Andrei, I owned a Balboa 20 in the early 70s when I had brown hair and three small children. It is, like the M17, a lyle hess design and handled very well and was faster than other similar swing keel boats of that era. The boat had a lot more interior space than the Montgomery 17 and was comfortable for our young family. My wife and I shared the V berth, the oldest daughter had the quarter berth and the youger two girls shared the folded dinette. We did most of our meals under the cockpit awning and the kids spent hours in the cabin reading and coloring. We initially sailed "Molly Grubble" out of Newport Beach California and trailered her all up and down the California coast and out to Lake Mead. Our voyages included two trips to Catalina Island and one day trip to Anacapa island to watch the seals and sea otters. When I was hired for a new job on the East coast, I trailered her coast to coast behind a 4 cylinder Volvo wagon (that was a real adventure). I sailed her for another year on the North shore of Mass Bay but had to sell her when the cost of living in New England caught up with me. I regretted it for years. My only real objections to the boat was that the rudder was deeper than the raised keel (seems to be a Lyle Hess design characteristic) and there was a tendency for the keel pivot bolt to leak. Like most swing keel boats, the lowered keel was a bit deeper than ideal. That was no real problem on the SoCal coast or in New England but might make going to windward on the Texas coast a bit of a problem. If I were a young man with small children I would certainly consider another Balboa 20. As it is, I am pushing 70 and the M17 is all the old lady I sleep with and I need. I live on a lake and have my own boat dock so I keep a "fleet" of little boats and a pontoon barge for when the girls come home dragging spouses and herds of grandkids (great grands even). Ron "Whitebeard" M17 # 14, Griselda.
From: andreic@math.wisc.edu To: montgomery_boats@mailman.xmission.com Date: Mon, 23 Mar 2009 21:02:17 -0500 Subject: M_Boats: Balboa 20
Hello all,
does anyone here have first hand experience with the Balboa 20? How would she compare to the M-17? Faster, slower, better or worse sailing, harder to maintain, etc.? All opinipons will be appreciated.
Thanks,
Andrei.
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