Design and Construction
Colvic Craft moulded the Sailer 29 hulls and decks in Essex, typically delivering them with internal structural bulkheads and engines already in place for completion by the purchaser. Because the hulls were fitted out by many different companies and individuals, the standard of interior work and the ultimate cost varied greatly from one boat to the next. The boats were built in fin and bilge keel versions, both with keels moulded as an integral part of the hull and carrying encapsulated ballast, paired with skeg-hung rudders. The bilge keels follow the near-vertical form seen on the Colvic 26, shaped that way for ease of moulding yet deep enough to give adequate cruising performance. Displacement runs about 10,000 lbs with roughly 4,500 lbs of ballast, and the keel-and-rudder arrangement reflects a pragmatic, volume-oriented cruising brief rather than a racing one.
Rig and Handling
The Sailer 29 is a masthead sloop carrying 452 square feet of mainsail and genoa. With a modest sail plan over a 10,000 lb hull and a 24-foot waterline, she is built for steady family passage-making rather than sparkling pace. The twin-keel option, with its near-vertical bilge plates, lets her take to drying berths and shallow harbours while still tracking well enough for extended cruising, and the skeg-hung rudder adds a measure of protection and predictability in following seas.
Accommodations
Feltham's drawings laid out six berths using the considerable beam: a two-berth forecabin, a saloon with a convertible double and single, and two pilot berths outboard. The volume of the hull made that arrangement roomy for the length. Because so many hulls were owner- or yard-completed, interior layouts were far from uniform. One illustrated example was finished to a very high standard with an unusual 2+2 plan built around the owner's needs — a larger galley, fewer berths, and a bigger heads than usual for a 29-footer. That boat had crossed from the UK to the Mediterranean, spent a long stretch there, and returned, a useful testament to the platform's bluewater credibility in private hands.
Known Issues
The one documented quirk worth knowing is trim-related. On the illustrated yacht, the bow sat noticeably high until the forward holding tank was filled, at which point the bow-up attitude reduced. A buyer or owner should understand that tank state can shift fore-and-aft balance on this design, and a survey should note whether a specific boat exhibits the same tendency depending on how her tankage was installed during fitout.
Ownership and Refits
Owning a Sailer 29 means accepting that no two are finished alike. The Colvic practice of supplying a structurally complete moulding for others to complete means that systems, joinery, and tankage vary hull to hull, and any refit must begin with a frank assessment of what the original finisher did well and what was improvised. The bilge-keel version in particular rewards owners who use her shallow draft, but both variants share the same encapsulated-ballast, skeg-rudder simplicity that keeps long-term upkeep undemanding.
The Verdict
The Colvic Sailer 29 is a sensible, beamy family cruiser with real offshore miles in private hands and a construction model that puts a sound hull under whatever interior a buyer finds. She is not a performance boat, and her varied fitout history demands careful individual survey, but the core platform is honest and capacious.
Pros
- High-volume hull with six-berth potential and a beamy, roomy interior
- Moulded by Colvic Craft with integral keels and encapsulated ballast for structural simplicity
- Bilge-keel version opens shallow-water and drying-berth cruising
- Proven on a UK-to-Med-and-back passage in owner-completed form
Cons
- Fitout quality varies widely because hulls were completed by many different hands
- Bow-up trim on at least one boat tied to empty forward holding tank
