35' or 40' - Looking For Suggestions

BobM · Jun 2, 2009

What is your price range? Any age limits? Rig preferences? Things you can't live without? Are you going to use the ICW? Narrow it down a little for us please.

William12213 · Jun 2, 2009

I would make a list of what you require on a boat and more importantly what the Admiral requires. Then I would start getting on every boat in the size range you want that you can get on and look them over. Compare them to your list and you will probably add a few things to it as you go. You will find a boat or a few boats that fit your needs and wants. Then you can start looking for the best boat for the best price.

If you ask a 100 people what boat you should buy you will get a 100 different answers and they may still not be what you are looking for.

Boats cost a lot so you want to make sure you are really getting what you want and that you are getting the most for your money

higgs · Jun 2, 2009

Double handed racing is usually, in my experience, point to point - one or two legs. Pretty much any boat can do that type of racing. The issue will be one of condition that favor or don't your boat's PHRF.

How far south is another important question. If you are taking the ICW to FL, you certainly don't need the same type of construction you would if heading to Venezuela.

seadaddler · Jun 2, 2009

40

If you are going to live on I think at least 40 is the magic number,my NY dock neighbor had I believe a 42 Saber and we have a 36 Hunter and the room in he's was amazingly so much more and well set up.
We love our Hunter and that Saber was maybe close to double the price of our boat and very nice in and out all setup for racing.
Like already mentioned price range is the big thing that will make your deciding factor,that and what you will fall in love with.
My wife and I did like the saber very much but the price of my New Hunter with all the extra's was what sold us and how we will be using it,no living aboard for us my wife loves our house,weekends and a few 2-3 week trips is good for us,living in Florida we get lots of sailing to do and 36 is nice for us and I can single hand her no problem,no racing yet.
Some 40 plus Hunters do pretty good racing.
Nick

sailingdog · Jun 2, 2009

I would recommend looking at some of the smaller catamarans as well as larger monohulls. I just did a delivery on a Gemini 105Mc catamaran, and it's a pretty nice boat for cruising and living aboard. I've posted about the delivery on my blog.

It would help if you said what your budget for the boat is...

Just be aware that a 40' boat is not 14% bigger than a 35' boat, but more like 30% bigger, and probably close to twice as much in terms of maintenance and on-going costs.

SeaRanch · Jun 2, 2009

I suggest that you look at the Catalina 387.
This website has a lot of insite on how this person selected his purchase.

http://www.lighthousetc.com.sg/Mei Poh.htm

jibes138 · Jun 2, 2009

It all depends

I really like the size of my 35 for the sailing I do but if I was going to live aboard full time I would want a larger boat. The 35 is fine but if you are going to have multiple sails like a cruising chute, a couple different size jibs and a genoa, and storm sails they take up a lot of room, add in spare parts, life jackets, clothes and safety equipment, and supplies and it fills up fast. Tankage on a larger boat is important as well if you are taking showers on board you will want a lot of fresh water capacity. You'll probably want a life raft canister on deck and a dinghy on davits or mounted on deck. This takes more space, then add a wind generator, solar panels. I know a guy currently cruising the Carib in a 33 foot steel boat and he lives aboard so it can be done successfully so it is really just a question of comfort and personal preference for space. If you read Fastnet Force 10 there was a big difference in damage to boats under 38 feet compared to larger boats. But that was 1979 and construction of boats today is vastly different.

jibes138 · Jun 2, 2009

Another thought

On almost any size boat two people are comfortable, any more and it is suddenly crowded. I don't know why this is but you are suddenly dodging each other every move you make. I think with two on board there is always a lane on one side of the cockpit that is vacant but add another person and now you are climbing over someone all the time. Of course on very large boats this becomes a lesser problem. Does anyone have a mathematical proof of this theory?

higgs · Jun 2, 2009

How big of a boat you need is highly subjective. The Pardeys lived aboard for many years on their 26 and are still married. It is only the last 10 or 15 years that live aboards have gone to the 40 and 50 footers. The old style live aboard couple was happy on a 35. The issue is which you are.

Mike Holibar · Jun 3, 2009

Displacement is a more useful comparison of size. The three boats I have owned compare as follows - Hereshoff H28, 29'6 LOA, Displacement 3.5 tonnes, Halberg Rassy Rasmus, 35' LOA, Displacement 6 tonnes. F39PHS, 39'LOA, and my F39 was weighed at more than 11 tonnes. You can see that each increment of 5' in length roughly doubles the size of the boat. Of course you can have long thin boats that go fast but have no room, or short fat ones that are slow but have plenty of space. They say also that the cost of maintenance goes up exponentially by the square of the waterline length. Cost of marina berths over here are based on length. Quite a lot to think about really. Good luck,

larryw · Jun 4, 2009

I have a Beneteau OC400 that would suit you fine, and it's for sale. PM me if interested.