32ft cruiser/racer, what would you buy to sail single handed?

[ifoxwell]

When i say cruiser / racer I mean cruising boat that you can race not racing machine that looks like a cruiser.

I'd love a sunfast 3200 but the budget wont stretch to something like that so if you had £30-50k to spend, what would you be looking at?

 

[Topcat47]

Nic 32. I've sailed a Contessa 32 but it's not really for single handers IMO. The Money would buy you a decent boat with money to spare for mods to help single-handing.

 

[doug748]

If you like the 3200 you might think about a late Sun Fast 32. The performance is in the same ballpark but a bit steadier and a bit more comfy below which is all to the good for your cruising - as is the reduced draught.
It is certainly an involving boat to sail but I know someone - not a young man - who races and cruises one to great effect. I think you are wise to choose a tiller, esp valuable if singlehanding.
The main difficulty will be finding a suitable boat, you may want to look across the channel. £30 - £40k will buy you a good un from 2000ish.

 

[Ceirwan]

Beneteau First 31.7?

Quite roomy for a 30 footer, good turn of speed and easy to single hand. Sit right in the middle of your price bracket.

 

[dunedin]

Something with more cruising appeal as well as performance could be the Elan 333, well within budget.

For most of these suggestions a top notch gyro autopilot might be essential - as used by the French singlehanders

 

[doug748]

Something with more cruising appeal as well as performance could be the Elan 333, well within budget.
....

Yes, I was surprised when one from 2002 went locally for c30k this winter.

 

[ifoxwell]

Thanks for the replies, and yes In the perfect world it would have a descent autohelm..... just how capable are the latest autohelms as the sort of boats we are talking about here can be, as doug748 says, quite involving

 

[doug748]

My mate had a autohelm built in from new, so I guess it is acting on a lever directly on the rudder shaft.
This is ideal because the lever (or whatever it is down there) can be designed for the characteristics of the helm and all of the gubbins are out of the weather. I think it handles all but the worst conditions - I am pretty sure it must be one of the Raymarines or earlier incarnations.
When the conditions get too much for a autohelm, you are down to hand steering - one of the good reasons for not wanting a shorthanded crew stuck behind a wheel at the back.
Some of these types will not have a sprayhood, I would fit one as a cruising priority, so that could be an expense worth factoring in.

 

[H4B]

When i say cruiser / racer I mean cruising boat that you can race not racing machine that looks like a cruiser.

I'd love a sunfast 3200 but the budget wont stretch to something like that so if you had £30-50k to spend, what would you be looking at?

Yes I'd like a 3200 as well but my favoured berth is the limiter for me. You might consider a Westerly Fulmar, fin . I have had a lot of fun with mine for past 10 years. Much success at club level and also success at regatta beating much faster boats easily in the right conditions( including a 3200, Simga's Contessa 32 etc. I've up spec'd the boat over the years, including folding prop, bowsprit with A2 and A4 and good main 130% Genoa. IRC rating this year 0.882. Added to this the very cosy wooden interior makes for a reasonably comfortable cruise when time permits.
Not to be over looked IMO and there are currently some bargains to be had but I will be sticking for another year.

 

[Judders]

JOD 35 with money left over for a refit.

Wish I was doing the same but it'll be Impalas for a while for me I fear.

 

[dunedin]

Thanks for the replies, and yes In the perfect world it would have a descent autohelm..... just how capable are the latest autohelms as the sort of boats we are talking about here can be, as doug748 says, quite involving

Don't think the old auto helm tiller pilot or similar. Needs to be a proper gyro stabilised job.

Assume this is what all the French Micro's use when hammering along solo with huge asymmetric kites up, inshore and trans Atlantic. If can handle that can handle a SunFast or Elan 333. But need to budget for proper kit for this

 

[flaming]

JOD 35 with money left over for a refit.

Wish I was doing the same but it'll be Impalas for a while for me I fear.

Seems a bit racy for the OP's requirements.

I'd agree with the suggestions for the Elan 333, if you want to be competitive on a mostly ww/lw track. And would add in Dufour 34 for something a little more cruisy, but still quick.

But if your racing is mostly point to point, for something a bit different, keep an eye out for an Elan 310. It was a bit of a flop, sales wise, so there aren't may around. This was mainly due to the poor performance on the ww/lw track (mostly due to indifferent upwind performance) and the outlandish (for the time) looks.
However it had a reputation for being blisteringly quick off the wind, so as a shorthanded point to point racer I think it could now be worth another look and the examples online, whilst inconveniently located, are just starting to sneak into your budget.

Plus Snooks loved it.

 

[ifoxwell]

Don't think the old auto helm tiller pilot or similar. Needs to be a proper gyro stabilised job.

Assume this is what all the French Micro's use when hammering along solo with huge asymmetric kites up, inshore and trans Atlantic. If can handle that can handle a SunFast or Elan 333. But need to budget for proper kit for this

Good point well made.... modern fat cruising boats might be a bit twitchy when compared to boats of old but I suspect would place nothing like the same demands as a Micro on any given autohelm.

 

[ifoxwell]

Seems a bit racy for the OP's requirements.

I'd agree with the suggestions for the Elan 333, if you want to be competitive on a mostly ww/lw track. And would add in Dufour 34 for something a little more cruisy, but still quick.

But if your racing is mostly point to point, for something a bit different, keep an eye out for an Elan 310. It was a bit of a flop, sales wise, so there aren't may around. This was mainly due to the poor performance on the ww/lw track (mostly due to indifferent upwind performance) and the outlandish (for the time) looks.
However it had a reputation for being blisteringly quick off the wind, so as a shorthanded point to point racer I think it could now be worth another look and the examples online, whilst inconveniently located, are just starting to sneak into your budget.

Plus Snooks loved it.

Hi Flaming, thanks for the heads up on the 310, that's one i wasn't aware of and it does look very interesting. I'll add it to the list of designs to look out for.

 

[Judders]

I haven't sailed an Elan 310 but was lucky enough to be involved in the speccing and workup of the 350 which is very similar.

Rather like other unconservative designs such as the Pogo30, it's not great on rating due to being rapid on anything except hard on the wind or dead downwind. Potentially great in passage rating but always at risk of getting the wrong conditions. Once it's on its chine it's pretty stiff and the sail plan is pretty simple. That said, the interior fit out owed more to weight saving than durability of style and I have yet to see one in the budget.

 

[Judders]

Seems a bit racy for the OP's requirements.

I think the OPs length requirement was due to the mooring available too so I will concede that point before its made!

 

[ifoxwell]

I should tell you all that we have in the past had an older 32ft Beneteau and more recently a Sunfast 32i which the family loved. A bit more cruiser than racer but it had all the right controls and it was fitted out with quality gear.
To be honest I'd happily have another but I'm just weighting up my options, were not in a rush and there are loads of boats out there that I have no experience of or, in the case of the Elan 310, didn't even know existed.

 

[roblpm]

Bit big maybe but Dufour 34p?

http://www.yachtworld.co.uk/boats/2003/Dufour-34-Performance-2886486/United-Kingdom#.Vt9XcVmnzqA

Aha actually I think flaming already suggested this!!

Seems to me like the old style cruiser racer is dieing a death? All js at my club which aren't very cruisy?

 

[Judders]

Oh I don't know, some Js are cruisy enough, the 109 and the 120 certainly are.

I think you're right though, the current trend appears to be for cruiser racers that actually aren't that racey or stuff that is almost to racey for the cruising chap.

 

[drakes drum]

When i say cruiser / racer I mean cruising boat that you can race not racing machine that looks like a cruiser.

I'd love a sunfast 3200 but the budget wont stretch to something like that so if you had £30-50k to spend, what would you be looking at?

Under NHC you can race any cruising boat. And the chap from RORC who gave us a talk recently insisted that you could get a useable IRC handicap for any cruising boat. Mind you I dont think he convinced anyone in his audience.

It really rather depends on what sort of racing you fancy. One of my clubs does white sail racing so a decent fin keel cruiser would be quite OK. But if you want to play amongst the IRC lot with empty interiors and carbon sails, then you need a boat that I wouldnt want to cruise. Big dinghies with deep narrow fins and spade rudders arent a good recipe for single handed cruising

We have a club member sailing a Comfortina 32 which does very well on handicap easily keeping up with 35ft boats unless the wind is strong enough to get boats to hull speed. See http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=1104