Andrei, I've lost track of your statement of your situation, location, and
sailing experience, but I'll just say that before I had the M15 I owned a
Rascal, an open 15-footer that was the most fun I ever had sailing, and I've
cried
tears in many beers wishing I hadn't traded her in on the Montgomery. (That
is, I wish I still had both of them.) I recently saw a Rascal for sale on a
Madison WI Craigslist listing, at a super price, but I chained myself to a tree
for three days and drove a spike through my foot into a root, and the
opportunity passed. (I'm in Stillwater, Minnesota, so it was do-able, though
the
spike presented a problem.)
So when I was looking in '85 to upgrade to a more young-toddlers-friendly
boat (that is, with a cabin for protection from the elements), I really wasn't
thinking of going with a lateral move to another 15-footer. I mean, why
bother? But what I did know was that I was going to be a trailer sailor with
this
boat, and that finally settled the issue. I wanted to be in the water as
fast as possible, especially since my sailing opportunities were mostly
evenings
or half-days. No matter the routine of getting the mast up and everything
else prepped, and no matter the fact that a given person COULD get a given 17
into the water in good time, the trump card shows after you've done it 40 or 60
times. That's when ease of set-up really starts to be appreciated. The
routine is efficient by then, but it isn't why you left the house with a
sailing
craft on the trailer behind you.
Spec out the 15 and against the 17 and you'll see (as I'm sure you already
have) that you're not just talking about a boat that's 2 feet longer. The two
are in a completely different class. I'm sailing inland lakes, launching at
busy public ramps, and once I know how the standing rigging goes together, I
don't want a lot of refresher hours. I want to sail. The 15 has been
gloriously sufficient for the 24 years I've had "Shenanigans." Even at a
weight
far less than the 17, she lets me know she's behind my Tahoe, so I'm rather
grateful it isn't a bigger, heavier boat back there, because I sail all over
the
state. Now that gas is approaching $4, the Tahoe is parked except to pull the
boat or haul a kayak and camping gear.
She's spent a few seasons in slips, and if that had been the rule, then I'd
easily have opted for a 17. But I'm also dealing right now with damage done
by having her in a slip year-round for three years in Austin, Texas. The
brutal temps, high humidity, the warm water, or who knows what, gremlins,
finally
got to the hull, and just tonight I've hoisted it up in a sling out in the
shed, in preparation for filling some gelcoat blisters and applying the
first-ever bottom paint to her. She's airborne (I intend to post photos of
the
flight), and will be "like new" (better in some ways) in three weeks or so,
unless
this wet, stormy spring persists, as it will now this week, creating humidity
that troubles the epoxy and painting processes.
If you want to get out and sail and have a blast, effortlessly and over and
over, find an M15. It FEELS like a much bigger boat than it is, and yet it's
FUN like a smaller boat, one that tests your skill, teaches you to sail and
not just go along for the ride, and rewards attention given to everything from
human ballast in a breeze, to the imminent arrival of light air above cat's
paws.
Final consideration -- I wanted a big boat, but I wanted to sail a lot, and I
couldn't do both, given my inheritance (zip). So I sailed dozens of
seasons, weekend after weekend, over two dozen years now, with the kids from
infants
to college students, in the M15, and when I wanted a bigger experience, I
chartered up on Superior, taking out boats that cost their owners a fortune to
acquire and another to maintain and keep in a slip. It's a perfect balance.
Steven Sweeney
M15 #324 (being recommissioned for another 24 years)
Stillwater, Minnesota
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