Looking for info on water ballast...
Peter J. Ungaro - TSS Waltham, MA
I am interested in anyone's opinion on the pros/cons of going with a
water-ballast trailer-sailer over a fixed keel boat?
I will be purchasing a used sailboat at the end of this season, and there seem
to be many advantages of going with a trailerable boat. To maximize size, it
seems a water ballast boat might be better, with some tradeoff in sailability.
I am looking at 25-27' boats, Cats, Hunters, McGregors, etc.
Any info would be appreciated.
Peter J. Ungaro
ung...@ug.eds.com
he...@egertp.ericsson.se
>Peter J. Ungaro
>ung...@ug.eds.com
I have a Santana 2023C and after sailing it for a year, I wouldn't
have anything different. The only reason for water ballast is if you
trailer the boat EVERY time you take it out sailing. The tradeoffs in
stability and performace (although I don't think there is much
performance loss in the Santana's case) are only worth it in this
case. That is only my situation. My boat lives in my garage at home.
As far as the 2023 goes, it doesn't have as much room as the Catalina
250 or the Hunter 26, but it is *MUCH* easier to trailer (2250 lbs
with trailer, no gear), rig, and sail (roller furling jib *AND*
mainsail). It *LITERALLY* takes me 15 minutes from arriving at the
ramp until I am in the water with sails up!
If it was a whole lot more trouble (fixed keel, heavier, unweildy
setup), I wouldn't use it as much, so I am willing to make the
tradeoffs for getting out there a lot more often.
You can e-mail me for any additional info.
Regards.
Ray Henry
he...@egertp.ericsson.se
boat...@worldnet.att.net
I've heard that the McGregor might be ok for light winds and no
seas. The Hunter is over priced and looks like a plastic boat on
the inside. I did a years research on water ballast, talked with
owners of the above as well as Cataline. By far Cataline has
received the highest praise.
In June of 1995 I purchased a Catalina 250 water ballast and
have found the boat to be a very stable platform. We've sailed
her in small craft warnings with full sails and gail warning with
a reefed main. She handled great. Hopefully in August we will
take her to the San Francisco bay for a couple of months to test
her in the bay chop.
The C250 has a large rudder and steers as if it has power
steering. It will turn on its keel without little loss in speed.
One feature that really impressed me was how quick the C250 will
come up to speed.
I'm not a Catalina employee or sales rep.
Brian Cleverly
Water Ballasted trailer sailers have been used, successfully, in NZ since at least the
early '70s.
I've sailed on two of them and they handled the NZ weather without any problem at all.
In fact, I have the building plans for both of the ones I sailed on, and intend building
one or the other "real soon now".
Regards,
Brian Cleverly
boat...@worldnet.att.net
I've heard that the McGregor might be ok for light winds and no
seas. The Hunter is over priced and looks like a plastic boat on
the inside. I did a years research on water ballast, talked with
owners of the above as well as Cataline. By far Cataline has
received the highest praise.
have found the boat to be a very stable platform. We've sailed
her in small craft warnings with full sails and gail warning with
a reefed main. She handled great. Hopefully in August we will
take her to the San Francisco bay for a couple of months to test
her in the bay chop.
boat...@worldnet.att.net
RRies
Peter,
After looking at the Hunter 23.5 and 26, Macgregor 26, Catalina 250,
Precision 23,
and Santana 2023. We bought the Hunter 23.5. My only regret is not
buying the 26.
The Catalina is a more tradisional look, but has much less interior room
than Hunter.
The santana seemed very lightly constructed, it flexed when we walked on
it.
The precision 23 was a nice boat but it also lacked interior room and was
more expensive.
It is easy to overpower the hunter 23.5, you just have to reef. The
boat pionts
higher and sails faster than the catalina 22's.
We usually sail on an inland lake, but we have crossed lake Erie. All
in all
I reccomend the hunter.
Happy sailing,
Rich
John Ruck
In article <1996Jul23...@ug.eds.com>, ung...@ug.eds.com says...
>
>I am interested in anyone's opinion on the pros/cons of going with a
>water-ballast trailer-sailer over a fixed keel boat?
>
>I will be purchasing a used sailboat at the end of this season, and there
seem
>to be many advantages of going with a trailerable boat. To maximize size, it
>seems a water ballast boat might be better, with some tradeoff in
sailability.
>
>I am looking at 25-27' boats, Cats, Hunters, McGregors, etc.
>
>Any info would be appreciated.
>
>Peter J. Ungaro
>ung...@ug.eds.com
I have owned a MacGregor 26 for about 5 years now and am very happy with her.
Although I'm not wild about the new 26.
The biggest pro of the water ballast is the reduced trailoring weight. The
other main advantage is the shallow draft. The M-26 only draws 18" with the
keel and rudder up. (I think the others you are looking at are about the
same)
The con is that since the ballast is not as low as in a keel, the boat is a
little tender and you may have to be the first to reef on a windy day.
John Ruck
jlr...@nps.navy.mil
Dave Benjamin
Recommend against anything made by Hunter or McGregor in recent years.
Santana 2023 seems to be best of bunch although Catalina 25 might be OK.
There was a review in Cruising World of Santana 2023 by Bill Lee.
Personally, I'd be willing to put up with inconvenience of real
keelboat any day of the week.
The problem with water ballast is that is shifts and is not low enough.
Best form of ballast that I have seen is a keel with lots of lead down
low.
Buy a bigger car/truck if you need to.
Nigel Farrand
I have to agree with you, a real keelboat any day. But where can you find
one new for 11000 bucks. Water ballasted boats fill a real need. Here in
Europe, unless you have a truck licence, the limit for a tow vehicle and
trailer is 3500 kilos gross, with most 4 x 4s that means the boat comes
in at a ton or less.
MacG and Hunter make good boats... they are still in business unlike a
few others.
Water ballast does not move if the ballast tank is filled correctly and
the righting action comes from the fact that it is lifted above the water
line when heeling, being low down does not help.
Now if they could make a center board that does not clunk when running
that would be a real improvement.
--
Nigel Farrand in Tampere, Finland. 61 degrees North
"My problems are all attributable to my bad lattitude"
Perry & Bonnie Lazer
RRies wrote:
>
> Peter,snip
> It is easy to overpower the hunter 23.5, you just have to reef. The
> boat pionts
> higher and sails faster than the catalina 22's.
> We usually sail on an inland lake, but we have crossed lake Erie. All
> in all
> I reccomend the hunter.
>
> Happy sailing,
> Rich
I too would recommend the Hunter. My 23.5 has been equipped with an 85%
jib and a second reef point in the main to allow me to sail on Lake
Erie. With out the smaller jib and extra reef point at about 15 knots of
wind the boat is terribly overpowerd and in trouble! with the
modifications to the sail plan I am comfortable in up to 25 knots and
believe that i could handle 30.
BTW my boat, a 1994 Hunter 23.5, called BLOW ON THIS!! is for sale!
if interested email me at laz...@bright.net