33 to 41 feet........here's goes nothing!!

James W

James W

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In all likelihood, I'm going to pull the trigger on a 41 footer tomorrow. It's going to be a big step up from my Westerly Storm, but I'm excited and the family are going to love it!!

That said, I'll be the one sailing it most of the time and it's a far bigger boat, no matter how you look at it. It does have furling main and jib though, which helps. Can anyone offer any helpful hints and tips to making that step up? Berthing shouldn't too much of an issue, as my home port has space to make a few mistakes.....but there's no point having a bigger boat and being scared of it, so it would be great to hear your thoughts and experiences.

Thanks!

James
 
Congratulations!

It's just another boat you're unused to. Do a few handling exercises the first time out; get a feel for the prop walk, throttle and turning circle. And try not to make your early outings short-handed, with novices, or in a strong wind.

Margin for error is reduced; a mooring mistake that's rectified with a firm shove by hand on your 33 might not be on the 41. But if you're skilful and confident on the 33 I wouldn't say it's that big a step up.

In my personal view the style of boat can make much more difference than sheer size (within reason). If the new boat is relatively more modern (shallower bow, lighter), you may find the bow gets blown off much quicker, for example. That's much more significant to you than 8 feet and a tonne or two.
 
I concur! I was in this position a few years back - moving from 32ft to 40ft. I remember the previous owner saying how she was still a small boat, but compared to the 32 she felt massive! Never looked back. I would say she's easier to handle... steadier at sea, and I would say in the marina too (but then the 32 footer was twin rudder, so she was a pig maneuvering astern).

Just show her a little respect, and keep it slow in the marina (keep the wind aft as much as possible)

Enjoy!

Out of interest, what is the new boat?
 
RJJ said:
Congratulations!

It's just another boat you're unused to. Do a few handling exercises the first time out; get a feel for the prop walk, throttle and turning circle. And try not to make your early outings short-handed, with novices, or in a strong wind.

Margin for error is reduced; a mooring mistake that's rectified with a firm shove by hand on your 33 might not be on the 41. But if you're skilful and confident on the 33 I wouldn't say it's that big a step up.

In my personal view the style of boat can make much more difference than sheer size (within reason). If the new boat is relatively more modern (shallower bow, lighter), you may find the bow gets blown off much quicker, for example. That's much more significant to you than 8 feet and a tonne or two.
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Good advice, baby steps to begin with. I'm lucky to have a mud berth and so I can just charge it into the soft stuff if it all gets out of hand. The boat is probably just a larger version of the Storm, similar draft fin keel but with Skeg and fin rather than spade rudder.

It's also wheel steering which is a new one for me, but I'm here for the challenge!
 
Dukester52 said:
I concur! I was in this position a few years back - moving from 32ft to 40ft. I remember the previous owner saying how she was still a small boat, but compared to the 32 she felt massive! Never looked back. I would say she's easier to handle... steadier at sea, and I would say in the marina too (but then the 32 footer was twin rudder, so she was a pig maneuvering astern).

Just show her a little respect, and keep it slow in the marina (keep the wind aft as much as possible)

Enjoy!

Out of interest, what is the new boat?
Click to expand...

That's very encouraging, thanks for that. I'll let you know the boat tomorrow when I've confirmed!
 
The 39' yacht I looked at felt enormous to me, mostly due to the beam, really not much different from the 33' I finally settled on though in reality.

RJJ said:
Standing in front of the wheel, facing aft, is handy in reverse. Then it really does feel like driving a car.
Click to expand...

I was taught this, rather than doing 'the crazy monkey' for med mooring. With a tiller on a narrowboat the opposite is true, you need to mostly watch the bow to stop any drift as after a point it's not easy to correct.
 
Take a friend out first time or two.
An extra pair of eyes and hands. An extra fender at the ready.
Go and practice MOB or picking up moorings, any close quarters thing.
Get to know how the boat handles and check out how everything works.
Move around the boat and watch while others tack it or put sails up or whatever, see things from different angles.
 
A few years ago we changed up from 29 ft to 39 ft LOA and 3.6t to 6.6t displacement. The biggest things to get used to didn't really relate to the size. They were the change from tiller to wheel and from bulkhead to binacle compass - reading the front of the card instead of the back. Also the change from shaft drive to saildrive with the prop now 2 or 3 metres from the rudder has a huge effect on handling under power. (But the bow thruster helps a lot.) We had lots of elaborate plans for berthing the new boat but very soon found we were doing things just like we used to with the old one.

First time out was a 180-mile delivery trip which helped us get the hang of her.

Edit:- Watch out for bigger loads in all the lines. Never used to need a winch to reef but we do now! The greater inertia actually gives you a bit more time to get the lines on when berthing but once she starts to blow off if you haven't got a couple of turns around the cleat you won't stop her.
 
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James W said:
In all likelihood, I'm going to pull the trigger on a 41 footer tomorrow. It's going to be a big step up from my Westerly Storm, but I'm excited and the family are going to love it!!

That said, I'll be the one sailing it most of the time and it's a far bigger boat, no matter how you look at it. It does have furling main and jib though, which helps. Can anyone offer any helpful hints and tips to making that step up? Berthing shouldn't too much of an issue, as my home port has space to make a few mistakes.....but there's no point having a bigger boat and being scared of it, so it would be great to hear your thoughts and experiences.

Thanks!

James
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Bigger lump to stop, so take things slower when berthing, even cutting power earlier than in the 33'.
 
All excellent points, thanks to all. I've just confirmed by phone, but I won't celebrate until money's changed hands tomorrow!?
 
ryanroberts said:
The 39' yacht I looked at felt enormous to me, mostly due to the beam, really not much different from the 33' I finally settled on though in reality.



I was taught this, rather than doing 'the crazy monkey' for med mooring. With a tiller on a narrowboat the opposite is true, you need to mostly watch the bow to stop any drift as after a point it's not easy to correct.
Click to expand...
It's not my cup of tea, and doesn't suit everyone. Whether with tiller or wheel, I prefer to stand facing the bow and swing my upper body round, checking bow and stern, especially in a cross-wind when getting the boat moving straight is a priority.

Anyway, sailing large boats is easy; it is small boats that are difficult.
 
The one comment I'd make is be prepared for heavier loads. Whereas it would have been eminently possible to stand on the pontoon and hold a 33 footer with the wind blowing it off, that becomes almost impossible with a 40 footer. So don't step off the boat till its attached in some way. Course I'm a weakling but still ...
 
johnalison said:
It's not my cup of tea, and doesn't suit everyone. Whether with tiller or wheel, I prefer to stand facing the bow and swing my upper body round, checking bow and stern, especially in a cross-wind when getting the boat moving straight is a priority.

Anyway, sailing large boats is easy; it is small boats that are difficult.
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When reversing, the pivot point gets much closer to the stern, so don't forget you need to keep an eye on how the bow is swinging, not easy when you have your back to it.
 
James W said:
In all likelihood, I'm going to pull the trigger on a 41 footer tomorrow.
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What kind of 41-footer? I can give all kinds of advice on westerly 41-footers :-)

I'd second srah1953's comment and DJE's point about winches. With this size of boat you don't pull and push stuff manually except in a calm. You need winches for the sheets. You need ropes secured secured round a cleat and released in a controlled fashion rather than holding the boat in and pushing it. Techniques relying on muscles alone which are generally the most efficient way on a small boat and often viable at 10m become generally non-viable at 12m.
 
laika said:
What kind of 41-footer? I can give all kinds of advice on westerly 41-footers :-)

I'd second srah1953's comment and DJE's point about winches. With this size of boat you don't pull and push stuff manually except in a calm. You need winches for the sheets. You need ropes secured secured round a cleat and released in a controlled fashion rather than holding the boat in and pushing it. Techniques relying on muscles alone which are generally the most efficient way on a small boat and often viable at 10m become generally non-viable at 12m.
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Are you thinking an Oceanlord?
 
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