National 12 Design

[Nick Weaving (Guest)]

Hi,
May I ask a question which may have been asked many times on this forum in the past?
I want to buy a National 12....but before I start the search for the perfect specimen I would be very grateful for some advice.
I want a wooden dinghy not GRP (preparing and maintaing the boat is just as important to me as getting wet!)...and I intend to do a bit of sea work (but only in light wind) as well as estuary sailing.
What 12 design do you think would be a good fit for the bill?
Best wishes,
Nick.

[MikeDay]

Nick
You're right about this being a frequently-asked question - that's what the 'designs' section of the website is for.  The best thing to do is to go through that and take its advice.  You don't say what your budget is and that will determine to a lare extent what you might be looking at.
The other approach is to look at all the boats for sale on this site and elsewhere and then check the design guidance.  One final piece of advice is to go for a design that was built in reasonably large numbers and avoid the one-offs.  The number of any design built is a good indicator of its success in its particular era.
Oh - and welcome to the Twelves!
Mike D
N3533 (still just ...)

[FuzzyDuck]

Wanting a wooden boat eliminates all the new designs unless you go for one of dare Barry's Man o' War Designs. I would have thought the best boat for you would be the Crusader 88 that is for sale by Pip Hudson at the moment. Great design for an introduction to Twelves.