THE BIG QUESTION

Best weekend cruiser for a family with teens?

QI used to do a lot of windsurfing and sail small boats like Wayfarers. I have also crewed, but skippered a yacht once during a passage through the Caledonian Canal.

I was planning to complete my RYA Day Skipper later in the year with a view to chartering as part of a family holiday next year.

By accident, I came across a Dufour T7 for sale with an asking price of £2,500. This set me off searching and I realised there are plenty of older day/weekend sailing boats available for under £5,000. Mooring fees in a harbour near me are around £600 a year so this made me wonder if owning a small boat to use at the weekend, maybe sleeping overnight in the harbour, would allow me to achieve my pipedream.

Ideally, I’d be looking for four berths for me, my wife and our two teenage boys.

I’d appreciate some advice on good models to look out for.

Ross Nickson

ADuncan Kent replies: Dufour certainly packed a lot into the T7 for a 22-footer – she must be the smallest centre-cockpit production boat ever built.

She has a well for the outboard, which keeps the prop under the water all the time, and a swing keel that allows her to be easily trailed and launched, as well as making it possible to investigate shallow channels and park her up on the beach. She sails well but internal ballast means she needs reefing early.

If a shallow draft is important there are other boats you might consider such as the Jaguar range, Seamaster Sailer 23 and the Anderson 22 – all of which are competent coastal cruising craft and just about light enough to trail behind a family saloon.

There are also many, more modern alternatives for trailer sailing, including the Cornish Shrimpers, Character Boats’ Weekender and Swallow Yachts Bay Cruiser 23, although none are particularly low budget!

With two berths in the saloon and two in the aftercabin, the Dufour T7 was a popular family cruiser when she first appeared in 1980