Yacht Selection Advice

higgs · Oct 19, 2008

Hunters

If I was "taking off", a Hunter would not be my choice. I would want something with a more "offshore" interior and better performance. A Crealock 34, Caliber, or Island Packet are good starting places IMHO.

Ross · Oct 19, 2008

Re: Hunters

Larry Pardey has written a fine book on modern methods of heaving-to. In this book he discribes the charictaristics of a proper cruising yacht. From sea keeping ability to the ability to carry provisions. If I had plans such as yours I would start with the aforesaid book(Storm Tactics) and proceed to a book by Danny Greene - Cruising sailboat Kinetics to Seaworthiness- The Forgotten factor by C.J. Marchaj. All of these authors have their favorites by size.

Weasel · Oct 19, 2008

With 35000 pounds, that is approx $80,000.00. You did not say how many people were going to be with you, a wife perhaps? Then a 30' boat would be very small. I would suggest a 35 to 37 with the 37 being the MAXIMUM length. I would look for a boat with a history of good performance. A Contessa 32 would be excellent. As would a Island Packet 31 or 35, both full keel boats. Buy one that is old enough to fit in your budget but spend the next two years getting it ready. Learn / Know that boat by every nut and bolt on it. Know how she will react in calm as well as storm. Smaller is better, don't buy more boat than you can handle alone, a 40' boat is a handfull.

Hope this helps, and all of these suggestions are based on 40+ years of experience.

Weasel

MoonSailer · Oct 19, 2008

Cape Dory 36

Weasel said:
With 35000 pounds, that is approx $80,000.00. You did not say how many people were going to be with you, a wife perhaps? Then a 30' boat would be very small. I would suggest a 35 to 37 with the 37 being the MAXIMUM length. I would look for a boat with a history of good performance. A Contessa 32 would be excellent. As would a Island Packet 31 or 35, both full keel boats. Buy one that is old enough to fit in your budget but spend the next two years getting it ready. Learn / Know that boat by every nut and bolt on it. Know how she will react in calm as well as storm. Smaller is better, don't buy more boat than you can handle alone, a 40' boat is a handfull.

Hope this helps, and all of these suggestions are based on 40+ years of experience.

Weasel

I looked hard at a Cape Dory 36. A great looking boat. Boat buying is on hold for us right now but the CD36 is on top of my list if we decide to upgrade any time soon. http://www.capedory.org/specs/brochures/1986-salesbrochures/P10-1986-CD_ProductBrochure.pdf

Wanderer138 · Oct 19, 2008

Offshore sailing boats

Hello buzz:

From reading between the lines, it looks like you're somewhere in the UK or Europe. If so, that may be an advantage for you.

It has been my casual observation that there is a high proportion of stout, seaworthy cruising boats on that side of the Atlantic. Boats like the aforementioned Contessa 32, Falmouth cutters, Bristol Channel cutters, Nicholsons, Hallberg-Rassy's, Alubats, steel boats from Holland and the like seem to be quite common. I guess that's due to the more demanding sea and wind conditions there.

The large number of Beneteaus, Jenneaus (and some Hunters) in charter fleets worldwide might lead some people to believe that these boats are suitable for extended cruising. That may be true in some cases, but what's true in most cases is that charter boats are sailed offshore only once...from the factory to the charter base in fair weather with a delivery crew. It's a lot different when you're doing it alone or shorthanded for an extended period.

I agree with earlier responses suggesting that you do some reading. Here are a few suggestions, all of which should be available at Amazon.com:

Greg Nestor, "Twenty Affordable Sailboats To Take You Anywhere"

John Vigor, "The Seaworthy Offshore Sailboat: A Guide To Essential Features, Handling and Gear"

Lin and Larry Pardey, "The Capable Cruiser"

Donald M. Street, "The Ocean Sailing Yacht"

Good luck with your search.

Peter
H23 "Raven"

forsythj@hotmail.com · Oct 20, 2008

Characteristics of a Cruiser

I suggest the first thing is to sit down with your crew (or yourself if you are going to be single-handling) and think very hard about what type of cruising you will most likely be actually be doing (and not what your dream is but what is most likely)---are you going to be crossing oceans? or doing shorter offshore passages (say 250 miles offshore)?, or coastal cruising where you can duck into a safe refuge when things get nasty?; or just extended overnighters? or living onboard for months at a time? or going to remote areas?

We wanted a boat that we could cover many miles in, some offshore and some coastal, with the capability of doing ocean-crossings and one that we could live on for up to 6 months or so at a time and was 'tough' because we would be going to places that could pose navigational or refit challenges.

We bought our cruiser about 4 years ago--after extensive research--in my humble view you should lfirst ook at your intended cruising plans and then identify the requisite characteristics you will need/want in a boat (rather than focussing on particular maker)--

Here was my 'wish list':
- length between 32 to 40 ft; a heavier boat (displacement about 18,000 lbs or more--affects how sea kindly boat is in bad chop/seas); cut-away keel (not a fin keel and definitely not a wing keel), shoal draft (5 to 5 1/2 feet--you will be going in and getting out of harbours and haul-outs when others aren't able to do so); skeg(protects the rudder and may also protect the prop from damage or fouling); good sized engine (50 hp? diesel-you will be motoring a lot more than you think); fractional sail plan (ie: cutter-rig with a small staysail--gives you more choices of sails and sail size in a blow); triple main reefing; roller furling for foresails; don't need racing type stuff such as adjustable back stay; most important--- lots and lots of storage space; sleeping accomodations to meet your anticipated crew needs --(how many, how often and for how long); an interior plan that is safe (lots of handholds, good sea berths) but as a cruiser you will spend more time at anchor/in a marina rather than passage-making so make sure that you will enjoy living on board the boat for extended periods of time; only need one head (why have 2 that need fixing..besides a second head quickly becomes a storage area) but it should have a shower with reasonable room; good interior ventilation but with strong portholes; dodger and bimini (esential in tropics); dinghy davits (almost another essential for a cruiser); cockpit with good instrumentation access at the helm (it is your command centre) but also comfortable (as it is your entertainment sun patio); deep bilge; good dedicated nav table/communication area; and finally a manufacturer who is still in business (for support)

My list included Cabo Rico, Valiant (but look out for blister problems), Crealock, Pacific Seacraft, Gozzard, Cal, Niagra, Bayfield, Cape George, Hans Christian, Island Packet, Halberg-Rassy ($$$), Nicholson ($$$)....finally narrowed choice to Crealock, Pacific Seacraft, Cabo Rico and Gozzard.

Bought an older Gozzard --haven't been disappointed...it has met all of my expectations as a cruiser on our offshore maiden sail from Vancouver to south Mexico--now spend 6 months each year happily coastal cruising --

Strongly suggest that you do about 4 or 5 bareboat charters in different parts of the world (Europe, Florida, Canada West Coast, US East Coast) on different boats --that will help you to quickly identify what is and what is not important to you on a boat (as an example we chartered the same type of boat that we were thinking of buying and after 4 days of banging our heads on doorways found out how important cabin height was to us)

Don't be discouraged or in too much of a rush --our search took about 2 years of walking the docks (and talking to various boat owners), doing some chartering and looking at some wrecks--and remember that it is a lot easier to buy a boat than to sell it!!! ...so make sure you get one that you will be happy with!!

Also suggest that you immediately start to build a relationship with a boat surveyor--make sure that you use him/her ...their advice can save you a lot of work and from buying a pile of trouble

Good luck!!

Foothillsailor
(now cruising in Mexico)

larryw · Oct 20, 2008

Lots of well-considered advice here; but know also that any boat that's comfortable on the hook (which is where 95% of cruising boats spend 95% of their time) will not be the ideal passagemaker. Most so-called blue water boats are very UNcomfortable when not underway; small cockpits for boarding seas mean no place to sit. Cushions are OK, but spend a few days in a cockpit with a tiny footwell, perched on boat cushions, and you'll be longing for a Hunter or a Beneteau with a big cockpit. It's all a tradeoff. Tom Cunliffe wrote a great article on this subject for SEA magazine a while ago.

MoonSailer · Oct 20, 2008

I agree 100% with larryw about the cockpit!!!! A safe cockpit is not comfortable!!!! Also a companionway that is safe is more difficult to use. But a big comfortable cockpit with a big wide low companionway is a disaster waiting to happen offshore. Get pooped with a wave going down below and it is all over!!!!! Also big wide open spaces down below can be extremely dangerous offshore. A knockdown could cause you to fall 10-12' which could result in serious injury.

Yacht Selection Advice

.

.

.

.

.

.

forsythj@hotmail.com

.

.

.