Advice on boats?

[Puffin_Billy]

Hi - as a new user to this forum, apologies if you've heard this before.....

I've done a lot of sailing, recently mainly dinghy racing, but quite a bit of cruising on other peoples boats.

Now, with a young family (wife and 3 month old son), I'm looking to buy a modest cruiser for weekend coastal cruising, possibly summer cross channel use. The criteria are

- must have good sailing performance.
- competitive in club races
- must sleep at least 4 people preferably more
- should have (or be able to be converted to have) some sort of double bunk (The wife's criterion!)
- must have a loo (not bucket and chuck-it!), cooker, inboard engine (guess what, the wife again!)
- should be relatively easy to maintain (on the basis that boats are for sailing in not working on!)

I've seen a couple of Spring 25's advertised for sale... they look remarkably good value for money and tick most if not all the above boxes, with double aft cabin, and good performance particularly downwind.

All comments and advice gratefully received.

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[Twister_Ken]

You don\'t mention your budget...

...which would help.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.writeforweb.com/twister1>Let's Twist Again</A>

 

[Puffin_Billy]

Re: You don\'t mention your budget...

Hmm - good question.

Buying budget is up to about £30k.

Annual budget is also a concern to me, but I can do something about that. A boat under 32' could be kept on club mooring and in club pound in the winter for very little.

The Springs all seem to be sub £20k which looks good value for a boat which, on paper at least, seems to do most things well.

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[tony_brighton]

I think you'll find many of the Spring 25s are getting a little tired (+cramped?) by now; with £30k to spend I'd look at something either a little larger or maybe newer. Try for example the Beneteau First range - you could go upto an older Beneteau First 32 or a newer First 29. Alternatively the Jeanneau SunFast range are quite good as well - you could get a recent SunFast 26 for your budget.

Try the YBW buying a boat search for examples.

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[Fin]

My other half and I were looking for something similar and eventually got it down to 2. The first was a feeling 850, comes in 3 versions, I think the club version is quite popular. Went off that one due to a bad osmosis problem but when asking around about the type, a few people were dubious about its possible logevity due to it having quite a light dispacement. Then we tried a Laser 28 which has most of the requirements you need with the emphasis on the racer part of racer/cruiser! Open plan with no separate aft cabin but front bunk can be curtained off. Also has a toilet and a water system. Having now sailed ours she is basically a big fun dinghy with space for booze and somewhere to sleep the hangover off.

Good luck in the search (It took us a year!)

Fin

To all those that do own a feeling please don't shoot me, I do actually think that they're nice boats!

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[Aardee]

Dehler 25 maybe...?

<hr width=100% size=1>"I am a bear of very little brain and long words bother me..."

 

[Sybarite]

If you want to stay friends with the wife, go for 30'. Anything smaller you will find cramped if you spend any considerable time on board - in fact you won't want to spend more time on board. That was advice I received when I was going for a 28 footer and I am glad I did. You at least need standing headroom.

Have a look too at boat prices in France or Belgium before concluding. I believe you get more for your money.

Good luck.

John



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[pandroid]

You're not the first to ask about the Spring. There's a thread on it <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.ybw.com/cgi-bin/forums/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=ym&Number=269385&page=&view=&sb=&o=&vc=1>here</A>

If I were you, I'd pay close attention to JJs reply to the original question.

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[Oldhand]

I haven't been following what is available to meet your criteria but there is something I would like to advise you to take into account from the experience of friends with a young family who have a boat.

Boats such as the Spring25, Laser 28, small Jeaneaus and Beneteaus all tend to be tender boats which in gusty conditions may be OK racing with a racing crew but quicly lose favour with other sections of the family when used for family sailing.

There may be more suitable boats which will be more of a compromise between stability/feeling of security and performance but the only one I can recommend is a fin keeled Sadler 25, which may be a bit tight in accomodation for you. They can be great fun on the race course, with wicked windward ability with good sails and can carry kites long after the opposition have scared themselves silly due to their high stability. We had a saying that when you broached in a Sadler 25, "pull the tiller to your chin, count to ten and continue with the race". I can't think of any more modern or slightly larger boat with similar charecteristics but that is what I think you should be looking for.

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[Birdseye]

Have a look at one of the Hunters. They are IMHO better built than the French boats and the company is still going (unlike Sadler) so bits and advice are available.

<hr width=100% size=1>this post is a personal opinion, and you should not base your actions on it.

 

[boatless]

Bit ticked off about the tone of that thread - hadn't been aware of it until now - have added some comments.

<hr width=100% size=1>my opinion is complete rubbish, probably.

 

[Jeremy_W]

Is it worth considering how much racing you will actually do over the next few years? From what Mirelle and Bedouin have posted here racing is seriously curtailed for the first few years of fatherhood. If you're sailing as a family it's worse than singlehanding: One parent fully occupied with the child and the other parent distracted! You could try leaving SWMBO at home and recruiting a racing crew, but that gets expensive! "Next time I won't get married. I'll find a woman I hate and buy her a house" (Rod Stewart)

Perhaps better to look at a yacht firmly in the cruiser (occasional racer) category with all the creature comforts your wife desires, rather than cruiser-racer or racer-cruiser?

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[Aeolus_IV]

Having bean in a similar(ish) position a few years ago I would only echo what one or two others have said about size ... go for the largest one you can afford. But, as you're aware, all costs are proportional to size. A bigger boat typically has advantages in terms of speed, comfort, handling and safety. Before I get conclusively shot down from all sides, there are exceptions to every rule, there is a fair degree of compromise between these elements which you alone will need to resolve. My personal piece of advice, learnt from personal wallet breaking practice, is that boats cost more than you think.

Good luck with the search.

Regards, Jeff.

<hr width=100% size=1><A target="_blank" HREF=http://users.swing.be/FDB/centurion/index2.html>Centurion 32 Web site</A>

 

[Puffin_Billy]

Firstly, thanks for all the advice. The Spring seems fairly well regarded, so I'll have to have a cautious look I think.

Secondly, I'm aware of pitfalls of sailing with the family... I currently race a dinghy with my wife, nuff said! Racing would definitely be me and a few of the boys, hence the need for performance, whereas it still needs to be nice and comfy for the family when not racing.

Interesting to read the bit about sailing with very young children - backs up what I suspected about being practically singlehanded.

Cheers everybody.

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[johna]

Main decision is do you want to race or cruise with the family. If the latter I suggest you look at the Sabre 27 web site. <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.sabre27.org.uk>http://www.sabre27.org.uk</A> good accommodation and a sturdy sea boat for half of your budget also an excellent owners association. If you state where you are based there will be one near you to view.

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