advice for a newbie - motor or sail boat?

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jonshepherd

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Im not quite sure if this is the right place for this, so apologies in advance, but here we go -

Its always been my dream to charter a boat for a holiday, and even own a boat in the future. I have done a little bit of sailing in the past and loved it, but have no license.

So Im at a crossroads on where to go next and have the following questions-
- Sail boat or motor boat?
- Which does it cost more to charter and upkeep?
- Which is easier and most economical to get a license for in which I can charter a boat in european waters?
- How long does it take to get your sailing license for each? and is it best to do this in the UK or abroad
- And in general, which would you recommend I steer towards to fulfil this dream?!

Apologies if this isnt the right place for these rather basic questions, I just would really appreciate some advice on where to go next
 
In the UK there is no such thing as a "licence" as no qualifications are needed to use either a sail or motor boat. However, you will find it very difficult to charter a boat without being able to demonstrate your competence. So, you will need to learn how to sail and handle a boat. You can do this by taking a structured RYA course which will then lead to getting a Certificate of Competence (ICC) which is accepted by most charter companies. You can do this in this ounty, but you can also do it in , say, Greece, Spain, the Canaries etc, sometimes as part of a charter holiday.

There is plenty of information on the RYA site about learning to sail, training and certificate programmes and details of sailing schools that offer a range of opportunities.

Almost impossible to charter motorboats of any size unless you use a qualified skipper and crew, so most charters are sailing boats. Many people start with what is called a flotilla where you sail the boat, but are accompanied by a professional in his own boat to provide you with support on where to go and help with things like anchoring and mooring. The other form of chartering is called bareboating where you are on your own with a boat, but charter companies usually look for more experience before they let you loose on their boats.
 
I personally bought a 24ft moter boat first to get use to the water without worrying about the wind when happy with that I bought a 26ft sail and the joy of turning the engine of and just being able to travel free anywhere with no engine sound was eutopia for us. Now we have a 33ft sail and planning the big get away of cruising the world. Although we still are so thankful when we need the engine and turn the key it comes to life ultimately sail wins
 
As Tranona says you will not be able to hire a motor boat of any significant size in the sea without some experience/qualification.

You can however hire a motor boat on the French inland waterways with no qualifications whatsoever (apart from being an adult, and being able to pay). They will give you some basic instruction on how to drive the boat. We hired a boat on the Canal du Nivernais a few years ago from these people:

http://www.aquafluvial.fr

and had a very enjoyable holiday.

On the other hand if you take your own boat to exactly the same canal you will need an ICC, and to have passed the CEVNI test.
 
Given your stated dream to charter a boat for a holiday, you could try a stay and sail holiday, for example:

http://www.neilson.co.uk/sailing/stay-and-sail/a-holiday-for-everyone

This doesn't require any prior experience, and I'm sure other companies do similar. By the way, I've no connection with Neilson other than have had very good flotilla holidays with them in the past.
 
I think that perhaps the best way to find out if you really like sailing (and your family does as well!) is to do a flotilla holiday, somewhere warm. The difficult bit of sailing is leaving and arriving into a port and flotilla staff are truly excellent at guiding you through this, making it, if not easy, at least hassle free. All of the companies have learner flotillas, where they give some training before you leave their base and continue through your holiday. It won't always lead to any formal qualifications but it will help you sort out if this boating lark is for you.
 
I think the OP is asking the wrong questions, the decision re sail boat v motor boat should be made on the basis of the pleasure each type might give first, other factors a long way after. The experiences are very different, the only aspect they share is they happen on water.
My (prejudiced and generalized) view of the difference having recently switched is, sailing boat - slower- a lot more to do - lots to learn so maintains interest - copes better with wind and sea. Mobo. faster - more expensive to run, but probably cheaper to maintain - time at sea curtailed by weather- less to maintain, so less to do in winter - boring to travel in-easier to launch and recover but antifouling can be a messy lying down operation.
Until I bought the motor cruiser this year I thought the antipathy between sailors and motor boats was a myth but it is not, a lot of sailors seem to find it hard to be friendly to someone in a mobo, now, looking back I think I was a bit that way myself at times.
 
My first ever Sail was a one week RYA competent crew course in the UK with Elite Sailing but you can do these in warmer climes as well.
Highly
Not sure which level i's required for bareboat but I'll be doing the next levels and flotilla in the med very soon
 
OK, rather than talk about power or sail, why not tell us a bit about yourself, where you live, how far you are willing to travel to get the boat, whether you have a family that will be involved, what attracts you to boats, what sort of budget you have, how active are you, what age are you, what are looking for from boating, how much time you have free, etc.? I'd heartily recommend a Neilson Stay and Sail, especially if you have a family or just go on a Med flotilla (having been up front with the charter company about your lack of experience) but do remember that just about everything to do with sailing (especially with your own boat) will be different in the UK - especially the temperature and the food and drink.

In both power and sail there's two extremes of exhilaration at one end and relaxation at the other. For both groups size, speed, comfort and convenience increase in direct proportion to the price. You can buy a "seaworthy" riverboat or sailboat for a few grand and run it on a shoestring budget in the right part of the country - a brand new 30 knot 60 foot powerboat or high end yacht of that size in a marina in the Solent will probably involve seven figures and cost tens of thousands a year to run. The running costs can be surprisingly similar sometimes.
 
Thank you everyone for taking the time to respond with your advice, which has been really helpful.

Due to the said difficulties in chartering a motor boat abroad I think maybe sail is best option for me.

I will look into Neilson/sunsail with a view to perhaps doing a floatilla ICC qualification holiday with them.

Is it best to get the theory side out of the way back in the UK before doing this?

Thanks again
 
jonshepherd said:
Thank you everyone for taking the time to respond with your advice, which has been really helpful.

Due to the said difficulties in chartering a motor boat abroad I think maybe sail is best option for me.

I will look into Neilson/sunsail with a view to perhaps doing a floatilla ICC qualification holiday with them.

Is it best to get the theory side out of the way back in the UK before doing this?

Thanks again
Click to expand...

There's really very little navigation needed on a flotilla holiday in the med, so I'd say you don't need to do a theory course in the UK before going, although it would be useful if you wanted to do more independent sailing. For example, I don't know how much you'll cover on tides, if you do your ICC on holiday in Greece.
 
If you decide that sailing is the way to go, then I suggest you consider learning to sail in a dinghy first.

You'll learn much faster in a dinghy, everthing is more immediate and the dinghy is more responsive, when you can sail a dinghy reasonably well, have a go in something bigger, the sailing bit is very similar, but are different boat handling and navigation skills to learn in a cruising yacht.
 
Ian_Edwards said:
If you decide that sailing is the way to go, then I suggest you consider learning to sail in a dinghy first.

You'll learn much faster in a dinghy, everthing is more immediate and the dinghy is more responsive, when you can sail a dinghy reasonably well, have a go in something bigger, the sailing bit is very similar, but are different boat handling and navigation skills to learn in a cruising yacht.
Click to expand...

Tbh I think this option is okay for some but if you are thinking more along the lines of cruisers then Flotilla's and RYA courses like competent crew then maybe these are the better way to go.
Let's not forget with Dinghy Sailing you will get wet and that isn't for everyone.
 
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