Sorry for the same type of posting again.

I am looking for a sports boat up to £13,000 in good condition but need symetrical spinny for club racing due to the courses we race on.

At the moment got a Micro 18 but looking for something that is easily trailed but can stay on a mooring. I am looking at H22, Isis 21 type of yacht but very few on the market at the moment

Mainly small fleet handicap racing and mainly a crew of 4.

Any tips, suggestions or suitable boats for sale gratefully received.

Neil

Hunter 707. Plenty for sale (at a lot below £13K), symmetrical kite, light enough to be trailed by most 2L cars, can live on a mooring. Can be sailed with 4 but you'd do better with 5.

Projection 762 would be the other one that comes to mind. It's a bigger boat with more of a "little yacht" feel. There are generally one or two for sale, asking price usually a little more than £13K.

There is a Sonar fleet in Cowes. Where are the other UK fleets you mention?

I'd personally call it a keelboat rather than a sportsboat.

707 has a lid. I wouldn't call it a keelboat, except in the sense that all boats with keels are keelboats. Whereas a Sonar is a keelboat like an Etchells or a Dragon is a keelboat i.e. an open day racer.

"Sussex Sailability is currently raising funds to purchase a Sonar for the new season" Doesn't quite make it a fleet yet. I've never heard of a Sonar fleet in Plymouth, thought it was J24s and J80s there.

I'm not knocking Sonars as boats: just not sure there are UK fleets outside Cowes.

There used to be a little fleet of Bene FC 8ms up around the Moray firth AFAIK

pretty tired now as a buy (someone will no doubt correct me)

but the 707 is actually more fun than many detractors will let you believe and you can go do east coast week or some stuff on the forth in class, or scottish series in SBR . A 10 k plus new sails budget could be a wise plan

It ain't all that narrow where you sail!

Go on , get an SB3! you know you want to!

The 762 is a bit slicker up and down wind than the 707, and it probably sleeps it's crew- allegedly.

But you have an OD fleet half a days drive away and the 707 is a very good platform for a scratch crew.

From living up in snechie for a while (mountain biking days) I seem to remember plenty of breezy days. The 707 loves top of 3 and is controllable with just three in more- just remember everyone's gotta stand on the transom!

I think it is a shame that the UK took up the SB fleets it did in the late 90s, the 762 or the Platou B25 are both superior to the 707 and need less crew than the Cork'....... but now the SB3 is all good news IMHO! 

Hi Neil

Look at a J/24, seems to meet all your criteria, and will also open up wider opportunities in the world's largest and most widespread class of its kind.

For £13k you will get a very good one, suited to championship racing, but for your purposes, an older Westerly J/24 could cost a third of that and give lots of fun.

Go to http://www.j24ireland.com - www.j24ireland.com and follow links to boats for sale in IRL and GBR.

Hi Neil - notice you are in Scotland and others mentioning Sonars, one not sure many in UK. On holiday last month I saw about six Sonars in Fortwilliam, along with a neat apparatus for lifting one off a launching trolley on to a road trailer. Their narow beam maked this easy. Still, for all round use and for opportunities worldwide, nothing beats a proper J/24

Mainly small fleet handicap racing and mainly a crew of 4 was the summary  specification in the first message of this thread. For this reason and other good reasons, the J/24 was mentioned. It is trailed to events. It does NOT need a crane for the keel stepped mast. The mast is simpler, safer and stronger being keel stepped. Travelling  J/24s worldwide have a gin pole, with which the mast is much easier and safer to raise than are comparable deck stepped masts. I have raised a J/24 mast by gin pole, often single handed, a dozen times a year for many season's past going round the Irish J/24 racing circuit. As a club crane operator I have been involved with deck stepped masts. They are much less safe and strong

Thanks for all the replies.

I am still looking (prefer to sell Micro 18 first). I like the look of the projection and Sonar but would like to know how they do racing on PY handicap as it is mainly handicap racing I will be doing.

 I have been put off the 707 slightly as it mabye stuggles slightly in light airs, which we tend to get a lot of for our racing.

Following Erne Sailors post above I think it was probably Soling that you saw in Fort William as they have a fleet there.

I am still grateful for info or suggestions.

If you're looking for second hand J/24s take a look on the http://www.j24class.org.uk/?s=classifieds - UK J/24 class website . A good range available in the UK from between £3250 and £15000. Running costs are extremely low for a 24' yacht. Competitive livespan for a good boat (such as a Rogers) is very long.

You need to crane the boat into the water (most have a single-point lifting strop) but most masts are raised with a gin pole (can't remember when we last did this with a crane).

Performance is very good in the light winds. Not as fast as a modern sports boat in the strong winds but still great fun.

Sonars plane at least and get an SBR / OD for Tarbert as well. Probably not much in it for upwind on a 707 but the hunter will go well in light airs ..let the cat out the bag from a handful of light winds and heavy- sail them four up not five or even go with three in the light.

J24- isn't that a non planing yankie quarter ton copy with the keel in the wrong place and some Irish ones which were two feet longer on the water line than they should have been?  Oh I hear it, yes, everything will surf given enough blow...even smegma 33's

If you want to see J/24s in action

NATIONS CUP J/24s ON TV

Sky Sports 2 lists ‘Yachting: The Nations Cup grand final’ for 09.30 on Thursday 7 December and again at 10.00 on Sunday morning

Watch a half hour of superb match racing on Cork Harbour at the ISAF Nations Cup world final, hosted by Royal Cork YC and sailed in International J/24 keelboats loaned via ISA to RCYC by Irish owners from eight other clubs in Ireland.

This ISAF Grade One event was the most important international sailing event in Ireland’s 2006 season. A major Irish contribution to international sailing, it won great praise at November’s annual conference of the International Sailing Federation.

More at

http://www.royalcork.com/ - www.royalcork.com

http://www.matchrace.ie/ - www.matchrace.ie

http://www.j24ireland.com/ - www.j24ireland.com

I think it is now down to a Sonar or a Platu 25.

I have never sailed on a Sonar or Platu 25, can anyone give me good points and bad points for both of them.

It is mixed handicapp racing using PY handicapps on the sea most of the time..

Haven't sailed a sonar, but-

the platou is a cool bit of kit, not as fast as a melges but planes at about 8- 9 knts boat speed and surfs very readily.

very nice in light airs, but in f5 you will need a good main trimmer and foredack/kite trimmer on the down hill leg.

It also sleeps two, could be converted to sleep 3 or 4, and has a nice outboard well and locker easier to use than the 707s.

The sails are strict OD and quite reasonable for Norths. Very nice shape L1, H1s, plus you get a jib cunningham which works great. In fact everything is geared nearly perfecfly and it has a big, fast boat feel for a well ballasted SB.

There are two sail on the clyde regularily now and maybe three or four going to scottish series if you were prepared to trail and be no.4!  The guys with ELF on the clyde are worth talking to.

Despite being a huge fann of the wee farr, I'd still say look at a 707- they lack the finesse and feel but you could get easier OD racing. A more stable planing platform as well!

But if you are a former quarter ton owner (?) then go for the platou for really enjoying your sailing

Hi

In the end we have purchased a Sonar, picking it up in the near future.

Thanks for all the advice given in this forum.

Cheers

Corms

Meantime, probably your nearest J/24 bargain, in Whitby and good racing condition with road trailer etc, has gone to Ireland, and at a price a third of you upper limit in first posting. Also off to Ireland since are two other J/24 bargains, well set up for racing, from Exeter and Falmouth, each just over half your target.

Conratulations on your new purchase Corms,

I've been watching this thread with some interest since I found myself in a similar position, wanting a sportsboat after racing a Club 19 for a season and a bit. Eventually we bought the Projection 762 for a variety of reasons (I suspect our criteria were a little different to yours, eg can't camp on a Sonar).

Enjoy the Sonar, they looked fun at Tarbert...

Chic

Thanks Chic

We enquired about a Projection but someone had put a deposit down on it. We were also very interested in a Benuteau 25 but sometimes we can only manage 3 of a crew, so the Sonar seemed the suitable choice.

Projection looks a lovely boat.

Corms

probably a good choice with some future OD racing to boot.

the platou (bene 25) does like three average people hiking plus a main trimmer, but two big blokes and the main man swinging round often does the job.