Small Boat Journal #51 November 1986 |
Small Boat Journal #51 November 1986 |
 Starwind 223 |
 Tanzer 22 |
|
1986 SBJ SAILBOAT SEA TRIALS 23-Foot Trailerable Cruisers By Mike O'Brien photos by J. H. Peterson |
 Merit 22 |
 Sirius 22 |
 San Juan 23 |
Our visit to tnis year’s Small Boat Show in Newport, Rhode Island, was a real busman’s holiday. ye small cruising boats were invited for sea trials, and we spent the whole weekend sailing. The boats — a Starwind 223, rius 22, San Juan 23, Tanzer 22, and Merit 22 — are all of a size and cost that will appeal to first-time buyers. What’s more, they are all trailerable — two have centerboards, two have swing keels, one is a lifting keel — they all have accommodations for weekend cruising, and they all have lines that suggest the potential for reasonably quick performance. Yet it became quite clear that each boat has a distinct personality, reflected in the type of compromises each designer and builder made within the confines of a 22 to 23-foot hull.
Editor Thomas Baker and I, technical editor for Soundings, examined and sailed the boats while keeping in mind what you might want to know. Between us we had a total of 54 years or sailing experience. Our expert builder, Ken Steinmetz of Ken’s Boat Shop in Seaford, New York, scrutinized every detail of construction.
The weekend brought good sailing weather. Eight to fifteen-knot breezes, a moderate chop, and just enough fog to keep things interesting.
