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This is my second P700 the first being my fathers when I was eleven! We have recently sailed a Jeanneau 29.2 for the last three years to get my nonsailing wife and young family (3&1) until she was happy and the kids slightly older. I settled for the aft cabin, seperate heads and large space to keep the peace, but it sailed like a caravan with its delta hull and was generally hard work. NOT SO THE PEGASUS 700! Coming from dinghies its really like sailing a very stable Lark or 470, the boat is amazingly responsive, gets in the groove quickly and puts a grin on your face when either going up wind or running. I bought the 3/4 rig with a fin keel which I think is the best combination. i was also lucky enough to get one with an inboard VP 7.5. Even the wife noticed the difference, and she feels a lot more in control of this boat. When it heels it digs in well to a point then accelerates, I have only caused it once to spin and that was because I was pushing it in a 35kt gust. We do a lot of sailing with other boats including a Cutlass 27, Stella and a few races against Sonatas and Hunter 707's On handicap we do well even with sails that look like rusty barn doors, although after twenty two years I parted some of the wires in the rigging and had it all replaced after a particuarly breezy North Sea race where the rig did a wobbly. Overall we have no problem sailing against/with these boats even though we are one of the smallest. Rig Magic replaced the standing rigging, set it up and it went like a steam engine. I have since got quotes on new sails from Quantum, North, Dolphin,Kemp, Banks and Jeckells which all makes good reading(contact me if you want to see some of the prices) the interesting thing was that each sailmaker offered their own dimensions and differing sqftge. I have put some clutches on the coachroof and replaced a winch but otherwise all the other origional kit is in good order except the cheap kicker that the factory put on it was 4:1 and had old style rope that you could not pull. I have since put a 12:1 on and never use the winch. If you want a 24ft sailing yacht that sails very well, has good space below for 2+2 has some innovative ideas for packaging and most importantly is stable and seakindly whilst being fast you need to look at one of these boats. Many of the magazines do not cover them in their second hand tests therefore prices seem depressed, but I picked mine up for less than £7K and have now spent another £1500 on new standing and running rigging which by the way was mostly bought on ebay. I have begun to Harkenise all the fittings and really look forward to getting aboard when I can. Maintenance is easy and as it weighs only 1200kg can go behind the average car. If you want to see some, they tend to be on the Norfolk Broads and up in the Lake District but there are also some lying around the East Coast. Go for it they are great and makes you realise just how much fun having a "caravan" is all about...... |
