[quote=mattson]The one in HB does look like a decent buy.
I moved up to the P19 from a H18. It's way more boat and took a little while to get really comfortable with. My first time out on it was really unnerving in how it handled steering wise, and I instantly had buyers regret. After checking out the rudders more closely, one was raked forward and one raked back. And they were misaligned. Once I got those issues resolved, the next sail was a dream in comparison.
For my purpose of make trips to Santa Cruz Island, I determined it would be fragile for landings on rocky beaches compared to the H18 which is a tank. During a Wet Weds in heavy air, I nearly broke the boat in half buckling one of the bows at the front crossbeam. I fixed the boat and added subdecks which gave me a good view of just how lightly the boat is constructed. I think a landing any of the north shore rocky beaches of Santa Cruz would probably punch holes in it.
I have since acquired another P19 and have yet to sail the repaired one. I do a lot of solo sailing on the boat and it is very well behaved in that regard, equipped with solo righting pole that allows me to right the boat myself. When crewed, my buddy is a bit on the large side at 6' 7" and 210. I've had the boat at speed in really rough stuff, with all 400 lbs of us out on the wire. Coming off the tops of waves and the leeward bow slamming into the next one. No issues, no stress cracks, so this boat is solid. I initially beat boats up to build my confidence in them before making a channel crossing. I'm thinking of getting this one on the south side of the island where the beaches are sand. Or I may take the repaired one and add a bunch of glass to the lower portions of the hulls and use that one anywhere on the island.
I am running radial cut sails with a square top main. Not getting good performance on the race course, I am now playing around with mast bend after contacting the sail maker. Interestingly, the square top has a shorter foot that actually gives the sail less area than a stock P19 Main. The jury is still out for me on this, as I am still playing with stuff to see if I can get more out of the boat.
Another small modification I made is adding a block internal to each tiller, giving me a 2:1 purchase on the rudder raising line. I found the stock setup to take a ridiculous amount of force on the line to get the rudder up.
For just playing around, the P19 is a great recreational boat. I've only capsized once, and that was solo, trapping out without being hooked in (a real bone head move). Otherwise, I don't think I have ever come very close, even when pushing the boat. It is very responsive, well mannered, and predictable. For racing, it is a somewhat technical boat with A LOT of settings to play with. I figure I could go a good year before I really learn to get the most out of it.
Note that I am running the larger P19 rudders on my boat. The one you are looking at appears to have the smaller rudders. I had these smaller ones on the first P19. Personally, I don't think the difference is that big and should not at all be a deal breaker for you.[/quote]
