Tell me about the Prindle 15

I have two very close (hot) female friends who were in the market for a cat that would be right for them. Both under 125 lbs. They've been sailing with all of us at Cat Alley out of Bermuda Beach on Galveston Island. Both of them extremely athletic and enthusiastic, love being out on the wire, ect.
They found a 1983 Prindle 15 that was in OUTSTANDING shape. I went by and looked at it with them and found no soft spots. The tramp was fairly new, rigging, mast was in great condition, I went over the whole thing. The boat is sound. I'm not discussing the price since it is priced way lower than the boats worth. What I want to know is, do any of you Europeans know much about this boat. I've only heard about it in Europe. I know a guy won the Round Texel a few years ago on one but that's about it. I do think I'll put a jib on it so it'll be a little easier for them to launch through the surf. Please tell me what you know.

P 15 is a one person boat. The one I sailed was impossible to sheet; left my hands black and blue.

What they really need is a F16. At 250 combined weight they would smoke a lot of people!

If they are sailing together may as well move up to a Prindle 16, and get the jib.

If price is right I would say get it, as it will be a great starter boat. The was solid as a rock, but like Pete said a one person - lake boat.

There's a P-15 here at our club in the UK and although it looks a good boat, out on the water it's a DOG! The main looks to be almost uncontrollable - the mast is all over the place bend-wise and the main looks like a bin bag in shape. A couple of us have tried to help the guy with increased downhaul etc. but nothing seems to work......
We've pretty much agreed he needs at least a new sail, a set of spreaders and diamonds or, better yet, another boat. .....

I sailed one once, and seen them sailed by their owners in regattas in TX years ago.

The downwind technique (to C)I've always seen used is stand up at the mast and front crossbar on a P15. (solo)

I agree with Red, the P16 will take more weight, and already has a jib, etc.

The P15 is a 1 person unirig, that is similar to a p16. I think it was designed before the P16 and the P16 is an enlarged improved version of it. They were rare on the Gulf Coast but there were quite few of them in North Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas. Ted, a partner in the F28R, Rumline here in Houston used to race them.

I have only sailed one once. It was a sweet little boat for a Lake in 15-20 kts.

The only time I saw someone put a jib on one, they took it off saying "it's worse, that boat's not designed for a jib". Now, I can say the jib they used didn't match the boat and you will have the same problem. The main is cut as a uni and it chokes off before you get the jib tight enough. The only jib I am fairly sure would work, is a small non-overlapping one. I don't know if this will do what you want. I doubt the forestay was designed to accept a jib.


Personally, I would teach your friends how to sail it let them enjoy the boat. They will probably need some time on the boat before trying to sail it through the surf. If they were spending $5000 on a new boat it would not be my first choice but as a bargain, sure. Plan on replacing a original blocks with Harken (the blocks of that era just sucked), sealing the mast, make sure they can right the boat without assistance, and take them to the Dike for their 1st couple of sails.

only being of European dissent, here goes. Mine is an '85 and well taken care of over the years, sail (original pin-head) in excellent condition.

The boat weighed like 255 (when new) so handing on the beach and righting will be no problem for them. Mine came with 6:1 Harken 2.5" blocks, no complaints there. The downhaul set up is kind of goofy, but I only pull out the wrinklies. The only other string to pull is mast rotation, which is nice to have (vs. H14/H16). Boat has lots of freeboard (again vs. H14/H16) and I've never gotten close to burying the bow. One drawback, the boom attachment is way low on the mast, ala H17, but if only reaching up and down the beach (no cans) would be manageable, especially for young girls. Haven't had mine out in a really big blow, but with 250 on board I'd think they'd have no problem keeping it flat. I weigh 160 and think it's a fun little boat. It doesn't load up (like H14) when trying to fly a hull when there's not quite enough wind to fly a hull, if you know what I mean? The girls will become very good at tacking quickly (or end up in Mexico?) I've never wanted for a jib, but the P16 jib is/was a popular candidate. Prindle did a nice job with their iteration of the beach reacher.

Don't let the DPN fool you, it's not as fast as an H16, but MUCH closer than the H14. Sail it like an H14 on the race course, DDW from A to C. When I win the lottery, I'm putting a square top and hooter on mine.

The P15 is a great single hander. easy to sail and manageable, but tricky to tack sometimes.
Feels really fast upwind but a bit boring downwind.
The stock ones are fine, but the ones with the Smyth sail are handicap bandits.

Adding a jib and a second crew would spoil it though, the designers generally know more about these boats than we do!

Get a P16!

Hi Lee, think I 'm the first European to respond?
I'm sailing my third P15 now, great boat solo, sometimes take my wife or kids with me, up to 140kg, no problem. I've saild them uni, with jib (h14 jib) and with gennaker. Coast and lake.
Difficult to tack, needs some practice, but after P15 every cat is easy to tack.
Smyth sails are Ok, but I have a square top (Performance) sail, 1;6 downhaul, makes it realy quick.
Btw P15 never won Texel, just second place! Can win handicap races though, in the right circumstances. Faster then P16.
In the Netherlands are still a lot around, few are also racing
Just buy it!
Greets
Arend

Thanks everyone. Arend, your response was what I needed to hear since I was looking for someone with firsthand extensive experience with it. They wont be racing it, just weekend sailing at the beach.