Downsizing to a pocket cruiser/Trailerable Sailboat?

[gonesail]

the Dana 24 would be worth checking out

[Don C L]

Choose a boat that sails well over one that is trying to be a roomy, stable cruiser would be my advice. And then pack it light and keep it well organized. I say this because otherwise you may never really enjoy taking it out sailing on a moment's notice. I say this as someone who used to have a 24' that I did live on for a while, and I did take it out sailing too, sometimes in the afternoon after work. I kept a lot of stuff in the car in the parking lot. I was fortunate because it did have pretty good headroom, though I could not stand up completely, and she sailed well too for her vintage. That was a Columbia 24 (1964) and the Columbia 26 of the same vintage is also a good choice IMO. Both of those boats have an 8' beam and draw about 4' or less. A trailer with a tongue extension can handle them. The 26' (Mark 1) weighs 5200# so it is light enough that a double axle trailer and a pick-up, or a van, can do it. (A van is preferable so you can store a lot of stuff in it while you are out sailing.) But it is heavy enough that it is more seaworthy than most trailer sailers. And it has 6' headroom (or close) and a small head and hanging locker. It also has a deck stepped mast so a mast tabernacle could easily be installed to make lowering the mast easier. It has a well for an outboard. There's one for sale on my dock too. I think it is one of the better potential choices for a pocket cruiser.
https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/columbia-26

[Seabeau]

Chrysler 26, with centerboard, standing headroom, and the centerboard model makes it easy to trailer, and you can still launch from ramps.

[doctorbill]

Have sailed with my friend aboard his McGregor 27D (with the daggerboard and outboard) all over the Channel Islands and even did the Newport Ensenada race on it twice. Simple trailerable water ballasted boat. Pretty fast in light airs also. But that’s my limited experience with smaller trailer sailors.

[Happ]

Originally Posted by Benz

If your goal is to daysail only, why not get something sporty that will be fast and fun? The boats you listed are heavy for their size, and meant for shorthanded passagemaking. Also they're pretty pricey, when you could get a small Catalina for a lot less.
If you must have a full-keel, liveaboard sort, my biggest requirement for small boats is headroom--gotta be able to stand up inside.
By the way, @celestialsailor was selling a WS28 very reasonably. If he still has it, that'd be my first choice for a smaller, heavy boat that's easy and fun to sail.

Have you considered a folding trimaran? Corsair 24 can be bought in the $20k to $30k. They have a Tabernacle for raising the mast. Push the floats out screw 4 bolts in to keep the floats stable. Lots of lounging space also. Had mine bean=m reaching at 15kts with a beer in one hand the tiller in the other.

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by fireman182

Ya thats true. The old cruisers can be difficult. I think you're right simple and easy is a priority. Did you have any regrets selling your 44 foot boat?

Yes I did.... bought a 42' Catamaran!

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by Seabeau

Chrysler 26, with centerboard, standing headroom, and the centerboard model makes it easy to trailer, and you can still launch from ramps.

Good little boats, well ballasted. An acquaintence had one many years ago.

[Babbitt]

We downsized to a Cape Dory 22. It is a wonderful boat and a pleasure to sail. It is easy to maintain, and simple to single hand. However, we overestimated how important a cabin is for day sailing.

We are now looking at Pearson Ensigns or Sonars. We find that what we really value is a comfortable cockpit and good sailing performance. Either of those would be a great boat for day sailing in the great lakes and there are lots of used ones around at reasonable prices.

Why dedicate 2/3rds of the boat to a cabin we essentially never spend any time in?

[ohdrinkboy]

I own a Seaward 22. Love the boat. If you are considering smaller, think about how important standing headroom is to you.

[zoowoodplaner]

I downsized from O'Day 34 to a Seaward 25 this year. At age 72, I found I could not safely singlehand the larger boat. The Seaward was the best choice for me and my wife, though I looked hard at the Catalina 250.

My first requirement was that it be trailerable, which it is; I towed it almost a thousand miles this year with a Ford F-150 2.7. She has ample space in v berth, enclosed head, very good sailing performance, shallow draft wing keel (I avoided the next model, the 26, which has an electrical dagger board [what could possibly go wrong?]), powerful little Yanmar inboard diesel. And she now rests in my pole barn instead of a distant crowded marina lot for the Michigan winter.

I didn't need a crane to get her on the trailer, I won't need to shrink wrap, and raising and lowering the mast was learned without damage done to person or property.

Therefore, my experience was positive.

[lestersails]

I would think the key variable here is swing vs fin vs wing keel. If you survey the ramps where you want to launch, how easy/difficult would it be to launch with a fin keel and a 4'+ draw? Or the other way to do this is that you might be thinking that you want to keep it on a trailer in one marina and pretty much only launch from there. I do this with the added benefit that I found a marina where I can keep her rigged - no putting up and taking down the spars every time I want to sail. Backing the boat into the water only takes me about 10-15 minutes and I save a ton of money on marina fees and bottom cleaning.
I think if you start from the keel design / launching ease point of view then you can select some possible boats for you.

[Baby tug]

I know it’s sacrilege , by small pocket trawler single diesel something like a Ranger 21 or whatever , a small cabin that’s warm and comfortable my two cents

[rossdv8]

After spending time on larger yachts as crew I needed a yacht I could single-hand in very rough conditions safely, but have room for crew if I wanted company. We sail in tropical waters with coral reefs everywhere, and it is not uncommon for the weather to be blowing 20 to 25 knots just when we are pulling up anchor to head out to make a fifteen or twenty mile crossing.
In those conditions the waves are 'only a couple of metres' high, but in these waters the waves are breaking and the breaking crests are usually only about 8 metres apart.

Normally though, the wind only averages 15 knots.
I tried taking my wife out on 'trailer sailers' around 20 foot, but it scared the carp out of her.


So, I went back up in size to 26 foot ex-racing Quarter Tonners, rather than trying to find a cruising yacht design.



You might be able to find a 'Quarter Tonner' racing design built recently.
Mine were designed and built in the 1970s when the Quarter Ton class was very popular.


I have no idea what Quarter Tonners are like today, but this one

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uuuB1YUiI0Y

was my trailable yacht, designed by a chap called Doug Peterson, for a half Tonner world Champion sailor called Tom Stevenson in 1978.
Having won the Half Ton class World Championship, he wanted a 'trailable' yacht that would handle heavy weather with big waves close together. He also wanted a boat that had decent inside accommodation for a racing crew of four.

One of the great things about Volcano and the Seaway 25 yachts that followed her was that although she only had sitting headroom inside, she had plenty of it.

She only had an 8 foot beam because of the width restrictions for trailers on our roads, but living aboard was easy for 2 people for weeks at a time. Living aboard for 3 or 4 people was doable.

Day sailing on the other hand was exciting, but amazing because of the way she was ballasted. Handling was like a normal 26 foot racing yacht, but much more nimble and a lot faster.

I sailed her regularly in waves more than 3 metres and winds over 25 knots until I lost her in a cyclone in 2010. Prior to my getting hold of her, she won many races, and cruised at 5 to 7 knots in average weather.

This Cavalier 26 was also a Quarter Tonner.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UWoDgIUmqPE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eSTW8GLOAm8

Designed by Doug Peterson, like Volcano, but for Cavalier yachts. Again, being a racing boat, she was excellent to handle, but being a keel boat, Shepherd Moons was not as fast nor as nimble as Volcano.

I acquired her as an ex- club racing boat that used to be loaned out to racing sailors who were visiting from interstate for events, by a local yacht club.
I found her tied up in the mangroves years after she had been retired, and bought her a few months after I lost Volcano.

She sailed so comfortably that I was able to teach a couple of girls visiting from France, to sail in a weekend. Having a yacht that could sail well and close to the wind in rough seas, even using only a large headsail, and still maintain in excess of 5 knots - was a great help teaching first time sailors who had never even been on a sailing boat of any kind.
The girls doing the sailing in these clips were like that.

Unlike Volcano, I was able to give them a cabin to themselves for the weeks or so they were aboard Shepherd Moons. Having a beam of 9 foot might not sound like a big deal compared to the 8 foot in the trailable yacht, but it allows a really big difference in volume. Having a fixed keel compared to a drop means there is suddenly about 6 foot 'standing' headroom, instead of about 5 feet and sitting.

It all adds up to comfort, whether day Sailing or weekend trips, although in reality, you get used to sitting headroom, and various crew who sailed with me on both yachts claimed they never needed to walk around all that much inside, and that sensible placement of cooking facilities for wet weather was the only real issue.

Volcano had a small galley setup that worked, but was extremely basic. We did have a fridge freezer, but had to think carefully about food stowage.

Sheppy had the same two burner stove, but had a complete dedicated, although small, pantry and even had a sink. Again there was a fridge/freezer.

Both yachts had a 'no-Smell' toilet, although privacy meant having the crew either out in the cockpit, or looking the other way.

I know the OP is looking at 'day Sailing', but being used to having space and the ability to do overnight trips and perhaps long weekends away, if you are used to a bigger yacht it can be an advantage to have sufficient space to swing a cat in something small.

Especially if you have a cat . .

Sadly, Shepherd Moons passed in 2017 as a result of Cyclone Debbie.

A final note about this class of boat.
Far too many yachts around 26 foot length have little narrow side decks, and rely on crew agility and on safety rails as security for getting about on deck.

Quarter Tonners might look a bit odd with the cabin taking the middle of the deck, and the side decks about a foot wide running each side of the cabin.
But once the waves are breaking about 3 metres in the air, and you can't see land even though you are sailing only a few hundred metres from shore, it is nice to have all that room to move up to the bow to 'fix stuff' . .

[BMD21]

A similar thread entitled Trailer Sailer Suggestions appeared recently. The replies to this thread seem to be focused to boats over 26" long and heavier than I think about trailer boats. So, I'm going to repeat my comments from the Trailer Sailer.


We owned both a Catalina 22 and a Catalina 25, both with swing keels. The 22 was a great starter boat, easy to rig and launch. The 25 took more effort, but we felt it was worth it. Both boats made it offshore to Santa Cruz Island so they were capable of serious sailing. Get the pop top, the 22 didn't have one, the 25 did and I (6' 2" at the time) appreciated it. We towed both with a 1/2 ton truck. And we didn't pay slip fees, which are $400/mo in San Diego for a 25' boat.

Rigging the 25 for launch or after retrieve took ~1hr. Mast used a gin pole. The 22 was easier, but only 22', though we had 3 adults and 2 teenagers on it for a weekend and survived. We may be slow workers because it takes us an hour to get the powerboat ready for launch. Get a power winch, it's so much easier. Mandatory for a 25.


Also, I put a wing keel, from Catalina, on the 25. It didn't work very well, when you tried to sail close to the wind, the boat slid sideways. And it was a bear to hoist from the trailer; the wings wouldn't pass through the rollers.


Boris

[Ungvar]

Yes, most 26 ft boats, even with swing keels aren't really trailer sailers. You wouldn't want to launch them each time you sail them. Catalina 22 us on the big side for what I would consider a decent trailer sailer. More weight means a bigger rig to step.

Personally wouldn't want a trailer sailer much over 2000 pounds. Under 1500 is even better.