Fun Factor - Large Boat or Small

[jibes138]

One of the great things about this site is the broad range of boats represented including size of boats. I'm just curious how people feel about the sheer fun of sailing based on boat size. In my life I've sailed from 10 foot dinghies up to mid-forty size sailboats. While I enjoy cruising and the comforts and offsore capability of larger boats, I find daysailing in a small boat probably the most fun for the pure enjoyment of really feeling every puff of wind and using your body as ballast. Not sure how many more years I will have the athletic ability for dinghy sailing but for now I am having a blast with my sand dollar. How about the rest of you? all sailing is good, just where do you get the most exhiliration?

 

[sand sailor]

an 18'+ cat on a windy day

 

[Stu Jackson]

Different boats for different times

I started on a beetle cat boat in summers in Mass. Rented 19' Rhodes sloops in SF Bay to a C22, C25 and now our C34. Can singlehand them all as well as guests and friends and family.

It's the boat you have now (assuming you like it and/or don't have three-foot-itis) that counts.

Love 'em all, but we wouldn't trade the one we have for anything else for what we do with her.

 

[Scott T-Bird]

My first love ...

(aside from playing baseball in my youth) has always been skiing, and windsurfing is the most exhilirating form of sailing to me. Carving jibes, speed runs and bump & jump on Barnegat Bay or catching waves in Maui or at Cape Hatteras is the same feeling on water as high speed corduroy groomers at Sugarbush or bluebird powder days in Jackson Hole.

I always miss my Hobie 16 ... my wife and I liked sailing Hobies off the beach in Antiqua as our favorite choice of small boats to sail, though I liked single handling the Lasers as well.

Having a cruising sailboat is a different form of enjoyment and challenge, and it comes with the bonus of some exhilirating sailing on occasion to boot.

 

[Sailm8]

Flying a hull on a Prindle 18 just tempting fate. Can't be beat.

 

[Tim R.]

You want to get that seat of your pants, hangin it out over the edge, water in your face fun try windsurfing. Flying a hull on my Hobie 16 was a close second for pure adrenalin.

I do not windsurf much any more but I have a lot of fun racing my 35 with friends. I also enjoy tweaking the sails when out daysailing to get as much speed as possible.

I still love to take my Cape Dory 10 out on the lake for a few hours. That is what I will be doing this weekend.

 

[David in Sandusky]

Biggest thrill - most fun

My biggest thrill was flying my Sunfish in 40 knot winds north of Key West long ago. But the Admiral couldn't (and wouldn't) join me on that ride.

But both of us take great joy in sailing our '77 h27 with just the right trim among the islands of Lake Erie on a sunny day. Joy is even greater if we are passing a 35 footer who doesn't have the right sails or trim for conditions.

Or how about a sleigh ride sailing a chartered Fantasy 37 on a reach out of the North Sea into the Skaergard channel on a sunny day with best friends on the west coast of Sweden?

And we remember leaping off the boat into crystal clear water north of Long Point with no one else in sight after a peaceful night at anchor as "sailing," too.

 

[higgs]

As I have gotten older, fun has changed. I now like the feel of a mid 30 footer in 10 or 12 kts. of wind. I still do enjoy more robust conditions, but nothing beats a day out with friends in those lighter conditions.

 

[Tim R.]

This looks like fun:

Moth Sailing

 

[larryw]

Probably the most exhilerating was getting my first boat, a Windmill 16, up on plane, holding it there, and catching a wave or a wake. Sailing a modern 40 ft boat in 15 knots of true wind speed is a rush, too, but I'm looking to downsize from my Beneteau 40 to a Hunter 32 or 33. I want to try that B&R rig and we don't need 40 ft of boat for the kind of sailing we do.

 

[catsailor]

I think we are exploring the difference btween "fun" and "rewarding."

Probably the most exhilerating was getting my first boat, a Windmill 16, up on plane, holding it there, and catching a wave or a wake. Sailing a modern 40 ft boat in 15 knots of true wind speed is a rush, too, but I'm looking to downsize from my Beneteau 40 to a Hunter 32 or 33. I want to try that B&R rig and we don't need 40 ft of boat for the kind of sailing we do.

I had a Prindle cat with a chute: FUN!

I have (for sale.... damn) a Stiletto 27 with is fast and "fun" and rewarding when big distances are covered in little time. It is a little scary in a big wind, because capsize must be avoided, unlike the Prindle.

I have a cruising cat, which is rewarding when I get it rolling well. It is rewarding to take the family out. It doesn't beat me to death like the Prindle, and I can sail all winter. But, yes, fun is in smaller letters. It feels safe. And in light winds... DULL... in big letters. But still rewarding.


Anyone who gets into sailing by starting with a big boat (anything over 800 pounds) is an idiot. They have missed so much. If you can't apriciate a dingy, you don't really like sailing.

 

[Banooma]

For me, the answer depends on where you're sailing, in what conditions, for how long, and how many passengers or crew are aboard. If I'm by myself, have sunshine and daylight, a nice breeze, my C28 and Sunfish side-by-side, and an hour or two to kill (provided I have no pending work to do on my C28), I'm taking out my Sunfish. Otherwise, probably my C28.

 

[Ross]

I can get as much pleasure from circumnavigating Garrett Island (1.2 miles by .5 miles) in a canoe as I get sailing my 30 around Kent Island.( about 10x20).

 

[mcaswell]

Our previous and current sailboats are both rather bloated cruising boats. For our use (family cruising... weekends, and some 5 - 7 day trips, plus some daysailing), our Hunter is perfect. But a friend of mine has a small (21ft.) daysailer that I went out on a month or two ago, and it really is a completely different experience... like driving a go-cart vs. a minivan.

--Michael

 

[Capt. Kermie]

The most fun I had was on a catamarran but that was 30 years ago and I am older now and getting wet is not fun. Fun needs to be put into a different perspective for me at this stage of life. I do not consider it fun to be in debt over my head to own a larger boat while spending most of my time fixing or repairing things. I have a MacGregor 26M which is within my budget ability, it is simple, easy to maintain and sail and has enough creature comforts to make it enjoyable. Certainly a bigger 36' would be nice but it is out of my financial range wheras my Mac is not and I spend way more time sailing it than repairing it. I measure fun by the pleasure and time I have out on the water.

 

[kendall]

I've never owned anything larger than my Triton, but have owned many smaller boats down to 10ft. And for plain outright fun, the smaller boats are it. Bigger boats are more laid back enjoyment. Still enjoyable, but more like the difference between racing your own car and watching a friend race.

Have to say when I had the smaller boats, they lived behind my truck, and every time I saw a decent looking lake on the way to work, I'd stop and go sailing on the trip home.

Ken.

 

[jibes138]

OK that settles it

Interesting responses. I have never sailed a windsurfer but always wanted to try it. Too many other toys at this point. I don't see them much anymore everyone seems to be flying those kites with the kiteboard. I've only sailed a catamaran once and it was a hobie 14 but watching them the larger cats look like a blast. Based on all the responses I'd say it pretty much settles this subject.

 

[Jim Kolstoe]

I try not to confuse adrenalin with fun/joy. I am very happy out sailing with my wife on our h23 whether we're day sailing, cruising or racing. I've crewed on different sized boats for day sailing and racing - they're all fun, albeit in different ways. The most fun is being there on the water.
Jim Kolstoe, h23 Kara's Boo

 

[Snotter]

Small boats are a blast, but all you can do is sail on them. I like spending weekends on the water in a boat with all the creature comforts. I love hanging out in the marina with others and enjoying the many parties that go on there. It is nice knowing I won't be driving after a party.

I love taking people out on my boat. It is great anchoring out and having a well equipped galley to make great food in. I love kicking back under the bimini with a cigar and passively watching my sons learn to wind surf in some secluded bay.

I love gabbing on the amateur radio and plan to add more ham equipment to my boat in the future.

When I get too old to single-handing my Morgan 41 and too old for performing all the associated maintenance--which for now I rather enjoy--I will move back to small sailboats. I will enjoy them all the more because of the time spent away from them.

The nice thing about simply messing about in boats is that there is a boat for every budget. Thank God that the earth is 3/4 water.

 

[bffatcat]

depends

When I was young I enjoyed racing an O`day daysailer It was fun and fit my budget. When I was older I did a lot of cruising in My Pearson 10M Today Im happy daysailing and weekending in my Pearson 26W. I`d be content sailing anything with a keel. The water is cold most of the time in New England and Im too old to get dumped in.