INVESTIGATOR 563

In the next two years or so I plan to buy a trailer sailer. I don't need to explain why to choose an investigator to this august assembly: its chops in coastal sailing, stability, roominess etc. Also there are the inevitable downsides. I am extremely tight for space and I am not sure whether I can fit an investigator in the parking spot.

The RedJacket 17 is shorter and - by the specs - seems to have similar claims for my attention. Does anyone have experience with the RedJacket?

Left field would be the Tropic 460 which is purely a protected waters boat. However it is small and dry. But there is little protected water in or near Canberra that I am aware of.

40 years ago I did a lot of sailing on Corsairs with some time on lasers, mirrors and even a hartly 16. We owned an NS14/MG. So I have a background but need to relearn a great deal.

Many thanks

Paul

Hi Paul.
Welcome to the forum. Not that I’m steering you away from our happy investigator group but you can get some good “comparison of Trailer Sailers”posts over on Trailer Sailor Place, and it’s rare for me to advertise for them believe me. Mel over there however, is a vey nice lady who did own a Redjacket from memory as her first TS and may have posted about the pros and cons. In a pinch you could join and direct a few questions to her.

If you are short on space at home have you considered mooring. An examination of my posts will explain I’ve been a happy moored 563 owner for 20 years. If you are an experienced sailor you will as noted appreciate the big boat stability of the Investigator but combined with the beach-ability of flatter bottomed boats . The red jacket obviously has restrictions in this area.

Hopefully there may be previous owners of the boats you have suggested on here somewhere who will chime in with advice. We have over 200 members apparently. We hide them behind the gallery and sub-menus.

Don’t be embarrassed to publish your findings. We are all here to learn.

thanks Ozzie will do.

The RedJacket is almost as good as the Investigator at sea worthiness. However, as Ozzie implied, the fixed keel makes them difficult to launch. A couple of benefits of this is that they are roomier than some and also tend to be cheaper - people scared off by the difficulty launching. There seem to be many in WA not so many over on the east coast.