Irv, My immediate thought was that it is nice to such a good list to pick from. Your probably know more about these boats than I and your decision should be based on how you expect to use it.
Short background for you to evaluate my opinions. I crewed on an Oday 23 out of Padnarum(sp?) Harbor on Buzzards bay for three years and made a number of trips to the Elizabeth Is. I chartered a Tanzer 22 in the same area for a week. I owned an AMF 2100 for 4 years on Naraganset(sp?) bay (sailed it to Block Island a few times). Two years ago I sailed my M15 from Hyannis Ma to Tuckernuck Is. Three years ago stayed inside the Hyannis breakwater for 3 days with my M15 because of the 30 kt winds. I owned a CD25 for a season on the Chesapeake Bay and cruised in company with an M17 for 4 days with good winds. The M17 was faster and pointed higher the entire trip. I still own an M15 and often crew in an M17. I am biased towards the Montgomery boats and have absolute confidence in my M15. Opinion. The M17 is the easiest trailerable boat on your list but don't know how that fits in your requirements. I recently towed an M17 with a F150 truck from VA to SC with no problems whatsoever. With the deep waters around New England a keel boat would be hard to pass up and I would probably vote for the Precision 21. With two agile boys you would enjoy this boat a lot. The M17 Would be my definite choice for a non full keel boat. The cockpit is exceptionally comfortable for long day sails and it is nearly as fast as the Precision. It will handle any conditions which the Precision will and from what I have seen both boats need to start reefing in about the same conditions (I recently sailed in company with Precision 21 on a Power Squadron cruise. They obviously left the M15 in the dust but the 65 year old couple loved the boat.) The Catalina 22 is probably the most comfortable boat in the harbor on a cruise but the sailing characteristics aren't as good as the other two. We frequently pass C22s in the M17. I don't know much about the full keel version but would assume it is marginally better. I believe the compromise here is to far towards cruising. One of the M17 owners I sailed with in June sold his Compac 19 and bought a used M17. He prefers the M17 sailing characteristics and wouldn't go back. Maybe he will post his opinion directly. The Potter 19 I don't have any direct knowledge but I do not like the cosmetics of the slab sided design. None of these boats will have that rock steady feel of a Tartan 27. The M17 and Precision have the glorious feel of a fast dingy. Tod Mills has a picture of his M17 moving so fast down the Cheasapeak Bay that it has a rooster tail. His GPS was registering 10.9 kts, the winds were over the port quarter at 25+ knots with some 4 and 5 ft breaking waves. A glorious sailing day for the heavy weather lovers. Doug Kelch M15 "Seas the Day" --- Irv Kooris <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Hello, > I am considering purchasing a 1982 M17. I have > looked at a Potter 19, a > Catalina 22, a Precision 21, A Compac 19, and a > Compac Suncat. I am married > and have 2 boys 7 and 16. The last sailboat I owned > was a 1969 Tartan 27 . I > will be sailing on coastal New England waters. We > will be spending an > occasional overnight. I like to be out there when it > is blowing and like to > have confidence in my boat. Any thoughts, feedback, > or comments appreciated. > TIA > Irv Kooris > > > _______________________________________________ > http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Health - Feel better, live better http://health.yahoo.com _______________________________________________ http://mailman.xmission.com/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/montgomery_boats
