Posted by Jimmy on 6/4/2009, 8:42:33

I am tired of having other boats sail circles around me and am looking to learn what other sailors think are the fastest boats. My 14-foot daysailer is a dog and I am hoping to upgrade. I want something that will overnight a family of three. I've heard the Catalina 18, Compact Suncat and West Wight Potter 18 are a close call in speed and handling. I don't want a Montgomery because they heel to much. Does anyone know anything about the Sanibel 17 and Vagabond 17?

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Posted by Justin Terrell on 6/4/2009, 12:08:01, in reply to "Fastest Small Cruiser?"

Of what you listed, I'd guess the Catalina 18 is probably the fastest, followed closely by the Sanibel 18. I doubt the Potter 19 or Sun Cat would get you out of that circle...

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Posted by Dave Combs on 6/4/2009, 14:46:26, in reply to "Fastest Small Cruiser?"

Jimmy, Have you considered a small multihull? The small Tomcat catamaran or a small Farrier/Corsair trimaran would work. The F-27's are not a bad buy these days. Dave

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Posted by Ray Frechette on 6/4/2009, 16:33:22, in reply to "Re: Fastest Small Cruiser?"

You might want to look at a Bellhaven 19 by B&B Yacht designs. Excellent design in 19 feet with berths for three. Unstayed Cat Ketch rig on tabernacled masts will make setup a breeze and quick too. Offset centerboard leaves large open cabin floor, and nice sized galley. http://www.bandbyachtdesigns.com/bel.htm 164 sq ft of working sail should compare quite nicely to The Potter with main and lapper at 144 sq ft, and if you opt for a Mizzen Staysail....

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Posted by Steve W (NY) on 6/5/2009, 12:41:44, in reply to "Fastest Small Cruiser?"

I had a Catalina Capri 18. I loved the boat. But it was tough to launch at a shallow ramp, and the mast was a bear to put up. 35 minutes at the ramp was my best up time. So my family got bored and a two hour sail was out of the question. I'd go with the fastest boat to set up or get a slip. I like Ray's Idea. Steve sea Pearl 21

Link: Steve's Sea Pearl Page

Posted by Don Boyko on 6/7/2009, 7:11:06, in reply to "Fastest Small Cruiser?"

As a Capri-18 owner, I've been very pleased with her performance, and especially her stability. The wing keel realy helps her going to windward and all but eliminates side slipage. As mentioned, a bit more to launch, but with the tongue extension on the standard trailer, we've never had any problems launching or recovering, in fact the keel guides on the trailer realy help align the boat onto the trailer! Finger docks at the ramp make it a breeze! One of the main reasons I bought the Capri-18 was the fixed wing keel.....ZERO maintenance. I went through the swing keel maintenance isses on our Catalina-22.....NEVER AGAIN! The Capri-18 keel is molded into the hull and filled with lead. No "clunking", no keel bolts to loosen or rust, and no keel to hull joint to worry about. Sure I can't beach her, but she floats in about 2 1/2' of water, so I can walk to the shoreline. The mast is too heavy for me to man-handle, (it's a heavy mast, same extrusion as used on the Capri-22 only shorter), but with the mast raising system, it's an easy single man operation. Your rigging time is about the same as mine. Take a look at the Portsmith numbers on the boats your interested in to give you an idea on potential performance. All the boats you mentioned are nice boats and all have their advantages and disadvantages. Easiest boat I've seen to rig is the Com-Pac Sun Cat.....almost instantly! And a pretty boat too! You gotta love those classic cat lines! What ever you do, get out and sail! Don

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Posted by Don Boyko on 6/7/2009, 7:31:29, in reply to "Fastest Small Cruiser?"

Jimmy, in all my ramblings in my last post, I forgot to mention we have a sailor in the So-Cal Potter group with one of the new International Marine Sanibel's. Very nice little boat and a roomy cockpit and cabin. Hopefully he'll pipe in for more details. Also, don't discount the Montgomery-17. They've made some legendary voyages. Don

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Posted by Ed (Finger Lakes) on 6/11/2009, 14:53:00, in reply to "Re: Fastest Small Cruiser?"

If you want to blow the portholes off others, be able to rig in a reasonable period of time and launch without dunking your car, you may want to consider the following: Holder 20 PHRF=180, Macgregor 26 classic or 26x = 222, Santana 2030 =174-230 depending on the version, Hunter 212 PHRF= 216, and the fastest is the Ultimate 20 with PHRF= 144. I believe these are all centerboarders. I don't believe the Ultimate has much of a cabin. Good luck. Ed

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Posted by Jack Mayer on 6/16/2009, 13:14:19, in reply to "Fastest Small Cruiser?"

I sailed a Precision 165 for many years, and I had the other problem. I would sail away from the group and leave everyone behind. I raced in the Clemens cup and beat the second place boat by 1 hour in a 2 hour race. I raced the MUG race, and led the entire 150 boats for 5 hours until I gave up and turned around in the diminishing wind. I sailed a with a group of boats from Tarpon Springs to Caledesi Island. I sailed so fast I sailed out of radio range and got there an hour before anyone else. Its not a racing boat by any account, but with my 200% genny flying, there were not many cruisers that could keep up in under 10 knots of wind. With its no maintenance bulbed keel drawing only 20 inches of water it was easy to launch and still went to windward great. It is small though, but perfect for 2-4 daysailing, and 1-2 overnighting.

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Posted by Chuck Pierce on 6/24/2009, 21:27:10, in reply to "Fastest Small Cruiser?"

The Potter 19 is a great boat, but in this years Texas 200 we stayed pretty much in the middle of the fleet. We WERE among the most comfortable folks in the event, though, lots of cabin space, head, fans, shower, etc. It was very handy in the bay chop as well. Not so much a speed boat, but dammit we were comfortable for 6 days in a 19 footer. That accounts for a lot at my age ...

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