Decision between 16 and 19

[crdpirate]

I am a new member of the Compac site and looking for a little help on making a decision between a compac 16 and 19.  I have hardly any sailing experience, but have a great love for the water and have spent a year reading up on sail boats, sailing how to, etc.  I narrowed my sail boat search down to a compac 16 or 19, due to the stability of compacs, the reputation, trailerability and value.  Some background that may be useful for responses:  I have a Wife, and two kids, one 4 year old and one almost 1 year old (and a dog that goes motorboating with us usually - we currently have a ski boat).  We will be sailing on a lake the majority of the time, but do want to take it to different spots on the coast when we vacation.  I have read some of the other comparisons on user posts so I feel pretty confident about my knowledge of the differences between the two, I guess I am looking for some biased responses from 16 and 19 owners about why to choose one or the other.  Maybe your experiences will strike a chord with something I havn't thought about.  One last thing, if I went with the 16 or 19 any reason to hold out for a series II, or III over the original?  Would a novice sailor miss those upgrades as much, just wondering because there is a compac 19 1982 available close by.
Thanks for the Help
Cory

[Craig Weis]

I'd go with the 19. The smaller the boat the faster things happen, like less warning of loosing control when 'on the edge' just prior to weather helming.

Same sailing knowledge is required for either boat, so don't let that pick the boat.
The 16 rigs quicker, stores easier, the stick can be put up with one or two. Same as the 19 but with more effort~ but for me that's one time a season to go up and one time to go down. Sailing off the trailer is a pain.

The 19 gets you some space, a potty, a house to duck into for sail camping on the hook, and still trailerable. The 19 is a sailboat for the weekend. The 16 is a sailboat for the day. But I know books have been written about living on a 16. Just my opinion.

Check my links below in blue. I'm surprised more people have not responded to this. It's good you stayed away from centerboard boats, just something more to play with and get in the way. With two kids full life lines are necessary. and that means a bow pulpit and stern pulpit with life lines between. Not all C-P's come with the stern. Mine did not. If you can, do the furler on the head sail. Stay in the cockpit with the wife and kids this way.
skip

On the 19 I put the mast in the tabernacle and hang over the stern pulpit and loosly bolt and wing nut with washers between the tabernacle and mast. The two shrouds on port and starboard are pinned individually, [do not use one pin for both shrouds and through the chain plate as one pin. Each shroud has a different angle.] These never are undone on my boat. Same with the back stay but this back stay has to be slackened for me to have enough slack for my Harken pin of my size '0-0' furler up front.

Since I fly a spinnaker I have a block at the mast head and a halyard that I loop and feed down through the bow anchor roller. I put my 'safety man' on this line with instructions to take up the slack using the cleat on the trailer's tongue. At any point of mast raising or lowering I can let go and this line holds the mast. Be mindful that the side stays like to get caught under the 'eyebrow' teak wood trim above the portals and check that the spreader bars are horizontal and that the top-o-mast to spreader shroud is without too much slack. Also check those wind vane 45 deg arms and arrow indicator atop mast. When mast is up go fwd and slip in the pin, tighten the wing nut, plug in the radio and lights, snap in the furler, install the furler wedge, tighten the back stay, ship fenders and dock lines undo the bow-eye winch strap and safety chain and back her into the water with the trailer tongue extended, floating it off the trailer. Takes about 20 minutes to get her wet.

[Steve Ullrich]

Cory - You mentioned a wife, two kids and a dog.  You also mentioned that one of your children is only a year old.  With that in mind I'd strongly encourage you to go with the 19 over the 16.  Larger cockpit, more stable under sail, a cabin that is large enough that you can put kids down for a nap in the v-birth.  Much more room for a portable toilet and a lot more room for you or your wife to help the kids with using it.  No doubt the 19 will be a little more difficult to rig as the mast is heavier but two people can do it easily enough. You might be able to do it easily enough yourself.  I used to step the mast on my O'Day 20 by myself and I'm guessing the masts weight about the same and are about equally awkward.  The 19 will require a larger tow vehicle and might not fit in your garage but that is the trade off.  If you go look at that nearby 19 check the hull, transom, standing rigging, keel and deck over carefully.  Don't worry about oxidation.  Look for solid.  Make sure the spars are straight. Sails and running rigging can be replaced easily enough, so can standing rigging for that matter. Tillers and rudders are easy to replace too. Hulls can be buffed out and bottoms are easy to paint. Cushions can be recovered. Look the trailer over as well but trailers need work from time to time.  You may want to have a trailer company check out your tires, bearings, lights even if they look good to you before taking it on the road.

Welcome to the forum.

[Bob Condon]

I also like the 19' better. I have made sails from kits, plus covers for tillers, recondition all the wood...

For Rigging, I do by myself if you wife can watch the kids to keep them safe.

I will say that the rigging can be done single handed. I do not use a gin pole but use the mainsail halyard
as a second set of hands.

1. I fix the main sail head end of the line to the base of the mast.
2. I take the other end of the halyard and place it under the tongue of the trailer so that once I raise
the mast past 45 degrees, I can take tension on the halyard to keep it upright.

3. I bolt the mast into its base with the top of the mast overhanging the stern.
== my side rigging are all left in place so nothing to adjust.
== I loosen by backstay as much as possible.
== I put the pin to the forestay (furler in my case) at the bow where the furler attaches to the
chainplate.
== I go back and place the mast on my shouler and simply walk forward extending the mast to the upright position.
== The place where you need balance in when you need to step up on the upper deck with the mast in hand. I uslally, while in the cockpit, put the mast to a completely vertical position, tighten the halyard to hold the mast verical and climb onto the upper deck
== I go to the bow, and pull the halyard tight and pin the roller fuler (or front stay) into place.
== release halyard, tighten backstay and life is good

I do not use a gin pole because it just one more darn thing in the way and I can simply lift the mast into a vertical position.


If you think it out and rig it  a couple of times in the yard on the trailer, you will fine at the ramp..

One thing to be careful is make sure you can rig the boat away from the ramp. If you block the ramp for a long period of time, you will find disfavor with the other boaters (especially power boats).

Make sure there is no power lines overhead. Pull the boat away from the ramp, rig and then back it in and release the boat,secure the boat, pull the car out and you are done. our ramp