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20 foot sailboat interior

  • Description
  • Key Features
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One heck of a number that has continuously evolved these last twenty years and more, with a touch of insolence that has kept it young.  The First 20 has become more aggressive and stylish. Her look is more modern and in her class she offers the best balance between safety, performance and habitability. This classic small boat enjoys playing in the big league in all weather.

NAVAL DESIGNER  : Finot - Conq Architects

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Exterior design

The First 20 has a harmonious and high-performing Finot-Conq hull that proves a model of stability. Thanks to an unstayed mast she features a generous sail plan with a square-top mainsail, 2016 code zero and asymmetric spinnaker on option. Yachtsmen are keen on the twin rudder helm and the chain locker.

20 foot sailboat interior

Interior design

Increasingly habitable and comfortable, the First 20’s interior has done away with bulkheads. By replacing the mast prop with a structure built into the deck, this coastal cruiser offers a feeling of interior space second to none. Inside she is bathed in light by the deck hatch, and generously spacious with four berths and many storage spaces. She suits a wide variety of programmes.

20 foot sailboat interior

Always ready to sail

Fun and a high-performer, this 6.50 m cruiser embraces a racing yet reassuring style. This unanimously acclaimed sailing yacht is small in size but has terrific qualities and she is loved because she is affordable and very easy to use.

20 foot sailboat interior

Multi-programme

Whether for day-sailing or short cruises, the First 20 can adapt to all programmes, and all stretches of water. With her lifting keel and outboard engine, she can be beached and transported on a trailer. 

Theunstayed rig clears the deck and there is no need for low shrouds. Optimized with a square-top mainsail, the reasoning behind the sail plan is a combination of simplicity and performance.  With a furling genoa and 2016 code zero, the First 20 is ready for some remarkable achievements ! 

Although the First 20 has a racing temperament, she makes no concessions when it comes to safety. Her 1.80 m lifting keel contributes to her stability and improves her performance close-hauled. 

CHARACTERISTICS

Length Overall

Beam overall

8' 2"

Light displacement

Max. engine power

CE Certification

20 foot sailboat interior

  • CE Certification C6/D6.
  • Hatch opens locker in cockpit bottom.
  • Outboard engine
  • Sliding companionway hatch with PMMA porthole to make it brighter.

20 foot sailboat interior

  • Forward cabin: - Separating curtain between salon and cabin. - Double berth, removable "net" storage (option) - large locker for storage below berth. Two additional berths in the saloon.
  • Sink, 35 L fresh water tank + hand pump (option).
  • Folding saloon table can be sued in the cockpit (option).

20 foot sailboat interior

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20 foot sailboat interior

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20 foot sailboat interior

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20 foot sailboat interior

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20 foot sailboat interior

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20 foot sailboat interior

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20 foot sailboat interior

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20 Best Small Sailboats for the Weekender

  • By Mark Pillsbury
  • Updated: May 24, 2024

In order to go cruising, most of us require a sailboat with a head, a galley, and bunks. The boat, likely a 30-footer and more often a 40-footer, will have electronics for navigation and entertainment, refrigeration if the trip is longer than a coastal hop, an engine for light wind, and, depending on our appetites for food and fun, perhaps a genset to power our toys and appliances.

To go sailing , however, all we really need is a hull, mast, rudder, and sail. To experience the pure joy of sheeting in and scooting off across a lake, bay, or even the open ocean, there’s nothing better than a small sailboat – we’re talking sailboats under 25 feet. You can literally reach out and touch the water as it flows past. You instantly feel every puff of breeze and sense every change in trim.

Some of the boats in this list are new designs, others are time-tested models from small sailboat manufacturers, but every one is easy to rig, simple to sail, and looks like a whole lot of fun either for a solo outing on a breezy afternoon or to keep family and friends entertained throughout your entire sailing season. This list is made up of all types of sailboats , and if you’re looking for a list of some of the best small sailboats for beginners, you’ll find exactly that here.

Any one of these popular boats could be labeled as a trailerable sailboat, daysailer, or even a weekender sailboat. And while most would be labeled as a one or two person sailboat, some could comfortably fit three or even four people.

– CHECK THE WEATHER – The weather changes all the time. Always check the forecast and prepare for the worst case. Safety Tip Provided by the U.S. Coast Guard

Marblehead 22 Daysailer

Marblehead 22 Daysailer

If you have an eye for elegant lines and your heart goes pitter-patter over just the right amount of overhang beneath a counter transom, the Marblehead 22 daysailer, designed by Doug Zurn and built by Samoset Boatworks in Boothbay, Maine, will definitely raise your pulse. Traditional-looking above the waterline and modern beneath, the cold-molded hull sports a deep bulb keel and a Hall Spars carbon-fiber mast with a wishbone rig and square-top main. The 11-foot-9-inch cockpit can seat a crowd, and a small cuddy forward will let you stow your friends’ gear for the day. samosetboatworks.com

Catalina 22 Sport

Catalina 22 Sport

Many a harbor plays host to an active fleet of Catalina 22s, one of the most popular small sailboats over the years, given its basic amenities and retractable keel, which allows it to be easily trailered. Recently, the company introduced the Catalina 22 Sport, an updated design that can compete with the older 22s. The boat features a retractable lead keel; a cabin that can sleep four, with a forward hatch for ventilation; and a fractional rig with a mainsail and a roller-furling jib. Lifelines, a swim ladder, and an engine are options, as are cloth cushions; vinyl cushions are standard. The large cockpit will seat a crowd or let a mom-and-pop crew stretch out and enjoy their sail. It’s clear why the Catalina 22 is one of the best sailboats under 25 feet. catalinayachts.com

Hunter 22

With its large, open-transom cockpit and sloop rig, the Hunter 22 makes a comfortable daysailer for family and friends. But with its cuddy cabin, twin bunks, optional electrical system, opening screened ports, and portable toilet, a parent and child or a couple could comfortably slip away for an overnight or weekend. Add in the optional performance package, which includes an asymmetric spinnaker, a pole, and a mainsheet traveler, and you could be off to the races. The boat features a laminated fiberglass hull and deck, molded-in nonskid, and a hydraulic lifting centerboard. Mount a small outboard on the stern bracket, and you’re set to go. marlow-hunter.com

the Daysailer

Not sure whether you want to race, cruise or just go out for an afternoon sail? Since 1958, sailors have been having a ball aboard the Uffa Fox/George O’Day-designed Daysailer. Fox, who in the 1950s was on the cutting edge of planning-dinghy design, collaborated with Fall River, Massachusetts boatbuilder O’Day Corp. to build the 16-foot Daysailer, a boat that features a slippery hull and a small cuddy cabin that covers the boat roughly from the mast forward. Thousands of Daysailers were built by various builders, and they can be found used for quite affordable prices. There are active racing fleets around the US, and new Daysailers are still in production today, built by Cape Cod Ship Building. capecodshipbuilding.com

BayRaider from Swallow Boats

BayRaider from Swallow Boats

Easy to rig and trailer, the BayRaider from England’s Swallow Yachts is a relative newcomer to the small-boat market in the United States. Nearly all of its 19 feet 9 inches is open cockpit, though a spray hood can be added to keep the forward sections dry. The BayRaider is ketch-rigged with a gunter-style mainmast. The topmast and mizzen are both carbon-fiber, which is an option for the mainmast as well. The BayRaider can be sailed with a dry hull in lighter conditions or with 300 pounds of water ballast to increase its stability. With the centerboard and hinged rudder raised, the boat can maneuver in even the thinnest water.

$28,900, (904) 234-8779, swallowyachts.com

12 1/2 foot Beetle Cat

Big fun can come in small packages, especially if your vessel of choice happens to be the 12 ½-foot Beetle Cat. Designed by John Beetle and first built in 1921, the wooden shallow draft sailboat is still in production today in Wareham, Massachusetts at the Beetle Boat Shop. With a draft of just 2 feet, the boat is well-suited for shallow bays, but equally at home in open coastal waters. The single gaff-rigged sail provides plenty of power in light air and can be quickly reefed down to handle a blow. In a word, sailing a Beetle Cat is fun. beetlecat.com

– LEARN THE NAVIGATION RULES – Know the “Rules of the Road” that govern all boat traffic. Be courteous and never assume other boaters can see you. Safety Tip Provided by the U.S. Coast Guard

West Wight Potter P 19

West Wight Potter P 19

With berths for four and a workable galley featuring a cooler, a sink, and a stove, West Wight Potter has packed a lot into its 19-foot-long P 19. First launched in 1971, this is a line of boats that’s attracted a true following among trailer-sailors. The P 19′s fully retractable keel means that you can pull up just about anywhere and go exploring. Closed-cell foam fore and aft makes the boat unsinkable, and thanks to its hard chine, the boat is reportedly quite stable under way. westwightpotter.com

NorseBoat 17.5

NorseBoat 17.5

Designed for rowing and sailing (a motor mount is optional), the Canadian-built NorseBoat 17.5—one of which was spotted by a CW editor making its way through the Northwest Passage with a two-man crew—features an open cockpit, a carbon-fiber mast, and a curved-gaff rig, with an optional furling headsail set on a sprit. The lapstrake hull is fiberglass; the interior is ply and epoxy. The boat comes standard with two rowing stations and one set of 9-foot oars. The boat is designed with positive flotation and offers good load-carrying capacity, which you could put to use if you added the available canvas work and camping tent. NorseBoats offers a smaller sibling, the 12.5, as well; both are available in kit form.

$19,000, (902) 659-2790, norseboat.com

Montgomery 17

Montgomery 17

Billed as a trailerable pocket cruiser, the Montgomery 17 is a stout-looking sloop designed by Lyle Hess and built out of fiberglass in Ontario, California, by Montgomery Boats. With a keel and centerboard, the boat draws just under 2 feet with the board up and can be easily beached when you’re gunkholing. In the cuddy cabin you’ll find sitting headroom, a pair of bunks, a portable toilet, optional shore and DC power, and an impressive amount of storage space. The deck-stepped mast can be easily raised using a four-part tackle. The builder reports taking his own boat on trips across the Golfo de California and on visits to California’s coastal islands. Montgomery makes 15-foot and 23-foot models, as well. If you’re in search of a small sailboat with a cabin, the Montgomery 17 has to be on your wish list.

CW Hood 32 Daysailer small sailboat

With long overhangs and shiny brightwork, the CW Hood 32 is on the larger end of the daysailer spectrum. Designers Chris Hood and Ben Stoddard made a conscious decision to forego a cabin and head in favor of an open cockpit big enough to bring 4 or 5 friends or family out for an afternoon on the water. The CW Hood 32 is sleek and graceful through the water and quick enough to do some racing, but keeps things simple with a self-tacking jib and controls that can be lead back to a single-handed skipper. A top-furling asymmetrical, electric sail drive and Torqeedo outboard are all optional. The CW Hood 32 makes for a great small family sailboat.  cwhoodyachts.com

Sun Cat from Com-Pac

Sun Cat from Com-Pac

Shallow U.S. East Coast bays and rock-strewn coasts have long been graced by cat boats, whose large, gaff-rigged mainsails proved simple and powerful both on the wind and, better yet, when reaching and running. The 17-foot-4-inch Sun Cat, built by Com-Pac Yachts, updates the classic wooden cat with its fiberglass hull and deck and the easy-to-step Mastender Rigging System, which incorporates a hinged tabernacle to make stepping the mast a one-person job. If you want a personal sailboat ideal for solo sailing, the Sun Can is a great choice. Belowdecks, the twin 6-foot-5-inch berths and many other features and amenities make this cat a willing weekender.

$19,800, (727) 443-4408, com-pacyachts.com

Catalina 16.5

Catalina 16.5

The Catalina 16.5 sits right in the middle of Catalina Yachts’ line of small sailboats, which range from the 12.5 to the 22 Capri and Sport, and it comes in both an easy-to-trailer centerboard model and a shoal-draft fixed-keel configuration. With the fiberglass board up, the 17-foot-2-inch boat draws just 5 inches of water; with the board down, the 4-foot-5-inch draft suggests good windward performance. Hull and deck are hand-laminated fiberglass. The roomy cockpit is self-bailing, and the bow harbors a good-sized storage area with a waterproof hatch. catalinayachts.com

Hobie 16

No roundup of best small sailboats (trailerable and fun too) would be complete without a mention of the venerable Hobie 16, which made its debut in Southern California way back in 1969. The company has introduced many other multihulls since, but more than 100,000 of the 16s have been launched, a remarkable figure. The Hobie’s asymmetric fiberglass-and-foam hulls eliminate the need for daggerboards, and with its kick-up rudders, the 16 can be sailed right up to the beach. Its large trampoline offers lots of space to move about or a good place to plant one’s feet when hanging off the double trapezes with a hull flying. The boat comes with a main and a jib; a spinnaker, douse kit, trailer, and beach dolly are optional features. hobiecat.com

Hunter 15

Novice sailors or old salts looking for simplicity could both enjoy sailing the Hunter 15. With a fiberglass hull and deck and foam flotation, the boat is sturdily built. The ample freeboard and wide beam provide stability under way, and the heavy-duty rubrail and kick-up rudder mean that you won’t have to worry when the dock looms or the going grows shallow. Both the 15 and its slightly larger 18-foot sibling come standard with roller-furling jibs.

$6,900/$9,500 (boat-show prices for the 15 and 18 includes trailers), (386) 462-3077, marlow-hunter.com

– CHECK THE FIT – Follow these guidelines to make sure your life jacket looks good, stays comfortable and works when you need it. Safety Tip Provided by the U.S. Coast Guard

Super Snark

Super Snark

Under various owners, the Snark brand of sailboats, now built by Meyers Boat Co., has been around since the early 1970s. The Super Snark, at 11 feet, is a simple, easily car-topped daysailer that’s fit out with a lateen rig and sail. Billed as unsinkable, the five boats in the company’s line are built with E.P.S. foam, with the external hull and deck vacuum-formed to the core using an A.B.S. polymer. The Super Snark weighs in at 50 pounds, and with a payload capacity of 310 pounds, the boat can carry two.

$970, (800) 247-6275, meyersboat.com

Norseboat 21.5

Norseboat 21.5

Built in Canada, the NorseBoat 21.5 is a rugged looking craft that comes in a couple of configurations: one with an open cockpit and small doghouse, and another with a smaller cockpit and cabin that houses a double berth for two adults and optional quarter berths for the kids. Both carry NorseBoat’s distinctive looking carbon fiber gaff-rigged mast with main and jib (a sprit-set drifter is optional), and come with a ballasted stub keel and centerboard. Because of its lightweight design, the boat can be rowed and is easily trailered.

$36,000 (starting), 902-659-2790, norseboat.com

Flying Scot

Flying Scot

Talk about time-tested, the 19-foot Flying Scot has been in production since 1957 and remains a popular design today. Sloop rigged, with a conventional spinnaker for downwind work, the boat is an easily sailed family boat as well as a competitive racer, with over 130 racing fleets across the U.S. Its roomy cockpit can seat six to eight, though the boat is often sailed by a pair or solo. Hull and deck are a fiberglass and balsa core sandwich. With the centerboard up, the boat draws only eight inches. Though intended to be a daysailer, owners have rigged boom tents and berths for overnight trips, and one adventurous Scot sailor cruised his along inland waterways from Philadelphia to New Orleans.

RS Venture

Known primarily for its line of racing dinghys, RS Sailing also builds the 16-foot, 4-inch Venture, which it describes as a cruising and training dinghy. The Venture features a large, self-draining cockpit that will accommodate a family or pack of kids. A furling jib and mainsail with slab reefing come standard with the boat; a gennaker and trapeze kit are options, as is an outboard motor mount and transom swim ladder. The deck and hull are laid up in a fiberglass and Coremat sandwich. The Venture’s designed to be both a good performer under sail, but also stable, making it a good boat for those learning the sport.

$14,900, 203-259-7808, rssailing.com

Topaz Taz

Topper makes a range of mono- and multihull rotomolded boats, but the model that caught one editor’s eye at Strictly Sail Chicago was the Topaz Taz. At 9 feet, 8 inches LOA and weighing in at 88 pounds, the Taz is not going to take the whole crowd out for the day. But, with the optional mainsail and jib package (main alone is for a single child), the Taz can carry two or three kids or an adult and one child, and would make a fun escape pod when tied behind the big boat and towed to some scenic harbor. The hull features Topper’s Trilam construction, a plastic and foam sandwich that creates a boat that’s stiff, light, and durable, and shouldn’t mind being dragged up on the beach when it’s time for a break.

$2,900 (includes main and jib), 410-286-1960, topazsailboats.com

WindRider WRTango

WindRider WRTango

WRTango, a fast, sturdy, 10-foot trimaran that’s easy to sail, is the newest portable craft from WindRider International. It joins a line that includes the WR16 and WR17 trimarans. The Tango features forward-facing seating, foot-pedal steering, and a low center of gravity that mimics the sensation of sitting in a kayak. It weighs 125 pounds (including the outriggers and carbon-fiber mast), is extremely stable, and has single-sheet sail control. The six-inch draft and kick-up rudder make it great for beaching, while the hull and outriggers are made of rotomolded polyethylene, so it can withstand running into docks and being dragged over rocks.

$3,000, 612-338-2170, windrider.com

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New crush -- Ensenada 20

20 foot sailboat interior

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Moo, You Bloody Choir. Yayayaah, it's a cow. I'm lightly smitten with this pocket cruiser, which seems as bombproof as a 1600 lb boat can be. If the coamings were any taller, they'd be a dodger. And she'll finish most races the day after the field, but hey! Our lakes are small. A slow boat will make them seem bigger, right? We have this problem -- flat water, but winds like the North Sea. So we need a boat that isn't Panic Stations when the wind kicks over 30, which is every single day . This Ensenada 20 only carries 175 sqft with the working jib, but with a 150% genoa and spinny option to get the nose up. It's basically the Balboa hull with a ridiculously raised deck and oversized spars. We''ll keep the Buccaneer18 in case our lives run short of stark terror. But does this boat strike you as a nice, mellow daysailer/weekender for a very high-wind location? Experiences? Thanks again.  

20 foot sailboat interior

Go for it Hey Bob -- You're right ... 175 feet is a modest sail plan, but you've got the genny for those days when it's not blowing 30. And 500+ pounds of balast should make her sit up pretty well. Looks a little light on cockpit and heavy on cabin, but if that suits your style, I'd say go for it! Where do you live, with small lakes and big wind? Kurt  

20 foot sailboat interior

175 feet is a modest sail plan, modest, my underpants are 175' sqr.  

20 foot sailboat interior

I realize this is an old thread but I think it makes more sense in this case to keep the information about a relatively unknown boat in one place. I have one of these that I sail in the lakes around Dallas, when I finish my degree I am planning to take 6 mo's to year off and sail from Houston, with the intention of making it to the Bahamas but not out of the Carribean. I'm going to single hand and plan to do more of a coastal style, short passages trip. The relatively short duration overall means that I don't need much in the way of amenities, unlike what would be needed if a boat was supposed to be a long term home. My question is simply, am I completely out of my mind considering this boat for this trip? In it's favor, I own it already which means I don't have to spend half my budget on a boat, I'll be completely comfortable with it having sailed it for years. It's pretty stable though slow (I've already modified it to have a locking keel) and it's shallow draft (about 12 inches with the board up) would be convenient in the islands. Assuming that I will have the time to be careful about my weather windows and don't mind living on a 20 footer for that amount of time, is this boat unreasonable? If so, why? Thanks Simon  

Bob, do you still have this Ensenada? I'm seriously in need of rigging pictures as to how the cockpit end/mainsheets are set up - especially tha dual block thing at the end of the boom? Do you have pictures, or can you describe the setup? Thanks!  

20 foot sailboat interior

Time to resurrect an ancient thread. Assuming the seller hasn't fibbed too bad, I will be the new owner of an E20 in a few hours. This will be my first boat. I do have very limited small boat sailing experience. I think it may suit my needs perfectly which is to putz around safely in New England lakes and coastal waters with a wife who will likely never set foot in it again if it heels over more than 20 degrees. She's not quite as adventurous as I. This is likely a good thing as it has kept us from getting dead doing anything, which would likely be our fate, were I in charge. I absolutely love the lines of the E20. The cabin top which goes as far forward as a cabin top possibly could. The high, swooping coamings which in addition to keeping the sea/lake where it belongs, just look bad-ass. It may be a pig, but, by God, it sure looks fast!!!! Maybe I'll just stiffen the transom a bit and strap a ginormous Merc to it. Would appreciate any advice/warnings on this tub. Thanks.  

20 foot sailboat interior

Here's my take, the Ensenada 20 was one of those, good news-bad news kind of boats. The good news is that the hull and rig was penned by Lyle Hess who was a very good cruising boat designer. The fractional rig is easy to handle, and the boats sail reasonably well in moderate breezes. They have a surprisingly large interior for a 20 foot boat. Now for the less than good news. These boats were built by Coastal Recreation. (Coastal Wreck in the parlance of the day). In the early 1970's I had a job at a company who with no sense of irony was called 'Expressway Yachts' . Expressway specialized in selling trailerable sailboats. My job was to commission these boats. Outside of the job, I also would help new owners rig the boat the first time and give them a basic sailing lesson so I got to sail most of the models that we sold. Expressway sold Coastal Wrecks and part of my job was to check for glaring defects while I was commissioning the boats. Build quality and quality control was horrible. Most of the stuff was just goofy, like a genoa track that had all the bolts in place but only two of the bolts had nuts and washers. In the worst case, someone stepped through the bottom. It turned out that there was gelcoat on one side of the laminate, zolotone on the other side and dry glass in the middle with no sign of any resin in the dry glass. The Coastal Wreck service rep came to look at the warranty claim and reported commented 'what do you expect when you put a migrant worker on a chopper gun?' Of course that boat is now 50 years old and if it has any major flaws, they would glaringly show by now. I only recall sailing one once and I don't have a lot of clear memories of that sail. My recollection is that like most trailerable sailboats they were quite tender, but not dangerously so. They were not great in light air and when the wind filled in the boat didn't handle gusts all that well, but some of that may have been the new owner's and new sailor's lack of sailing experience. Jeff  

Thanks Jeff. I did buy it. Boat isn't perfect, most everything seems sound. Hull is rock solid, as best I can tell. There is the expected deck delamination going on forward of the boom. My plan is to attempt to get the entire deck section forward of the hatch off in one piece. Replace all the balsa, and hopefully replace the original deck skin. This skin is in very nice shape, with the original cross hatching and it would be a shame to have to toss it. The keel appears to be in pretty fair shape and it does swing. At some point I would like to drop it and blast/epoxy it. Maybe next year. The rig appears to be complete. Sails aren't new, but perfectly serviceable. Tilt trailer is solid, but could use new tires. I could drop it in the water and sail as is, if I really wanted to, but want to get that deck squared away first. I have talked to a guy who had one for years. He said with a few mods to the rig, it was a great cruiser and he took it all over Long Island Sound, even when there were small craft warnings. Said it is a very dry boat thanks to the high coamings.  

I used to read (pre internet days...) that the Balboa 20 used the same hull mold with a different top. True, at all? (just curious.....)  

Many years ago I was interested in this boat Seems like they were all/most in Calif Offered good room for size Pocket sailer on a trailer Maybe a nifty and cheap sea of Cortez explorer  

@pete c - I recently acquired an Ensenada 20...wondering if you had any tips based on your experience and modifications. Thanks!!  

I've own an E-20 for about 15 years now and have been sailing on Corpus Christi bay in TX. I have made a number of modifications over the years (the most important to the main sheet as the original design is dangerous in my opinion). You can contact me at [email protected] if you want to talk.  

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  2. Robertson II Aground

  3. Couple Travels on a 32 Foot Sailboat in South Carolina! Heading North on the ICW

  4. Sailboat about 40 ft I’ve been dreaming about this week

  5. 36 Foot Sailboat Maybe…? sure looking like fun

  6. POCKET CRUISER SAILBOAT HISTORY, NEVER SEEN BEFORE!