First time CP19 owners....

[mayrel]

Greetings, after having purchased a reconditioned CP16, thinking it would take another couple of years to sell our cabin, it sold in 3 days!  We're moving to Shalimar Florida, so decided we can now have a larger boat for some cruising.  We found a very clean 1995 CP19 in Canyon Lake TX; we'll pick her up later this month.  We're retired and look forward to being able to cruise for longer periods of time; I like the open cabin layout of the CP19 and find no negative reports from anyone about her quality or sailing characteristics.  I realize she's not a fast boat, but we're not interested in racing.  We had a Montgomery 17 which was a great boat, but it was a compact cabin with all the storage under the berths.  I'm a visual kind of guy, so having things in bins and/or marked bags works better for me.  The boat comes with a 95' Yamaha 2-stroke 8hp motor, electric start with controls mounted in the cockpit, a nice feature.  I'm hoping 8hp will be sufficient, and as a 2 stroke it won't be too bad on fuel consumption?  She has an electrical system, but only an AM/FM radio, cabin and navigational lights.  I have a hand held VHF radio and cell phone, so we should be fine with communications.  She is fitted with a 150 genoa furling headsail(CDI II)which i hope will be good.  We will keep the boat in a slip, so she'll stay rigged unless we need to haul her out; hurricane coming for example.  I have already found this site wonderful; lots of great information and owners' willing to share their knowledge.  Hope to see you on the water....John and Joy

PS:  We have a very clean 83' CP16 for sale, details in the classified section of this site and will be on SailingTexas soon.

[HeaveToo]

You should have looked at a 23.  I may be a bit biased but they have a bit more room than the other trailerable Compac boats. 

Congratulations on the new boat.  Enjoy sailing.

[Ferd Johns]

John and Joy

I think you will thoroughly enjoy your CP19. She is a Bob Johnson (Island Packet) design, and has a flatter bottom than the CP16 or CP23 (Clark Mills designs). As you say, she's not particularly fast and won't point like a racer, but is incredible initially stable, stiff under sail, and predictable. A foiled rudder blade helps a lot, as do good sails. The quarter berths are very comfortable, the slide-out head arrangement works well for a tiny boat, there is good sitting headroom with a couple of float cushions behind your back, and I was able to convert part of the vee-berth into a small galley (similar to the Eclipse) for cruising with two. There is a lot of good stowage in the cockpit bins as you noted, and the cockpit, although shallow, is comfortable for laid-back cruising. She is not as commodious as a 23, as has been noted, but is quite a bit less to handle at the ramp, and has other sterling attributes that I appreciated.  I thought she was an exceptionally comfortable, well thought out little cruiser. I now have her lineal descendant, an Eclipse, which is also a great boat, but, interestingly enough, the quarterberths are slightly more cramped, and the clever convertible furniture can sometimes get in the way a bit. So enjoy what I consider a great boat!

Best,

Ferd.

[peterg]

J &J- enjoy that 19. Have had many boats, and the two 19s that we had were great for daysailing, weekending, and convenient to trailer sail. A convenient layout with good sailing characteristics.....and not really slow with good sails. There were many days when the GPS stayed over 5 knots for extended periods, and we tickled and briefly exceeded six on many occasions. There was a moderate amount of weather helm and reefing early was a good option to limit drama without sacrificing speed. If we weren't enjoying our 23 so much, I would have no qualms about another 19. Good luck and fun sailing with your new yacht!! PeterG 

[mayrel]

Thanks for the welcome and comments on the CP19.  Based on your comments and others' I researched, I think the CP19 will work very well for us.  We're both 67 and retired, so when I got get her in Texas and bring her back to Shalimar FL, she's getting a fresh bottom job and going into a slip at Ben's Lake Marina on Eglin AFB; one of the benefits of being retired military.  The boat will be 15 minutes away, and this is a good time to go sailing, although I prefer Sept thru Dec, cooler and more wind.  This particular boat doesn't have anything silly on it, navigation and cabin lights and a NOAA AM/FM radio.  I'll use my hand held VHF, cell phone and hand held GPS is all we'll need.  We don't particularly trust those chemical portapots, we prefer a 3 gallon bucket with toilet seat and dry chemical bags.  I'm not sure I want a galley in the cabin, but I may later; we have camp stoves we can setup in the cockpit for coffee and a new Magna charcoal grill for the stern pulpit, and coolers. I think we'll be fine.  It has a bimini top which I might add side curtains to have a full cockpit enclosure, again we'll see.  Sails are crisp and like new, although they're 5 years old, she hasn't been sailed much at all.  The 8hp Yamaha is a 2-stroke, but suppose to run fine; I may replace it sooner than later with a 4 stroke of similar size.  I'd rather have a bit more power just in case, although I doubt a 9.9 is merited, probably a 5 or 6hp will due.  There are however throttle/gear controls and electric start in the cockpit, a bit over kill for this boat, but a nice feature.  I will likely add the RudderCraft foiled rudder too, but for now we'll see how she handles with the stock rudder.  She's very clean, only seen salt water for 2 weeks, the rest fresh and stored inside.  I probably paid more than I should, but what the hey, I feel after all the boats we've had, this one is a long term keeper.  As one said, it's big enough for two to be comfortable, 4 can go day sailing, and she's small enough the slip fee is affordable.  She does have a roller headsail 150 genoa, which I'm not sure I like.  I've had some bad experiences with failed furlers, particularly the CDI.  I can always have it converted to a hanked on sail, and maybe get a 135 jib.  Down hauls work fine and the deck seems big enough to go forward easily.

[skip1930]

I'm thinking that a 8 hp 2 cycle is too much hp for a CP-19.

But if electric start is required that's probably the engine size where electric start and onboard controls begins. 
The 8 hp 2 cycle is heavy but not as heavy as any 4 cycle of the same size.

[I personally would not relish hanging out over salt water to pull start and adjust the engine's height. Don't things in the salt water eat people?]

Under engine power my CP-19 is pushed along with a light weight-short shaft 5 hp 2 cycle and terminal calculated hull speed at 5.2 to 6.1 knots as depicted by a chart plotter and ST-40 paddle wheel.

To pull the engine further off the transom and place the engine deeper into the water I cut up my old rudder blade and made 4 longer flat bars used in the original engine mount. That worked well. Simple remove and replace, [R&R].
 
Under sail power the same 5.2 to 6.1 can be achieved. But no faster.
Begs the question do the sails make 5 hp on a good day? Don't know.

The CP-19 is just big enough for sail/camping and a boom tent to control dew and rain sitting on anchor while cooking dinner with a portable one burner stove in the cockpit just can't be beat.

skip.

[mayrel]

I just ordered a RudderCraft foiled rudder blade.  However, I notice on my motor, the PO installed a piece of plexiglass to keep the prop from hitting the rudder?!  I will have to be careful with the new rudder blade.  I wonder, is this typical of these boats?  I would think the motor mount would be located to clear the rudder when under power.  Should I go to another section of this site for more information?

[skip1930]

No problem as long as the rudder blade does not kick up.

skip.

[Tim Gardner]

I love seeing the green type, Skip!

TG