, but one that needs to be asked....what do you have to tow it with?


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## khammett (Sep 20, 2013)

Catalina 27


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## chuck53 (Oct 13, 2009)

khammett said:


> Catalina 27


Agree that a C-27 would make a good first boat, but the OP wants one he can put on a trailer and tow. C-25 with a swing keel maybe, but a C-27 is not a good choice for that.


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## jimgo (Sep 12, 2011)

Some of the C27's can be trailored. So can the O'Day 272's. Not that the 272's are great at sailing, but just putting it out there. I'd be curious about the tow vehicle, too. The C25 is something like 4500 lbs, but with the trailer, engine, and gear, you're easily looking at towing 6000-7000 lbs. It takes a fairly hefty vehicle to tow something that size. Some of the newer Catalinas and Hunters are lighter because they use water ballast, but depending on the lake and location conditions (e.g., zebra mussels), water ballast could be a problem.

To the OP, brands to consider for your first boat include Catalina, Hunter, and O'Day. Hunter had quality issues in the mid-to-late 80's and into at least the 90's. So, do your research before buying. That's not to say that ALL Hunters are/were bad, but just be careful. Hunter, O'Day, and Catalina all built roughly comparable boats. All are built to a price point, and are/were meant to get the "average Joe" out on the water. To oversimplify, they are not ocean-crossing vessels (some will dispute this, but in the size you're looking for, I think it's a fair characterization), but if they have been well maintained, they are perfectly adequate for your purposes. Hunter and Catalina are still in business. O'Day shut its doors years ago, but there are still a ton of them out there.

So, why do I suggest starting with one of these 3 if they are only mediocre boats? Because of sale/resale value and the availability of parts. You can find lots of aftermarket parts for all of these, and in the case of Hunter and Catalina, since the companies are still around, they also offer support for their customers. For example, I used to own a Catalina 25. In addition to being able to still order some things directly from Catalina, you can also order from CatalinaDirect.com. Knowing that that level of support is available (between the 2 of them, you can pretty much get a replacement part for just about any part on the boat) is fantastic peace of mind, because stuff WILL go wrong, and will need to be fixed.

O'Day typically has a slightly better reputation for build quality than Hunter or Catalina. That's not to say that Catalina and Hunter are bad; we're talking incremental differences. And, again, if the boat hasn't been taken care of, it's going to be a piece of junk no matter what. That being said, although I personally like O'Days, I might suggest waiting to get one for your 2nd boat. I'd suggest sticking with Hunter or Catalina. In general terms, Catalina tends to focus more on sailing characteristics and performance (not that they build super-fast racing boats), while Hunter tends to focus on comfort and cabins.

Again, welcome aboard!


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## Indymille (Oct 13, 2013)

chuck53 said:


> Dumb question, but one that needs to be asked....what do you have to tow it with?


Cummins


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## Indymille (Oct 13, 2013)

I've had my eye on a Catalina in the "under 5,000" section. I'll be staying on whatever I get a lot, so the nicer cabins on the Hunter is sounding pretty good vs the speed of the Catalina. So maybe I should go that route?


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## PBzeer (Nov 11, 2002)

I would recommend a Hunter 26 if you can find one in your price range.

Water ballast, so lower tow weight.
Mast raising system that can be done by one person (I often did).
Fairly roomy inside, and with the canvas pop-top you can stand at the galley area in bad weather.
Enclosed head (porta-potti).

I towed mine with an S-10 Blazer, but a larger vehicle would have been necessary for longer trips or less level terrain.

As for sailing qualities, other than downwind, I regularly outran the Catalina 25 Tall Rigs where I was at.


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## chuck53 (Oct 13, 2009)

Indymille said:


> I've had my eye on a Catalina in the "under 5,000" section. I'll be staying on whatever I get a lot, so the nicer cabins on the Hunter is sounding pretty good vs the speed of the Catalina. So maybe I should go that route?


Nothing wrong with Hunters, but I've never seen them to be any nicer, cabin wise than Catalina's. 
You need to actually go on board a number of brands/sizes to see what they are like and decide what creature comforts are most important to you. Boats that will be in your size range, ie: reasonably towable, will usually be lacking in most creature comforts.
So things to look for that may (or may not) be important to you:
Stand up headroom, private head and what kind of head installation, shower, hot water, gas oven/stove, refrigerated ice box, room for overnight guests, storage, heat and air conditioning, etc. These are things you need to answer before shopping for a boat. If most of these creature comforts are important to you, you will have a very hard time finding them in a towable sailboat, especially, in your price range.


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## Donna_F (Nov 7, 2005)

Indymille said:


> I've had my eye on a Catalina in the "under 5,000" section. I'll be staying on whatever I get a lot, so the nicer cabins on the Hunter is sounding pretty good vs the speed of the Catalina. So maybe I should go that route?


One thing a Catalina is not known for is speed.


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## jimgo (Sep 12, 2011)

I agree with Chuck, in the end, it's all about YOU. You need to get aboard as many different boats as possible and see what appeals to you, and what would work for you. Of course, as soon after your first season with whatever boat you buy, you'll realize all the things that you should have thought of, and you'll start thinking about "upgrading". But, if you've followed the advice above, you'll have a commodity boat (Hunter, Catalina, O'Day, etc.) that you'll hopefully be able to resell for close to what you paid for it, and your second boat will be much more in tune with your real needs and wants.


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