Highway to Sailing time.

[finleyatty@gmail.com]

Hello!

I am brand new here. I have a 1998 Corsair F28R. I love the speed and handling of the boat, but it is too hard on my 51 year old back and cruising is very uncomfortable. As a result I am selling the F28R and looking at the DF28 and the T28. Most likely, the DF28 is too expensive for me. I would like to spend 60 or less on my next boat. I tried to find posts to answer these questions, but I am not a pro and couldn't find them. I did read most of Dan Kim's blog but didn't feel like these issues were dealt with. Here we go:
1. How long does it really take to get the boat from the road to sailing? (and vice versa) I know that is variable, but my F boat takes well over two hours and drives my wife insane. Getting the boat from one place to another and splashing it is one of the great looking features of the T28.

2. Looks like the boat can really only sleep three, two in the double and one in the nearby single. Anybody cruise with more than two aboard? I'm 6' and 220, wife is 5'6 and unknown weight. We would like to be able to be somewhat comfortable for week long cruises in coastal situations. We have done a few multiday trips with the F28 but it was fairly miserable.

3. I used a torqeedo cruise 2 on my F with 260 watts of solar and 360ah of LifePo4 for additional propulsion. Wasn't quite enough power or solar, but in good conditions it was fine. Anybody using full electric power?

4. Anybody want to trade for a clean F28R? (heh).

Thanks in advance for any help.
Fin

[vancouver]

1. I only make the transition about once a year and takes me about 60 minutes. Removing the boom is the hardest part. If you leave the Genoa on the furler be careful about lines fouling.
2. I have cruised for two weeks with a friend and it works alright for two. It does not have standing headroom for you. My 5'10" works pretty well. Three would be very cozy.
3. I don't think anyone has used electric. In fact, I don't think anyone has tried anything smaller than a 20hp.

[Ron]

The one real advantage of the Telstar 28 vs. any Corsair 28 or bigger is that you can do everything by yourself. No need for any assistance at all. But some help could speed things up a drop.

Raising the mast is a matter of grinding a winch for about 4 minutes, and note that the mast stores itself forward when coming down. No need to carry it forward or aft 10 or 12 feet. On the later boats you can leave the boom on and even a dacron main sail. But I wouldn't try that with my stiff Kevlar laminate main. The boom has 2 hinges - sideways at the main and about 1 foot out for vertical. I used to leave the boom on all of the time. Easier if you add a 2nd topping lift to raise it vertical before you lower the mast.

Folding / unfolding the ama's is even easier. Figure around 3 minutes for each with no tools or help needed at all.

If I work straight through the job (which is rare), I can do the transition in about 75 minutes single handed. Hardest part is getting the main sail on and off.

At 6 feet, I'm fairly comfortable staying on the boat. Not so with my wife - she'd prefer a deluxe suite on the Queen Mary 2. Our longest "cruise" was for 3 nights.

The boat is substantially heavier than a Corsair 28. That would lessen the ability of the torqeedo to move it.

When I was looking to buy new 8 years ago, I chose the Telstar over both the F 28 and 31. Price was a concern, but the ability to do it myself was probably more important.

[escape]

Wow, guys you are fast!

I would say it takes me about 4 hours to complete the job in or out of the water, (with minimal help from wife). Last year I left the genoa on the furler and it work great, I have the Kevlar main so I have to take it off the boom. The mast if fast to raise but I still need to untie everything before. Also untie the boat from the trailer, unscrew the supporting pads. Then I need to replace all the different lines/halyards, the mail sail, lazy jacks, reefing, furler line... Then it’s the bimini, dodger, solar panel, dingy, dingy motor, fenders, mooring line, ect... Then trailer the boat in the water, have to go store the truck and trailer.

At that time the boat is ready for crusing, sitting at the dock. It’s time to take a beer

[Ron]

Michel -

I was not including any additional time for solar panels, dingy, dingy motor, mooring lines, dodger, bimini, parking trailer and truck, etc. Most of these chores were not even required on my setup and I left the bimini folded and covered on the boat. I also got into the habit of quickly tying up most of the hanging lines where they fell. I figured that was safer too - moving them around to make it look neater will cause problems the next time you raise the mast. The boat was usually secured to the trailer using the eye at the bow and a strap tossed over the cockpit.

And to be honest, I may have actually done this only 1 or 2 times without taking at least one break. I probably averaged a little more than 2 hours working at a more relaxed rate. This was years ago - the boat is now permanently stored in Florida, sails off and mast down, folded and on my boat lift during the summer when we're up in NJ. Since I cover it while were gone, it probably takes me more time to do everything. Getting the cover on and off is now the major issue.

[onremlop]

One huge time saver for us is using shrink wrap rolls that usually is used to to hold furniture and things together for shipping. We leave all the lines in place when dropping the mast and then take the shrink wrap and start at the furler and wind the shrink wrap with all the halyards, lazyjacks, etc.... in place so that they are nice and secure when we are driving down the road. Huge timesaver. We use the shrink wrap for tying any loose ends down as well and it is easy to remove. It is cheap and can be found at any box store, Walgreens, etc... Here is what I am talking about; http://www.amazon.com/Shrink-Premium-Re ... ng+plastic

You don't need a whole huge roll. A roll goes a long way.

Just my 2¢.