If given the choice,
Would you go for a 1 year old boat with its original sails?
Or a 3 year old boat with new sails? (Boat of same make/model).

new sails

I'd have to say it might depend on the boat. But if both are of similar build quality, same stiffness and same weight, then the older one with new sails

Depends on how many miles the 3yo boat has done. My experience with tigers - 3yo boat driven by a pussy and well maintained will be fine. Same age boat (even well maintained) but pushed hard week in week out will be no where near as stiff as a new one. As always it's not allways a clear answer.

Cheers,
Tiger Mike

I would go with the new sails. There are way of making a three year old boat, nice and stiff. You cant make old sails new unless you practice black magic sails voodoo.

I agree with TigerMike. It's about use and abuse, not age.

Thx for the response,
So a three year old cat from a recreational sailor should be of about the same quality as a one year old racer?

Apart from how the boat has been handled (beaching, cleaning, storage, cleaning all bearings for sand and salt, tightening beam bolts, capsizes, collisions, damages/repairs etc), the key is stiffness. Two factors determine this for identical boats, what is the max load the boat has seen and how many cycles of loading has it gone trough. You will probably not be able to find anything meaningful about what max loads the boats have seen, but you might do some research on the number of load cycles they have gone trough. A one year old boat from an active racer might well have seen more use than a three year old boat used for weekend sailing. You can also look at their measured weight and do a simple test of platform stiffness. Set one boat up on a level surface, and lift one bow. Measure how high you must lift the bow before the other bow follows. Set the other boat up identically, and measure the same value. You will hopefully not be able to measure a difference.
The racing boat might be set up better, equipped better and "tricked out" while the recreational boat might be a stock one from the factory.

Question is what you want to do with the boat and your budget? If you are on a low budget, new sails are a major factor.

As Rolf points out, how "new" is the new boat and how New are the new sails? Never been used, latest, greatest, racing sails or run of the mill low milage sails? Are they Dacron or Pentex? Did he race them or not? I would take a close look at both boats because a one year old racing boat might have more new goodies on it, also the lines, mast, beams, rigging, etc. are all only one year old. So take a look at both and see which one suits your needs and budget.

The three year old boat might need new lines, rigging, upgrades, etc. if you want to race and could end up costing as much as if you just bought the new boat AND then a new set of sails for racing. Where was it stored for those 3 years and was it covered or not? Remember to look inside the hulls and up from the bottom at the daggerboard wells for cracks in the hulls.

It has been my observation that many recreational sailors think nothing of driving their boats up onto the beach at speed, sometimes they forget to pull the boards up too... Whereas a racing sailor will usually treat his boat much better, at least on shore.

My temptation would be for the newer boat. One year old sails are still more than serviceable for the vast majority of sailors. The boat has less depreciation potential because of it's age. You'll only be one year off on the sail replacement cycle versus the older boat. And even though 3 years isn't that old for a platform, some things will be starting to show wear.

Newer boat for me.

As with people, it's not the year; it's the miles that count.

Scary! If that's the case, I am a lot older than my years. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif" alt="" /> <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I think it all depends on how the boat is kept, used and setup. I would not want a boat that was a year old and was not used very much but was kept on the beach near salt water and never cared for( sails never washed off, boat never washed off, no cover, no cat trax, jib left up in sun, spin left in snuffer). I would rather have a boat that was used and the owner kept good care of it (stored mast down, washed and covered, sails kept inside, spin flaked, used cat trax to move around, waxed). Most sailors that use there boats tend to care for them more and keep up with the maintanence.

Buy any boat that Dave Lennard has kept and you will get a well maintained and tricked out craft.
WWDLD?

Thanks Dave those are kind words.

I think we have a conspiracy here... David, Isn't your boat currently For Sale. Mosely, You trying to get a cut in commission.

But I have to agree! I don't think I've ever seen a boat babied like a David Lennard boat.

I actually have to agree with Dave Mosely. DL takes such meticulous care in rigging his boats. Its seriously no joke that half the fleet has WWDLD stickers on their crossbeams because of his rigging (and sailing!) prowess.

WWDLD?
guesses:
We wait (for) Dave Lennard (to) derig
Why would Dave Lennard Do (it)
We Wish (for) Dave Lennard death

I have no idea what you are talking about.

hahah...we even had bracelets at one time.

"What would David Lennard Do"...and even though he is a rigging fanatic and probably even a little more retentive that myself, he usually is the first one packed up (rigging off the boat too) because he has methodically thought through and prepared the boat and trailer storage for quick derigging and rigging. Chris Zander came up with that one.