Montgomery 17 vs Com-Pac Sun Cat

The Mini-Cruiser Madness Championship

Strike up the bands and cue the cheerleaders—this is the big one! This final matchup will determine the winner of our Mini-Cruiser Madness contest.

As you will recall, we chose 32 of the most popular mini-cruisers (in this case defined as trailerable sailboats that are good for camping and cruising) and matched them against each other randomly head-to-head to have readers vote for their favorite. Our suggested criteria were:

• Performance

• Seaworthiness

• Accommodations (suitability for camp-cruising)

• Trailerability (and rigging, launching ease)

• Appearance

• Quality/Value

The Montgomery 17 had a bone in its teeth from the start, beating the Halman 20, the Precision 165 and the SCAMP before facing the O’Day Mariner last round. We expected the Monty would beat the Mariner, but the margin was a surprise as the Monty took a remarkable 71% of the vote.

Mariner supporters were incredulous to the point of suggesting a conspiracy. Some wondered aloud about people “getting their friends to vote” or about a “West Coast bias” among readership. (FYI, here are percentage of readers from each state by popularity: WA 11%, Florida 9%, CA 9%, New York 4%, Texas 4%). Whatever the case, the Mariner fell behind quickly and never really challenged.

The Com-Pac Sun Cat had an even tougher road to the finals, beating the Siren 17, the Cape Dory Typhoon, and the Montgomery 15 before meeting the Catalina 22. In the end the Sun Cat cruised to victory over the Catalina, taking 62% of the vote.