Trip To Strictly Sailing Boat Show

Article By Mark Suszko

Last winter I went to Navy Pier in Chicago to the “Strictly Sailing” national traveling sailboat show. I had a great time checking out many boats and dreaming of ownership. I also went seriously window-shopping the smaller boats, now that I too was an actual sailor. I took a good look at everything at or under 20 feet long. I really was fascinated by the Hobie Adventure Island folding trimarans, and an Australian inflatable cat that can fit in your car trunk. All of these though, were thousands and thousands of dollars. And all of them were more complicated than the Butterfly.

I left the show with a new-found respect for my old boat. In terms of fun per dollar spent, satisfaction and enjoyment per hour of time invested, you just can’t beat an old boat you’ve cleaned up and renewed. Where can you get a sailboat for three hundred bucks or less, brandnew, that could do that? The only thing comparable would have to something scratch-built yourself, like a PDRacer.