Hi all, so I am living in Hervey bay and use a wind rush 14 to take my young family out on the water. I have two daughters that are nearly 5 and 3 who so far enjoy sailing up and down the beach on a fine day.

I would be keen to progress to something larger that we could day sail over to Fraser island etc. So I have been looking at trailer sailors.... Sonata 7, farr 6-7500, nolex with a budget of <20k.
I don't see us racing on a Sunday but could be interested in the occasional bay to bay or sags.

My latest thought is the possibility to look at something like a mid 90's Elliott 7. It has a simple interior to hide from the elements if need be, I can just take an esky and portable loo and make a boom tent. This should allow me to find a slightly newer boat within my budget with a bit of speed...?

What do people think? I have made these assumptions from looking on the internet and have never set foot on an Elliott. Will they be a wet boat in a bit of chop that will need some weight on the rail to allow any speed gain over a traditional trailer sailor therefore scaring my girls off from sailing.

Big trailer sailer, might be a bit lively for a young family. Even the Sonata 7 would be a handful. Noelex 25 has a moderate rig and would suit singlehanding which is pretty much what you have planned.

The Elliot 7 is a sports boat. Not really for young kids. However, if the wife and kids can handle a 14ft cat, maybe they are game enough for a sports boat. Most would not be, and you could end up sailing alone.

Ramona said..
I would suggest an interim boat. Something like this Sunmaid. Big and heavy and fairly difficult on a boat ramp and not particularly fast, but at this sort of money if it does not work out easy to walk away from.

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/south-gippsland/sail-boats/trailer-sailer-20-ft-sunmaid/1127615188

That boat is either an amazing bargain, or the ad has a typo.

I didn't really think the elliott would scare the kids. ...more the wife if she is not a sailer.
An elliott wont be scarier than a windrush.

Agree. When l bought my castle 650 my kids were about that age and we did a fair bit of jib only sailing.

Certainly something to consider is the ramp availability. Urangan looks like a good ramp but lacks adequate pontoons alongside for easy retrievel of yachts IMO. Perhaps talk to the neatby YC.
In some ways the best option is to stick with otb boat. Kids and beach seem to go together.

Ramona said..
The problem with trailer sailers, especially large ones, is the launching and recovery off less than ideal ramps. There will be times when the wife will have to stand out in the water holding a large hull, often in a windy, exposed place with screaming kids while hubby wanders off for the car. There is a reason all those trailer sailers are sitting about in those storage facilities and appear for sale at surprisingly cheap prices.
Hang around a sailing club that sails trailer sailors and watch or give the blokes a hand to recover their Sonata 7's etc when the seabreeze gets up.

I would say you have pros and cons. In WA the pen fee is massive nothing less than $6k a year and it is not easy to find a mooring. Mooring are mostly in the river.
A hard stand, however cost, $ 700 at my club and there is no need for antifouling and bird shiiit cleaning before every sail. The boat is as safe as could be as the hard stand is fenced (electric fence).

Afternoon,

Interesting thread but IMHO and having sailed with my kids since they could crawl on JOG and performance trailer sailers, get what you want especially if the "boss" can sail, learn what you can and can't do and modify things to suit the location.

Elliot in my opinion is perfect, kids will love it, ease them into it all on gentle days, remember harnesses and jackets (good quality ones) and enjoy.

All my kid's kids have now been out on the boats since small, have found mother's are the biggest issue and kids just love it.

If I was you, just get it and enjoy it, they are a nice boat.

Thanks all for the further input. Unfortunately it has all become hypothetical since my left leg is now in a cast and the word is I'll need surgery and another 10 weeks in plaster after that. All from falling off my mountain bike.

Anyway I will keep an Elliot as a future option and investigate further with decreased sail area and try and get on one when able to see how they handle.

700 for a hard stand is a good price. I have been quoted 1200 to park a boat on a trailer down at the boat ramp behind a fence. The pontoons aren't too busy at urangan that I have noticed.

Like mentioned off the beach does have some positives with a young family. Might keep us going for a few seasons yet. Will have to wait until the new year at least before I can get back out sailing. Will make for a looooong summer.