Taken on day of purchase
I first saw a Snapdragon 23 at the London boat show one that had been restored by PBO at the time I thought she was a nice boat but, had no idea that I would buy one.
http://www.pbo.co.uk/news/restored-snapdragon-23-yacht-free-prize-draw-25312
Pandora was my first real cruiser a Snapdragon 23. First impressions a nice cruiser for me to sail around the Solent. My first outing was under power with a Yanmar 1GM inboard. She handed well under power and felt like a stable boat. When berthing she seemed to be a bit slow to react I was not sure if that was due to me or the Triple keels.
Our first outing
Under sail she performed well and my first passage was to East Cowes from Fareham it felt great having my own boat when the seas got a little lumpy she felt fine. Leaving Portsmouth one is often faced with a lot of wash from other vessels. I reached 6 knots. But did find that she was a little bit slow my average speed was 4.5 knots.
Final passage to Bembridge
For a solo sailor there is more than enough room. I decided to take my family with me two children an infant and my girlfriend the cockpit had plenty of room for us but the cabin was a bit cramped but, that was to be expected.
Plenty of room
I sailed Pandora in and around the Solent single handed and with my family I really did have a good time during my ownership and was sad to see her go.
Time to say farewell
I would recommend a Snapdragon 23 to anyone as there first boat or someone who wants to start making passages in familiar water.
Pros
A nice sized boat
Triple keels meant she could take the ground
Nice size cockpit
Easy to handle
Ample stowage
Big enough for a small family
Can be brought from £500 as a project
Cons
Very little headroom
Handling in close quarters was always a challenge
A little slow
For more information regarding these great boats see below.
http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=6820
https://www.snapdragonmirage.org.uk/
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