Saraband
New Member
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posted
12 June 2000 08:56 PM
Paul
I have a lift-keel Sonata with which I am very pleased. Suited my spec for shoal draft, fast, high-pointing, simple but comfortable interior, and easy maintenance. Here I give my view on some pros and cons, and some stuff I wish I'd known when buying.
Pros: (many true of fixed keel too): fast cruising, comfortable interior, able to club race on handicap, cheap to run, trailable, shoal draft
Cons: my keel was too tight a fit and often jammed (now cured), slightly more tender than the fixed keel, don't sail to windward as well (although should be better off down-wind were it not for all the cruising gear!, fixed keel Sonata owners don't consider them Sonatas.Things I wish I'd known - get the lifting rudder for easier drying out (I dry out with simple legs), get one with the Proctor mast - almost impossible to fit roller reefing to the IYE mast which has soft eyes set on bolts through the mast to fix stays. Happy to converse further - either through this bulletin board or direct by email at nick.phillips@fairoakltd.freeserve.co.uk Regards
Nick
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Nick
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