Plastic Classic Forum

Thanks!

I found her on the Yankee 30 website, listed for sale. The site hadn't been updated in so long that I thought all of the classifieds were stale, and was just writing to get opinions of ex-owners (the least biased and best informed, or ought to be) - but this one was still for sale.

The previous owner bought the boat 6 years ago, partly for the oversized self-steering gear she had on her, and partly as a project boat for his son. They've puttered away at it since then, getting quite a bit done, but there were always other boats in their lives, so this one never got completed, and they decided to sell her. I was the first person to inquire about the boat that didn't expect to sail her off into the sunset immediately, apparently, and also the first to actually show up with money!

I'm well pleased, and look forward to the work somewhat, and to sailing her next season, definitely!

Cheers,

Chris

I love the lines and the scale of the Yankee 30. I almost bought one sitting beside what was to become my B29 in Essex, CT. It was a difficult choice.

Nice boat! The early Yankee 30s look like virtual copies of the Tartan 30, but with a nicer interior. S&S was not above making more than one boat from essentially the same lines. They changed over the years. What year is yours?

Mine is a '72, and the design is S&S #1999, whereas the Tartan 30 is S&S #2016, slightly later. They're very similar, the largest difference being the beam - the Yankee is 9', the Tartan is 10'. The Yankee is also a bit more heavily ballasted, so while she'll have lower initial stability, she'll ultimately be stiffer. I happened across a great article on S&S 30 footers recently that is an interesting read to those that are interested: http://www.s-and-s-association.org/doc/ ... 7yqTe9.pdf.
I chose the Yankee over the Tartan largely because of the narrower beam - she's more cramped down below, but more comfortable in a seaway as a result, which is more important to me. I also have the impression that Yankee was more strict on quality control than Tartan - but that could be a mistaken impression on my part also, we'll see!

If I remember correctly, you could lift the Queen Mary with the Yankee 30 chainplates.

Congratulations on the Yankee 30!

Before I bought my NE 38 I had a Bristol 32, which I loved. If I were going to downsize another Bristol 32 would be high on my list, if not number 1.

The big differences between the smaller Bristol and the larger LeComte are:

1) The Bristol was _much_ cheaper in all respects, initial cost, dockage, maintainance and cost of things like new sails etc.

2) The Bristol was good to go when I bought her, so I spent my time sailing.

3) The LeComte is a project so she is on the hard and I do boat improvements and never go sailing :-(

For two people it is not clear to me that the "benefits" that a larger boat brings outweigh the costs.

Just my 2 cents worth.

JonnyBoats wrote:

For two people it is not clear to me that the "benefits" that a larger boat brings outweigh the costs.

Unless you have the disposable funds, this may be hard to appreciate. I can always think of why I might want bigger, better, faster or more of it in a boat, but I can always think of other things I might want/need too. Considering how the present economic situation is, how it is clobbering the marine industry, finding these benefits is getting even harder for me.

Our decision to downsize was based largely on economics. Maintaining a large boat meant that we had to be members of a yacht club, and that everything for the boat was expensive, as you mention. The smaller boat should do everything that the larger one did, but at much lower cost. It won't do things as quickly, or gracefully, or comfortably - and we won't turn heads in every harbour we enter (which will be hard to get used to), but I feel like this is a better compromise for our lifestyles, and will allow us to live larger in other areas that have previously been restricted by our "yachting habit".

That said - Weatherbird's remaining project list was pretty short - this new boat has everything left go to. There is some worry that she'll consume too much money on the way to being ready, but hopefully I've betted correctly that most of what she needs is time. Fingers crossed!

northeast38 wrote:...hopefully I've betted correctly that most of what she needs is time.

And plenty of it. Whatever you've figured on, plan on more. But if you build a good workable building, you'll be able to make far better use of the time you actually do have for the project, and will be far more likely to get through the work lists in a reasonable amount of time.

northeast38 wrote:There is some worry that she'll consume too much money...

Yes, she will. But it's worth it, and you have to spend your money on something.