A Capable Family Cruiser

“Capable family cruiser” is a meaningless phrase - it’s the sort of thing journalist stuck in articles and marketeers get excited about - but even trying to define the word cruiser will get plenty of arguments: does it actually mean it’s not particularly racey? Does it suggest one travels from destination to destination? Perhaps it suggests it is “self contained” with galley and heads? Then there’s the question of what “family” means - even in the 1970’s interpretation on the the word - probably mum, dad, 2 kids - but the difference between a young kids and teenagers are quite different boating experiences. Then we have the word “capable” - a complement? Or actually just satisfactory?

All together the OP has read the three words as a ringing endorsement - but to me they just say you could use this boat to make journeys for a small group of people who are quite tolerant of each other.
 
Of course, it's a vague definition if you're looking for legal precision, but I think most people will have a similar idea of what it means.

I read capable as, more or less, a synonym for competent. As for family, obviously, it's a very flexible term, but I, and I suspect many, if not most people, read it as meaning Mum, Dad and a couple of kids, probably somewhere between 5 and 15. As for cruiser, I'd say that's any boat kitted out with a galley, head and sleeping accommodation that isn't an out-and-out offshore racer; I'd probably fit having an engine in there somewhere, too.
 
I read the phrase as meaning a boat without racing pretensions with sufficient accommodation for four or more, and well enough designed to be free of major vices. In the '70s that would have meant suitable for estuary and coastal sailing but nowadays I think we would expect it to include Channel and modest offshore passages as well.
 
Apparently,according to the tv young people Dont find camping nice,too messy,uncomfortable etc …..applied to capable cruiser we would have to up the size to at least 45 foot……without the jacuzzi!
 
Chiara’s slave said:
but sailing a big boat badly just gets you there slower. That is very, very
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We sail our big boat badly on purpose. We’ve got better things to do than arsing about with ropes every two minutes as we’re cruising. We often stay on the same tack for ten hours, and getting there a little slower is fine if we’ve enjoyed a nice relaxed journey.
 
I think the answer to the question at the top of this thread revolves around the extent to which the capable (or otherwise) family wants to go camping.

The family that relishes the prospect of camping will accept that some discomfort and inconvenience is part of the excitement of getting away from civilisation. Likewise 10 days of continual gales. Their Folkboat is an adventure!

The family that essentially wants to experience all home comforts, topped up with someone else doing the cooking - all in guaranteed sunshine - might do better to look at an hotel or a sparkly new 60’ crewed yacht.
 
johnalison said:
I read the phrase as meaning a boat without racing pretensions with sufficient accommodation for four or more, and well enough designed to be free of major vices. In the '70s that would have meant suitable for estuary and coastal sailing but nowadays I think we would expect it to include Channel and modest offshore passages as well.
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Wansworth said:
Apparently,according to the tv young people Dont find camping nice,too messy,uncomfortable etc …..applied to capable cruiser we would have to up the size to at least 45 foot……without the jacuzzi!
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When I bought our Snapdragon, 20 years ago, I called around for insurance. One broker said, "£X, all British waters" "What about cross-Channel?" "Oh, no, 24 ft is far too small to cross the Channel"

So, of course, we had to,
 
Stemar said:
When I bought our Snapdragon, 20 years ago, I called around for insurance. One broker said, "£X, all British waters" "What about cross-Channel?" "Oh, no, 24 ft is far too small to cross the Channel"

So, of course, we had to,
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That’s pretty ridiculous. As I think others have said, there is a long tradition of Channel crossing in dinghies, but 24’ is on the small side for speed and comfort, but not in a general way for safety. Our first crossings were in 25-26’ boats without VHF and I never felt unsafe, or I wouldn’t have done it. Modern conditions make radio and AIS more desirable, but GPS has taken a lot of the stress out of passage-making, not because we were afraid of getting lost but because of the time spent poring over charts in the saloon.
 
johnalison said:
That’s pretty ridiculous. As I think others have said, there is a long tradition of Channel crossing in dinghies, but 24’ is on the small side for speed and comfort, but not in a general way for safety. Our first crossings were in 25-26’ boats without VHF and I never felt unsafe, or I wouldn’t have done it. Modern conditions make radio and AIS more desirable, but GPS has taken a lot of the stress out of passage-making, not because we were afraid of getting lost but because of the time spent poring over charts in the saloon.
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In my navigation classes I always ende up on the rocks near the Channel Islands🙂
 
johnalison said:
That’s pretty ridiculous. As I think others have said, there is a long tradition of Channel crossing in dinghies, but 24’ is on the small side for speed and comfort, but not in a general way for safety. Our first crossings were in 25-26’ boats without VHF and I never felt unsafe, or I wouldn’t have done it. Modern conditions make radio and AIS more desirable, but GPS has taken a lot of the stress out of passage-making, not because we were afraid of getting lost but because of the time spent poring over charts in the saloon.
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It was long and tedious, and Madame has no intention of repeating the experience, but having GPS made a world of difference. Round the IoW, and head for a waypoint 10 miles off Cherbourg, then all I had to do was work out which was going to be the uptide entrance in a couple of hours time
 
This is a very interesting thread...

Spent much of last week cruising on the race boat. Not the first time we've done it, but I found it a very interesting experience. With two 6 year olds and a 76 year old non sailing granny, we weren't exactly adventurous, and we did sit out the 30+ knots on Tuesday, but a couple of experiences made me really think about what a cruising boat should be, especially when trying to enthuse 2 young kids. For context, whilst it is technically a cruiser racer the boat has no running water, a 2 burner hob, open plan saloon / forecabin and only fabric "doors" to the aft cabins. One of which is really a storage area / heads. It's really camping, not cruising. We do our washing up using a collapsible camping washing up bowl and water from a mixture of the kettle and a pontoon tap.

The disadvantage of bringing granny with us was that there was no way she was staying on board with that level of comfort... So we had a schedule of hotel bookings to keep. Wrote Tuesday night's booking off, but wednesday had us getting from Hamble to Lymington. Upwind in a wind that built from 15 to 20 knots. Without the hotel booking I'd have probably gone somewhere else, but I'm actually glad we didn't. Initially it was into the last bit of flood tide, that turned once we were nearly at Lymington. With a deep reef in the main (I specified reefs at the usual equivalent of 1.5 and 3) and the J4 on, we were well balanced, not heeling too much, easy on the helm and tracking upwind at 6.5 knots. Honestly this was great sailing beating up the mainland shore. We overtook every cruising boat we came across, even the 40+ footer that came out of Beaulieu and motored straight upwind to Lymington. We were VMGing significantly faster despite being at least 8 foot smaller and tacking, and with at times a 6 year old driving. They were hobby horsing badly and thumping into the chop.
The kids absolutely loved this sail. It was exciting enough without being scary, and crucially with the speed we were going didn't take so long that they got bored. Only took a couple of bits of spray over the boat, enough to add to the excitement, without making it wet and uncomfortable.

This really reinforced my personal view that the sailing part of cruising is simply more fun in a performance boat. The cruising boats we came across looked like they were really not having such a good time. Tacking looked a lot more challenging with much flapping of sails, they were heeling more, part furled jibs looked horrible, and of course they were out there for significantly longer.

Following day wind was in the 10-15 region. Went to Buckler's hard. So again, not exactly extreme, and kept to the same deep reef and J4 sail plan.. Tide with us this time, so with plenty of water near the top of the tide I decided to sail up the river. 1st section was a beat, and wow that was fun, just flick the boat through the tack, SWMBO releases the jib sheet, I tail the new sheet, and normally that was all that was needed. Again we were actually overtaking cruising boats who had dropped sail and were motoring up the 1st reach of the river into the wind! And the kids absolutely love overtaking things. That's the most fun....

Once alongside we were looking at the 38 foot Hanse astern of us, which undoubtedly was more comfortable to stay on. But for this sort of cruising, short hops between nice harbours and plenty of time ashore crabbing and wearing small legs out... Wouldn't swap it... And the Solent too... What an amazing playground for introducing kids to cruising under sail. There aren't many other places where you can keep trips short, and still sail in sheltered waters in 20 knots of breeze. Then when confidence is higher Poole and Weymouth are easy day sails.

I honestly had as much fun family cruising as I had had racing the same boat with a good crew the weekend before.
 
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That sounds like a great time! How did Granny like the beat to Lymington?

While she obviously suits you, I wouldn't call your boat a family cruiser, though. I think the term implies a degree of comfort. I reckon most leisure sailors, especially the ladies - and teenagers - would want a proper galley and draw the line at a curtain for the head door.
 
Stemar said:
That sounds like a great time! How did Granny like the beat to Lymington?

While she obviously suits you, I wouldn't call your boat a family cruiser, though. I think the term implies a degree of comfort. I reckon most leisure sailors, especially the ladies - and teenagers - would want a proper galley and draw the line at a curtain for the head door.
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There's comfort and there's comfort...

I wouldn't invite anyone to stay on the boat who wasn't into camping though.
 
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