Round 2 Recap
We're down to the Elite 8 of mini-cruising sailboats!
Round 2 was a tough one—with many good boats sent packing! Let’s take a look at how it went:
Folks have complained that SCA is “all about Potters…” but the O’Day Mariner beat the WWP-15 fairly convincingly (65%). Adventurer Howard Rice didn’t hesitate, commenting: “No contest, Mariner.”
The wildly popular Com-Pac 16 couldn’t catch the even more popular Sea Pearl 21 (54%). It was close, but many readers pointed to the Pearl’s versatility and ability to be rowed. Others were big fans of the cat-ketch rig.
SCAMP (84%) made surprisingly short work of the famous SF Pelican. Many seemed to agree with reader Kim Isaacson who wrote: “They are both big little boats, but SCAMP is more refined with sophisticated features.”
The Montgomery 17 (87%) vs Precision 165 duel went about how we expected. Folks who’ve sailed them love their P-165s, but as a reader named Dan wrote: “I own a Precision 165…If somebody offered me a choice of being given a P-165 or a Monty 17, I’d take the Montgomery in a heartbeat…”
Not surprisingly the other Montgomery, the M-15, stayed alive as well (70%). Despite passionate endorsements from Sparrow 16 owners—most noting her better accommodations and some claiming superior sailing performance—the less well-known Sparrow was dispatched.
We weren’t shocked that the Com-Pac Sun Cat beat the Cape Dory Typhoon—the Sun Cat was one of our personal predicated finalists—but what came as a surprise was the margin! 74% chose the easily-rigged catboat.
The battle of the open boats was a good one, as the Norseboat (52%) finally edged out the legendary Wayfarer dinghy. This is remarkable when you consider how much longer the Wayfarer has been around and how many are on the water. As reader Rob Kunzig astutely noted: “If it ends up anywhere near a 50 / 50, the Norseboat is the clear winner.”
One of the newest boats built—the Sage 17—very nearly upset the most popular trailerable cruising sailboat ever—the Catalina 22. Readers preferred the more easily managed size of the Sage, but yet again the “does everything pretty well” appeal of the C-22 (53%) won out.
Well, now it’s on to Round 3 and the Elite 8. Like ‘em or love ‘em, based on the criteria outlined in the first article, and your voting, these are the 8 best trailerable camp/cruising sailboats in this contest. •SCA•
This has been a lot of fun and I've really enjoyed the discussions/comments.
Are we taking more than 2 people? And the boat is already in the Sailboat Hall of Fame? Then the winner is the Catalina 22, pop top/swing keel preferred..but we're biased, having owned one.