Yet another which boat should I buy

[goodq]

Originally Posted by KadeyKrogen38

They say Gentlemen don’t sail to windward. There is some truth to that old saying. It is not comfortable for long periods and is usually slow. Most motor sail on close reach or such. Most likely you will be doing the same if not for yourself but your crew.

Unfortunately it is the lay of the land here. All the "interesting" places require beating upwind.

[TrentePieds]

Quote: "I also see that some come with this funny looking twin keel..."

As I said: boats are designed for certain specific uses. The "twin keel" jobs are designed to be used where marinas are rare and/or expensive, where the tidal range is great and where the sea bottom is sandy and/or muddy.

Where that is the case you can make a trade-off. You sacrifice a little "weatherliness" (ability to point high in the wind) in order to gain freedom from marinas, their restrictions and their fees because a twin-keel boat can be anchored below the high tide line and be permitted to settle on the seabed as the tide goes out.

Where I sail, twin-keelers have little merit for in many, many places the depth of water five boat lengths off shore may well be 300 feet.

Again, you will do yourself a favour by becoming sufficiently familiar with yacht design to understand immediately you see a general arrangement drawing of a boat what, specifically, each design feature is for, and what it achieves.

To come back to the C26. the rig is a "high aspect" rig. That is appropriate for a dinghy or a racing sloop of any size. For an all-around cruiser workable in all wind and weather conditions in all kinds of cruising grounds a figure in 'the middle of the range" for well reputed cruising boats will serve you better.

Just eyeball the sailplan for the C26 and get its proportions fixed in your mind so you will recognize a "high aspect ratio rig" when you see one. To find the other end of that spectrum, google up "Galway hooker" and "Falmouth cutter". Those are "low aspect ratio rigs". You'll be wanting something somewhere in the middle. The way you design the actual standing and running rigging needs to take into account whether you are designing for an HA or an LA rig.

So keep learning. Do not be put off by the fact that you will NEVER learn it all in a lifetime. None of us do :-)

TrentePieds

[Jim Cate]

You have a challenging set of criteria. And one that may be a sticking point in general is that for the most part, center cockpit designs are not optimized for either light wind nor windward performance, but rather for crew comfort and commodious interiors.

If you really value those performance issues a closer look at aft cockpit designs will open up far more candidates, especially in the mid 30 foot range. IMO, center cockpit designs only become useful in much longer hulls. disagree...

Jim

[Greg K]

Some pretty skinny water around Doha if I recall correctly. Might be something to consider if you plan to daysail regularly. A center-boarder would be my choice for around there. Was living there a few years back when they had their first boatshow...not one sailboat. There was a beautiful Cabo Rico 38 for sale ( for years) in the UAE at the time. Who knows, might still be there. That's where I would look first, before importing from the Med. Another would be Malasia/Thailand. Often can find very well equipped, good cruising boats there for a good price. Hire a delivery skipper and go along for the ride and the learning. Nobody stays in Qatar for ever, so if you buy a seagoing vessel, you can probably sail it to the Med when you're done there.

Friends in Qatar tell me you guys are on lockdown now, too. Take care and good luck.