Many sailors balk at the idea of leaving their boat in the water at a marina. Slip fees are expensive, and maintenance bills get bigger the longer you leave a boat in the water. However, if you want a boat under 30 feet long, there are trailerable sailboats that will fit the bill.
Like any boat purchase, you’ll need to analyze precisely what kind of trailer sailer you want. Will a simple weekend sailboat suffice, or do you really need the best trailerable cruising sailboat you can find?
Here’s a look at some of the pros and cons of the best trailerable sailboat. Plus, we’ll look at how to compare them for your purposes.
Table of Contents
Best trailerable sailboats, easy to launch trailerable sailboats, quick setup time, towing weight, catalina 22/25 “pop-top”, com-pac horizon cat for classic coastal cruising, marshall sanderling — small, portable, classy, west wight potter 19 — the tiny go-anywhere sailboat, seaward 26rk with retractable lead keel, corsair f-24 trimaran – sporty sailing, macgregor 26m — maximum speed meets maximum living space, long-range cruising boats, 7 best trailerable boats – a recap, what’s the best trailerable sailboat for a cruise, trailerable sailboats faqs.
Catalina 22/25
Com-Pac Horizon Cat
Marshall Sanderling
West Wight Potter 19
Seaward 26RK
Corsair F-24 Trimaran
MacGregor 26M
Boat
Pros
Cons
Catalina 22/25 with Pop-Top
Standing headroom when pop-top extended; Feels much larger than it is; Allows freedom of movement for cooking, changing, etc
Pop-top only provides headroom in small section of boat; Later models lacked this feature
Com-Pac Horizon Cat
Well built; Quick-rig system for fast & simple setup; Separate head; Space to lounge
No mention of cons
Marshall Sanderling
Easy to sail & tow; Traditional charm; Fiberglass hull; Option for electric motor
Very small for cruising; No galley; Toilet not enclosed
High quality construction; Retractable keel provides stability & shallow draft; Lots of amenities
Heavy – 6,000 lb towing weight
Corsair F-24 Trimaran
Very lightweight & easy to tow; Offers adrenaline-pumping performance sailing
Not ideal for offshore/rough conditions
MacGregor 26M
Massive interior space; Towable behind most vehicles; Fast powerboat & sailboat capabilities
Not built for offshore use; Not appealing for hardcore sailors
We’ll get into more detail about each brand in my post today, so hang tight!
What Is a Trailerable Sailboat, Exactly?
For this article, the priorities for a trailerable sailboat are:
Easy to launch
Require minimum setup to launch and store
Lightweight enough to be towed by the average vehicle
Before you can really classify a sailboat as trailerable, you need to evaluate and narrow your search criteria. Truthfully, 50-plus-foot ocean-going sailboats are regularly put on trailers. But that’s done commercially, on a big rig, with special permits for oversized loads, and even led cars.
That probably isn’t what most people mean when they think of a trailerable sailboat. But what is the priority here, the trailerable part or the sailboat part? Compromises are going to have to be made somewhere.
If you’re looking at the 20-foot-and-under sailboat crowd, finding a trailerable example should not be hard. Most sailboats this size are designed for trailers anyway since they aren’t the sort of boats people want to pay to leave in a slip year-round.
Things get more interesting when you look at the 20 to 30-foot boats. In this class, there are stout ocean-going cruisers with deep keels and lightweight centerboard trailer sailboats designed from the get-go to be trailered by the average car or SUV. The differences between these boats are night and day.
Sailboats often have a hard time at boat ramps. First, deep keels mean that the trailer must extend farther into the water than the average boat ramp allows. This means the ramp needs to go back far enough, and the trailer tongue needs to be long enough not to swamp the car.
If you have a boat like this, you’ll need to find the right boat ramps. Unfortunately, not all ramps are created equally. If your boat draws more than two or three feet on the trailer, you’re going to be limited to steep, paved, and high-quality boat ramps. Unfortunately, those aren’t standard features, so your cruising grounds are going to be limited.
Usually, ramps aren’t built steeply because they are often slippery. Your tow vehicle will need excellent traction and torque to pull your fully loaded boat out of a steep ramp. The steeper the ramp, the more trouble you’ll have.
The alternative to finding steep ramps is to use a trailer tongue extender. This lets you get the trailer into deeper water without swamping the tow vehicle. But it also means that the ramp needs to extend deep enough. Many ramps end abruptly. Allowing your trailer to sink off the edge is an excellent way to get stuck or pop a tire.
Pick a boat as easy to launch and retrieve as a similarly sized powerboat to remove all of these boat ramp problems. The soft chines of most sailboats will always require a little more water, but a swing keel and the hinged rudder raised mean that the boat can sit low on the trailer bunks. That way, you only need one or two feet of water to launch, an easy feat at nearly every boat ramp you can find.
The next consideration for a sailboat to be portable enough to call it “trailerable” is the amount of time it takes to step the mast and get it ready to cruise.
To accomplish this, you need a mast that can be stepped by a two-person team–maximum. Ideally, it will have some tabernacle hardware to enable one person to do the task for solo sailing.
There is an entire family of pocket cruisers that could ideally fit on trailers. But you won’t find the Fickas or the Falmouth cutters on my list, simply because they aren’t easy to launch or easy to rig. But, of course, they’re also too heavy for most vehicles to tow, which leads us to the final point of excluding them this trailable pocket cruiser’s list.
One of the most significant financial burdens the trailer sailer faces is their tow vehicle. You are all set if you already drive a two-ton dually diesel pickup truck. But if your daily driver is an SUV or light pickup, you need to think long and hard about the math of the towing equation.
Whatever boat you buy cannot exceed the towing rating limits of your tow vehicle. If you don’t have a tow vehicle, you’ll need to buy one. This will double or triple the cost of getting a trailer sailer in most cases. For the same money, you may want to look at a boat that stays in the water at a traditional boat slip. For the cost of a trailer sailer and a tow vehicle, you can probably step into a nice boat that is larger and more comfortable than any towable.
If you have a tow vehicle, you need a light enough vessel for it to tow. Most modern SUVs tow less than 2,500 pounds. Anything more than 5,000 will require a full-size pickup. Remember that the tow weight isn’t just the boat’s displacement—it’s the empty hull weight, plus the weight of the trailer and any extra gear you need to pack into the boat.
Finding a vessel that fits these limitations on weight isn’t easy. If the manufacturer’s goal is to make it towable, immediate limits are placed on the materials they can use. This means less seaworthiness since boats are built light and thin. As far as stability goes, lead keels are generally out, and water ballast systems or centerboards might be used instead. It doesn’t mean these boats aren’t safe and fun, but they aren’t designed for rough conditions, crossing oceans, or living on in the water full-time .
7 Best Trailerable Cruising Sailboats
There are more trailerable sailboats out there than you might imagine. Here’s a look at seven popular options of all shapes and sizes to give you a taste of what you might want to take to sea.
The boats here are selected for their storage and living space. With these boats and a little outfitting, you can spend weeks gunk-holing in the Chesapeake Bay or island hopping the Bahamas. If you broaden your scope to include daysailers with no cabin space, there are countless more options.
One of the worst parts of a small trailerable sailboat or pocket cruiser is the lack of stand-up headroom. One clever solution that you’ll find on some weekend sailboat types is the pop-top.
The pop-top is simply an area around the companionway hatch that extends upward on struts. So when you’re at the dock or anchor, you get standing headroom down below—at least right inside the pop-top.
You can build a canvas enclosure for your pop-top to use it in all weather. A pop-top makes your boat feel much larger than it is and allows you to move freely to cook or get changed down below or even do a nice boat bed area.
Later models of the Catalina Sport 22 and Capri 22s lacked this cool pop-top feature, so if you want it, you’ll need to seek out an older model on the used market.
Com-Pac has been building small sailboats since the early 1970s. They currently sell two lines, each with various-sized boats. All are well built, and a majority of their boats are trailerable.
Most interesting at the Com-Pac traditional catboats . The rigging is more straightforward than modern sloops, with only one large mainsail. Com-Pac boats come with a unique quick-rig system to make getting on the water fast and simple.
The Horizon Cat Coastal Cruising has a displacement of 2,500 pounds with a 2’2″ draft when the board is up. She has a separate head forward and space to lounge either topside or down below. The smaller Sun Cat has slightly few amenities but shaves off a few feet and pounds, making it easier to tow and it is one of these amazing small sailboats. Com-Pacs features stub keels, so their centerboard and hinged rudder do not take up space in the cabin.
On the sloop rig side, the Com-Pac 23 comes in a 3,000-pound traditional sailboat or a very interesting pilothouse. Both are incredibly livable for their size , with shallow two-foot-long fixed keels and high-quality construction.
Another option if you like catboats is the Marshall Sanderling. This salty 18-footer oozes traditional charm , all while being easy to sail and easier to tow. And while she has wooden boat lines, she has a modern laminated fiberglass hull.
The Sanderling has a 2,200-pound displacement, so tow weights will be around 3,000 pounds. At only 18-feet, she’s on the small side for cruising. The cuddy cabin has no galley, and the portable toilet is not enclosed. But that small size means a simple boat that’s easy to maintain and take anywhere.
An electric motor package is an exciting option on this weekend sailboat!
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You can’t mention tiny trailer sailers without touching on the famous West Wight Potter . These 15 and 19-foot pocket cruisers have earned a worldwide reputation as the ultimate go-anywhere coastal cruiser.
The West Wight Potter 19 offers the most living space for staying aboard and cruising. So even though its dimensions are diminutive, this little boat packs a lot in. There’s a single burner hotplate and sink and a porta-potty tucked under a cushion. Yes, it’s tight—but the company claims the little boat can sleep five people. Any more than two will feel pretty crowded, however.
The boat comes standard with a mast-raising system that a single person can manage alone. It has a daggerboard for a shallow draft of a half-foot when the board is up. The total towing weight is around 1,500 pounds, which means nearly any car can tow a West Wight Potter.
This little-known trailer sailer is produced at the same Florida factory that makes Island Packet Yachts. That should give you a little bit of an idea of what sort of boat it is—trailerable, yes, but also high-quality, beautiful, and built for cruising. In other words, it’s one of the nicest all round pocket cruisers and it feels like a much larger boat.
The Seaward is easily the saltiest boat on this list . It’s beefy and seaworthy. Instead of a lightweight centerboard, Seaward fits the RK with a bulb-shaped retracting keel. Other big-boat items include a Yanmar diesel inboard motor and an enclosed head. The spacious cabin of the boat features a double berth and is ready for salt water cruising.
According to sailboatdata.com , the tow weight of the 26RK is 6,000 pounds. With the keel up, the draft is 1.25 feet.
Multihull sailors need not feel left out from the trailer sailer club and the pocket cruiser. Beyond the ubiquitous beach Hobie Cat, there are not many options for catamarans. But trimarans are uniquely suited to be towed.
Why? For one thing, performance oriented boats like trimarans are based on it being built light. There is no ballast—a trimaran’s stability comes from its two outer hulls. Additionally, the living space is entirely housed in the central hull–the outer floats are small and sometimes foldable. Finally, there are no keels on tris, so they are extremely shallow draft and perfect for trailering.
If you’re looking for adrenaline-pumping sporty and fun sailing, it’s impossible to beat what a trimaran will offer. Let’s not beat around the bush—most of the trailer sailers on this list have hull speeds around five knots. The Corsair has no such limits, routinely sailing at 15 knots or more .
The new Corsair 880 trimaran has an unloaded weight of 3,659 pounds. It is trailerable behind a big SUV or small pickup and is probably the most fun sailing option that is trailerable at all.
An even more portable option is the older Corsair F-24. It has a light displacement of under 2,000 pounds—so nearly any SUV can tow it.
MacGregor owns the market on trailerable motor sailers since they more or less created the product to fit the bill. The MacGregor 26 is not like other boats. The design combines a planing powerboat with a centerboard sailboat. Imagine scooting along at 20 knots or more when the wind is down or enjoying a sporty sail on a breezy day–in the same boat.
The entire boat is built from the ground up for towing and long-range sailing. So if you want a big sailboat that you can tow behind pretty much any SUV, the MacGregor has to be on your list.
Depending on the model, the 26-foot-long boats have incredibly light dry weights of between 1,650 and 2,350 pounds. Considering the massive volume of the roomy cabin, the ability to tow such a large vessel opens up an entire world of opportunities for owners.
It’s not all good news, of course. MacGregor owners love their boats, but they are built light and are not ideally suited for offshore cruising or rough weather. But in bays and for coastal sailing on nice days, few boats can get as much use as a MacGregor.
The motorboat capability of the 26M and 26X might not appeal to hardcore sailors, but for those looking to maximize their use of the boat depending on the weather, their mood, or location, it makes a lot of sense.
MacGregor shut down in 2015, but the daughter and son-in-law of the original owners took over production and renamed the boat the Tattoo 26 . The company will soon release a smaller version, the Tattoo 22 .
If the 26 is a bit big to make your list of best trailerable small sailboats, consider the smaller Powersailer 19. It’s nearly identical to the 26, just smaller and lighter.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Dale Roddick (@droddick33)
What Do You Want Your Trailer Sailer To Do?
After you’ve settled on how you will tow and launch your trailer sailer, now it’s time to dream about what you want it to do. Where will it take you?
The beauty of a towable boat is that you can travel anywhere. A boat in the water might take weeks or months to move a few hundred miles. But if you can attach it to your car and do 65 mph on the interstate, you could sail on the Pacific on Monday, the Gulf of Mexico on Wednesday, and the Atlantic on Friday.
We can divide our trailerable sailboats into three groups – daysailers, weekenders, and cruisers.
These are designed with open cockpits and no space to sleep. This is a majority of the sub-22-foot boats on the market. They are designed to be launched, play for the day, and return to the ramp or dock.
A weekender will have rudimentary sleeping facilities. Think of it as a floating tent—it’s not a five-star hotel, but you can sleep under the stars or get out of the rain. Conceivably you could stay aboard indefinitely, but it doesn’t have much room for gear. So most people are ready to get off after a day or two.
A cruising boat has sleeping, cooking, and toilet facilities built-in. These might be small and simple, but in any quantity, they mean you can disconnect from shore for a long time. Unfortunately, squeezing all of this into a tow-friendly package isn’t easy, and very few boats do it well.
Boat
Advantages
Catalina 22/25 “Pop-Top”
– Standing headroom below deck – Feels much larger than it is – Freedom to move below deck
Com-Pac Horizon Cat
– Simple catboat rigging – Quick-rig system – Shallow 2′ draft – Quality construction
Marshall Sanderling
– Traditional charm – Easy to maintain – Electric motor option
West Wight Potter 19
– Go anywhere reputation – Packs in amenities – Towable by any vehicle
Seaward 26RK
– Quality construction – Big boat features – Retractable keel
Corsair F-24 Trimaran
– Very light/easy to tow – Shallow draft – Fast performance
MacGregor 26M
– Massive interior space – Planing hull enables speed – Towable by most SUVs
The best trailer sailor for your adventures will depend on many factors. Like any boat, whatever you decide on will be a compromise – boats always are. But there are plenty of choices out there, no matter what size your tow vehicle is and no matter what sailing adventures you have in mind.
What size sailboat is trailerable?
Even large yachts are routinely transported by towing across land, so the question is more of how big a sailboat can you tow? Your tow vehicle will be the limiting factor. The upper limit for most large SUVs and trucks is usually a sailboat around 26 feet long.
Sailboats are generally very heavily built, with ballast and lead keels. Sailboats specifically made to be trailer sailers are lighter. They may use drainable water ballast tanks instead of fixed ballast and have fewer fixtures and amenities.
To find the best trailer sailer, you need to balance the total tow weight, the ease of rig setup at the boat ramp, and the boat’s draft. Shallow draft boats with centerboards are the easiest to launch and retrieve.
Is a Hunter 27 trailerable?
No. The Hunter 27 is a one of those fixed-keel larger boats built from 1974 to 1984. The boat’s displacement is 7,000 pounds, not including trailer and gear. That alone makes it too heavy to tow by all but the beefiest diesel trucks.
Furthermore, the fixed keels had drafts between 3.25 and 5 feet, all of which are too much for most boat ramps. In short, the standard Hunter Marine 27 is too big to tow for most people.
On the other hand, Hunter has made several good trailer sailers over the years. For example, the Hunter 240 and 260 were explicitly designed for trailering. They have drainable water ballast and shallow keel/centerboard drafts less than two feet.
Is a Catalina 22 trailerable?
Yes, the Catalina 22 is easily trailerable and makes a wonderful weekend sailboat. In fact, there were over 15,000 Catalina 22s made and sold over the years.
The boat’s displacement is 2,250 pounds, which means your total tow weight with trailer and gear will be under 3,000 pounds. This is within the capabilities of most mid to full-size SUVs and light trucks. Be sure to check your vehicle’s towing capacity, of course.
The centerboard on the Catalina 22 is another factor in its easy towing. With the board up, the boat draws only two feet. This makes it easy to float off the trailer at nearly any boat ramp. You should avoid fixed keel versions of the 22 for towing unless you have access to extra deep ramps.
Matt has been boating around Florida for over 25 years in everything from small powerboats to large cruising catamarans. He currently lives aboard a 38-foot Cabo Rico sailboat with his wife Lucy and adventure dog Chelsea. Together, they cruise between winters in The Bahamas and summers in the Chesapeake Bay.
Can someone tell me why no other manufacturer makes pop tops? Those who have them, love them. Makes sense for head space with a trailerable boat too. Catalina stopped making them decades ago, yet people still swear by them. So, why isn’t there any newer models?
MacGregor put pop tops on many of its trailerables
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Articles and Guides
Best Trailerable Sailboat Brands to Cruise or Race
18th dec 2023 by samantha wilson.
Being able to trailer your sailboat opens up many possibilities, from cost saving boat storage solutions to being able to take your boat to new cruising grounds. It's common to see trailered motorboats on the roads in the United States, Canada, and Europe, but sailboats tend to be trailered in smaller numbers.
Of course the act of trailering a sailboat involves a bit more preparation, namely lowering the mast, but as we'll see there are many excellent brands out there ensuring that the sailboats they build can be trailered nearly as easily as a RIB or center console. And they're not just bathtub-sized sailboats either. Some of the best trailerable sailboats are up to 30 feet in length. While it's trickier to trailer a large catamaran due to its wide beam, the multihull world hasn't been left behind, as you can find clever trimarans that fold up in different ways.
We have picked out some of our favorite trailerable sailboat brands in this article but it's important to remember there are many excellent brands building excellent boats.
Corsair Marine photo.
What Is the Biggest Sailboat I Can Trailer?
Daysailers have long been trailered, thanks to their compact size, simple rigs, and easily lowered, relatively short mast. For those who want a slightly larger boat that they can take the whole family out on or use for overnight trips, then a 20- to 25-foot sailboat may be more useful than a 16- to 19-foot one. Going up a size category allows for a whole new range of activities, with proper galleys, running water, electricity, and an enclosed head to provide more substantial home comforts. But how big is too big to trailer?
You might be surprised to hear that in the United States, sailboats up to around 31 feet in length can be trailered legally. In fact, it typically depends less on length, and more on the weight, beam, and height of the vessel and the trailer together, must meet several legal requirements.
Weight : While there is no specific weight limit to be towed, the sailboat has to be able to be towed easily by your vehicle, usually a pickup-style truck or full-size SUV with substantial power. Most single- and tandem-axle trailers can handle a maximum combined load of 7,000 to 8,000 pounds, so your weight limit will also be dictated by your trailer.
Beam : To travel without permits, the trailer and vessel must fit on the road in regular traffic. In the US, that's a maximum width of 8 foot 6 inches (a couple inches less in the EU at 2.55 meters). Most trailerable monohull sailboats will be less than this for ease of maneuvering in traffic, but when it comes to catamarans and trimarans, adjustments have to be made (we'll look at those later).
Length : The upper length limit of a sailboat can be anything up to 65 feet, but that's a moot point because vessels of that size would never meet the width limits. In reality, a 30-footer is the longest sailboat you're likely to tow, with 15- to 25-footers being much more common.
Height : Your trailer and sailboat have to fit under bridges and highway overpasses and so for most states the maximum height is 14 feet. This will obviously require lowering the mast onto the deck and including that into your height calculation.
For more advice on the practicalities of trailering see our guide to Buying a Boat Trailer .
The Best Trailerable Cruising Sailboats
The best trailerable cruising sailboat brands.
Catalina Yachts : As one of North America's best-known sailboat brands of sailboats, Catalina has a long history of building trailerable models. Their entire Sport line cruising boats—except for the 275—can easily be trailered, and the 22 and 22 Sport, in particular, make for a great step up from daysailing to enjoying a pocket cruiser.
Beneteau : Beneteau 's reputation for affordable, capable yachts spans the globe, and their skill at building trailerable sailboats up to 30 feet is just one of many attributes. Take the First 27SE and 24; they are not luxury cruiser (although the 27SE can sleep six crew!) but they sure can sail fast on short distance races or fast adventure cruises. With impeccable and high-quality design featuring double rudders, these are some of the nicest fast cruisers on the market.
Beneteau First 27SE. Beneteau photo.
The Best Trailerable Sport Sailboats
Several brands on this list create high performance sports sailboats , and one of the top names you think of in this sector is Laser whose speedy tiny racers are now an Olympic event in themselves. But there are many excellent brands building ultra-fast sports sailboats – several on our list are considerably bigger than a Laser too. Here we take a look at some of our favorite sports dinghies which are the quintessential trailerable sports boat.
The Best Trailerable Sport Sailboat Brands
Melges : Founded in 1945 by Harry C. Melges, Sr., this is an iconic Midwestern brand made famous, in part, by Harry's son, Harry “Buddy” Melges Jr, an Olympic medalist in the ‘60s and National Sailing Hall of Fame member. Today the business is run by Harry III, also a championship sailor, who oversees a range of high performance vessels from the award-winning Melges 14 and 15 dinghies, to A, C, E and MC scow classes, and international sportboat classes, the Melges 20 and 24—the latter has more than 900 boats sailing competitively all over the world. All of their models are trailerable, allowing them to be transported easily to competitions. Melges boats for sale
J/Boats : The most successful volume builder of trailerable, performance keelboats is also a family-run brand founded by brothers Rod and Bob Johnstone and now led by second-generation Johnstones—Jeff, Al and Stuart. Starting with the J/24 (more than 5,500 boats built) and most recently with the J/70, the company has popularized a series of international racing classes from 22 to 26 feet while also building many popular larger racer/cruiser-style models that don't fit easily on a trailer. J/Boats for sale
RS Sailing : British-built RS Sailing performance dinghies and keelboats are spreading in popularity across the world. Distributed widely on the east coast of the US, they're excellent pocket racing dinghies, easily trailered and ultra-fast. Their range of boats runs from 12 feet and 21 feet and includes dinghies, catamarans, and keelboats, allowing you to find exactly the right boat for your experience level and interest, but it's their Racing Series which sets them apart as high performers in the market. They're lightweight, simple in their design, and well-suited to being trailered thanks to their compact sizes.
Melges 24. Melges photo.
The Best Trailerable Youth Sailboats
Trailerable sailboats designed for younger sailors are lightweight, easy to rig, and easy to sail. They should offer a simple platform in which to learn the mechanics of sailing, the movement of the boat on the water, and the basic maintenance of a sailboat. For more guidance check out our guide to choosing the best beginner sailboat .
The Best Trailerable Youth Sailboat Brands
ILCA : Formerly known as the Laser, the ILCA design is one of the most popular sailboats of all time, a responsive yet high-performance one-person sailboat that is an excellent step up, particularly for sailors who outgrow their smaller dinghies as teenagers. As a racing class, ILCA offers three different mast sizes so sailors can start in what's called the ILCA 4 class and as they gain weight, move to ILCA 6 and 7. By that time, you're in a class of boat that can take you all the way to the Olympics. Designed in the 1970s by Canadian sailor Bruce Kirby, the 13'10.5” boat teaches high-performance skills, subtle steering and trimming techniques, and astounding speed once on a plane.
Hobie Cat : We've put Hobie Cat in this category simply because of the brand's long-standing legacy of creating fun, simple, and compact catamarans that are loved by families and easily trailered. The classic Hobie 16 model with more than 100,000 built remains an active international class worldwide for the young and the young at heart; newer models provide a good, stable platform for a variety of off-the-beach and daysailing contexts. Catamarans are obviously wider than their monohull counterparts, but beach cats like the ones made by Hobie are well within the maximum width allowance to be towed on American roads. And because of their lightweight fiberglass or rotomolded hulls, they can be towed by much less powerful vehicles too.
Laser sailboats. Laser Performance photo.
The Best Small Trailerable Sailboats
There are many benefits to opting for a small towable sailboat , and plenty of excellent brands out there are producing high performance pocket cruisers. A smaller sailboat won't require a large trailer and together they will weigh less and be able to be towed by a regular family car rather than a pick-up truck. Navigating smaller roads or heavier traffic will be less of a consideration, plus getting your sailboat launched will be a simpler affair. Several brands on our list could be in this category but special mention must be made of:
The Best Small Trailerable Sailboats Brands
Cape Cutter : The traditional beauty of these sailboats, twinned with modern-day advancements, makes them really stand out from the rest. The design originates from the classic gaff cutter work boats, but today it's one of the fastest small gaffers in the world. The interior is cleverly spacious, with four berths, as well as a simple galley area. With quick rigging, it can be sailed solo, but is also able to accommodate small groups, making it a capable and hugely versatile pocket cruiser. At 22 feet long, 7 foot 7 inches wide, and under 5 foot in height with the mast lowered, it's perfect for trailering too. Cape Cutter boats for sale.
NorseBoat : These beautiful, hand-crafted, and impressively versatile Canadian-built sailboats offer good performance and are described by the manufacturer as "the Swiss Army Knives of sailboats". Whether it's the 12.5 model, which can be sailed, rowed, and motored, or the 17.5 or 21.5 models, they can all be trailered, easily beached, and even used as camp cruisers, allowing for overnight adventures. And with traditional styling they're absolute head-turners whether you're cruising along the road or water.
NorseBoat 17.5. NorseBoat photo.
The Best Trailerable Catamaran and Trimaran Sailboats
Multihulls have gained popularity in the last 20 years thanks to their stability, lack of keel, performance, and increased space on board compared to a monohull of the same length. Yet there are obvious challenges when it comes to trailering a sailboat with a very wide beam such as a catamaran or even more so a trimaran. In fact, by having three hulls, the trimaran type has bred for some innovative engineering, folding in the two outer hulls thus creating a smaller overall beam for transport. This is trickier with catamarans as they're not foldable in the same way. We've mentioned the well-known Hobie Cat brand of small beach cats above but there are some other innovative brands out there making it easier to trailer multihulls.
The Best Trailerable Catamaran and Trimaran Sailboat Brands
Nacra : Catamarans are difficult to trailer because their beam is likely to exceed the legal road limits due to their double hull structure. Having said that, small models such as Nacra's lightning fast racing cats will squeeze within the beam limits at 8 foot 5 inches wide including the 15, F16, and F18 Infusion. If you're after trailerable performance and some competition, these cats provide a whole different level for serious and athletic sailors.
Corsair : Corsair makes some of the best trailerable trimaran sailboats on the market and were pioneers in the folding trimaran sector for more than three decades. Yes you read that correctly…foldable trimarans up to 20 feet in length. With technology straight out of a Transformers movie, a 15-foot beam folds down into a neat little 8-foot wide package ready for trailering. Even the 31 foot 10 inch long 970 Cruze, with its standing room cabin, can be put on a trailer thanks to the folding system and retractable daggerboard and rudder.
Dragonfly : With a focus on beautiful, cruise-worthy, high-quality, and high-performance trimarans up to 40 feet, Dragonfly offers two models— the 25 and 28—that can be folded and trailered for ease of transport and to allow you the freedom to access different cruising grounds. At a folded width of 8 feet 3 inches, the 28 is still just within legal width for towing on US roads, while offering you a true weekend cruiser complete with saloon, cabin, and galley.
Dragonfly 28.1. Dragonfly photo.
Written By: Samantha Wilson
Samantha Wilson has spent her entire life on and around boats, from tiny sailing dinghies all the way up to superyachts. She writes for many boating and yachting publications, top charter agencies, and some of the largest travel businesses in the industry, combining her knowledge and passion of boating, travel and writing to create topical, useful and engaging content.
More from: Samantha Wilson
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Com-Pac Yachts Home
Sun Cat Daysailer
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CP 23 Pilothouse
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The CP 23 Pilothouse
The true delight of this boat is the brightness and view while in the pilothouse..
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The brand-new trailerable cruiser CP 23 Pilothouse offers a revolutionary combination of trailerability, cruisability, and livability. The CP 23 Pilothouse is designed with numerous well-thought-out features and Com-Pac's legendary attention to detail:
Steering from inside the pilothouse during inclement weather, in addition to tiller steering in the aft cockpit
Excellent natural light and visibility from inside the pilot house while under way or at anchor
Abundant storage space, including 2 hanging lockers
Draft of only 2'3"
Twin cylinder freshwater-cooled diesel engine
Dinette that converts to a berth
Roomy v-berth
Galley and enclosed head
Mast is mounted in a tabernacle that allows it to be folded down for trailering
Stainless steel handrails on deck (optional teak handrails available)
CP 23 Pilothouse Specifications
Length:
23 ft. 11 in.
LWL:
20 ft. 2 in.
Beam:
7 ft. 10 in.
Draft:
2 ft. 3 in.
Displacement:
3,500 lbs.
Ballast:
1,340 lbs.
Sail Area:
240 sq. ft.
Mast Height Above Water:
30 ft.
| | | | | | | | |
Com-Pac Yachts / Hutchins Co., Inc. 1195 Kapp Dr., Clearwater, Florida 33765 USA
Call Us: 727-443-4408 E-mail Us:
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20 Best Small Sailboats for the Weekender
By Mark Pillsbury
Updated: May 24, 2024
In order to go cruising, most of us require a sailboat with a head, a galley, and bunks. The boat, likely a 30-footer and more often a 40-footer, will have electronics for navigation and entertainment, refrigeration if the trip is longer than a coastal hop, an engine for light wind, and, depending on our appetites for food and fun, perhaps a genset to power our toys and appliances.
To go sailing , however, all we really need is a hull, mast, rudder, and sail. To experience the pure joy of sheeting in and scooting off across a lake, bay, or even the open ocean, there’s nothing better than a small sailboat – we’re talking sailboats under 25 feet. You can literally reach out and touch the water as it flows past. You instantly feel every puff of breeze and sense every change in trim.
Some of the boats in this list are new designs, others are time-tested models from small sailboat manufacturers, but every one is easy to rig, simple to sail, and looks like a whole lot of fun either for a solo outing on a breezy afternoon or to keep family and friends entertained throughout your entire sailing season. This list is made up of all types of sailboats , and if you’re looking for a list of some of the best small sailboats for beginners, you’ll find exactly that here.
Any one of these popular boats could be labeled as a trailerable sailboat, daysailer, or even a weekender sailboat. And while most would be labeled as a one or two person sailboat, some could comfortably fit three or even four people.
– CHECK THE WEATHER – The weather changes all the time. Always check the forecast and prepare for the worst case. Safety Tip Provided by the U.S. Coast Guard
Marblehead 22 Daysailer
If you have an eye for elegant lines and your heart goes pitter-patter over just the right amount of overhang beneath a counter transom, the Marblehead 22 daysailer, designed by Doug Zurn and built by Samoset Boatworks in Boothbay, Maine, will definitely raise your pulse. Traditional-looking above the waterline and modern beneath, the cold-molded hull sports a deep bulb keel and a Hall Spars carbon-fiber mast with a wishbone rig and square-top main. The 11-foot-9-inch cockpit can seat a crowd, and a small cuddy forward will let you stow your friends’ gear for the day. samosetboatworks.com
Catalina 22 Sport
Many a harbor plays host to an active fleet of Catalina 22s, one of the most popular small sailboats over the years, given its basic amenities and retractable keel, which allows it to be easily trailered. Recently, the company introduced the Catalina 22 Sport, an updated design that can compete with the older 22s. The boat features a retractable lead keel; a cabin that can sleep four, with a forward hatch for ventilation; and a fractional rig with a mainsail and a roller-furling jib. Lifelines, a swim ladder, and an engine are options, as are cloth cushions; vinyl cushions are standard. The large cockpit will seat a crowd or let a mom-and-pop crew stretch out and enjoy their sail. It’s clear why the Catalina 22 is one of the best sailboats under 25 feet. catalinayachts.com
With its large, open-transom cockpit and sloop rig, the Hunter 22 makes a comfortable daysailer for family and friends. But with its cuddy cabin, twin bunks, optional electrical system, opening screened ports, and portable toilet, a parent and child or a couple could comfortably slip away for an overnight or weekend. Add in the optional performance package, which includes an asymmetric spinnaker, a pole, and a mainsheet traveler, and you could be off to the races. The boat features a laminated fiberglass hull and deck, molded-in nonskid, and a hydraulic lifting centerboard. Mount a small outboard on the stern bracket, and you’re set to go. marlow-hunter.com
Not sure whether you want to race, cruise or just go out for an afternoon sail? Since 1958, sailors have been having a ball aboard the Uffa Fox/George O’Day-designed Daysailer. Fox, who in the 1950s was on the cutting edge of planning-dinghy design, collaborated with Fall River, Massachusetts boatbuilder O’Day Corp. to build the 16-foot Daysailer, a boat that features a slippery hull and a small cuddy cabin that covers the boat roughly from the mast forward. Thousands of Daysailers were built by various builders, and they can be found used for quite affordable prices. There are active racing fleets around the US, and new Daysailers are still in production today, built by Cape Cod Ship Building. capecodshipbuilding.com
BayRaider from Swallow Boats
Easy to rig and trailer, the BayRaider from England’s Swallow Yachts is a relative newcomer to the small-boat market in the United States. Nearly all of its 19 feet 9 inches is open cockpit, though a spray hood can be added to keep the forward sections dry. The BayRaider is ketch-rigged with a gunter-style mainmast. The topmast and mizzen are both carbon-fiber, which is an option for the mainmast as well. The BayRaider can be sailed with a dry hull in lighter conditions or with 300 pounds of water ballast to increase its stability. With the centerboard and hinged rudder raised, the boat can maneuver in even the thinnest water.
$28,900, (904) 234-8779, swallowyachts.com
Big fun can come in small packages, especially if your vessel of choice happens to be the 12 ½-foot Beetle Cat. Designed by John Beetle and first built in 1921, the wooden shallow draft sailboat is still in production today in Wareham, Massachusetts at the Beetle Boat Shop. With a draft of just 2 feet, the boat is well-suited for shallow bays, but equally at home in open coastal waters. The single gaff-rigged sail provides plenty of power in light air and can be quickly reefed down to handle a blow. In a word, sailing a Beetle Cat is fun. beetlecat.com
– LEARN THE NAVIGATION RULES – Know the “Rules of the Road” that govern all boat traffic. Be courteous and never assume other boaters can see you. Safety Tip Provided by the U.S. Coast Guard
West Wight Potter P 19
With berths for four and a workable galley featuring a cooler, a sink, and a stove, West Wight Potter has packed a lot into its 19-foot-long P 19. First launched in 1971, this is a line of boats that’s attracted a true following among trailer-sailors. The P 19′s fully retractable keel means that you can pull up just about anywhere and go exploring. Closed-cell foam fore and aft makes the boat unsinkable, and thanks to its hard chine, the boat is reportedly quite stable under way. westwightpotter.com
NorseBoat 17.5
Designed for rowing and sailing (a motor mount is optional), the Canadian-built NorseBoat 17.5—one of which was spotted by a CW editor making its way through the Northwest Passage with a two-man crew—features an open cockpit, a carbon-fiber mast, and a curved-gaff rig, with an optional furling headsail set on a sprit. The lapstrake hull is fiberglass; the interior is ply and epoxy. The boat comes standard with two rowing stations and one set of 9-foot oars. The boat is designed with positive flotation and offers good load-carrying capacity, which you could put to use if you added the available canvas work and camping tent. NorseBoats offers a smaller sibling, the 12.5, as well; both are available in kit form.
$19,000, (902) 659-2790, norseboat.com
Montgomery 17
Billed as a trailerable pocket cruiser, the Montgomery 17 is a stout-looking sloop designed by Lyle Hess and built out of fiberglass in Ontario, California, by Montgomery Boats. With a keel and centerboard, the boat draws just under 2 feet with the board up and can be easily beached when you’re gunkholing. In the cuddy cabin you’ll find sitting headroom, a pair of bunks, a portable toilet, optional shore and DC power, and an impressive amount of storage space. The deck-stepped mast can be easily raised using a four-part tackle. The builder reports taking his own boat on trips across the Golfo de California and on visits to California’s coastal islands. Montgomery makes 15-foot and 23-foot models, as well. If you’re in search of a small sailboat with a cabin, the Montgomery 17 has to be on your wish list.
With long overhangs and shiny brightwork, the CW Hood 32 is on the larger end of the daysailer spectrum. Designers Chris Hood and Ben Stoddard made a conscious decision to forego a cabin and head in favor of an open cockpit big enough to bring 4 or 5 friends or family out for an afternoon on the water. The CW Hood 32 is sleek and graceful through the water and quick enough to do some racing, but keeps things simple with a self-tacking jib and controls that can be lead back to a single-handed skipper. A top-furling asymmetrical, electric sail drive and Torqeedo outboard are all optional. The CW Hood 32 makes for a great small family sailboat. cwhoodyachts.com
Sun Cat from Com-Pac
Shallow U.S. East Coast bays and rock-strewn coasts have long been graced by cat boats, whose large, gaff-rigged mainsails proved simple and powerful both on the wind and, better yet, when reaching and running. The 17-foot-4-inch Sun Cat, built by Com-Pac Yachts, updates the classic wooden cat with its fiberglass hull and deck and the easy-to-step Mastender Rigging System, which incorporates a hinged tabernacle to make stepping the mast a one-person job. If you want a personal sailboat ideal for solo sailing, the Sun Can is a great choice. Belowdecks, the twin 6-foot-5-inch berths and many other features and amenities make this cat a willing weekender.
$19,800, (727) 443-4408, com-pacyachts.com
Catalina 16.5
The Catalina 16.5 sits right in the middle of Catalina Yachts’ line of small sailboats, which range from the 12.5 to the 22 Capri and Sport, and it comes in both an easy-to-trailer centerboard model and a shoal-draft fixed-keel configuration. With the fiberglass board up, the 17-foot-2-inch boat draws just 5 inches of water; with the board down, the 4-foot-5-inch draft suggests good windward performance. Hull and deck are hand-laminated fiberglass. The roomy cockpit is self-bailing, and the bow harbors a good-sized storage area with a waterproof hatch. catalinayachts.com
No roundup of best small sailboats (trailerable and fun too) would be complete without a mention of the venerable Hobie 16, which made its debut in Southern California way back in 1969. The company has introduced many other multihulls since, but more than 100,000 of the 16s have been launched, a remarkable figure. The Hobie’s asymmetric fiberglass-and-foam hulls eliminate the need for daggerboards, and with its kick-up rudders, the 16 can be sailed right up to the beach. Its large trampoline offers lots of space to move about or a good place to plant one’s feet when hanging off the double trapezes with a hull flying. The boat comes with a main and a jib; a spinnaker, douse kit, trailer, and beach dolly are optional features. hobiecat.com
Novice sailors or old salts looking for simplicity could both enjoy sailing the Hunter 15. With a fiberglass hull and deck and foam flotation, the boat is sturdily built. The ample freeboard and wide beam provide stability under way, and the heavy-duty rubrail and kick-up rudder mean that you won’t have to worry when the dock looms or the going grows shallow. Both the 15 and its slightly larger 18-foot sibling come standard with roller-furling jibs.
$6,900/$9,500 (boat-show prices for the 15 and 18 includes trailers), (386) 462-3077, marlow-hunter.com
– CHECK THE FIT – Follow these guidelines to make sure your life jacket looks good, stays comfortable and works when you need it. Safety Tip Provided by the U.S. Coast Guard
Super Snark
Under various owners, the Snark brand of sailboats, now built by Meyers Boat Co., has been around since the early 1970s. The Super Snark, at 11 feet, is a simple, easily car-topped daysailer that’s fit out with a lateen rig and sail. Billed as unsinkable, the five boats in the company’s line are built with E.P.S. foam, with the external hull and deck vacuum-formed to the core using an A.B.S. polymer. The Super Snark weighs in at 50 pounds, and with a payload capacity of 310 pounds, the boat can carry two.
$970, (800) 247-6275, meyersboat.com
Norseboat 21.5
Built in Canada, the NorseBoat 21.5 is a rugged looking craft that comes in a couple of configurations: one with an open cockpit and small doghouse, and another with a smaller cockpit and cabin that houses a double berth for two adults and optional quarter berths for the kids. Both carry NorseBoat’s distinctive looking carbon fiber gaff-rigged mast with main and jib (a sprit-set drifter is optional), and come with a ballasted stub keel and centerboard. Because of its lightweight design, the boat can be rowed and is easily trailered.
$36,000 (starting), 902-659-2790, norseboat.com
Flying Scot
Talk about time-tested, the 19-foot Flying Scot has been in production since 1957 and remains a popular design today. Sloop rigged, with a conventional spinnaker for downwind work, the boat is an easily sailed family boat as well as a competitive racer, with over 130 racing fleets across the U.S. Its roomy cockpit can seat six to eight, though the boat is often sailed by a pair or solo. Hull and deck are a fiberglass and balsa core sandwich. With the centerboard up, the boat draws only eight inches. Though intended to be a daysailer, owners have rigged boom tents and berths for overnight trips, and one adventurous Scot sailor cruised his along inland waterways from Philadelphia to New Orleans.
Known primarily for its line of racing dinghys, RS Sailing also builds the 16-foot, 4-inch Venture, which it describes as a cruising and training dinghy. The Venture features a large, self-draining cockpit that will accommodate a family or pack of kids. A furling jib and mainsail with slab reefing come standard with the boat; a gennaker and trapeze kit are options, as is an outboard motor mount and transom swim ladder. The deck and hull are laid up in a fiberglass and Coremat sandwich. The Venture’s designed to be both a good performer under sail, but also stable, making it a good boat for those learning the sport.
$14,900, 203-259-7808, rssailing.com
Topper makes a range of mono- and multihull rotomolded boats, but the model that caught one editor’s eye at Strictly Sail Chicago was the Topaz Taz. At 9 feet, 8 inches LOA and weighing in at 88 pounds, the Taz is not going to take the whole crowd out for the day. But, with the optional mainsail and jib package (main alone is for a single child), the Taz can carry two or three kids or an adult and one child, and would make a fun escape pod when tied behind the big boat and towed to some scenic harbor. The hull features Topper’s Trilam construction, a plastic and foam sandwich that creates a boat that’s stiff, light, and durable, and shouldn’t mind being dragged up on the beach when it’s time for a break.
$2,900 (includes main and jib), 410-286-1960, topazsailboats.com
WindRider WRTango
WRTango, a fast, sturdy, 10-foot trimaran that’s easy to sail, is the newest portable craft from WindRider International. It joins a line that includes the WR16 and WR17 trimarans. The Tango features forward-facing seating, foot-pedal steering, and a low center of gravity that mimics the sensation of sitting in a kayak. It weighs 125 pounds (including the outriggers and carbon-fiber mast), is extremely stable, and has single-sheet sail control. The six-inch draft and kick-up rudder make it great for beaching, while the hull and outriggers are made of rotomolded polyethylene, so it can withstand running into docks and being dragged over rocks.
$3,000, 612-338-2170, windrider.com
More: 21 - 30 ft , Boat Gallery , day sailing , dinghy , Sailboat Reviews , Sailboats , under 20 ft
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Flagship of the new FIRST line, the First 27 is unquestionably the fastest and safest cruiser in this size range. Her modern and state-of-the-art design brings the magic of planing sailing to families, couples, and solo sailors alike, wherever the cruising ground and whatever the weather conditions. A true pocket yacht, she has an inboard Yanmar diesel, a working galley, a real head and plenty of storage, as well as room for up to six crew members for overnight adventures .
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WHY FIRST 27 ?
MODERN & FAST
A light vacuum-infused hull, a modern design and a deep low-center-of-gravity keel make the First 27 significantly faster, delivering stable and safe planing sailing to anyone who sails her.
Very high stability due to an unsinkable hull combined with three unsinkable chambers, a crash-box, an inboard engine, and balanced twin rudders for complete control make safety one of her strongest points.
UNDER CONTROL
Carefully thought-out cockpit ergonomics, minimized and simplified deck controls, double winches, and a perfectly balanced steering system assure easy handling in single-handed, double-handed or fully-crewed setups.
A reliable 15 HP inboard engine coupled with simple linear shaft drive and foldable propeller guarantees high cruising speeds, ease of use and low maintenance.
Even with a fixed keel, the First 27 is a fully trailerable boat offering you a new level of freedom. You can easily discover distant shores without long sea deliveries, save on marina costs, and store your boat in your backyard during the off season.
SAILING EXPERIENCE
The main promise of the First 27 is her performance and unique sailing experience. Again and again, she will surprise you by getting to plane with as little as 12 knots of wind. Her stability comes from her wide, flat hull on the waterline and a lead T-bulb keel, and her easy handling comes from her carefully thought-out design and cockpit ergonomics. Increased bow volume, accompanied by a balanced twin-rudder steering system, keeps you in complete control, whether you are sailing upwind or safely planing downwind. The excitement of her lively planing and easy handling will become your afternoon sailing routine on the First 27!
LIVING ONBOARD
On top of matching the speeds of most racing boats, she also offers a surprising level of comfort. The clean and minimalistic light-weight interior offers all essential amenities for onboard living. She is designed to sleep up to 6 adults, 2 in the bow cabin and up to 4 in a very bright and openly-spaced salon, and is also equipped with a removable table and fridge. At the midpoint, you'll find a galley with a gas burner and a sink with fresh water. Thanks to innovative, foldable magnetic doors, the midpoint can also be converted into a proper marine toilet with a black water tank or used as a front cabin extension. A large and open cockpit welcomes you with comfortable benches, a removable indoor/outdoor table and a swim ladder with a shower on the stern.
360° WALKTROUGH
Equipped with seanapps.
The easiest way to keep your boat safe and ready to cruise anytime.
The new Seanapps app is the ultimate solution to help you indulge your passion for boating. With the touch of your finger, you can easily connect, monitor and order services for your boat – from routine maintenance, to requesting a wash or fuel or having us complete a repair.
The information below is intended for general informational purposes only and is subject to change without notice and does not constitute a contractual agreement. Any descriptions, representations, or statements made in this document are not to be considered binding unless explicitly stated otherwise in a formal contractual agreement.
Length Overall
Beam overall
Light displacement
3902,18 lbs
Air Draft Max
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Yanmar inboard
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SV Lenny takes a spot on the 2023 Transpac podium!
After 11 days at sea, the SV Lenny and her crew placed second in their class. The crew gave their feedback on the boat pre and post race.
2023 Transpac - Meet the Crew of SV Lenny
In June 2023, a few days before SV Lenny started the 2023 Transpac, we spoke to the crew about the race, the boat and their connection to the legendary BENETEAU First boats.
New First 44 “Lenny” will race in the 2023 Transpac
Two legendary races, one Ocean, a new boat from a long successful line of great boats, and a remarkable crew who have sailed on major boat races around the world … BENETEAU’s First 44 is starting a Pacific adventure like no other before.
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Buying a BENETEAU doesn’t have to be a daunting task. We have teams of experts to guide you through the entire process – everything from sea trials, financing, and customization to after-sale commissioning, service, and maintenance. We are proud to have one of the largest, most highly-regarded dealer networks in the world. We’re ready to provide you with the assistance and expertise needed to launch you and your BENETEAU on a lifetime of happy, rewarding, and memorable voyages.
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14.65 m / 48’1’’
4.25 m / 13'11''
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Best Small and Trailerable Sailboats
Cruising with a trailerable sailboat means that you can voyage in a small and comfy sailboat with the advantage of saving some serious costs. Having a trailerable sailboat saves you money for storage fees, boatyard haulout, and boat insurance, among others. There are two main categories of trailerable sailboats; performance-oriented boats and all-round pocket cruisers. So, if you’re a part-time sailor but still want to experience the joys of sailing continue reading this article so as to find out which are the best small and trailerable sailboats on today’s market. Know that there are many decent trailerable sailboats that managed both offshore and coastal cruising. So, keep reading and find the one that suits you best!
Catalina 22 Sport – The Best Trailerable Sailboat
Catalina brand is one of the most constructed sailboats in the US and has manufactured a great deal of capable and robust sailboats. The Catalina 22 Sport is one of the most preferred pocket and race cruisers since 2004. The model pioneers for the one-piece hull liner that has become standard in most high volume small boats. Furthermore, it has enough trim along with a well-proportioned rig and a hand-laid fiberglass hull construction. Other great features include a retractable lead keel, a roomy cabin, a spacious cockpit, and a fractional rig with a mainsail and a roller-furling jib. You can get a used Catalina 22 for as low as $5,000 and a brand spanking new one for around $40,000.
>>Also Read: Beneteau vs. Catalina: Which Is a Better Sailboat?
West Wight Potter 15
The West Wight Potter 15 is one of the best small trailerable and seaworthy 15-foot sailboats of all time. It’s easy to handle and great for both coastal and offshore cruising. She has an aluminum mast and tiller, a small cabin that comfortably sleeps a couple and also we can’t miss referring to her elegant design. Furthermore, it can be easily stored, it’s relatively cheap to buy and can be purchased both as a new or used boat, as many sailors prefer it for stepping up from a dinghy to a pocket cruiser.
>>Also Read: Best Pocket Cruisers Under 20 Feet
This small trailerable boat features a modern design and can be a top choice for many sailors, both for beginners or even for experienced ones. She surprisingly manages well in different weather conditions and she’s also relatively easy to handle. As a result, she has earned by right the title of a truly seaworthy small cruising vessel. Moreover, her robust design from the masthead to keel design is proven to be highly durable and comes with a mainsail and 110% genoa. A great feature of this model is the comfy and interior layout that offers a great amount of space for her size.
And that’s why the Hunter 27 is a great liveable sailboat having enough storage space, 6ft of standing headroom, berths, as well as plenty of counter space and seatings. Lastly, as a true trailer sailor, she has a shoal draft of under 4ft and a displacement of less than 8,000lbs. You can find her in today’s market as a used or brand-new model with a price ranging from $20,000 to $45,000.
>>Also Read: Best Sailboats Under 100k
BayRaider
The BayRaider from UK’s Swallow boats is a somehow newcomer to the small trailerable boat market in the US. She features a large and open cockpit, is ketch-rigged, and has a gunter-style mainmast. As for the topmast and mizzen, they’re both carbon-fiber; you can also apply this to the mainmast. This model can be sailed with a dry hull in lighter weather conditions or if you want to maximize its stability you can do so by removing the 300lbs of water ballast. The water ballast offers great performance in light to medium winds and makes the boat suitable for different sailing or weather conditions and levels of experience. Lastly, as she has the centerboard and hinged rudder raised she can be maneuvered even in the thinnest water. She has a self-tacking rig and is easy to trailer; all these features make her a great choice for novices.
>>Also Read: Most Popular Sailboats
Contessa 26
The Contessa 26 is an all-time-classic and small trailerable sailboat. Even if this vessel is quite small she has proven her seaworthiness and is still preferred as an ideal pocket cruiser. She has a roomy cabin and comfortable cockpit, so there’s no need to worry about below deck space. As for the rigging, it’s quite easy to handle and is rigged as a masthead sloop. Also, her construction comprises of a deep keel and hull-mounted rudder; and that’s why she was also used as a racer. The main downside is her narrow beam which contributes to heeling although she stiffens up quickly and becomes easy to sail. In any case, there are many who admit that she’s one of the most reliable sailboats in the mid-size category.
The Hunter 22 is a great daysailer and features an open-transom cockpit and sloop rig, making her the ideal choice for friends and family outings. Moreover, the considerable amount of below-deck space has twin bunks, a roomy cabin, and a portable toilet. Rigging also includes an asymmetric spinnaker and a mainsheet traveler in case you’re keen on racing. Her construction is made out of laminated fiberglass hull and deck, molded-in nonskid, and a hydraulic lifting centerboard. Last but not least, she’s fast, stable, responsive, and is, therefore, an ideal starter-boat for novices.
Islander 24
The 24-foot Islander is a classic choice in the small trailerable sailboat market. This fiberglass model features a sturdy design and has proven her seaworthiness for coastal and family-day cruising. This model was first built in 1961 but is still available on the used market. She has a masthead sloop rig, simple overall rigging, and is appropriate for single-handing. As for below-deck space, she has a spacious cabin for two with a V-berth, and space for a head. Last but not least, many sailors admit that she’s a lot more capable than many of the later model boats in this size range.
>>Also Read: Best Sailboats Under 30 Feet
Macgregor 25
This trailerable cruising sloop is a safe, easy-handling, and robust sailboat for 2 persons; perfectly suitable for coastal cruising. The boat has a spacious cabin and great safety features like foam flotation as well as the ability to self-right. Its innovative design features a retracting keel, pop-up rudder, and an easy mast-stepping system that enhances its cruising performance. Moreover, it has a large foredeck and cockpit and its lifelines and shrouds are equipped with handholds. You can easily find a Macgregor 25 on the used market with just $9,500.
>>Also Read: Best Small Sailboats To Sail Around The World
Cape Dory 28
The Cape Dory 28 is a popular trailerable sailboat known for its great performance both offshore and inland. Even though it has a small size it offers comfortable living spaces below the deck. In addition, she has proven to be more capable than other larger sailboats. It’s designed with a well-balanced deck arrangement along with a full-length keel with an attached rudder, a low freeboard, and a well-proportioned traditional trunk cabin. These sailboats were originally rigged as sloops with self-tending and club-footed jibs. This sail plan is really great for stiff weather conditions. Lastly, it can be easily hauled-out and transported regardless of its 28ft size. Ideal for salt-water cruising and for tighter coastal waters you can find a used model for $12,900.
>>Also Read: How Much Do Sailboats Weigh?
The Newport 27 is an all-time-classic that was first built in 1971 and is still considered a common choice for small sailboats amongst sailors. Although it has a small size it doesn’t lack interior space. The standing headroom is just over 6ft, there’s a V-berth, a head, and a hanging locker forward of the bulkhead. Also, settees measure 6ft in length and extend to either side of the saloon. Some variations include a fixed dinette with raised seating fore and aft, a starboard quarter berth, and an aft-placed head. You can find them on the used market from $10,000 to $18,000, depending on their condition and any possible upgrades. Even though it’s not a really robust offshore cruiser, the Newport 27 is still a capable trailerable sailboat and if upgraded and equipped accordingly it can definitely offer decent coastal cruising to a singlehander or a couple.
>>Also Read: What Are The Best Beginner Sailboats?
Trailerable sailboats are a great choice for beginner sailors as well as for couple and family outings. Keep in mind that the aforementioned boats are not the only options on today’s market. I recommend these boats because they’re easy to handle, small but roomy, easy to trailer, and have an overall robust design. Generally, a trailer sailor will save you costs for purchasing but also for marina fees. Keep in mind that many sailors choose to sail overseas with a trailerable sailboat, so there are suitable models for a long-passage voyage. Lastly, small sailboats can offer different kinds of sailing adventures; weekend cruising, coastal cruising, island hopping, and sometimes an offshore voyage. I hope that you enjoyed reading this article and that it will help you out in order to pick the right trailerable sailboat for your needs.
Peter is the editor of Better Sailing. He has sailed for countless hours and has maintained his own boats and sailboats for years. After years of trial and error, he decided to start this website to share the knowledge.
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Dear Readers
Sailboat Reviews
The Hunter 27 is a boat built to a price--a low price--and it shows; but it may represent a good value.
The Hunter 27 is the smallest boat in the Hunter line, which runs up to 43′ in length. The Hunter 27 is a popular boat with first-time sailboat buyers, and with small-boat sailors purchasing their first auxiliary cruising boat. Since the boat was introduced in 1975, thousands have been built.
Like other boats with a reasonably long production run, the Hunter 27 has gone through minor changes since its introduction. Wheel steering is now standard. The boat utilizes a split backstay to allow a stern boarding ladder and to prevent the helmsman from hitting his head on a centerline backstay. All the ports open for ventilation, The mainsheet lead has been altered, and there have been other minor modifications, such as a switch to European-style pulpits and running lights.
Judging from the response of Hunter owners we’ve talked to, all Hunters, including the 27, are purchased for one reason: price. The Hunter 27 is just about the cheapest diesel-powered 27′ cruising boat money can buy.
In their advertising literature, Hunter stresses that efficiency in construction, standardization of components, and low overhead keep their prices low, To some extent, this is true, and it is neither new, nor is it anything to be ashamed of. The Herreshoff Manufacturing Company, known neither for cheap boats nor low quality, pioneered in component standardization and assembly-line construction.
By eliminating factory-installed options, every Hunter 27 can be built the same. No going to the stockroom for an optional item. No time-consuming reading of each boat’s specifications as it moves down the assembly line. There are trade-offs, however.
An inability to custom-tailor a boat. A lack of flexibility in deck layout. The Hunter 27 owner must customize his boat at the dealer level, or do it himself. This appeals to dealers, who often make as much on the installation of options as they do on commissions.
The Hunter 27 is a bit high-sided and sterile looking. High freeboard and a high cabin trunk are almost necessary in a 27, boat that claims over 6′ of headroom. The sterility comes from the Hunter bone white on bone white color scheme, and paucity of external teak trim. Exterior teak is to the fiberglass boatbuilding industry what chrome is to Detroit. There are no hull and deck color options.
Construction
Construction of the Hunter 27 is solid glass layup, with plywood reinforcement in high-stress areas such as winch mountings and locker tops. Gelcoat and finish quality of the hull molding are good. No roving printthrough is evident, and the hull is quite fair—more than can be said for many more expensive boats.
The hull-to-deck joint of the Hunter 27 is simple and strong. The hull molding has an internal flange molded at right angles to the hull at deck level. This flange is heavily coated with adhesive bedding, the deck molding is laid over the flange, and the joint covered with a slotted aluminum toerail which is through-bolted with stainless steel bolts at 6-inch intervals. This is an obvious and very satisfactory answer to the hull-to-deck joint problem. The flaying surfaces of the joint appear to match well, and the adhesive compound has squeezed out along the joint where it can be inspected.
Across the transom, the joint is less satisfactory. The gelcoat and putty with which the joint is faired at the stern was sloppy on every Hunter 27 we examined.
The keel of the Hunter 27 is a narrow, high aspect lead fin weighing 3,000 lbs. The shoal draft version has a much shallower lead fin weighing 3,200 lbs. The additional weight of the shoal keel is to make up for the shift in the vertical center of gravity of the boat that would occur if a shoal keel of the same weight as the deep fin were to be used.
The keel-to-hull joint has caused problems in some Hunter 27s. The narrowness of the lead keel at the point of attachment to the hull results in considerable leverage on the hull when the boat heels. Several Hunter 27 owners who returned The Practical Sailor boat owner evaluations report oilcanning of the hull, leaking keelbolts, or vertical misalignment of the hull and keel. We have observed this vertical misalignment in the Hunter 25, but we have not seen it specifically in the 27.
The chainplates of the Hunter 27 consist of stainless steel U-bolts fastened through the anodized aluminum toerail. No backing plates are used with these. The chainplates are likely to carry any load to which they will normally be subjected. However, a simple U-bolt, no matter how heavy, is a poor choice for a primary chainplate unless the arc of the U-bolt is radiused to the diameter of the clevis pin which goes through it, and unless the strain on the bolt lines up with its vertical axis, U-bolt chainplates of the correct configuration are used in some European boats, notably the Nicholson and Bowman lines. Both of these lines of boats carry Lloyd’s Bureau of Shipping classification certificates. We strongly suggest that Hunter 27 owners consider installing aluminum or stainless steel backing plates under their U-bolt chainplates, and check them periodically to be sure that the nuts are tight. With only two nuts on each shroud anchorage, this check is extremely important.
The rig is a modern, high aspect ratio masthead sloop. The mast is a deck-stepped, white Kenyon spar, supported by a wood compression column attached to the main bulkhead. We have seen no sign of compression stress in the Hunter 27 mast step.
Hunter uses gate valves on underwater skin fittings, We prefer seacocks. We also prefer some kind of shutoff valve on any skin fitting remotely near the waterline. Few builders provide them. Hunter is no exception.
Handling Under Sail
The Hunter 27 comes with a mainsail and 110% genoa. The total sail area with this configuration is 360 square feet, an average amount for a modern 7,000 lb boat. A larger genoa will be required for sailing in light-air areas.
Despite a ballast/displacement ratio of almost 43%, owners do not consider the Hunter 27 a stiff boat under sail. They also consider the boat’s performance under sail only fair to good. There are several reasons for the boat’s mediocre sailing qualities.
First of all, the boat comes factory-equipped with sails. This means cheaper sails, for they are bought in quantity by the builder. It also, almost inevitably, means sails that are not designed for specific local conditions. Average sails make for average performance.
There is no provision for headsail sheeting angle adjustment. Without a genoa track, all headsails must sheet to the slotted toerail. On a wide 27-footer with this arrangement, the headsail slot will rarely be the proper width for good windward performance.
With a small headsail, the lead will almost always be too far outboard.
There is also no traveler for the main sheet. This limits the creation of the proper angle of attack of the mainsail, and complicates draft control.
A relatively fat boat such as the Hunter 27 rapidly acquires weather helm as the boat heels. This is due in part to the asymmetry of the boat’s submerged sections. The judicious use of sail controls such as travelers, vangs, and flattening reefs greatly enhances the ability to keep the boat sailing on her feet, which will help reduce weather helm. Hunter 27 owners complain that the boat suffers from extreme weather helm.
Chainplates set at the outboard edge of the deck also compromise windward performance. This arrangement makes it almost impossible to close the slot effectively with a large headsail.
If the Hunter 27 were equipped with well-made sails, inboard chainplates, inboard and outboard headsail tracks, a good vang, and a mainsheet traveler, we suspect that there would be a substantial improvement in the boat’s windward ability. There would also be a marked difference in price. Should you desire to make these changes, the parts would probably cost upwards of $1,500. Then the problems begin. How do you attach the chainplates? Will the deck take the vertical loading that will be on the track? Can the boom handle heavy vang loads? We are not talking about turning the Hunter 27 into a hot racer. We are only talking about improving the performance of the boat to a reasonable level for cruising.
Windward performance, then, is one of the tradeoffs made for low price. Only the prospective purchaser, after considering how the boat is to be used, can decide how much that is worth. Since the shoal-draft Hunter 27 is more heavily ballasted than the deep-draft version, its stability is likely to be similar. However, the deep, high aspect ratio fin is likely to be more efficient.
Handling Under Power
With only eight horsepower to push around a 7,000 lb, high-sided boat, do not expect a Hunter 27 to be a sprightly performer under power.
In 1979, the power plant of the Hunter 27 was changed from the eight horsepower Renault diesel. The Renault diesels were relatively untried in the US marine market. The early Yanmar engines, though noisy and noted for their vibration, are also known for their reliability.
At least one owner we talked to was, to put it mildly, disappointed with the Renault installation. Although the engine runs well, the attachment of the shifting mechanism to the transmission lever has the disconcerting habit of vibrating itself loose. When docking, the results of this shortcoming could be less than amusing to both the boat owner and his insurance company.
Owners of Renault-powered Hunter 27s should definitely be aware of this potential problem.
Another owner reported leaking strut bolts and shaft wear due to improper shaft alignment, All engine installations should be realigned after the boat is launched for the first time. This should be a routine part of commissioning, but it rarely is. A given used Hunter 27 may not have had it done.
Engine access is good, behind the removable companionway ladder. There is partial soundproofing in the engine enclosure, but not enough to shield the interior from a substantial amount of noise.
Fuel capacity is 12.5 gallons, in an aluminum tank located in the starboard cockpit locker. The tank is held in place by a stainless steel strap, There is no grounding jumper between the fuel fill and the tank. This is in violation of the standards for fuel tank installation of the American Boat and Yacht Council, which sets minimum standards used in the industry.
Owners consider the boat underpowered with either the Renault or Yanmar engines. They consider the boat’s performance under power only fair to good.
Deck Layout
Because the Hunter 27’s decks are relatively free of sail control hardware, there are relatively few toe stubbers. Even the grayest cloud has a silver lining.
New Hunter 27s have international style running lights mounted on the bow and stern pulpits. These are far superior to the in-hull running lights on older Hunters, and better than those used on many more expensive boats. New boats also have a good-sized foredeck anchor well, incorporating a well-designed latch and a heavy stainless steel eye for the attachment of the bitter end of the anchor rode. The well has a large scupper which drains through the stem.
Although owners consider the cockpit of the Hunter 27 small, we find it comfortable for five, and certainly large enough for a 27′ boat. Wheel steering has definitely made the cockpit seem bigger. With five people in the cockpit, the stern of the boat begins to squat. A bigger cockpit would only encourage sailing with more people, causing the boat to squat even more.
Late models have Yacht Specialties pedestal steering. There is good provision for an emergency tiller, which is supplied with the boat.
Access to the steering gear is excellent, through the lazarette locker. Unfortunately, because the steering gear, scupper hoses, and exhaust hose go through this locker, it cannot be used for storage. To do so would be to risk damage to vital parts of the ship’s systems.
There is a large locker under the starboard cockpit seat. Unfortunately, because the fuel tank is located in this locker, nothing can really be stowed there without risking damage to the fuel system. Wet lines or sails stored in the locker would drip on the aluminum tank, inviting corrosion. Shelves installed in both these lockers would make them more useful.
To raise the cockpit sill above the level of the lowest cockpit coaming, the lower drop-board must be left in place, This complicates access below when underway, but having the companionway blocked up to deck level is essential for sailing in unsheltered waters or heavy weather.
The cockpit bulkhead slopes forward. This means that a dodger must be installed if one wishes to ventilate the cabin in rain or heavy weather.
The high cockpit coamings provide good backrests for those sitting in the cockpit. They should also help keep the cockpit dry. These coamings have moldedin sheet winch islands. The owner wishing to upgrade to winches larger than the standard Lewmar 7s will discover that the islands are too small for a much larger winch. For the owner who wishes to use a large genoa, this could be a real problem. Despite these shortcomings, the T-shaped cockpit is reasonably comfortable, and is one of the boat’s better design features.
The Hunter 27 is a roomy boat. Headroom is just over 6′ under the main hatch, and almost 5′ 10″ at the forward end of the main cabin.
The forepeak contains a double berth. Aft of that cabin is a full-width head. Newer Hunter 27s have a holding tank system. Older boats are likely to have portable heads.
The main cabin has settee berths port and starboard. These settees extend under the forward bulkhead. While this arrangement reduces seating area, it also allows more room for the galley and quarterberth. It’s a reasonable trade-off.
To port, at the aft end of the cabin, there is a quarterberth. A folding chart table is located over the forward end of the quarterberth. To starboard is the galley, with sink, two-burner alcohol stove, and icebox.
With eight opening ports, two opening hatches, and the companionway, ventilation in newer Hunter 27s is excellent at anchor in good weather. Older models have fewer opening ports. As with many boats, there is no provision for ventilation in heavy weather.
With a molded glass headliner, teak-finished bulkheads, solid teak trim, and teak cabin sole, the cabin has a finished appearance. There is good storage for a boat of this size for short-term cruising. Joinerwork is of fair stock boat quality.
Conclusions
A new Hunter 27 in the ’80s was about the least expensive boat in its class—far cheaper than many other boats of this size. The boat also comes standard with items that are optional on other boats, such as wheel steering, life jackets, anchor, and fire extinguishers.
However, it is not realistic to expect a boat that is 15% cheaper than another boat of the same size and type to be equivalent in quality. There is just so much that efficiency, standardization, and bulk buying can do toward reducing the price of a boat. Inevitably, the price of a boat is a function the time, materials, and incidental costs that go into it. There is no magic way to reduce the cost of building a boat.
The Hunter 27 graphically demonstrates how costs can be reduced. A great deal of time is saved in construction by hurrying finish work, by using staples instead of screws, by eliminating the necessity to customize each boat.
Hunter owners are the first to admit the influence that the low price of the boat had on their boat-buying decision. Many are happy with their boats, some are defensive about them, and others are really unhappy with them. For the relatively unsophisticated sailboat buyer—the new sailor, the powerboat convert—the Hunter 27 may represent a good value. As his experience grows, we expect he will be willing to pay more, in order to get more.
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Thank you for this article as I, a novice am about to rehab and deal with a 1978 Hunter. As I go through this I suspect many a sentence will ring in my mind to remind me what an experienced sailor has: time to reflect on learning experiences and sharing it with others. Best Wishes and fair winds – Alex Schult
I have a 1979 Hunter 27 I have completely restored her I re manned a yanmar 20gmf new North Sailes new standing and running rigging keel bolts do not leak self tailing winches yes she is a production boat but points and sails fine for cruising. Interior completely renovated hmmn no staples! I have seen and been on some so called higher end boats quality and preformence is a matter of opinion you need deep pockets for a custom boat if you have the $$$ go for it for me I’ll stick with my Hunter 27 Aura great boat without breaking the bank!😎
Hey Theodore, I’ve owned a 82 Hunter 27’ for over 20 years. I took a job about 5 years ago that included a lot of international travel and found myself using my boat for doc candy and Christmas decorations at our home doc. So, I’m beginning a complete refrub, which includes a new Yanmar motor (ouch). I’ve got quite a bit of interior and exterior rehab with not a lot of experience. Anyway I could pull on some of your experience?
We purchased a 1979 Hunter 27 in 2020 as an upgrade from our Nordica 16. Our territory (the Baie de Chaleurs) in northern New Brunswick Canada has a reputation for unpredictable winds and weather. I installed wheel steering (an Edson outfit) which greatly improved my enjoyment. However, I still has issued with docking using the low-cockpit controls for the Yanmar diesel. Researching for solutions, I came across the website of “Electric Yacht” out of Minnesota. So, in 2021, I converted the drive to electric. It has taken me two years to sell the Yanmar. The conversion cost me around $15,000 CA including 4 hours for a machinist to align the propeller shaft and electric motor properly (the hardest part). We are more than happy with the results. Docking now is a joy. I even learned to back-in to our berth and my eyes are always on my surroundings. All the controls are on my binacle The 10 KW motor uses four 150 AmpHr lithium iron-phosphate batteries and works flawlessly. We have even crossed the bay to Quebec twice under just power alone. No gas, no fumes, no noise. He are happy saiiers 🙂
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7 Trailerable Sailboats That Have Standing Headroom
Trailering your boat is a great way to sail in a lot of different places while keeping your boat budget in control. You can take a smaller boat a long way to launch it somewhere new, and you don't get saddled with a lot of mooring and dockage fees while your boat sits around unused.
That sounds great, but one key word in about trailerable sailboats is small . To move a boat on a street legal trailer without special permits and problems, it has to stay within certain size limits.
You may struggle to find a trailer sailer with head room when you're down below. But there are some out there that an average person doesn't have to sit to work in the galley, and we've put together a list of seven great pocket cruisers you can stand up in (if you're not too tall!).
On this page:
Standing headroom and trailering, westerly pageant, catalina 25, grampian 26, beneteau first 27, macgregor 26m / tattoo 26, corsair 760.
Our list includes some old classics dating back to the 70s, new boats in production today, and even a high performance multihull. The range of trailer sailers to pick from is enormous, but if you want something you can stand up in, here's a good place to start.
Catalina 25 (poptop)
MacGregor 26
The terms "trailerable" and "standing headroom" are both a little vague. Many boats can be moved by trailer, but you wouldn't want to move them that way every weekend. Bigger boats require heavier trucks and trailers, and once they get past eight feet of beam, you may need permits, special routing, and commercial equipment. Just because you can get it on a trailer doesn't mean it's "trailerable" in this context.
And standing headroom means something very different to different people. It's not just tall and short people who need different space, but what space in the boat you can stand in. Most people can stand up inside a small boat with the companionway open, but can you cook standing up with your head out in the cockpit? Or stand and stretch on a rainy day?
For our purposes, we're going to use the following definitions:
A trailerable boat is one you can launched, rig, and recover with the crew which sails it, an move on normal roads with no special permits or commercial tow vehicles. Many boats will fit on a trailer, but to be "trailerable" it needs to be reasonable to use for a trip on a long weekend, starting from and ending on a trailer. Most roads in North America have a vehicle width limit of a little over eight feet without special permits. This eliminates any boat with a beam much over eight and a half feet.
Standing headroom for this discussion means a person of average height (5'10" or 178 cm for men) can stand inside the main saloon, out of the elements. It doesn't mean you can stand everywhere down below, but you should be able to stand and move around a bit, get dressed and undressed without doing calisthenics, and hopefully work in the galley if there is one. "Headroom" on a boat is a very fuzzy measurement, and is distorted by marketing hype and wishful thinking. There isn't a standardized measurement for it, so we'll work with our own.
Within these parameters, there are many boats. If you can deal with some inconvenience in your trailering, or you only plan to move your boat by trailer once or twice a season, you can get more boat and still get the headroom you want. But that's not what's on our list.
Built by Westerly Marine in the 1970s, the Pageant is a 23' bilge keeled cruiser with full standing headroom in the saloon. At 4,300 pounds, it's heavy for its size and is known more for comfort than speed. The bilge keels may make getting onto a trailer interesting and require modifications to accommodate its under water layout.
There is a fin keeled version marketed as the Kendal 23/24, with a four-foot draft and two hundred pounds less displacement. They built only a few, so they're difficult to find.
Hull Type: Twin Keel
LOA: 23.00 ft / 7.01 m
LWL: 19.00 ft / 5.79 m
Beam: 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
Draft (max): 2.83 ft / 0.86 m
Displacement: 4,300 lb / 1,950 kg
Ballast: 2,094 lb / 950 kg
The Catalina 25 is one of the most popular pocket cruisers built, with almost 6,000 hulls built between 1978 and 1994. A variety of keel styles and rigs were built, including a fin keel, swing keel, winged keel, and a tall rig. But the most distinctive feature of these boats is the "pop top" over the companionway, which enabled the entire area in the saloon under the companionway to lift for standing headroom. Some owners built covers and sides, enclosing this area into a true part of the belowdecks space.
The pop top was an option prior to 1987, but became standard after that through the end of the production run. It's important to know the build year for any Catalina 25 you consider, since the features varied considerably. Always check pictures for the pop top!
Hull Type: Fin w/transom hung rudder
LOA: 25.00 ft / 7.62 m
LWL: 22.17 ft / 6.76 m
Beam: 8.00 ft / 2.44 m
Draft (max): 4.00 ft / 1.22 m
Displacement: 4,550 lb / 2,064 kg
Ballast: 1,900 lb / 862 kg
This trimaran is fast, but still has six feet of headroom. With the amas folded, the boat is narrow enough to trailer and with a 3,000 displacement is light and easy to move. While you won't have the interior beam of an eight-foot wide monohull in the living space, you will have quite a comfortable space with room to stand. But unlike most of the shallow draft, trailerable monohulls on this list, this one can hit fifteen knots under sail.
Hull Type: Trimaran w/ centerboard
Rig Type: Fractional Sloop
LOA: 27.49 ft / 8.38 m
LWL: 26.51 ft / 8.08 m
Beam: 18.01 ft / 5.49 m (8.6' folded amas)
Displacement: 3,000 lb / 1,361 kg
Draft (max): 4.27 ft / 1.30 m
Draft (min): 0.98 ft / 0.30 m
The Canadian-built Grampian 26 was built from the late sixties through the late seventies, and many of the almost 1,000 boats that were built are still around. It has six feet of headroom inside, an enclosed head, and a galley. It's an ideal weekender for a couple, or even a couple with a small child. Some boats had inboard engines, others had outboards. Additional options were for a keel or a centerboard model; with 4'3" of draft, the keel model is still easy to trailer.
Hull Type: Fin w/spade rudder
Rigging Type: Masthead Sloop
LOA: 26.00 ft / 7.92 m
LWL: 21.75 ft / 6.63 m
Beam: 8.33 ft / 2.54 m
Draft (max): 4.25 ft / 1.30 m
Displacement: 5,600 lb / 2,540 kg
Ballast: 2,600 lb / 1,179 kg
One of the few new and in production boats in this list, the Beneteau First 27 is a fraction of an inch under our 5'10" qualifier (technically 5′9 5/16"), but it's such a roomy and quick boat that it seems appropriate to waive a few millimeters. This lightweight boat has sleeping space for up to six, and has a galley, fridge, and a proper marine head.
Don't confuse this boat with the earlier First 27 from 1978 or the First 27 SE (for "Seascape"), sold as the First 27 from 2018 to 2020 after Beneteau acquired Seascape. Those were quite different boats, though they had their own merits and strengths. They didn't have quite the headroom or interior volume as the newest model, and the earlier boat had too much beam for easy trailering.
Finds specs here
Hull Type: Fin w/bulb & dual rudders
Rigging Type: Fractional Sloop
LOA: 26.21 ft / 7.99 m
Beam: 8.33 ft / 2.54 m
Draft (max): 5.58 ft / 1.70 m
Displacement: 3,902 lb / 1,770 kg
Ballast: 1,345 lb / 610 kg
The MacGregor 26 series of boats is the most popular trailer sailor ever built. The first "Mac 26" was built in 1986, and went through several design upgrades and enhancements, including the 25D (dagger board), 26S (centerboard), 26X (dual rudder, motor sailing) culminating in the 26M (motorsailor with a rotating spar) built from 2002 though 2013. Earlier models have less headroom, but all are water ballasted, lightweight trailerable boats. The later 26X and 26M models can be equipped with rather large outboards (for sailboats) which could hit almost 20 knots under power.
Though the rigs on these boats are undersized and they're lightly built, they're spacious near shore and inland cruisers you can easily rig and de-rig for a weekend of sailing.
The founder of MacGregor Boats, Roger MacGregor, retired in 2013, and his daughter Laura founded Tattoo Yachts and bought the tooling for the 26M. Tattoo continues to build the Tattoo 26, which is a Macgregor 26M with a few modernizations and enhancements.
Hull Type: Daggerboard
Rigging Type: Frac. Sloop (Rotating Spar)
LOA: 25.83 ft / 7.87 m
LWL: 23.17 ft / 7.06 m
Beam: 7.75 ft / 2.36 m
Sail Area (reported): 300.00 ft2 / 27.87 m2
Draft (max): 5.75 ft / 1.75 m
Draft (min): 1.00 ft / 0.30 m
Displacement: 4,000 lb / 1,814 kg
Ballast: 1,450 lb / 658 kg
Corsair Trimarans offers several trailerable tris which meet the headroom test. The Corsair 760 is the smallest current production model, and like the Catalina 25, this 24' trimaran uses a clever pop-top over the companionway to get more headroom. It's sleeps two in the default configuration, though a foldable table can convert to sleep four.
Corsair designs their trimarans for easy setup and breakdown of the amas, and can be setup and launched in under an hour. The very shallow draft allows for anchoring in areas many boats can not, and even beaching.
The larger Corsair 970 is also trailerable with standing headroom, as is the older F-31.
Hull Type: Trimaran Daggerboard.
Rigging Type: Frac. Sloop (Rotating Spar)
LOA: 24.25 ft / 7.39 m
Beam: 17.91 ft / 5.46 m
S.A. (reported): 410.10 ft2 / 38.10 m2
Beam (folded): 8.17 ft / 2.5 m
Draft (max): 5.25 ft / 1.60 m
Draft (min): 0.98 ft / 0.30 m
Displacement: 2,094 lb / 950 kg
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The Working Man's Guide to Trailer Sailing
Let's face it, life would be better with a 40 foot sailing yacht sitting on the hook just off your front yard on a tropical island. But if you are not quite there yet, maybe you want to start a little smaller. Let me introduce you to the Trailer Sailer.
A trailerable sailboat is in many ways better than a keel boat or a dinghy. You can get a trailer down a boat ramp, it stores for free in your backyard, and it has many of the benefits of a keel boat or dinghy, with fewer drawbacks. Some might argue that the perfect sailboat is the trailer sailer.
Table of contents
Trailer Sailers offer the Best of Both Worlds
For the last five years I have dabbled in both trailerable boats and keel boats, and have personally owned two trailerable sailboats .
They really were the perfect boats for my needs. They were small enough that I could tow them with my Ford Ranger, but big enough that I could sail outside the demarcation line at Cape Lookout in North Carolina, just one mile from the Atlantic Ocean.
They had a water ballast system so I could sail my wife, two dogs, myself and a whole weekend's worth of gear and a 13 foot dinghy though the sand bars and shallows of Bogue Sound and never have to drop my center board once.
They also fed me by allowing me to teach a few dozen sailors to master the tempestuous winds of East Carolina before I decided Hurricanes-be-damned and moved to Utah, I must admit I choked up a bit because these boats owed me nothing and I was sorry to see them go.
Trailerable Sailboats Can’t Handle as Much
Trailer Sailers are not perfect for every occasion despite my enthusiasm. Oftentimes the wind was just too much for these little girls, especially in places like East Carolina.
On days like those, sailing was not possible and I would drop sails and just motor, awkwardly, up the channel home.
Anything over 15 knots and the boat would be overpowered and simply luff up into the wind while under sail.
Luckily I had a really good 9-horse yamaha on days like that and we still enjoyed a day on the water - mostly.
That is to say, we always had fun, except when we didn’t, and that was the case on 4th of July 2019.
Jennifer and I decided to head to the cape that weekend in our trailer sailer “Flo’s Revenge” to escape the holiday crowds that always seem to pack into Beaufort to celebrate a holiday in the pre-covid days.
We set out at 6 pm on Friday with a pile of food and beer, tents and charcoal, dogs and sleeping bags.
We sailed over with a reefed main and a motor and arrived shortly before sunset to find that our usual anchorage had been erased from existence earlier in the season by a storm.
We decided to find a new spot and selected one that wasn’t quite as protected with less beach and more exposure to the channel traffic.
The first night went fine and we arose the next morning to find a bright sunshiny hightide and a steady stream of boats making their way across from Harkers Island.
We enjoyed the day, although we discovered that our dinghy motor was on the fritz and that when the tide went out, we were hard aground tilting the wrong way. At some point in the night, a thunderstorm came through, that I managed to sleep through.
Unfortunately, the tilt of the boat made my wife roll out of her bunk and the hatch leaked perfectly onto her forehead. We were forced to close the hatch to keep the wind and rain out, but the little boat turned into a sauna with my wife, myself, and two dogs packed inside and a tropical East Carolina thunderstorm raging outside.
Our boat rode hard at anchor that night and bounced off the bottom as the wind pushed us up against the beach. By the next morning, my wife was ready to kill me for sleeping so soundly and the boat was a good 30 feet up the beach from the high tide line.
Our tent had been shredded by the winds and most of our food was washed out to sea or soaked in sand and saltwater. Needless to say, I was in deep trouble for sleeping so hard.
I waited for the high tide to come in and told my wife that we would head home as soon as we could float the boat. But as the tide came in, I realized that the storm had surged us higher than the morning tide would rise and I could feel my wife’s ire build to a level that I don't think I ever want to see again. She was hot, mosquito bitten, tired, wet and now because our boat was so great a beaching, stuck there until I could figure out how to get it off the beach.
Thankfully one of the parade of power boats came close enough that I could hail them and asked them to haul my boat off the beach, which they did with great difficulty. We sailed back home and put the boat in the backyard and never sailed it again.
I tell you this story because it illustrates the real experiences of trailer sailing, with all its drawbacks, but the truth is I did love that little boat.
Raise The Mast On Shore
Trailer sailers can be a challenge to launch and retrieve much like any boat, but with trailer sailers there is the question of the mast.
The mast on pretty much all trailer sailers can be raised and lowered on the ramp or at the dock, and that makes it way cheaper and easier than having the raise and lower the mast with yacht club crain or pay a yard to step your stick.
The challenge however is raising it on shore or in the water. I have done both and have decided it is way easier to do it on shore as you can reach all the fasteners and leverage the halyard from the ground.
And if your wife drops a turnbuckle, it doesn’t sink in 15 feet of water.
Watch Out For Obstructions
Dropping integral items in the water is just one draw back. I have also seen more than one vessel precipitously drop their mast immediately after stepping, by backing their trailer into a tree branch on their way down to the water.
It took them the better part of an afternoon to raise that mast and it came down in mere seconds when challenged by a scrub oak branch hanging over the ramp.
The worst part was, the entire boating world was watching when they struggled to raise their mast and when they dropped it at the boat ramp. Your best bet is to practice raising and lowering your mast in your backyard before ever trying to do it down at the dock or boat ramp and always look up for trees and wires.
Water Ballast
Another issue in launching was my water ballast. It was a blessing in shallow water for stability but proved a bit tedious when launching and retrieving.
My manual said to let the boat sit immediately after launching to allow the ballast tank to fill, but more than once I damn near capsized the boat when climbing aboard to check to see if it was filled.
Air embolisms could stop the filing process and without a full ballast tank that boat had the stability of a sippy cup on a glass topped coffee table.
Towing a Sailboat
Hauling was an issue as well. While my little ford ranger had no problem hauling the boat with a dry ballast tank, barnacles and seaweed could clog the ballast drain and make it a real challenge to haul.
I never had to dive under to dislodge any seafood samples, but I always was afraid I would have to some day, and had to wait until it was completely drained before trying to traverse the entire boat ramp when towing with my ranger.
My GMC however could haul that thing with flat tires dragging a danforth though so if you do decide to trailer sail, make sure you get yourself a decent truck to do your towing.
Other than the ballast and mast, launching and hauling is relatively similar to any other boat. Depending on how deep your draft is, a sailboat can be a bit more difficult on shallow ramps.
Lots of trailer sailer trailers come with extensions to allow you to drop the trailer even deeper into the water for shallow ramps and deeper draft vessels.
The big thing is to ensure that whatever trailer you use, that it works nicely with your hull. And most trailerable sailboats in my experience are a package deal with the trailer so I would recommend you go with the manufacturer when selecting a trailer and don't go shopping for a better deal on a trailer.
Maintenance Is Easier With a Trailer Sailer
While a trailerable sailboat is free of many of the pitfalls of boating like docking, yard fees and mast stepping, it is still a boat.
Engine troubles, bottom paint and on board storage are all challenges. No one that I know of has ever created a boat that doesn’t need oil changes, doesn’t grow barnacles and doesn’t need a ton more storage than it is designed with. It's just a boat.
With a trailer sailer, you can work on your motor next to your garage in your driveway and do all the fresh water flushes your garden hose can handle.
You can also skip bottom painting if you dry sail your boat, which is to say never leave it in the water for more than several hours.
But if you decide to leave it overnight, odds are you’ll have a scum line and barnacle babies by morning.
And for storage, the only saving grace is you can load your boat in your driveway and save the three dozen trips between your boat and the car at the boat ramp.
Register Your Trailer
You're also gonna have to register your trailer sailer and your trailer, if you decide to ever leave your driveway.
Septic System
You will have to ensure that you have a compliant septic system which is oftentimes a bucket or for the high brow sailors, a chemical toilet on trailer boats.
Most trailer sailers don't have a holding tank due to the fact that you don't want to have to drive down the road with a full holding tank. And many also lack a usable size water tank as well for the same reason.
USCG Boardings
Just because your boat lives in your driveway instead of on a dock, doesn’t mean it is not subject to USCG boardings when underway. So flares, noisemakers and PFDs are all legally required as well.
Other Trailerable Boats
We have a great article on the top types of trailerable sailboats. But there are literally all kinds both new and used.
One of my favorite is the corsair pulse, a boat being manufactured in Vietnam that is a trailerable catamaran.
I envisioned taking this boat up to the northern reaches of Canada and sailing in the Arctic with it.
It’s got enough room to live aboard with lots of winter gear. You can launch it virtually anywhere and it's stable enough that you probably won’t pitch-pole into sub freezing water.
Start Small and Cheap
But if a new boat isn’t in your budget, the used trailer sailer market is super hot right now.
With Covid 19, folks are looking for all sorts of ways to get away and not have to worry about exposure.
What better way is there to get away and socially distance than taking your trailer sailer to the lake or to a remote beach for the weekend?
You can pick up hunter 23.5’s for sale around the country with most offered for $6K or less. Hunter 27s are also to be found but go for $30K plus.
My suggestion is if you're gonna buy your first trailer sailer, start small and cheap. The bigger your boat the more expense and the bigger truck you’ll need to launch it.
Practice Parking With Your Trailer & Boat
No one likes to drive a trailer and even fewer people like to back one up.
Particularly when you have a sailboat with a 30 foot mast up. It's never fun and quite frankly embarrassing when you do it wrong.
I always tell my students looking to trailer a boat to go to a massive parking lot on New Year’s day and spend three hours practicing backing your trailer into parking spots. There really is no other way to get good at it.
Trailer Guides, Rollers, and Side Straps
Even if you can back your trailer beautifully, you also need to put your boat on your trailer and that is even harder when it’s a sailboat.
Installing trailer guides on your trailer if you don't have them makes a huge difference in lining up your boat with your trailer bunks.
I also like rollers instead of flat bunks to hold the boat on the trailer, but with sailboats that's tough because they can roll the boat off on the boat ramp prematurely when backing in.
My hunter has a bow bumper that never quite worked right on my trailer. The boat always hit too high or too low and the winch strap chaffed it.
I took to leaving the boat a foot back from the bunk and using a chain to hold the boat on the trailer.
Never take your boat on the road without side straps. Many people think that because there are trailer guides and a bow strap holding it on the trailer, that you will be fine.
But turning corners and sloshing water in the hull have a tendency to flip boats over while going home and no one wants to be the guy to pick his boat up off the highway or worse yet, have to flip your truck back over when your boat decides to take you for a ride.
Is Trailer Sailing for Everyone?
A resounding no is my answer to that whenever I am asked.
When I was selling my hunters, I had lots of tire kickers come by and more than a few who could never handle a little boat like this in what remained of their lives.
Age, obesity and gravity are all challenges when it comes to trailer sailing. On shore you have to climb up the trailer to step the mast and clean the boat and do all kinds of other stuff and in the water, you have an unstable deck with great big steps on to the foredeck and onto the dock.
As much as this boat was a plug and play sailboat, it wasn't for anyone who lacked a certain agility.
One time docking I got my foot caught in the life line with a student and came real close, if I didn’t actually fracture my wrist.
Trailer sailboats are smaller and less stable than their oversized cousins with the keels. If you are in anyway, limited in your physical prowess, a trailer sailboat may not be the best choice for you.
So that’s my take on trailer sailers.
A younger me would have loved to have a whole fleet of them, but as I age I tend to think a 60 foot catamaran far away from the North Atlantic is more my speed.
Trailer Sailers are way cheaper than keel boats to own without having to pay for a dock, mast stepping and storage, but they are not a plaything and should be respected like every other boat.
They meet all the requirements to be USCG regulated and they can go in big water if you want to take them there, but they are not an easy ride back.
Practice your mast stepping and trailer backing with no one watching and try not to be too much of a ramp hog while you're in the public eye.
Start small, as big boats are a pain to drive on a trailer.
So do good, have fun, and sail far. Thanks for reading.
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Capt Chris German
Capt Chris German is a life long sailor and licensed captain who has taught thousands to sail over the last 20 years. In 2007, he founded a US Sailing-based community sailing school in Bridgeport, CT for inner city youth and families. When Hurricane Sandy forced him to abandon those efforts, he moved to North Carolina where he set out to share this love for broadcasting and sailing with a growing web-based television audience through The Charted Life Television Network.
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COMMENTS
Biggest Trailerable Sailboats
These vessels feature comfortable cabins, excellent sailing characteristics, and they all meet the requirements for towing on U.S. highways. The best and largest trailerable sailboats are the Cal 20, the Catalina 22, the O'Day 240, The Islander 24, the Moore 24, the Cal 25, the Helms 25, the MacGregor 26, and the Nor'Sea 27.
7 Best Trailerable Sailboats for Cruising
Quick Setup Time. Towing Weight. 7 Best Trailerable Cruising Sailboats. Catalina 22/25 "Pop-Top". Com-Pac Horizon Cat for Classic Coastal Cruising. Marshall Sanderling — Small, Portable, Classy. West Wight Potter 19 — The Tiny Go-Anywhere Sailboat. Seaward 26RK with Retractable Lead Keel.
BENETEAU First 27 SE
LIVING ONBOARD. The First 27 SE is the only B category, trailerable 8m boat on the market with a fully functional interior. While it may look minimalistic, her extremely weight-sensitive interior is outfitted with components that also function as part of the boat's structure. She can accommodate up to 6 adults, two in a separate bow cabin and 4 ...
13 Biggest Trailerable Sailboats: Cheap But Good
These vessels provide the perfect balance between portability and performance if you want the flexibility to explore various destinations without the hassle of marina storage fees or dependence on docking facilities. The biggest trailerable sailboats that are cost-effective and good are: MacGregor 26. Catalina 22. Hunter 23.
Best Pocket Cruiser Sailboats, Small Cruising Sailboats
It's a small trailerable sailboat, typically under 30 feet in length, that's ideal for cruising big lakes, bays, coastal ocean waters, and occasionally bluewater cruising. ... Newport 27. Newport 27 Jeffrey ... On top of being a real eye-catcher, the Islander Bahama 28, with its 5-foot-6-inch draft and 3,300 pounds of ballast, sails ...
HUNTER 27 EDGE
The HUNTER 27 EDGE is designed as a trailerable power/sail hybrid. It can accept an outboard motor of up to 80hp and is capable of more than 20 knots under power. The water ballast is added for sailing. Disp. with water ballast tanks full: 5048 lbs./2290 kgs.
9 Best Trailerable Sailboats
A trailerable sailboat is a perfect option for part-time sailors and people with busy lives. ... The West Wight Potter 15 is perhaps one of the most capable 15-foot sailboats around. This neat little vessel is as seaworthy as it is easy to handle, and it's a great choice for all kinds of cruising adventures. ... Newport 27 {{boat-info="/boats ...
Stiletto 27: The Beachcat Grown Up
When finished, each of the Stiletto 27s hulls weighed only 220 pounds and was impressively strong and stiff. Unlike the high-tech hull and bridgedeck, the aluminum mast and crossbeams were built with conventional technology. All-up, the Stiletto weighed 1,100 to 1,570 pounds, depending on optional equipment.
Trailerable Sailboats Comparison
The maximum beam of a trailerable sailboat is 8 ft 6 in, as this is the limit for standard trailers on American highways. Typically, trailerable sailboats don't exceed 30 feet in length, as the length to beam ratio of a longer boat would lead to poor handling characteristics. ... Nor'Sea 27 (27 ft) Keel Types. The keel of a sailboat keeps it ...
Best Trailerable Sailboat Brands to Cruise or Race
The Best Trailerable Cruising Sailboat Brands. Catalina Yachts: As one of North America's best-known sailboat brands of sailboats, Catalina has a long history of building trailerable models. Their entire Sport line cruising boats—except for the 275—can easily be trailered, and the 22 and 22 Sport, in particular, make for a great step up ...
Trailerable Sailboat Reviews: Small Boats, Big Adventures
Launched in 1985, the speedy Corsair F-27 delivers double-digit boat speeds. Courtesy The Manufacturer. Talk about a boat that was ahead of its time. Any list of good trailerable boats has to include a multihull, and few have reached the overall popularity of the Corsair F-27, the prototype for which was originally launched way back in 1985.
CP 23 Pilothouse, A Trailerable Cruising Sailboat from ...
Com-Pac Yachts / Hutchins Co., Inc. 1195 Kapp Dr., Clearwater, Florida 33765 USA. Call Us: 727-443-4408. E-mail Us: [email protected]. With abundant storage, standing headroom, and excellent light and ventilation, the CP 23 Pilothouse is a great trailerable cruiser.
Trailerable Boats with Comfort and Speed
Farrier, who passed away in 2017, created the F-22 as a kind of culmination of all he'd continued to learn about small, trailerable multihulls in the years since he penned the F-27 trimaran, a true trail-blazer and now part of the "Sailboat Hall of Fame.". Another F-22 sidles up alongside a pier in Malta with amas folded in.
Best Small Sailboats, Beginner and Trailerable Sailboats
The boat comes standard with two rowing stations and one set of 9-foot oars. The boat is designed with positive flotation and offers good load-carrying capacity, which you could put to use if you added the available canvas work and camping tent. ... No roundup of best small sailboats (trailerable and fun too) would be complete without a mention ...
BENETEAU First 27
A boat offering unique sensations. Flagship of the new FIRST line, the First 27 is unquestionably the fastest and safest cruiser in this size range. Her modern and state-of-the-art design brings the magic of planing sailing to families, couples, and solo sailors alike, wherever the cruising ground and whatever the weather conditions.
Best Small and Trailerable Sailboats
Hunter 27. This small trailerable boat features a modern design and can be a top choice for many sailors, both for beginners or even for experienced ones. ... Last but not least, she's fast, stable, responsive, and is, therefore, an ideal starter-boat for novices. Islander 24. The 24-foot Islander is a classic choice in the small trailerable ...
Hunter 27
4. The Hunter 27 is the smallest boat in the Hunter line, which runs up to 43′ in length. The Hunter 27 is a popular boat with first-time sailboat buyers, and with small-boat sailors purchasing their first auxiliary cruising boat. Since the boat was introduced in 1975, thousands have been built. Hunter 27 Specs.
7 Trailerable Sailboats That Have Standing Headroom
A trailerable boat is one you can launched, rig, and recover with the crew which sails it, an move on normal roads with no special permits or commercial tow vehicles. Many boats will fit on a trailer, but to be "trailerable" it needs to be reasonable to use for a trip on a long weekend, starting from and ending on a trailer. ... LOA: 27.49 ft ...
The Working Man's Guide to Trailer Sailing
A trailerable sailboat is in many ways better than a keel boat or a dinghy. You can get a trailer down a boat ramp, it stores for free in your backyard, and it has many of the benefits of a keel boat or dinghy, with fewer drawbacks. ... Particularly when you have a sailboat with a 30 foot mast up. It's never fun and quite frankly embarrassing ...
6 Pocket Cruisers Ready to Hit the Road
Trailerable Trawlers. ... Life Proof offers 25- and 27-foot full-cabin models with an 8-foot-5-inch beam, powered with one or two outboards (total 300 to 350 hp) or a single diesel engine for reported speeds up to 43 knots. ... side windows and lengthened hardtop overhang to increase solar efficiency. The 31-foot-2-inch boat requires a wide ...
Trailerable Sailboats Boats for sale
Call us at (941) 538-7803 to discuss this boat. Selling your boat has never been easier. At Pop Yachts, we literally sell thousands of units every year all over the country. Call (855) 218-2805 and we'll get started selling your boat today. Reason for selling is not using/no time because of work..
Trailer sailboats for sale by owner.
Trailer used sailboats for sale by owner. Home. Register & Post. View All Sailboats. Search. Avoid Fraud. ... Sailboat Added 27-Feb-2021 More Details: Squadron with 2014 Loadrite trailer Herreschoff America: Length: ... 28.58' Ericson 29 foot sloop Madison County FL, Florida Asking $2,000. 30' Pearson Wanderer Northport, Michigan
Hunter 27 boats for sale
The oldest boat was built in 1981 and the newest model is 2009. The starting price is $10,000, the most expensive is $39,500, and the average price of $13,250. Find 28 Hunter 27 boats for sale near you, including boat prices, photos, and more. Locate Hunter boat dealers and find your boat at Boat Trader!
IMAGES
VIDEO
COMMENTS
These vessels feature comfortable cabins, excellent sailing characteristics, and they all meet the requirements for towing on U.S. highways. The best and largest trailerable sailboats are the Cal 20, the Catalina 22, the O'Day 240, The Islander 24, the Moore 24, the Cal 25, the Helms 25, the MacGregor 26, and the Nor'Sea 27.
Quick Setup Time. Towing Weight. 7 Best Trailerable Cruising Sailboats. Catalina 22/25 "Pop-Top". Com-Pac Horizon Cat for Classic Coastal Cruising. Marshall Sanderling — Small, Portable, Classy. West Wight Potter 19 — The Tiny Go-Anywhere Sailboat. Seaward 26RK with Retractable Lead Keel.
LIVING ONBOARD. The First 27 SE is the only B category, trailerable 8m boat on the market with a fully functional interior. While it may look minimalistic, her extremely weight-sensitive interior is outfitted with components that also function as part of the boat's structure. She can accommodate up to 6 adults, two in a separate bow cabin and 4 ...
These vessels provide the perfect balance between portability and performance if you want the flexibility to explore various destinations without the hassle of marina storage fees or dependence on docking facilities. The biggest trailerable sailboats that are cost-effective and good are: MacGregor 26. Catalina 22. Hunter 23.
It's a small trailerable sailboat, typically under 30 feet in length, that's ideal for cruising big lakes, bays, coastal ocean waters, and occasionally bluewater cruising. ... Newport 27. Newport 27 Jeffrey ... On top of being a real eye-catcher, the Islander Bahama 28, with its 5-foot-6-inch draft and 3,300 pounds of ballast, sails ...
The HUNTER 27 EDGE is designed as a trailerable power/sail hybrid. It can accept an outboard motor of up to 80hp and is capable of more than 20 knots under power. The water ballast is added for sailing. Disp. with water ballast tanks full: 5048 lbs./2290 kgs.
A trailerable sailboat is a perfect option for part-time sailors and people with busy lives. ... The West Wight Potter 15 is perhaps one of the most capable 15-foot sailboats around. This neat little vessel is as seaworthy as it is easy to handle, and it's a great choice for all kinds of cruising adventures. ... Newport 27 {{boat-info="/boats ...
When finished, each of the Stiletto 27s hulls weighed only 220 pounds and was impressively strong and stiff. Unlike the high-tech hull and bridgedeck, the aluminum mast and crossbeams were built with conventional technology. All-up, the Stiletto weighed 1,100 to 1,570 pounds, depending on optional equipment.
The maximum beam of a trailerable sailboat is 8 ft 6 in, as this is the limit for standard trailers on American highways. Typically, trailerable sailboats don't exceed 30 feet in length, as the length to beam ratio of a longer boat would lead to poor handling characteristics. ... Nor'Sea 27 (27 ft) Keel Types. The keel of a sailboat keeps it ...
The Best Trailerable Cruising Sailboat Brands. Catalina Yachts: As one of North America's best-known sailboat brands of sailboats, Catalina has a long history of building trailerable models. Their entire Sport line cruising boats—except for the 275—can easily be trailered, and the 22 and 22 Sport, in particular, make for a great step up ...
Launched in 1985, the speedy Corsair F-27 delivers double-digit boat speeds. Courtesy The Manufacturer. Talk about a boat that was ahead of its time. Any list of good trailerable boats has to include a multihull, and few have reached the overall popularity of the Corsair F-27, the prototype for which was originally launched way back in 1985.
Com-Pac Yachts / Hutchins Co., Inc. 1195 Kapp Dr., Clearwater, Florida 33765 USA. Call Us: 727-443-4408. E-mail Us: [email protected]. With abundant storage, standing headroom, and excellent light and ventilation, the CP 23 Pilothouse is a great trailerable cruiser.
Farrier, who passed away in 2017, created the F-22 as a kind of culmination of all he'd continued to learn about small, trailerable multihulls in the years since he penned the F-27 trimaran, a true trail-blazer and now part of the "Sailboat Hall of Fame.". Another F-22 sidles up alongside a pier in Malta with amas folded in.
The boat comes standard with two rowing stations and one set of 9-foot oars. The boat is designed with positive flotation and offers good load-carrying capacity, which you could put to use if you added the available canvas work and camping tent. ... No roundup of best small sailboats (trailerable and fun too) would be complete without a mention ...
A boat offering unique sensations. Flagship of the new FIRST line, the First 27 is unquestionably the fastest and safest cruiser in this size range. Her modern and state-of-the-art design brings the magic of planing sailing to families, couples, and solo sailors alike, wherever the cruising ground and whatever the weather conditions.
Hunter 27. This small trailerable boat features a modern design and can be a top choice for many sailors, both for beginners or even for experienced ones. ... Last but not least, she's fast, stable, responsive, and is, therefore, an ideal starter-boat for novices. Islander 24. The 24-foot Islander is a classic choice in the small trailerable ...
4. The Hunter 27 is the smallest boat in the Hunter line, which runs up to 43′ in length. The Hunter 27 is a popular boat with first-time sailboat buyers, and with small-boat sailors purchasing their first auxiliary cruising boat. Since the boat was introduced in 1975, thousands have been built. Hunter 27 Specs.
A trailerable boat is one you can launched, rig, and recover with the crew which sails it, an move on normal roads with no special permits or commercial tow vehicles. Many boats will fit on a trailer, but to be "trailerable" it needs to be reasonable to use for a trip on a long weekend, starting from and ending on a trailer. ... LOA: 27.49 ft ...
A trailerable sailboat is in many ways better than a keel boat or a dinghy. You can get a trailer down a boat ramp, it stores for free in your backyard, and it has many of the benefits of a keel boat or dinghy, with fewer drawbacks. ... Particularly when you have a sailboat with a 30 foot mast up. It's never fun and quite frankly embarrassing ...
Trailerable Trawlers. ... Life Proof offers 25- and 27-foot full-cabin models with an 8-foot-5-inch beam, powered with one or two outboards (total 300 to 350 hp) or a single diesel engine for reported speeds up to 43 knots. ... side windows and lengthened hardtop overhang to increase solar efficiency. The 31-foot-2-inch boat requires a wide ...
Call us at (941) 538-7803 to discuss this boat. Selling your boat has never been easier. At Pop Yachts, we literally sell thousands of units every year all over the country. Call (855) 218-2805 and we'll get started selling your boat today. Reason for selling is not using/no time because of work..
Trailer used sailboats for sale by owner. Home. Register & Post. View All Sailboats. Search. Avoid Fraud. ... Sailboat Added 27-Feb-2021 More Details: Squadron with 2014 Loadrite trailer Herreschoff America: Length: ... 28.58' Ericson 29 foot sloop Madison County FL, Florida Asking $2,000. 30' Pearson Wanderer Northport, Michigan
The oldest boat was built in 1981 and the newest model is 2009. The starting price is $10,000, the most expensive is $39,500, and the average price of $13,250. Find 28 Hunter 27 boats for sale near you, including boat prices, photos, and more. Locate Hunter boat dealers and find your boat at Boat Trader!