posted July 03, 2002 09:39 AM            

I came to the CL14 having looked extensively at the O'Day Javelin, the Precision 16, Island 14, and a few other similar boats. My sense is that the CL14 has very similar lines to the Javalin although I think the weight is the biggest difference.

The sense I got was that the CL 14 would be a very safe and forgiving boat- Easy to learn on, good for training and day-sailing with my young kids. My sense is that a number of aspects of the design will compensate for my inexperience.

I don't think most people would describe the CL14 as a performance boat. If your primary criteria is going fast I'd recommend soliciting more opinions from others on this site. I do see a lot more about racing CL16's although my sense is that the CL14 is simply a scaled-down version of the CL16 so the performance is probably comparable. If that's your main concern you may be better off looking at other boats as well. If you're more interested in the cruising part, the conclusion I came to was that the CL14 was perfect.

Any comments from others here on speed?

posted July 03, 2002 11:54 AM            

I really enjoyed my 14 and never regretted buying it for a minute. I'd encourage you to go for it unless speed is your main issue... then you'd better look elsewhere.

Good luck with it and good sailing

posted July 03, 2002 02:43 PM            

Boats are not like cars...they can have a ready-made marketability if you take care enough to choose a boat that has a popular/racing following.

The CL-16 is a very popular racing class in Canada. If/when you decide to trade the boat for something else then you would stand a very good chance of easily re-cooping your initial investment.

My brother has actually made money over the course of 40 years of trading.

There are loads of unused and unwanted "cottage" boats...languishing on trailers in backyards because they are not deemed to be "main stream." These boats seem to be less marketable than boats such as Wayfarer, CL-16 and Laser I & II's and the venerable Albacore...not because the smaller boats are poorly designed or unsafe or hard to handle.....it's an economic demand thing.....

BTW I am in no way putting down the smaller boats...just illustrating a trend. I trust that everyone understands that!
Best regards...Ken

posted July 03, 2002 03:27 PM            

From what I saw of pricing/demand there was a far more ready (read: "more expensive") market for one-design or well-known boats.

I think this is partially because many buyers intend to race (at least some of the time). If you buy a lesser-known boat, when it comes time to sell you've automatically eliminating all the potential buyers who intend to race at least some of the time.

I think the other reason that Ken is correct is that it takes a certain uncomfortable leap of faith to buy an lesser-known boat(particularly in a beginner's boat market). It's hard to tell if it's from a quality (but small) manufacturer, or if there's a good reason no-one else is buying them.

A personal example: When I was looking for a Javalin I came across an O'Day 15 for sale. From what I could tell the boats were fairly similar. Some minor differences but nothing huge. There were something like 5,000 Javalin's built compared to 500 15's. I found tons of websites with information about Javelin's and virtually nothing about 15's. Even though the boat looked fine (and I'm sure would have served my needs well) I found myself asking why nobody else bought the 15's.

I finally came to the conclusion that I was going to pass on the 15. Not because it wasn't a perfectly good boat and not because I didn't think it would meet my needs perfectly well. I just figured it would 1) be a hassle to get information about it, and 2) I'd have a hard time selling it since all but a couple of exceptionally well-informed buyers would got through the same thought process I did.

I have to agree with the other sailors here. Though the CL 14 is a quality boat, you will eventually get "two-footitis". The re-sale factors mentioned by other posters are very good observations.

posted July 05, 2002 03:27 PM            

anyway i like my CL14...this was my 4th time out in it.........Dick