Advice on 32'ish Liveaboard

[Polarsailor]

My wife and I are currently living overseas for 8 months a year. We will be returning to the UK for about 3 months a year in summer and plan on living on a yacht of 30-35'. We want a boat that is reasonably comfortable but also a decent sailing boat that I can single hand a bit. We previously owned a Hunter Duette for 5 years and are reasonably competent sailors. Really want a fin keeler and hopefully something that won't require too much work. The budget is around the £23k mark and we will be mostly sailing on the South Coast. The boats I am strongly interested in at present are the following

Sadler 29 & 32
Sigma 33
Contessa 32 & 33
Rival 32 & 34
Westerly Fulmar
Waquiez Centurion 32
UFO 31 & 34
Beneteau 30 & 305
Moody 33

Does anyone have any strong opinions on the suitability of any of the above boats? Or any other boats I should give serious consideration?

The only boats of the above I have sailed are the Sadler 29 & 32, both of which I really liked especially the 32.

All advice gratefully received.

Keiron

 

[[3889]]

I had a Benny 305 and have sailed a Sigma 33 quite a bit and would recommend the 305 as the better live aboard and it is also less demanding to sail 2 up whilst giving reasonable performance. I enjoyed the 305 which was my 1st keel boat and I don't regret my choice.
However, I have to say I wouldn't relish 3 months aboard either in the UK where you may be weatherbound below deck for days at a time. My longest stint aboard with SWMBO was 2 weeks with some fractious moments towards the end. By comparison, we spent 4 months in a 20' motorhome without any problems.

 

[00Si00]

Sadler 32 IS a suitable liveaboard

Hi Polar Sailor

We have lived aboard our Sadler 32 for just over 2 years. For the last 12 months we have been cruising around the Brittany coast and have just returned to the UK. We can confirm that a Sadler will meet your expectations in terms of seaworthiness and spaciousness. There is a little trade off between these two things but in our experience the Sadler provides the right balance between the two.
I would be more than happy to discuss more details with you in a PM, so why not Pm me with your questions!

Si

 

[temptress]

Having lived aboard a 36 footer and now a 47 footer IMO 32 feet is small but doable. I've sailed most of th eboats you mention here is my opinion:

Sadler 29 & 32 - Bit cramped
Sigma 33 Good sailing boat perhaps not the best layout for liveaboard
Contessa 32 & 33 32 - way too small for liveaboard. 33 - good al round buat but usually overpriced
Rival 32 & 34 - good sailing boats 32 a bit small. 34 quite OK
Westerly Fulmar - Good sailing small dated layout overpriced usually
Waquiez Centurion 32 - Hard to come by
UFO 31 & 34 -- 31 too small 34 would be good IF you can find one
Beneteau 30 & 305 - not so good sailing but good space for liveaboard
Moody 33 - Good space, sails reasonably well IMO your best bet.

 

[[3889]]

Having lived aboard a 36 footer and now a 47 footer IMO 32 feet is small but doable. I've sailed most of th eboats you mention here is my opinion:

Sadler 29 & 32 - Bit cramped
Sigma 33 Good sailing boat perhaps not the best layout for liveaboard
Contessa 32 & 33 32 - way too small for liveaboard. 33 - good al round buat but usually overpriced
Rival 32 & 34 - good sailing boats 32 a bit small. 34 quite OK
Westerly Fulmar - Good sailing small dated layout overpriced usually
Waquiez Centurion 32 - Hard to come by
UFO 31 & 34 -- 31 too small 34 would be good IF you can find one
Beneteau 30 & 305 - not so good sailing but good space for liveaboard
Moody 33 - Good space, sails reasonably well IMO your best bet.

Agree with all of the above except "Moody 33 sails better than a Benny 305". I regularly overhauled a Moody 33 sailed out of Conwy and I don't think it was down to my skill. I'm assuming you mean performance rather than sea-keeping ability, of which I have no knowledge on the Moody.

 

[CaptainBob]

We live on a Westerly Tempest (30.7 feet). It's really lovely. Lots of pics on our blogs. Feel free to PM if you think we can help. Sails well (I think, not much experience) and good accommodation (2 double cabins + saloon).

 

[Polarsailor]

Thanks

Many thanks for all your thoughts a big help. Lots to think about and hopefully back in the UK looking at boats in a few weeks....