Boats in the VolksCruiser budget zone are going to have problems or issues you’ll have to deal with. Just accept it as part of the territory, which is not always problematic. A sailboat with the right issues could very well be to your advantage.
There’s a Catalina 27 with a broken mast that would make an excellent candidate for a junk rig conversion I’ve had my eye on. The current asking price is $2K. Finding a used mast and rigging will raise the cost more than you’ll want to spend. I’ll also point out that without a working rig you can make a lower offer that the seller should agree to.
Building a junk rig (spar, sail, and running rigging) is not that difficult or expensive. The cost is less than a new mast. So it makes sense to go with the junk rig rather than replace the original rig. The boat comes with a full set of C27 sails that should be easy to sell and cover some of the cost of the junk rig.
Adding the junk rig to the mix will make the C27 a better cruising boat and open up some space below by not having to store unused sails. A junk rig will also increase the value more than the cost of the new rig.
Which, I think most of you’ll agree, is a win/win situation.
More on problems that may actually be advantages in disguise soonish…