Cruising Yacht...suggestions?

My brother in law has been on the hunt for almost a year for a good world cruising yacht for him and his family (of three). He has been looking at the Perry designed Tayana 52 and Passport 40, but everything he's found to date has either been overpriced or in poor condition. These two would represent the upper and lower limits in terms of size, but are typical of the type of boat he is looking for - medium weight, sensible draft, keel hung rudder etc.

Any suggestions for other boats he ought to look at?

Budget is 2-300K AUD and location is not overly important

 

I've always had a fondness for these things.

http://www.yachtworld.com/core/list...polis-(BJYY)/MD/United-States&boat_id=2503755

 

The Doug Peterson designed 44 is a niceboat. From time to time I see one that is down on its luck for sale very cheap. These boats sail well.

http://www.devalk.nl/en/yachtbrokerage/71829/PETERSON-44.html

 

Thanks guys....
Not sure he'd go for a canoe stern and is definitely after an aft cockpit....

 

Will
I really liked this one, had a fair bit of dialogue with the broker but did not actually inspect. Lots of photos by going to his site and registering.

http://au.yachtworld.com/boats/1977/Fisher-46-Motor-Sailer-2291238/United-States

I didn't proceed due to draft - decided it was too much for Qld/tropical areas. Its pretty original so will need some updating, but sounds like there would be a big enough budget for that. Its a lot of boat.
Brian

 

Everyone loves those Fishers. They dont sail to good but are incredibly practical cruising boats and look good. They are so well loved that it is hard to find one for sale a good price.

 

http://www.boatpoint.com.au/boats-for-sale/boatdetails.aspx?R=10909667 http://www.boatpoint.com.au/boats-for-sale/boatdetails.aspx?R=13408729

The requirement for keel hung rudder seems to cut plenty of nice boats out of the picture, any chance for a well engineered skeg hung rudder? Jeff.

 

Here's another, I did some sailing on this back in the eighties, real stand out vessel back then with beech overlay decks & teak margins & coverboards, obviously gone now but a comfy vessel. Jeff. http://www.boatpoint.com.au/boats-for-sale/boatdetails.aspx?R=13421579

 

Oops!!! Thanks Jeff - my fingers typing faster than my brain... it is a skeg-hung rudder set up that he's after. I'll have a look at the two you posted...

The Fisher is a good boat - thanks Brian... but too slow

 

The Cole looks promising - though a bit too old... I had a bit of a look but couldn't see any newer ones...

 

If you think about how most of these Taiwanese cruising boats were made you might reconsider the requirement for a skeg hung rudder.

The skeg is a deep, narrow pocket. With the old e-glass and polyester resins, in a resin-rich hand layup, it was nearly impossible to get a good laminate in the skeg. So if you look at some of these boats with some miles on them you can see the skeg moving. This can lead to binding in the shaft. In some cases skegs have actually fractured. So any idea that they are protecting the rudder are hopeful at best.

The biggest thing I think about in the skeg vs spade discussion is this: It is much more efficient for a rudder to function through lift than through drag.

Personally I might be more inclined to look at a Baltic 42 or 48 in the size range you are considering. From time to time there are examples on the market that fit your price limits.

 

These are his requirements, not mine... but they are valuable thoughts - thanks Paul.... I'll pass them on...

 

Could be too old, but may stand scrutiny under inspection- I don't know as haven't seen her in the flesh for 20+ years. A couple of points from memory was only 2 were built, Woodwind and another though in foam sandwich, Woodwind had a bit of a Jelly fish feel to her, the saloon was long & seemed short on deck to hull "bracing/knees" to deck in this area but has obviously endured the years till now & that judgement came from my early 20s(& my keelboat experience at that time came from smaller or very strong steel cruising yachts), also the in mast furling was a pretty savage performance inhibitor.
I concur with Paul B's thoughts on the execution of some skeg hung rudders, very often it is the rudder holding the skeg in place, my first keelboat build was a VDS 34 with a really nicely executed deep spade rudder, tapered staino shaft above the lower bearing with the upper bearing at deck level set up for tiller steering- could reverse park that boat like a beauty & have been influenced to set up boats in a similar & strong fashion ever since.

Saw a Swanson 4? something go past work today, mostly older too but maybe worth a look as might be some Freya style vessels.

Jeff.