South Coast 22'

[ForeverDes]

I'm not quite ready to purchase a boat yet.....but this makes me wonder if I should be.
1973 South Coast sailboat for sale in Illinois

Does anyone know much about South Coast Boats of that era? Is this worth taking a drive to look at this weekend, even if I'm not actually "in the market" yet?

Any info or advice is, as usual, much appreciated!

[tager]

It's a pointless boat, don't buy it. Boats should be small enough to carry, or large enough to live on. This boat is difficult to transport, and too tiny to live on in any state called "comfort."

You could get a fast dinghy, or a tiny pocket cruiser for about the same amount of dough and find it much more useful and fun. Boats like that just sit in yards on trailers their whole lives.

Do you want a boat on a trailer in your yard? Or do you want to go sailing?

[ForeverDes]

Tager,
What about this makes it difficult to transport? I would suppose the swing keel and trailer, as well add the relatively light weight (I could pull this with my minivan!) Would make it fairly easy to move, although I'll admit i have no idea how long it would take to prep once it takes the water.
As far as "small enough to carry our large enough to live on" goes, neither is ideal for me, I'd rather have something to day sail on with my children, and perhaps get a few nights of solitude for myself as well.

[tager]

The first boat I bought was a trailer sailer. I now have multiple boats, all of which are easily carried, or lived aboard. To each his own. I think a trailer sailer is a stupid boat. There is a reason you rarely see people out on them.

[Hoohaa]

I used to own a South Coast 22 but it was designed & built in Australia so its obviously a different boat. But, it was a trailer sailor and for what you want to do it was ideal.
A couple of structural features I had, which this boat does not appear to have are.
A roof that could be raised for standing head room.
Wider access around the cabin top, made it safer to access the bow.

It used to take me about 20 min to rig & launch but this boat seems to have a simple & light rig so it would pop up fairly easily (watch out for overhead power lines).
Its cheap, so you could probably spend a little on her if you needed to, Oh yeh, check the rigging where its connected to the chain plates as these often get bent when stepping the mast.

[ForeverDes]

Hmm, from what I understand, a pop-top was an option on these boats, although this particular one obviously doesn't have one.
Once I took a closer look at where it is, I decided against a trip to look (6+ hour drive)
but hopefully when I am ready to buy there will be something similar...and closer!

[stevensc]

I used to own a 23' Gulf Coast trailer sailor several people who sailed in the same lake owned South Coast boats we used them often even made weekend trips. I learned to sail on a Lightning, another trailer sailer we also used it often. I don't see anything wrong with them. Just go to any large marina you will find plenty of "large enough to live on boats" which haven't been used in a long long time, in the water or on the hard.
Steve W

[ajay73]

I owned one. Don't buy it. Wouldn't sail to windward worth a darn. Seemed to sail sideways as much as forward when going to weather. You'll be dissapointed.

[Coops]

Nothing wrong with the size or the fact that it is trailerable. Many thousands of people all over the world get many hours of pleasure out of them, including myself.

Coops.

[Barney Post]

I have never sailed one of these, but it was a very popular model. Several thousand built. I think they actually had class racing fleets for a few years.
RE Trailer Sailers:
You don't necessary HAVE to launch from a trailer every time you go sailing, if you have mooring etc. Shallow draft alone gives you more options. You can also save an enormous amount of money by not being dependent on a boatyard. Some people are even still building trailer sailers, people are still buying them (new and used) and sailing them.

[Cheechako]

I dont know which one you are actually looking at, the link took me to a blank search page. Boats like this are readily available all the time... so dont buy one in a panic for a "special deal", especially one that old.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with a trailer sailor. There are a lot of people who love sailing that way. Live in Texas but want to sail the Sea of Cortez? You can be there in 2 days! Like many boats, they sit unused, but heck that's the story with all boats. There are sailing groups who cruise together in boats like Nimble 20's etc. It's a very fun and simple way to go if you are of that mindset.... and ... no moorage fees in the winter!

[ForeverDes]

@Cheechako,

Thanks for the encouragement! I had pretty well decided that there are too many boats in my size range (and hopefully price range as well!) to jump on one before I am ready to buy.

I plan to take some lessons in the spring, and I've been spending a bit of time looking at boats when the time and opportunity presents itself. In fact earlier today I had such an opportunity. No one was around so I was only able to look from a distance, but it's still much different than digital photos.

My hope is to have enough experience and knowledge of different boats by next summer to move from window shopping to the real thing.

[trucker33377]

I just moved mine 150 miles no big deal.

[Stumble]

There's a lot to be said for a boat that can do 70mph down the highway easily.

Personally I much prefer dinghies to sail, and cruisers for everything else, but I know a lot of people who would disagree with me. The tric, particularly when you are getting started, is to find something with a very high hassle:fun ratio. To me this means something that luves in the water (slip or mooring), or is trivially easy to launch (dinghy), launching a trailer sailor even stored with the mast up and a crane is a bit of a pain for a two hour sail.

[trucker33377]

I have to admit the jury is still out here. It has been a driveway sailboat since I got it. going on 6 yrs. But to be honest after I picked this up, I read a lot of posts saying they are no good. So I didn't want to spend any money on it to get ready to sail. Now that I have done more research. Looking for a bigger boat. I find this to be what I really am looking for. 10" draft keel up will allow me to go about anywhere I like. A weekend out is about all I will be doing for now. And I can take it home. I read it takes about 20 mins for 2 people to make ready to sail, so thats not an issue. My regret is I allowed myself to get turned off by those True blue sailboaters that think if it is easy to get out of the water it is not worth the time to put in. IDK why spend a lot of money on marina fees to go out 1 or 2 days a month or less? Up North where I live we get a few months of good weather to play on the water. Most of the time boats are being stored, for a fee. But for now it get ready to sail.