Anybody eperienced a Beneteau 25 ? I am a beginner planning to get a Bn25. And let me know if there are any other choices around same size and financing_?
- Status
First boat
Jan.8,2000 Dear Alper, The Beneteau 25 is a dynamite sailor, as you would expect from a Bruse Farr design, but it wouldn't be the boat I would ordinarily recommend as a starter boat for most beginners. What you are buying is basically a full bore racing boat. It offers a lot of challenges to tune it to its full potential. It makes no concessions to liveaboard comfort. On the other hand if you think racing is what you want to do you could certainly do much worse than choose the B25, especially if there is a fleet of B25' s already racing in your area, because it is a thrill to sail. In any case, as a starting sailor I would recommend that you buy whatever is being raced in the largest one design fleet in your area. That way if you decide to sell the boat there is a ready market for it. One design racing is the best racing going as far as I'm concerned. You will still have a steep learning curve to climb, but you learn fastest if you go racing. If your looking for a large fleet of more or less comparable boats, the one you might look at is the J 22 or J24. Sorry I don't know anything about financing in your area. Fair Winds, Brian Pickton of BeneteauOwners.net Aboard the Legend, Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
Jan.8,2000 Dear Alper, The Beneteau 25 is a dynamite sailor, as you would expect from a Bruse Farr design, but it wouldn't be the boat I would ordinarily recommend as a starter boat for most beginners. What you are buying is basically a full bore racing boat. It offers a lot of challenges to tune it to its full potential. It makes no concessions to liveaboard comfort. On the other hand if you think racing is what you want to do you could certainly do much worse than choose the B25, especially if there is a fleet of B25' s already racing in your area, because it is a thrill to sail. In any case, as a starting sailor I would recommend that you buy whatever is being raced in the largest one design fleet in your area. That way if you decide to sell the boat there is a ready market for it. One design racing is the best racing going as far as I'm concerned. You will still have a steep learning curve to climb, but you learn fastest if you go racing. If your looking for a large fleet of more or less comparable boats, the one you might look at is the J 22 or J24. Sorry I don't know anything about financing in your area. Fair Winds, Brian Pickton of BeneteauOwners.net Aboard the Legend, Rodney Bay, St. Lucia
Bene 25 for starters.
Alper; I agree with Brian, the Ben. 25 is a race boat, built for speed, not for comfort or ease of handling. For learning, and for comfort, I would go with a Catalina 25 instead. Conservative sail plan, forgiving, comfortable interior, (standing headroom at anchor with the pop-top and enclosure), workable galley and head, easily trailerable and great re-sale value when you decide to move up, and you will, believe me. Good luck!
Alper; I agree with Brian, the Ben. 25 is a race boat, built for speed, not for comfort or ease of handling. For learning, and for comfort, I would go with a Catalina 25 instead. Conservative sail plan, forgiving, comfortable interior, (standing headroom at anchor with the pop-top and enclosure), workable galley and head, easily trailerable and great re-sale value when you decide to move up, and you will, believe me. Good luck!
Best Size Starter Boat
An extension of you question could be "What is the best sized boat to learn to sail in?". There is a very "vocal" discussion going on at http://www.sailboatowners.com/forums/pview.tpl?sku=2001008094425.41&forumabr=as&fno=122 on this subject. Sailing schools that teach children and teenagers typically use fairly small boats in the 8 to 14 foot range. Typical boat crew is one to two students. One of the things they teach is capsizing and righting the boat afterwards. For adults it is commonplace to use larger boats in the 24 to 30 foot range and a small group, say 3 to 5 students. Adults probably feel they are beyond haveing to learn how to right a boat. Also, in the Northwest the water is too cold (35F or 2 C) to swim in without a wet suit. I was talking to a dealer yesterday that just sold a new Jenneau 44 or 45 footer to a couple that never had been on a boat before and just came back from their first sail! From the link above it's apparent that there is a wide variety of opinions about what makes a good boat to learn in. Learning to sail is a balance between cost, time, and local conditions such as the availability of boats and people to teach sailing. Since you live in Turky I'd think that starting in the 16-foot (5 meter) range with an instructor would give really good results. Not only would one learn how to sail but you'd learn about boats and the things about them that you're interested in at the same time. You could even volunteer to crew on a boat and lean for free. Taking this path may open up the availability of a used boat for a good price.
An extension of you question could be "What is the best sized boat to learn to sail in?". There is a very "vocal" discussion going on at http://www.sailboatowners.com/forums/pview.tpl?sku=2001008094425.41&forumabr=as&fno=122 on this subject. Sailing schools that teach children and teenagers typically use fairly small boats in the 8 to 14 foot range. Typical boat crew is one to two students. One of the things they teach is capsizing and righting the boat afterwards. For adults it is commonplace to use larger boats in the 24 to 30 foot range and a small group, say 3 to 5 students. Adults probably feel they are beyond haveing to learn how to right a boat. Also, in the Northwest the water is too cold (35F or 2 C) to swim in without a wet suit. I was talking to a dealer yesterday that just sold a new Jenneau 44 or 45 footer to a couple that never had been on a boat before and just came back from their first sail! From the link above it's apparent that there is a wide variety of opinions about what makes a good boat to learn in. Learning to sail is a balance between cost, time, and local conditions such as the availability of boats and people to teach sailing. Since you live in Turky I'd think that starting in the 16-foot (5 meter) range with an instructor would give really good results. Not only would one learn how to sail but you'd learn about boats and the things about them that you're interested in at the same time. You could even volunteer to crew on a boat and lean for free. Taking this path may open up the availability of a used boat for a good price.
- Status