Want To Buy: Yankee 30, Tartan 30, CAL 29, 2-30, Ranger 29, 33, Albin Ballad, etc, on east coast

[MacSails]

preferably Chesapeake Bay.

I'm looking for a small, tough, fin keeled cruiser. I'm probably two or three months away from having the money together. Maybe more if it's a really nice, repowered example. Which is to say, if you are thinking about selling, but want to get one more season in, please shoot me a message.

I'm not sure how likely this is to lead to anything, but it seems like brokerages generally don't handle boats in this size/price range, and watching marketplace/craigslist/etc has mostly turned up wrecks and people with delusional expectations for what their 40+ year old atomic bomb powered boats will bring. I'm a first time boat buyer, but not, I hope, a complete fool.

I like all of the above boats, but would consider other makes and models. That said, please don't be offended if I'm not interested in whatever you're looking to sell. I'd appreciate any leads, and I thank you for taking the time.

Cheers.

[Snore]

Originally Posted by MacSails

preferably Chesapeake Bay.



I'm looking for a small, tough, fin keeled cruiser. I'm probably two or three months away from having the money together. Maybe more if it's a really nice, repowered example. Which is to say, if you are thinking about selling, but want to get one more season in, please shoot me a message.



I'm not sure how likely this is to lead to anything, but it seems like brokerages generally don't handle boats in this size/price range, and watching marketplace/craigslist/etc has mostly turned up wrecks and people with delusional expectations for what their 40+ year old atomic bomb powered boats will bring. I'm a first time boat buyer, but not, I hope, a complete fool.



I like all of the above boats, but would consider other makes and models. That said, please don't be offended if I'm not interested in whatever you're looking to sell. I'd appreciate any leads, and I thank you for taking the time.



Cheers.

Tartan 30. IMHO they have the best original build quality, now the trick is finding one that the owners haven’t buggered up!

There is a Tartan owned group on Facebook that is usually a good source of info and boats

[SY Harmony]

Endeavour 32?

[Shanachie]

You'll find very few 40-year-old sailboats of this size in sailaway condition. Owners over the years tend to cut costs by not buying new rigging, electronics, cushions, sails, etc.


A better tactic might be to buy a boat in seaworthy condition that needs updating, of course for the right price.



A good rule of thumb is that you might spend twice the purchase price on bringing a boat of that age into very good condition. Buy for 10K, turn it into a boat you love for 20K more.


A tired old diesel or Atomic 4 should be a deal killer. So should an abundance of leaks, particularly if the boat has a wooden toe rail and 150 bolts penetrating the deck.


Also, rusty keel bolts. If the rudder shaft is naval bronze, check under the stuffing box to see whether the bronze is pink, which is a sure sign that it is failing.


If the interior cushions offend you, check the replacement price before buying. It will stagger you.


Whatever else you do, replace the standing and running rigging.



If you buy a sad, old boat and don't update it, you will regret it. There's nothing worse than having to update a boat regularly because stuff is breaking all of the time.


How do I know? I've been there.

[Adelie]

Take the Ranger 29 off the list. Very light compared to similar boats, wouldn’t meet you goal of being tough, at least not compared to the other boats on the list.

[MacSails]

Originally Posted by Adelie

Take the Ranger 29 off the list. Very light compared to similar boats, wouldn’t meet you goal of being tough, at least not compared to the other boats on the list.

Interesting. Are you familiar with the 33, and would you say that goes for them too? I have read that they were better built than the CALs, and people have done some impressive voyages in small CAL boats, but I don't have personal experience with either Ranger model. I just like the lines/numbers, the fact that they have internal ballast, and figured that if they were Bangor Punta's higher end line, then they should be decently constructed.

[MacSails]

Originally Posted by Shanachie

A good rule of thumb is that you might spend twice the purchase price on bringing a boat of that age into very good condition. Buy for 10K, turn it into a boat you love for 20K more.

That's more or less the plan.

[Adelie]

Originally Posted by MacSails

Interesting. Are you familiar with the 33, and would you say that goes for them too? I have read that they were better built than the CALs, and people have done some impressive voyages in small CAL boats, but I don't have personal experience with either Ranger model. I just like the lines/numbers, the fact that they have internal ballast, and figured that if they were Bangor Punta's higher end line, then they should be decently constructed.

I have read that Ranger was the upper tier line.
That said if you subtract ballast from displacement the Cal-29 has 4650lb of “structural” weight vas 3570 for the Ranger. It would take exceptional build quality in the Ranger and poor quality in the Cal for the Cal not to be generally stronger. Undoubtably there are parts of the Ranger that are stronger. Overall I would go with the Cal.

For racing, Ranger.

For the Ranger 33 & Cal 34 the Ranger has a slight advantage: 6000lb vs 5750, and the Cal is slightly wider so the material in the boat is spread slightly thinner. In this case the Ranger is also the faster boat pet PHRF. Either boat would be just fine offshore.

[Giro]

Originally Posted by MacSails

preferably Chesapeake Bay.

I'm looking for a small, tough, fin keeled cruiser. I'm probably two or three months away from having the money together. Maybe more if it's a really nice, repowered example. Which is to say, if you are thinking about selling, but want to get one more season in, please shoot me a message.

I'm not sure how likely this is to lead to anything, but it seems like brokerages generally don't handle boats in this size/price range, and watching marketplace/craigslist/etc has mostly turned up wrecks and people with delusional expectations for what their 40+ year old atomic bomb powered boats will bring. I'm a first time boat buyer, but not, I hope, a complete fool.

I like all of the above boats, but would consider other makes and models. That said, please don't be offended if I'm not interested in whatever you're looking to sell. I'd appreciate any leads, and I thank you for taking the time.

Cheers.

Before you do anything check to see if any of these vessels are insurable!

[MacSails]

I got a decent lead a few months back, though I judged the boat a bit of a project for the asking price. I figure it's worth trying again. I'm in a better position to buy now, and hopefully the impending winter has more people thinking about selling.

[KingRichard]

I'm working on a similar boat hunt, just slightly larger. I also asked for recommendations and someone recommended a couple of books.... "Twenty Affordable Sailboats to Take you Anywhere" and the original "Twenty Small Sailboats to Take you Anywhere". I bought the first one and just started reading. So far I like the book and I think it was $10 well spent. The small sailboats version can also be had for about $10 and might add some boats to your list, ultimately making the search a little easier; in some ways.