Have you ever had the itch to sell your 26M/X and buy a "true" sailboat?

[BOAT]

Funny you asked that - I am going to sell "BOAT". Kinda sad to say.

[Jimmyt]

Nope.

I get my “true sailboat” fix with my friend’s boats. We just spent our second day hauling one of our buddies up the mast to change the upper sheaves for his internal halyards. Same guy lost a mooring line in a storm a few weeks back, and bashed the teak rub rail up. Last regatta I helped out on, I spent a good bit of time trying to get deep draft boats off groundings. Like Kevin, if I never have to work on another diesel inboard, in an impossible location, I’m good with that.

But, then I read that a “true sailboat” can be trailerable, swing keeled, and have an outboard. Now I’m wondering if we’re talking sailing performance, or hull shape, or maybe kicker motor horsepower limits…

The 26 S,D boats probably meet the requirement, while the M (and possibly X) apparently does not.

I sail my 26M, almost exclusively, if there is enough breeze. However, I am not ashamed to fire up the Etec and make a 15-16 knot run to beat darkness or get to a destination in time. I consider it a true sailboat that can pass as a power boat when needed.

My keel boat buddies go sailing on my boat and enjoy it. Yes, it has quirks, like windage, and that first 10-15 degrees of tenderness, but those things are a small price to pay for a boat I can consistently enjoy in our somewhat shallow, but very open bay - even at low tide.

I have a buddy with a Potter 19. Small outboard, trailerable, weighted dagger. But, it’s hard-chined. So, is it a true sailboat? I enjoy sailing it, too. But, I wouldn’t want to sell my M to get one.

My cousin’s husband has a Farrier trimaran. As far as lake sailing goes, that is the way to do it. Small outboard, trailerable, and will blow the hatches off of almost anything with sails (and can outrun me when I’m at full power - if he’s got wind). He took me out on a day when there was barely a breeze. We were doing 5.5-6.0 knots. My M might have made 1.5, but I doubt it. Now, that’s a true sailboat.

Glad you changed from lurker to participant. Welcome to the forum!

Jim

[Jimmyt]

Sorry to hear this BOAT!

[pitchpolehobie]

Funny you asked that - I am going to sell "BOAT". Kinda sad to say.

Say it aint so

[NiceAft]

Funny you asked that - I am going to sell "BOAT". Kinda sad to say.

Are you replacing it?

[Outlander]

Nope.

I get my “true sailboat” fix with my friend’s boats. We just spent our second day hauling one of our buddies up the mast to change the upper sheaves for his internal halyards. Same guy lost a mooring line in a storm a few weeks back, and bashed the teak rub rail up. Last regatta I helped out on, I spent a good bit of time trying to get deep draft boats off groundings. Like Kevin, if I never have to work on another diesel inboard, in an impossible location, I’m good with that.

But, then I read that a “true sailboat” can be trailerable, swing keeled, and have an outboard. Now I’m wondering if we’re talking sailing performance, or hull shape, or maybe kicker motor horsepower limits…

The 26 S,D boats probably meet the requirement, while the M (and possibly X) apparently does not.

I sail my 26M, almost exclusively, if there is enough breeze. However, I am not ashamed to fire up the Etec and make a 15-16 knot run to beat darkness or get to a destination in time. I consider it a true sailboat that can pass as a power boat when needed.

My keel boat buddies go sailing on my boat and enjoy it. Yes, it has quirks, like windage, and that first 10-15 degrees of tenderness, but those things are a small price to pay for a boat I can consistently enjoy in our somewhat shallow, but very open bay - even at low tide.

I have a buddy with a Potter 19. Small outboard, trailerable, weighted dagger. But, it’s hard-chined. So, is it a true sailboat? I enjoy sailing it, too. But, I wouldn’t want to sell my M to get one.

My cousin’s husband has a Farrier trimaran. As far as lake sailing goes, that is the way to do it. Small outboard, trailerable, and will blow the hatches off of almost anything with sails (and can outrun me when I’m at full power - if he’s got wind). He took me out on a day when there was barely a breeze. We were doing 5.5-6.0 knots. My M might have made 1.5, but I doubt it. Now, that’s a true sailboat.

Glad you changed from lurker to participant. Welcome to the forum!

Jim

Really great points! I’m not sure I could actually take the big step towards a boat with a large keel, it would be one hull of a commitment. There’s no guarantee I could turn around and sell it for what I paid within a reasonable amount of time. Plus, my wife totally loves the 26M. She would not be pleased if I sold it…so there’s that.

[Be Free]

Not even once.

I spent a long time researching boats when I bought my X. My budget was many times the cost of a new, fully equipped M at that time. I started with a completely blank slate and an enviable budget. So how did I end up buying a nine year old X you ask?

About 15 years ago, when I found myself with significantly more disposable income than I had been accustomed to, I decided that it was finally time to get the bigger sailboat that I'd been thinking about for a very long time.

I'm a computer professional and very analytical by nature so I approached the situation just like I would if I were designing a new system for one of my customers. I set a budget, identified how I would actually use the boat, researched features, compared initial (purchase) and recurring costs (repairs, preventative maintenance, operating costs, dock or storage costs, etc), and transportation costs if I wanted to use it in another area.

Florida is a great place for boating but it's a long way by water Jacksonville to Pensacola. Now that I think about it, it's a long way by land as well (but it's a very long way by water).

I looked at the cost 1 year, 5 years, and 10 years out for every boat I was interested in. Purchase price became much less important than recurring costs. For some boats it was not unusual to expect to spend more than the purchase price on those recurring costs in just a couple of years.

When I looked at my use case realistically the only boat that would fit the bill was a shallow draft sail boat. Sail boat because I did not want to feed or listen to an engine and shallow draft because many of the coastal waters, rivers, and lakes in Florida are relatively shallow.

Like Herschel, sailing performance was not high on my list. I was already sailing a boat that was very fast and could (and literally did) sail circles around a 26X. Been there. Done that. Don't need any more t-shirts.

It needed to be light enough to be pulled by a vehicle that I could afford to drive every day. My budget included the purchase of a tow vehicle but my tow beast had to be my daily driver. I'm self-employed and at the time it was not unusual for me to drive 20,000 miles in a year. That's a lot of gas.

It had to be big enough for my wife and I to spend a week or more on it without going crazy but small enough to park at home. Ongoing storage or marina fees were a non-starter. Minimize those recurring costs.

There were several boats that worked their way into the final selection process, including at least one Hunter that was built less than 20 miles from where I lived at the time. In the end it was the ability to be pulled by something I could afford to drive every day that brought it down to either the M or the X.

I started looking at the M first because it was newer and it had a rotating mast (my current racing boat had a rotating mast). The extra row of windows was also nice but after looking at both models my wife and I both liked the interior of the X better. The fact that the keel swings up if it hits something was icing on the cake. I have benefited from that choice on numerous occasions.

My 26X was chosen to fit my needs and my use-case looking out into my foreseeable future. It has done everything that I ever imagined it would (and more), and it has never failed to do anything I wanted to do. That's why I can say again...

Not even once.

[kurz]

Never regretted my

Wishlist: dragonfly 28 tri

But... Need bigger car, bigger slip, bigger money...

So will stay happy with my

[leefrankpierce]

Every time I get on my boat and look at my neighbors slightly larger "real" boat.

Then I think of how Rodger kept the costs down which includes keeping the maint. costs down, and wonder why my neighbors boat is for sale.
Very possible they can not afford to change/fix the motor, they probably can not even afford the haul out including the crane to get the mast off, so it sits rotting with no one willing to pay the $ to get it going again.
Or pay someone to tow to a fuel dock to pump out the bad fuel and replace with usable fuel, we just carry our 6 gallon tanks with us.

For us in the same situations, we just trailer it, go to someone dealing in used outboards, swap them out and we are off again.
Then again, If I get tired of my lake, then only costs I have is switching the slip fees from old marina to new.

Ya, I admire the "real" boats, but mine gets actually used 10x more than the "real" ones because I can afford it.

[Stickinthemud57]

This thread has talked me into simply looking for a smaller, inexpensive sailboat so that I can fart around on a nearby reservoir and get my sailing thrills.

+1 to this. I have no desire to complicate my sailing experience beyond that of the 26S at the moment. That said, I am glad I have a friend with a little K19 that moves like a bat out of hull to get my "small wet boat" fix.

[kmclemore]

This thread has talked me into simply looking for a smaller, inexpensive sailboat so that I can fart around on a nearby reservoir and get my sailing thrills.

+1 to this. I have no desire to complicate my sailing experience beyond that of the 26S at the moment. That said, I am glad I have a friend with a little K19 that moves like a bat out of hull to get my "small wet boat" fix.

Buy one of these (see below). Get either a 4.6 or a 5.2... trust me... you will *NEVER* regret it. They cost a bunch in good shape, but you'll get every dime back when you sell it, if you keep it in good shape... the prices on them haven't fallen in 20 years - in fact, they've gone up slightly. They are the best daysailor ever made, bar none, and anyone that's ever sailed one will confirm that for you.

Designed by the designer of the C&C racing yachts... they are incredibly fast, even in light air... at the same time, they are *VERY* forgiving and handle like a boat 4x bigger than they are... they had all the best equipment - Kenyon spars, Harken equipment, North sails, and real mahogany brightwork... they were, like the rest of the BW line, entirely unsinkable (double hull/foam sandwich)... and they cost a small fortune when new (more than some new cars!). BW only made them for a few years, because they were so danged expensive most folks couldn't afford them.

I've owned a Boston Whaler Harpoon 4.6 for over 40 years now... and I'll die with it... and then pass it on to my sons. It's an absolute joy to sail.

Here are a couple of really nice ones for sale now:

https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/it ... 4627192110

https://www.sailboatlistings.com/view/105048

More for sail/sale...
https://www.sailboatlistings.com/cgi-bi ... so=descend



My boat... teaching my sons to sail when they were little...

[Be Free]

This is what you use if you want to go fast.



This is not a mine but other than the sail color it is exactly what I had when I bought the X. It had 1/10th the weight of the X and almost 4x better sail area to displacement. It would go almost as fast under sail as I can go now with my 40hp Honda.

[45Plus+]

I have to confess to casting a wanting eye at a Seaward 26 at my Club. It is a salty, manageable looking boat has a swing keel and trailers as well. However, while the cabin is nice, its not as roomy as a MAC X or M and its not as easily trailered and set up (though it can be done - the owner has taken his all over the place). As many have pointed out in this thread, when you add up the pros and cons for the type of boating you want to do, its hard to not go and stick with a Mac.

Its good to know there are others who have these type of soul-searching and seemingly unfaithful questions from time to time....I was beginning to feel guilty thinking I was the only one (and would never confess to it!)

[dlandersson]

Can I attend the sellers ceremony?

Funny you asked that - I am going to sell "BOAT". Kinda sad to say.

[trswem]

We plan to buy a 30-36' sailboat here in the next couple seasons. We want standing height cabins, room for the kids, better performance, and something more stable for the frequent blows we get. We have a slip now, so we don't get as much value out of a trailer sailer. We may still keep the D though for when we get an itch to explore somewhere new.