Anyone have any information positive /negative about these yachts. Thanks in advance

Good little boats. I had a Dunc 26, not so good, but got to sail on the 29s.
They are solid offshore capable boats but they are very old by now.
If one hasn't undergone a lot of recent work already it will need it now.

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budwana said..
Anyone have any information positive /negative about these yachts. Thanks in advance

I am looking at a Duncanson 29 but want to convert it to wheel steering, if anyone has an orginal steering system for a Dunc 29 please let me know, Cheers

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johnhoe said..

budwana said..
Anyone have any information positive /negative about these yachts. Thanks in advance

I am looking at a Duncanson 29 but want to convert it to wheel steering, if anyone has an orginal steering system for a Dunc 29 please let me know, Cheers

Have you contemplated the implications for autopilot when you do this?

My boat had been converted to wheel when i bought it, it's a f&$@"%g pain in the ass.
You're looking at 4 grand for a wheelpilot vs half that or less for tiller.

you cant do sheet-to-tiller

You cant stand steering with the tiller between your legs while you have 2 spare hands for "the office"

i mean, sure get a wheel, but if you're looking at an old 29 footer you're probably going to have other stuff to spend your money on and you're probably not a "money's no object" guy.

by the way, apologies if you need a wheel because you have bad knees. My crew's knees are shot and he has been relegated to steering because he prefers to spent the time standing rather than perching on the low cockpit coaming.

The 29 is a resdesign of the Compass 28. The redesign mainly consisted of raking the transome aft, cutting away the keel and the back end and hanging the rudder off a large skeg instead of the trailing edge of the keel. Duncanson was building the early Compass 28s when he did the 29 under his own name, if I recall correctly, so the interior and quality should be the same as an early C28. Basically a slightly faster C28.

I'd be very cautious about putting a wheel on a narrow 29 footer. The wheel must be small in diameter which can make accurate steering hard, and a D29 shouldn't have a heavy helm unless it's being badly sailed; in my experience most boats that are said to have bad weather helm are just sailed with a badly trimmed mainsail or at excessive heel.

John E and Chris both make very good points.
It's only a little boat and every boat benefits from keeping weight out of the ends. I can't quite picture a wheel set up on a Dunc 29 that wouldn't detract from the sailing, clutter up the already narrow cockpit and remove any protection for the helmsman from a dodger.

I confess to putting dual wheels on a 40' tiller boat. But not to make it better, it was a compromise for the number of newbies (corporate work). A 40' would be the smallest I'd entertain for a wheel setup (boats like the Northshore 38 get a pass).

Yes the stern end of the cockpit with a wheel or the comfort of a tiller you can reach from the dodger V the open cockpit lay out.. Hydraulic wheel steering seems cheapish,robust & reliable ?

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Chris 249 said..
The 29 is a resdesign of the Compass 28. The redesign mainly consisted of raking the transome aft, cutting away the keel and the back end and hanging the rudder off a large skeg instead of the trailing edge of the keel. Duncanson was building the early Compass 28s when he did the 29 under his own name, if I recall correctly, so the interior and quality should be the same as an early C28. Basically a slightly faster C28.

I'd be very cautious about putting a wheel on a narrow 29 footer. The wheel must be small in diameter which can make accurate steering hard, and a D29 shouldn't have a heavy helm unless it's being badly sailed; in my experience most boats that are said to have bad weather helm are just sailed with a badly trimmed mainsail or at excessive heel.

Duncanson 29, not a Compass!

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MorningBird said..

Chris 249 said..
The 29 is a resdesign of the Compass 28. The redesign mainly consisted of raking the transome aft, cutting away the keel and the back end and hanging the rudder off a large skeg instead of the trailing edge of the keel. Duncanson was building the early Compass 28s when he did the 29 under his own name, if I recall correctly, so the interior and quality should be the same as an early C28. Basically a slightly faster C28.

I'd be very cautious about putting a wheel on a narrow 29 footer. The wheel must be small in diameter which can make accurate steering hard, and a D29 shouldn't have a heavy helm unless it's being badly sailed; in my experience most boats that are said to have bad weather helm are just sailed with a badly trimmed mainsail or at excessive heel.

Duncanson 29, not a Compass!

Duncanson 29 was a redesigned Compass 28. My source was Don Lees of Compass Yachts, directly to me and on the record for an article.

I'm NOT confusing the Dunco 29 with the Compass 29 - they are different boats with the Compass 29 coming along years later. The text of my post makes it clear that I'm not confusing them because I. mentioned that the Dunco has a skeg-hung rudder and a reverse transom, neither of which exist in the Compass 29. The big difference between the C28 and C29 was the beam and unlike the Dunco 29 the Compass 29 has a rudder hung on the keel and no reverse transom.

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Chris 249 said..

MorningBird said..

Chris 249 said..
The 29 is a resdesign of the Compass 28. The redesign mainly consisted of raking the transome aft, cutting away the keel and the back end and hanging the rudder off a large skeg instead of the trailing edge of the keel. Duncanson was building the early Compass 28s when he did the 29 under his own name, if I recall correctly, so the interior and quality should be the same as an early C28. Basically a slightly faster C28.

I'd be very cautious about putting a wheel on a narrow 29 footer. The wheel must be small in diameter which can make accurate steering hard, and a D29 shouldn't have a heavy helm unless it's being badly sailed; in my experience most boats that are said to have bad weather helm are just sailed with a badly trimmed mainsail or at excessive heel.

Duncanson 29, not a Compass!

Duncanson 29 was a redesigned Compass 28. My source was Don Lees of Compass Yachts, directly to me and on the record for an article.

I'm NOT confusing the Dunco 29 with the Compass 29 - they are different boats with the Compass 29 coming along years later. The text of my post makes it clear that I'm not confusing them because I. mentioned that the Dunco has a skeg-hung rudder and a reverse transom, neither of which exist in the Compass 29. The big difference between the C28 and C29 was the beam and unlike the Dunco 29 the Compass 29 has a rudder hung on the keel and no reverse transom.

Thanks for that. Many years ago I had a small Dunc and sailed on a few 29s. I didn't pick that they came from the Compass 28, the hull shape felt very different.
Always learning something new.