Turning old Racer into Cruiser

[gordonhinds]

Hi,

I hope you are good at building things. There will be a lot of building. There have been a lot of successful conversions of old racing yachts to cruising but you are vaguely turning a race car into a camper van - sort of doesn't work.
The rig will be lightweight and designed to be tuned for the weather (bendy etc) probably with running backstays. So you will need to change the rig (30K?). The deck layout will suit a racing crew, so changing that will be a mission so it's designed for 2 people or single handed sailing. Then a motor. Then a galley. Then a toilet/shower with hot water. Then a table, seating, bunks, lighting, batteries, nav gear, auto helm, prop change? etc. Then protection in the cockpit (dodger). You could easily spend $100K. I know as I did with a fast old cruiser that need a bit of 'work'.

Or you could get an old cruising yacht and upgrade it for a lot less.

[TrentePieds]

Joe:

You say "...but I am trying to do this on a budget".

Well then, never was there a clearer reason for singing once again my old song: "No man should ever put more money into a boat than he can walk away from with a smile still on his face!"

Long time ago, before regulations re sewage and such had been tightened up all over the world, I "converted" a Soling to a "Cruising Soling" for a friend. We built a cuddy cabin over the fore-end of the cockpit, gave the man a bit of plywood and an air-mattress to sleep on. Cooking (which he never got around to) was done on a Coleman "white gas" stove. So what you are now being advised to do, we did three score years ago!

My friend was a PhD in Economics, which only proves that having a bunch of post-nomials ain't quite the same as having financial smarts :-)!

You'll be far better off blowing five grand on a fifty-year-old cruising boat - a boat DESIGNED for cruising. And you can get them - ready to go - for that kinda money. Do that, and you set yourself up for LEARNING to be a seafaring man. Persisting in doing what you are doing will only lead to disappointment, as the "Cruising Soling" did for my friend. But he was tenured, and he had family money, so for him the "soling trip" was just a giggle.

TrentePieds

[Bowdrie]

In all those old "ton" boats, (1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1,) it was assumed that there would be several crew, whose main job was to furnish movable ballast to keep the boat on its feet.
You'll have a much better cruiser if you just find yourself a Catalina 30 that needs a bit of TLC.

[Tanqueray]

Surprised no one has mentioned The Duracell Project…

https://youtu.be/gsBzW3lHakk?si=ZZLy8vWVnbkAGMre


This guy (Matt) is converting a huge and famous racing boat (Duracell) into a cruising boat for him and his wife (and new baby). The guy loves fiberglass work and is also working with carbon fiber.

He has gutted the boat and is building the galley, sleeping quarters, etc.

Interesting story and would give you a bit of an idea what you are getting into.


Greg

[TrentePieds]

Oh, Lord, Bowdrie - Thee and me are getting old :-0)!

TP

[Jim Cate]

Well, we should all remember that CF member Fred Rosswold, user name Wingsail IIRC, converted an IOR two tonner into a cruising boat and along with his wife have had a decades long cruising success story. It can be done, and done well, so the nay-sayers should back off on the absolute condemnation of the project.

As to the specific vessel involved in this thread, I'm a bit surprised at the PHRF rating quoted... it is somewhat slower than one would expect for a carbon hulled racer of that size. I wonder what that indicates about the design?

Jim

[gordonhinds]

You have a Sayer, which is a fabulous fast cruiser. The carbon boat posted looks like a late model IOR design (Petersen? Farr?). It looks very 'tweaky'. Some IOR conversions have been great. They cut the deck and put in a coachhouse, fit out the interior, change the rig and so on. If you are a carpenter or boat builder you can do it, but as its carbon its going to be very tricky to work with, plus the deck I think is balsa core, so moving stuff will require a lot of reinforcing. It's doable but a lot of work for not much gain. There are similar sized boats in Pittwater where I live that you could get for $30K or less tha.t would be bit slower to sail, but way less fit out work. That boat has basically nothing in it.

[AuroraJayne32]

As the proud owner - since 2011 - of a 1978 Hustler 32 IOR Half Tonner (AURORA JAYNE) I am going to try provide a response which appears to be contrarian to most of the other responders.

Firstly, you have selected a beautiful yacht. That is very important. Beautiful boats that look right, generally sail right. The obverse is generally also true. And with any project boat you need to love her...to keep going when it gets tough.

Secondly, she looks to be well-built, well-equipped, well-maintained and great value for money. You have the advantage of a blank canvas (well, a sparse interior) which allows you to see, inspect, and maintain almost everything very easily...how many cruising boats allow you such quick access to check everything? Take advantage of this to know everything you can about your boat.

Of course your sailing experience will be spartan and might put off others seeking modern luxury... but i would rather cross the Bay of Biscay or the North Atlantic in your boat than most cruisers

Thirdly, if you are sailing her either single handed or short handed, the most important things to learn are to plan ahead, give yourself loads of extra time, don't rush, pause to assess, never be driven by a calendar, and sail safe.

I have completed a number of single-handed ocean passages in my racer-cruiser, with relatively few modifications (see below). I still use my running backstays. Actually, it is the inshore sailing that's hardest.

The changes I made were:
1. Anchor fairlead. I replaced a wholly inadequate fitting with a decent 3/8inch stainless steel stem head and bow roller
2. Electric Anchor windless. Chain runs from stemhead back along foredeck (with a steel deckplate to protect) then to windless and directly down into the wet locker - thereby centralising the chain and keeping weight out of the bow. It works great.
3. I removed the keel and replaced all 14 keel studs with new bolts and nuts.
4. Lavac toilet...using the same make of pump as both bilge pumps (i love to carry spares)
5. Tailors parafin 2 burner cooker....(i grew up with one)
6. Pacific Windpilot....simple, effective, utterly reliable (the essential second crew member who never eats, sleeps, plays on their phone, or loses concentration)
7. ECHO Max RWR/Transponder, AIS Tx, AIS Rx, EPIRB, PLBs
8. Jordan Series Drogue

Basically, all of the above is for safer more self reliant long distance sailing....

I love the idea of repurposing an old racer. It is entirely doable....provided you know what you are doing. Good Luck

[senormechanico]

Originally Posted by Bowdrie

In all those old "ton" boats, (1/4, 1/2, 3/4, 1,) it was assumed that there would be several crew, whose main job was to furnish movable ballast to keep the boat on its feet.
You'll have a much better cruiser if you just find yourself a Catalina 30 that needs a bit of TLC.

I have a neighbor who has a Catalina 30 which sits at his dock.
Wife hates sailing, so he's willing to sell it for $5k.
Located on Whidbey Island WA.

[Jim Cate]

Re the running backstays: She is a fractional rig, and most likely really needs the runners to keep the rig intact and straight, except in really light airs. It appears that the boom clears the stays, as it does in our current boat. I specified a reef point that has the head of the mainsail just below the junction of mast and runners, so with one reef in the main, both runners can be left set full time, removing the problem of serving them when tacking.

A light boat, one that is designed to employ rail meat to keep her on her feet, when sailed short handed will need reefing much of the time anyhow, so little performance will be lost. I don't think the runners are a serious problem.

And only you know how much comfort and "civilization" you need to be happy, so don't let a bunch of internet sages tell you what you will need.

Oh... BTW, Ann and I cruised full time in an "unsuitable" early IOR one-tonner, living aboard for 17 years and logging some 86,000 miles around the South Pacific. She was a few years older than your prospect and had a usable interior to start with, but we were subjected to much the same criticism before starting out. Fortunately we did not listen!

Jim