What qualities made you buy your boat and not another, plus your favourite anchor and why.

[dulls]

I like the CQR and started with one on my last boat. Comparing anchors is difficult but one you trust is most probably important. My wife worked at a boat yard where i could keep my boat for free including haul outs and no labour charge. My sailing friend owned the yard and we sailed together all the time on my boat. We got on like a house on fire. I used to help with the haul outs and he would use me to bring the boats in if the owner was not to comfortable. (Flowing river). We got to see a lot of anchors and the yard sold them. We did work out the CQR was a good anchor but the copies of which there were many did not work as well. My first boat had a bruce and that was fine and we had that all the time we had her. Second came with a genuine CQR but i had sort of started thinking anchor design had improved. I ended up with a Rocna which in my limited and subjective use was better than the CQR. It dug in quicker. I always dug anchors slowly..(The RYA courses are good at anchoring techniques) and the rocna was quicker. I cant remember if there was any difference in breaking out. I think 80% of safe anchoring is how you set it and then 20% depends on the anchor. Maybe even 60 40. I know when people came to anchor near me i used to watch how they set it more than what they had on the bow. If they set it good i would feel safe for the night with them near by. I sometimes used to ask the powerboats to move on if it was windy as in a confined anchorage they would swing differently to you. Some pictures attached of boats i have owned. My blue boat was my favourite and i made a bad decision when i sold her.

 

[Zagato]

Had a kit built Folksong 26 but always lusted after a Marieholm IF Boat. One came up during the winter for 6K (it is worth 9K) which I bought literally after 20 mins looking at it as it had 18k spent on it apparently according to the guy who did all the work on it...
New Beta engine installed 50hrs 2015
New Windlass installed
Sanders sails 2016
Completely re wired
Solar panels
Copper coating
Feathering prop
Boat cover, dodgers, cockpit cushions and new interior seat squab covers
Half new teak interior... you get the picture. She even came with a little used dinghy I didn,t expect

I have completely cleaned her, polished her hull and decks, varnished/oiled her interior, windows are out at the moment, engine to be serviced, bow roller to improve, Honda 2.3 to buy for tender and she will be ready to go for next season...

My perfect little boat, looks gorgeous, great sailer, designed by Tord Sunden who designed the original Nordic Folkboat, good back up associations around the world with 4000 being built and you can still buy one new today. I have since bought her a trailer and she is stored at home at present and will be over winter months so I can tinker her with her and get some peace away from the kids!!

Not interested in anchors, have various CQR's, Danforths, and a Fortress that need selling but a Bruce anchor is my favourite although I would like a Rocna.

Sorry my pictures are too big for the forum attachment and I cannot find a way to reduce them on an iPad!

 

[dulls]

Had a kit built Folksong 26 but always lusted after a Marieholm IF Boat. One came up during the winter for 6K (it is worth 9K) which I bought literally after 20 mins looking at it as it had 18k spent on it apparently according to the guy who did all the work on it...
New Beta engine installed 50hrs 2015
New Windlass installed
Sanders sails 2016
Completely re wired
Solar panels
Copper coating
Feathering prop
Boat cover, dodgers, cockpit cushions and new interior seat squab covers
Half new teak interior... you get the picture. She even came with a little used dinghy I didn,t expect

I have completely cleaned her, polished her hull and decks, varnished/oiled her interior, windows are out at the moment, engine to be serviced, bow roller to improve, Honda 2.3 to buy for tender and she will be ready to go for next season...

My perfect little boat, looks gorgeous, great sailer, designed by Tord Sunden who designed the original Nordic Folkboat, good back up associations around the world with 4000 being built and you can still buy one new today. I have since bought her a trailer and she is stored at home at present and will be over winter months so I can tinker her with her and get some peace away from the kids!!

Not interested in anchors, have various CQR's, Danforths, and a Fortress that need selling but a Bruce anchor is my favourite although I would like a Rocna.

Sorry my pictures are too big for the forum attachment and I cannot find a way to reduce them on an iPad!

Hope to see some pictures. I will post about my boats later today.

 

[RupertW]

The qualities for us were:
Already in the Eastern Med
At least 3 private double cabins (ended up with 4)
2 heads
Walkthrough stern
Slab not in-mast reefing
Grubby enough with enough non-professional jobs needed to be a cheap buy

It came with a 15kg Delta and we’ve stuck with that for 10 years although perhaps one day if it ever drags once set I will go for something more modern - although they all seem to need to be much bigger and heavier than Deltas from peoples’ posts.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Reasons for buying the boat: pointy at both ends, red sails. Also nice wide side decks, ideals for sailing with a (then) very young crew.

Anchor: CQR because the one which came with the boat worked fine and when I lost it (snapped chain in a gale) I found another for £45 including re-galvanising. If I needed another would probably go Bruce or Knox if no CQR was available. I may be showing national bias here.

 

[Spirit (of Glenans)]

My wife and I belonged to a sailing club/sailing school (Glenans Irish Sailing Club) which used a Beneteau 31.7 and a Dufour 30 Classic for the cruising courses . We both had done courses in the former but my wife had never been on the latter. When a change in regulations forced the club to dispose of the two 30 footers in favour of a larger boat, we were at the club and were told that the Dufour was for sale and would we like to take a look at it.
We went on board, my wife went down the companionway, looked around and said "Oh, I like this!", so that was the main quality which informed the decision to buy, However, I had sailed on the boat previously and found it to my liking.
Spirit came with a CQR anchor, very well suited to the muddy bottom to be found in that area of West Cork. The 5.70 metre boats on which we instructed were also similarly equipped and I don't recall any incident of unreliability with those anchors.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

As the eldest of three children I spent every summer holiday, from toddler to late teens sailing on the West Coast of Scotland – from the Clyde to Skye. We had a variety of boats representative of the late 60s/70s from 22 to 35 ft and I thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it. I grew up on a diet of Arthur Ransome and was determined to own a boat of my own and during our many years afloat I drew up a mental wish-list for my perfect yacht.

First item on my list was personal space. In our first boat, I shared the fore-peak with my brother and sister, and we were always fighting for space – mainly to avoid the early morning deluge of condensation dripping from the roof. When it became impossible to squeeze us into the fore-peak without starting world war three, dad bought a bigger boat and we were transferred to the saloon. Although space was improved, privacy wasn’t and it meant we had to pack away all our bedding and get up before breakfast could start. To a young teen this was a nightmare; in my dream boat we would all have our own, separate cabins – with doors!

Next on the list for improvement was the cockpit, the sole was about the size of an elongated fish-crate and it was a bit of a squeeze. It was also a wet and windy place. Once we’d all installed ourselves, legs wedged tetris-style into each other there was still the traveller, main sheet and boom to worry about, not to mention the tiller sweeping the cockpit on every tack. My dream boat would have a large cockpit - with a wheel. There would be enough space for a permanent table –which wouldn’t block the companionway, and the boom would be out of the way to avoid whacking people on the head – oh, and the engine control wouldn’t be an afterthought on the cockpit floor, it would be somewhere far more sensible.

Under power our long keeler was not the most relaxing boat to manoeuver in a tight spot so a boat that responds quickly and goes where the rudder is pointed would have made life in the canals and marinas so much easier. Even under way in the open sea there comes a point when the engine must go on, for the sake of crew morale. It should be simple to operate, powerful enough, and with a big enough tank to make reasonable distances under power without carrying smelly jerry cans of diesel. The reassuring “thump-thump-thump” of a diesel engine and its warming effect on the cabin was a welcome comfort when we’d had enough of the elements. Many an hour was spent below decks as we motor sailed through nasty weather.

When sailing in bad weather, I can’t say that I ever noticed a sea-kindly motion or an abundance of hand-holds below – for us, the biggest problem was the angle of heel and wet wellies on the uneven, angled floor. When the weather turned it was just unpleasant - I remember a damp, dark, cramped cabin and longing for port where everything would be upright again, the stove could go on and we'd get a chance to warm up and escape ashore. Out on deck wasn’t a lot better as having to go forward to change a hanked on genny or tame a flapping main while being ankle deep in seawater wasn’t much fun, three cheers for roller reefing and all lines led to the cockpit! While on the subject of moving around the boat, the trek from the cockpit to the forward heads involved a soggy crew-member clambering over everyone in the saloon, squeezing round the table and shoe-horning themselves into a broom cupboard with a toilet in it. No. My boat would have a comfortable saloon with plenty of out-of-the way seating. It would also be nice if it didn’t heel at quite such a ridiculous angle, had an even saloon floor and didn’t ship buckets of sea water over the deck. The heads could also be a bit more spacious and closer to the companionway - which brings me to personal hygiene. They say cleanliness is next to godliness – well we were an ungodly lot. We went for days without a proper wash and having to use a bucket of cold water (warm if we boiled the kettle) was not very pleasant. While a pull out sink over the toilet was a neat idea, it always missed or dripped on the seat. Of course I didn’t really care until I became a teenager, but my dream boat would have warm water on tap and a shower.

As further creature comforts, my dream boat would also have a large fridge. Oh what a luxury. Eating sour milk on cereal, or worse still UHT was the bane of our summer holidays - not to mention freeze-dried vespa curries.

Finally I’d like to end this trip down memory lane with a few words about our Avon Redcrest and Seagull outboard. Quite apart from the starter cord taking your eye out I never realised what a perilous exercise boarding and departing was until I chartered a boat with a swim platform. Why on earth did we put up with clambering over guard rails and stepping gingerly into a rubber boat 2 feet below? According to statistics, the trip ashore is the most dangerous one a cruising sailor makes, and falling in fully clothed – even with a relatively low freeboard makes it practically impossible to get back on board. With a swim platform and permanent folding ladder it’s a piece of cake.

Over the years this mental check-list formed in the back of my mind. All the best things, the adventures, the solitude, the freedom, the magic of travelling under sail but with just that little bit more in terms of creature comforts and practicality. For me it is this freedom to potter with my family with no agenda and no time pressure that is so central to our enjoyment of cruising - any fool can be uncomfortable but in this day and age there’s no need to be.

I had a mental picture of my luxurious yacht – so much bigger and better than those of my childhood and eventually the time came to start looking. Reality struck and with a budget of €35,000 we went looking for our dream – in this price range there is not a lot that meets the criteria and is ‘ready to sail’ with no problems, and boy did I see a few wrecks. To cut a long story short, I found what I was looking for in the shape of an ex-charter 1999 Bavaria 36 Holiday complete with charter inventory for €34,200.

She has 3 good size separate double cabins (with doors, windows and wardrobes), saloon seating is around a solid, fixed table. We’ve got a fridge, a hot shower in the heads and on the stern. She’s got a proper chart table, a spacious cockpit. In fact she ticked every box on my list and the survey revealed no major problems. The reason she was so cheap was because she was being dumped from a charter fleet and was based in Croatia (no VAT), but remarkably unscathed considering 10 years of hard use. So after almost a decade of ownership, what is the verdict?

Well, she does slam into waves – so long as they’re the right height, the right wavelength, coming from the right direction and we are doing the correct speed. Is it a real problem? No, not really. It’s much reduced, if not eliminated by the weight of all the cruising gear and a deft touch on the helm.

She has also rounded up on us a few times, it was her way of saying “reef me you pillock” and it very rarely happens now. The plus side is that she will still make good passage times in relatively light winds and doesn’t go over on her ear with water coming over the gunnels. She’s no racer, but predictable and easily handled with furling genoa and main. We can go out with family and friends and 8-9 people on board is no problem. Novices aren’t in danger of losing fingers or heads as the cockpit is clear of traveller and main-sheet and the boom is well out of the way.

She handles like a dream under power, spins almost in her own length and has enough grunt to comfortably motor-sail into a F6/7 with accompanying sea-state – the rest of the family just hunker down below and I’ve had no complaints about comfort. The combination of high free-board and large spray hood prevent almost all of the spray from reaching the cockpit – but it does sometimes hit me at the wheel. The teenagers could retire to a cabin each and stay out of each others way - which was a massive plus.

I could have bought a boat from the 70s or 80s, but for me it’s a hard-sell next to an AWB. The designs of yesteryear – however pretty or seaworthy they might be - just don't appeal to me any more, the chances of getting caught out by weather are much lower today than they used to be and I’m sure the majority of modern family cruisers would opt to stay put in anything over a constant F6 – Why? Because it’s uncomfortable, no matter what boat you’re in. I have been caught out however in some nasty storms, and the boat coped fine as we ran for shelter - even had her surfing hitting 10-11 knots which turned out to be far less of an issue than I expected - and both keel and rudder are still there.

As a foot note there is one point on modern boats which in my opinion is not so positive. The demise of the chart table. I do all my navigating electronically but I still like my chart table – it’s my personal space as skipper, somewhere to sit and fiddle, read, explore charts or use my tablet to passage plan – I’d miss it if it were no longer there but perhaps my sons will have a different view when their time comes.

I have an original bruce anchor and it works fine where I sail.

 

[johnalison]

I have no opinion about anchors, so long as they work.

Our current boat chose itself. Buying an HR has never crossed our mind until we were invited on their 34 at Southampton. When I sat in the cockpit and found that my feet would reach the other side and my hand lay on the tiller comfortably, I didn't need to think further. The fact that she was cheaper than the equivalent Westerly due to the low Swedish Krone clinched the matter. We paid our deposit that day and got the boat in the following May, in time for the new season.

 

[dulls]

The qualities for us were:
Already in the Eastern Med
At least 3 private double cabins (ended up with 4)
2 heads
Walkthrough stern
Slab not in-mast reefing
Grubby enough with enough non-professional jobs needed to be a cheap buy

It came with a 15kg Delta and we’ve stuck with that for 10 years although perhaps one day if it ever drags once set I will go for something more modern - although they all seem to need to be much bigger and heavier than Deltas from peoples’ posts.

I wont look at a boat with in mask or boom furled sails. I am a simple man with simple tastes. Had a profurl boom and we removed it within 5 months of buying her and went to a slab set up. We found flattening the main when reefed was an issue. I know they will have improved much since then. I am not against them but just prefer the simplicity of a slab set up.

 

[dulls]

Reasons for buying the boat: pointy at both ends, red sails. Also nice wide side decks, ideals for sailing with a (then) very young crew.

Anchor: CQR because the one which came with the boat worked fine and when I lost it (snapped chain in a gale) I found another for £45 including re-galvanising. If I needed another would probably go Bruce or Knox if no CQR was available. I may be showing national bias here.

If you have no problems with an anchor then you would go the same again.

 

[dulls]

My wife and I belonged to a sailing club/sailing school (Glenans Irish Sailing Club) which used a Beneteau 31.7 and a Dufour 30 Classic for the cruising courses . We both had done courses in the former but my wife had never been on the latter. When a change in regulations forced the club to dispose of the two 30 footers in favour of a larger boat, we were at the club and were told that the Dufour was for sale and would we like to take a look at it.
We went on board, my wife went down the companionway, looked around and said "Oh, I like this!", so that was the main quality which informed the decision to buy, However, I had sailed on the boat previously and found it to my liking.
Spirit came with a CQR anchor, very well suited to the muddy bottom to be found in that area of West Cork. The 5.70 metre boats on which we instructed were also similarly equipped and I don't recall any incident of unreliability with those anchors.

Important that the missus likes it.

 

[chris-s]

As our first sailboat bigger than a dinghy...
1) convenience - it was in the yard 12 minutes from home where we sailed our dinghies from
2) we were able to acquire the swing mooring
3) price/boat condition/ready-to-sail/nothing really needed doing to it
4) we were able to keep the existing yard spot without having to join a waiting list
5) the wife liked it, the whole reason for moving from dinghy to yacht. apparently she didn't like the way dinghies capsize.

 

[Deleted member 36384]

I had sailed many yachts and worked as professional skipper for just over 5 years, changed jobs and chartered a few times. 20 years later I could afford a boat and was looking about. The missus liked the Rival as "it did not rock when she stepped on board", I liked the Rival as it was a boat I was very familiar with. She was also happy that I could single hand the boat if required. The price was right an LadyOldBoots proceeded to negotiate quite a bit more off the price as she is good at that sort of thing. So we bought the boat. Any cost savings on price v newer boats have long gone with the refit. That's life. Would I buy it again, no, I would buy a younger boat, say 5 years old.

 

[Bru]

First "yacht" ... biggest thing we could afford on a very limited budget

Second ... went fender kicking one day waiting for the bar to open and fell instantly in love

Third, current and last ... the smallest boat we could feasibly (by our lights) live aboard for extended periods which had two sleeping cabins, a usable galley and comfortable saloon... oh and still a relatively limited budget

So that was an Islander 23 followed by a Sabre 27 and finally a Westerly W33 ketch

As for anchors ...

First and current both genuine CQRs. Never had the slightest problem anchoring either boat. Chuck it off the bow, ease out the required rode and relax. Never failed to set, never dragged

Middle boat had a genuine Bruce. Never again. Failed to set in mud several times when the tines got chocked. Dragged overnight twice. Failed dismally to set in sand off Wells next the Sea after an overnight passage when i really didn't need to hassle I came to hate the damned thing

(It might be pertinent that both CQRs were / are generously sized, at least one if not two sizes up from the usual recommendations whereas the Bruce was no bigger than it theoretically needed to be)

Current boat will (one day) get a next generation anchor (Rocna etc) primarily to meet a crew demand for something self launching and recovering and easier to handle

 

[dulls]

I had sailed many yachts and worked as professional skipper for just over 5 years, changed jobs and chartered a few times. 20 years later I could afford a boat and was looking about. The missus liked the Rival as "it did not rock when she stepped on board", I liked the Rival as it was a boat I was very familiar with. She was also happy that I could single hand the boat if required. The price was right an LadyOldBoots proceeded to negotiate quite a bit more off the price as she is good at that sort of thing. So we bought the boat. Any cost savings on price v newer boats have long gone with the refit. That's life. Would I buy it again, no, I would buy a younger boat, say 5 years old.

I like the rivals and they are on my list for my next boat. Age is an issue though.

 

[dulls]

First "yacht" ... biggest thing we could afford on a very limited budget

Second ... went fender kicking one day waiting for the bar to open and fell instantly in love

Third, current and last ... the smallest boat we could feasibly (by our lights) live aboard for extended periods which had two sleeping cabins, a usable galley and comfortable saloon... oh and still a relatively limited budget

So that was an Islander 23 followed by a Sabre 27 and finally a Westerly W33 ketch

As for anchors ...

First and current both genuine CQRs. Never had the slightest problem anchoring either boat. Chuck it off the bow, ease out the required rode and relax. Never failed to set, never dragged

Middle boat had a genuine Bruce. Never again. Failed to set in mud several times when the tines got chocked. Dragged overnight twice. Failed dismally to set in sand off Wells next the Sea after an overnight passage when i really didn't need to hassle I came to hate the damned thing

(It might be pertinent that both CQRs were / are generously sized, at least one if not two sizes up from the usual recommendations whereas the Bruce was no bigger than it theoretically needed to be)

Current boat will (one day) get a next generation anchor (Rocna etc) primarily to meet a crew demand for something self launching and recovering and easier to handle

Was it a genuine bruce or a copy?

 

[Bru]

Was it a genuine bruce or a copy?

Genuine (all the proper markings, original receipt in the file that came with the boat). And the recommended size for the boat

My suspicion is that the Bruce probably works OK in larger sizes but in a small, or relatively small, anchor it doesn't have the mass to dig itself in and/or is too easily clogged up. I also rapidly lost confidence in its ability to reset when the tide turned

That was certainly our experience with the damn thing. Difficult to set in mud or sand, prone to dragging when the tide turned and on several occasions failed to set at all after picking up a stone or a lump of clay

There are without doubt superior anchors around these days compared to either the Bruce or the CQR

But then if the anchor you've got works for you on your boat, why replace it? Our current CQR works extremely well from an anchoring point of view, it's just a bugger to handle even for me and totally defeats Jane's attempts to wrestle it on and off the bow roller

 

[dulls]

Genuine (all the proper markings, original receipt in the file that came with the boat). And the recommended size for the boat

My suspicion is that the Bruce probably works OK in larger sizes but in a small, or relatively small, anchor it doesn't have the mass to dig itself in and/or is too easily clogged up. I also rapidly lost confidence in its ability to reset when the tide turned

That was certainly our experience with the damn thing. Difficult to set in mud or sand, prone to dragging when the tide turned and on several occasions failed to set at all after picking up a stone or a lump of clay

There are without doubt superior anchors around these days compared to either the Bruce or the CQR

But then if the anchor you've got works for you on your boat, why replace it? Our current CQR works extremely well from an anchoring point of view, it's just a bugger to handle even for me and totally defeats Jane's attempts to wrestle it on and off the bow roller

I had no problems with our bruce but would not go back to one. Modern designs are better imho

 

[Buck Turgidson]

right size
right capabilities
recent rig and sails
right price
Best looking boat in the marina


Anchors meh..... whatever.

 

[noelex]

If your yacht brings a smile to your face as you row away, it was the right choice.

If it is still there when you row back, the anchor was the right choice .