A $350,000 day sailer?

[Peter J. Brennan]

It wasn't the tax

that drove so many boat builders out of business in the Eighties. It was the money men with their conglomerates and levereged buy outs that left their wallets fat but starved the boat compoanies for capital and left their best people wondering just whom they worked for. O'Day became part of Bangor Punta. I don't know if the parent comloany still exsists.

 

[phmcv@ao.com]

Corvette or Escalade

There are lots of reasons to own automobiles and sailboats. Some of them strike me as silly, but are essential to others. More people daysail than live-a-board. Why should everyone who doesn't care to camp out at the marina or cruise down the coast for the winter have to buy a floating motorhome?

 

[Mav]

a sailor who really cares

A number of contributors here have nailed it: if you've got the big dough, you're just looking for grand (obscene?) ways to spend it--a million dollar day sailor is one way. A friend of a friend that lives in the neighbourhood, has a ski home at Whistler, and owns a 50 footer, is paying $75,000 in property taxes and moorage this year--that's just his annual price of admission to live his lifestyle.Point is, it's impossible to correlate boat spend with someone's ability and passion for sailing. My measurement: a couple times a year it really blows through our marina when a pineapple express comes in. It's 10 pm, the wind's gusting 50 kts, and there will be a handful of guys running through the deluge to check their boats. Those are the people that are passionate about boating. And when it happens, we all share a nod and a smile: we know what it means to really care about 'our babies.' The others, rich or poor, are sitting at home probably watching the tube.

 

[william]

Must comment

Here's my most loved daysailor from 1972, the soling. I learned to sail on this craft, read tell tales, ran aground and came about. This boat still retails for around $2000, about 27' fast even in light winds, but like riding a moped or a fat chick, your friends at the marina might look down on you, but I say if the ride is good, who cares? The more sailboats the better., i really admire those hinkleys. I own several books that have many photos of hinkleys, maine craftsmanship at it's finest.

 

[rick]

daysailer

the boats are beautiful finally we're moving away from chlorox bottles. Now if the big scale production boys start building these and the prices come down..

 

[higgs]

Not casting asspertions

Does anyone else sometimes wonder about the justification of spending money on something like a pleasue boat, while people in Darfur starve to death. I am not casting asspertions on anyone as I live in a glass house, too. I have more money sunk in my boat than what I really need. I'm sailing the Great Lakes with an offshore cruiser that cost 3X more than the coastal cruiser I used to own that served me perfectly well. Should I have stuck with old boat and sent the money to Oxfam or some simialr group?

 

[Ross]

They buy these boats because

they can! I am always amused by seeing advertizements for 1 year old, half million dollar boats, It seems obvious that they ( the buyers) thought it would be a lark to go sailing for the summer. So they bought a boat, hired a sailing master and a cook and went sailing. They had a wonderful time playing with their new toy but now it is time to move on. It is all just a matter of where you place the decimal point on the cost of your toys.

 

[Franklin]

My opinion

should have spent the money on more trips to the Bahamas in your old boat.

 

[Spencer]

Too much ink

is spent on these boats. Do I oogle them when I see them out on the water. You bet I do. would I buy one. Well Power Ball is to 180 Million, so I can't say I never would... But when Soundings has two covers in a row on Billy Joels 2 Million commuter, or sail reviews another big bucks daysailer for the second or third time I get bored... But if I were a journalist I'd probably want to take out the latest as often as possible, and if ya take it out yous got to write about it.I'll stick with my Vision... unless I win 180 MILLLION.

 

[Kirk Jockell]

Daysailors Bliss

I think there may be a bit of divine intervention going on here. Yes, I'm convinced that God is a sailor at heart, and I'm convinced that he is fed up with shipyards cookie cutting boats into the market with no charm or character. It all started with those damn Ventures, and things haven't been the same since.At last, we don't have to look back to before the 70s to find a design that is surounded by beauty and grace. Bravo Zulu to the designers of the new generation of classics. And I'll put my order in for that Hinkley 42 if I can get enough for my Toro riding mower at this weekend's yard sail. Whoops... Freudean Slip. I mean yard sale.

 

[Robert, Miami to Antigua and Back]

Oh Buffy, $350K Daysailers are a Must!

OK, $ 1,273.50 a month.. give or take an arm or leg... not to mention Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome..... after 4 Year Discharge!Let Us ALL Focus On Our Navels Together!RE: American False Universe - Oh Buffy,$350,000 "Daysailers/Weekenders"..... ARE A "MUST this Hamptons Season"!Just Shows how sick U.S. Culture is.I spent Two Years on a Piver 38 from Miami to Antigua .. And Back! I could not have done "My Dream" if it COST $ 350,000 to Do!(and only 18 gallons of Diesel)So Let Big Ticket Boat Ads Try to Convince "Everybody Has, or Lives Like This" while poor and minorities work and die in IRAQ for $ 500 Per Month!There is A Lot WRONG With This Reality!

 

[sailme2]

It's only money..

I guess it's like anything else...those who have it will spend it....must be nice to have that kind of dough just laying around.Most of us out here in the real world just look at the prices and shake our heads. It's hard enough to try to come up with $40-50K to buy an older used boat, let alone anything new. Without hitting the big lotto, I don't ever expect to have a new boat....but...there are a lot of excellent used boats on the market.

 

[Capt Mike]

Give Me A Break!

Ok,These fancy "Day Sailors", (AKA Money Pits), are nice. But they are not what I consider boating to be about. Offer me a new $250K "day sailor" or a genuine Rhodes Penguin and guess which one I would choose? Boats are not about personal comfort or none of us would ever sail.True we make our craft as comfortable as functionality and sailability will allow. But in the end it is the spray in my face and the wind in my hair, the sun beating down and the beauty and harmony of the late evening all about me. The quiet serinity of ghosting through a crowded harbor or the thrill of being heeled over and running hard on a beam reach, These are the the things that tell me "yes, you are a sailor", "This is the wind, me and the sea as much one as a pearl in a clam".The true value of a boat lies not in the comfort and frills, but in it's ability to thrill the heart, stir the soul and sooth the mind. To bring forward all that is best in the helmsman and validate the existance of "God".Money is dead wieght, sailing is meant to make the spirit soar!Captain Mike,San Diego, CA

 

[Ross]

by now we all know that the rich

have more expensive toys, and they are throw away toys at that. But they will cry like babies when a workman presents a bill for a days work.

 

[Anchor Down]

Tiller Envy

is a sad thing.

 

[Don]

Most of these day sailors...

don't have lifelines. Maybe the very rich don't fall overboard. Or maybe they just never leave the dock.

 

[abe]

Tiler envy not just sad, a disease...

Instead of glad for those who can afford to have something most wish they had....most try to destroy the reputation of the have as if the haves are evil and the have nots are victims. It is all relative, someone in the ghetto could be reading this and saying the same about all of us who have a boat. Be glad for those who worked hard or are more fortunate than you, instead envying them. Envy tells me alot more about the character of the person posting than the phantom rich guy we are all talking about.Sad.

 

[Sine Nomine]

Abe

Abe that was not the writers point, do you have a "chip-on-your-shoulder" because you may be one of the "fortunate ones". The writers point was that even if one could afford a vessel like this, whats the logic to it other than esthetics. Don't bring politics into advantages and disavantages of a vessel!

 

[Franklin]

yep....

even if I were a millionare and I didn't have a desire to sail around the world, I would still want something I could at least anchor out with over night. However, I am not the type who enjoys a 9-5, commute to work type. If I inherited millions of dollars, I wouldn't even buy a different boat, I'd keep my h376, fix her up and then take off. I don't even think those day sailors look good.So in my case, it's not envy at all.

 

[abe]

Sine Nomine...read the threads...

and the politics are already there before my post....I didn't start it, just reflecting on the posts.