http://www.bwsailing.com^45the old days. And the modern
designs sail so much better.
Today’s boats are designed to
sail fairly upright and use beam
and even chines to provide a
lot of initial stability. Sailing
flat is more comfortable for
everyone onboard and is faster
than pushing the boat too hard
and burying the rail. With roller
furling headsails now standard
on all cruisers, and with in-mast
mainsail furling available even
in the smaller cruisers, adjusting
the sail plan is dead simple and
easily done from the cockpit.
There are a lot of good cruis-
ing boats in the pocket cruiser
category between 25 and 35
feet. Beneteau offers their 31,
35 and the First 30. For entry
level cruising or for those who
just like and want a modest
size cruiser, these designs will
get you on the water and really
cruising at an entry level price.
Beneteau’s sister company
Jeanneau builds two designs in
this category–the 33i and the
349–that are big little boats.
They are beamy, have long wa-
terlines and spacious interiors.
The 349 that was introduced
two years ago is a stellar per-
former under sail and has accommo-
dations of a much larger boat.
Catalina’s 315 is a similar kind of
pocket cruiser. Light and powered
with an ample rig, the boats sail very
well and is a real pleasure to handle.
Catalina continues to build “American
Style” into their boats so you will find
solid joinery below decks and a lot of
traditional features that set them apart
from the fleet.
Com-Pac yachts from Florida offers
the very capable Com-Pac 27 that is
a truly proper little yacht with ocean
sailing capabilities. Very solidly built
and with a lot of traditional touches,
the 27 would make a safe and comfort-
able entry level cruiser for a young
family or a fine last boat for a couple
BAVARIA 33BENETEAU FIRST 25CATALINA 275