Which Double Bottom 12 ?

[Guest (Guest)]

After 3 fun seasons with our crusader (N3247) my 10 year old daughter has really got the bug, which is fantastic.  I am thinking of upgrading to a double bottom which we can recover from a capsize more easily plus is more competitive, and would consider taking part in a few open meetings.
We sail on the helford river (similar to Salcombe) in a mixed handicap fleet (with 5 N12s now) so would need a boat that goes OK on an estuary.  There aren't too many DBs for sale at present, but would be keen to move in the autumn when a few become available.  Statistics:- crew weight - currently 17 stone, ability - lots to learn, prefer grp, budget - £3-4K.
Any thoughts please.

[davidg (Guest)]

Hi,
I think that my brother-in-law Tim is trying to sell Bouncing Ben, one of my Annie Apple designs.  I designed Annie Apple to sail with by daughter on estuaries (we also had a Crusader), where the design is very well suited.  Bouncing Ben won a championship race and I hear good reports of Annie's performance from her current owner.  If you are interested I will put you in touch, please contact me at: david "at" boatsurvey.biz

[Antony (Guest)]

The obvious answer is a Winder Foolish, if you can find one.  They are well proven and will be the easiest to value/re-sell when you have finished with it.  They also have the tuning advantage that there is a standard set up and so standard tuning numbers.  They do change hands, and have certainly changed hands within your price range in the past.
The less obvious question is whether your upgrade will have a detrimental impact on your club racing, as you will (I believe) be the only DB boat in a nice little club fleet of similarly aged N12s.  Something to consider unless you are definitely going to travel a fair amount....
Antony
N3348

[Roly Mo]

I sail with my 8 year old daughter and have (now) boats in Vintage, AC and DB classes.  Ellie is ok in the DB in light conditions but it's a handful when it's windy and I don't want to put her off, which I think could easily happen if we were out in any sort of breeze.  I sailed in wind last weekend with a very experienced crew and our capsize was to say the least spectacular and also took a long time to sort out, although we were of course off sailing again v quickly once we'd got the boat righted and going again.
We have just bought a Design 8 as a good 'enjoy our sailing together' boat (would have loved to have tracked down my old Crusader 88 and got that but was keen not to have another wooden boat as one is enough to have to garage etc) and to give our Vintage boat a bit of a rest as we've used it rather more heavily than we perhaps should have and as a result she's had to go to the Ledger Hospital for some pretty extensive work.  We've already sailed the D8 in a decent breeze and managed it very nicely together.  I'd try and get a ride together in a DB boat before you make the jump and would agree with Antony re a Foolish if you do decide to make the move.
RM