With international cruising being limited due to concerns over COVID-19, we weren’t surprised to see a resurgence of interest in smaller boats celebrated in our recent blog post “Small Boat Dreams and Carl Alberg’s Classic Daysailors.” You can find tests of most of these classics in the Boat Reviews section of Practical Sailor Online.

Paceship PY23

I started my sailing on Lake Huron with a lovely keel/centerboard Paceship PY23 at a time when I thought “tender” referred only to steaks. Great boat, and looking back, I did some crazy things, like flying a spinnaker single handed. But the sea gods took care of me in my youth. I eventually moved on to a Northern 29 and was amazed by its performance in windy conditions on Georgian Bay. The 50 percent ballast ratio kept it stable and kept me safe. After 13 years with the Northern I downsized to a pristine Alberg 22, the most fun, most handsome boat I ever owned. I often wish I had kept it, but my wife insisted we should again go bigger. Today I’m back to cruising on our Ticon 30, among the most spacious,rugged, and comfortable cruisers of the mid ’80s. The Ticon performs amazingly in winds above 15 knots, and with self-tailing winches, autohelm and practice, it can be single-handed. 

Ian Cochran

Via PS Online

Alberg 21

Don’t forget the Alberg 21(his only regression I believe, to a fin keel), the Typhoon Sr., South Coast 23,(same hull as the Kittiwake), Cape Dory 22, Cape Dory 25D, Pearson Ariel(same hull as the Commander), and the Bristol 27, all great boats.

Larry Cooperman
Cal 20
San Diego, CA

Alberg 35

I had a 1962 Alberg 35. Built in Rhode Island, it was among the first true voyage designed fiberglass boats. I cruised and lived aboard it for ten years, then lost it to Hurricane Andrew in Miami. A 130-foot steel barge went sideways through the marina and pulverized boats. Bow over there, port stern over there, cabin top not to far away, etc. But not the Alberg! Although trounced into the bottom and run over, she was completely whole. She was totalled only by the decay of the wood interior soaking in diesel-soaked sea water for three weeks. But when we floated her she was completely whole!

Fred Read
Tartan 37
Oriental, NC

Quickstep 24

Since others have branched out beyond Alberg, I’ll add the Ted Brewer Quickstep 24. It has a modified full keel, with the sump set well back from the forefoot and the “Brewer bite” out of the after section before the attached rudder, so she never misses stays, and is a little quicker, but still only draws 3.5-feet. She is a little more tender, probably, but she heels over on her shoulder and stops there. My Quickstep likes a reef when the wind gets much over 15 knots, and when trying to tack down the Intracoastal with sandbars on either side I sometimes wish I had a fractional jib, rather than the masthead genoa she came with. Functional cabin and comfortable cockpit, and a pretty boat.

Frank Milhous
via PS Online

Bayfield 25

There is also the Bayfield 25 and 29-foot designs, with the 29-foot having a cutter, two foresails, sailing rig. The nice thing about shallow-draft full keels is you can almost always find a spot to anchor even if arriving late in the day to a crowded spot as the fin keelers have to stay in the deeper water. If the breeze gets up the full keel designs can keep up with fin keels. In light airs the full keel needs some big sail area to hoist, genaker or such, in order to ghost along and cover the miles in a not altogether unpleasant way to get where the breeze takes you to when the sun gets over the yardarm towards the day’s end. We had great fun in our Bayfields as the kids grew up. Moving inland broke that bond with the salt sea.

Brad Forber

Boatless in BC

Kootenay Lake, British Columbia