Advise for would be movers from Motor to Sail?

[Kukri]

For an older heavier displacement type - the Victory 40?

There are some nice American heavy displacement boats with aft cabins.

Here’s one VAT paid in the UK:

Formosa 56 - Red Ensign

More on the Victory 40:

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/victory-40

One here with a wheelhouse:

NEW LISTING - Victory 40 Ketch 'CORSAIR' - Mark Cameron Yachts - Specialist Sail and Motorboat Brokerage

 

[Sticky Fingers]

@oceanfroggie what approx budget do you have for this. I'm a sail to power transitioner so the other way round, but I've got a few ideas.

 

[Greenheart]

Wow, it's true, then!

The fact you have foul-weather gear, says it all. ?

Bravo, I hope you find the right boat.

 

[oceanfroggie]

Thank you gentlemen, lots of useful advice, tips and suggestions to consider there to consider. Really helpful. The main thing is I no longer have the brut strength to hand crank winches and haul lines, an open cockpit appeals was we would only take long passages in fair weather, and more connected with the sailing experience out in the elements. Thanks again.

 

[oceanfroggie]

Wow, it's true, then!

The fact you have foul-weather gear, says it all. ?

Bravo, I hope you find the right boat.

Well that's mainly from our previous flybridge boat, but when inland on the Shannon even with the Broom, in my experience a summer CB only passes over head when your stuck in a slow lock, dumping hail on you.

 

[dom]

Thank you for your insight and suggestions. Our previous boat was a flybridge and I helmed outside on top in all weathers, hated driving from below so I just suited up in wet weather gear and helmed even in hail....

Well why didn't you put a second wheelhouse up there then??

You can't have too many I'm told
?

 

[Laminar Flow]

Well why didn't you put a second wheelhouse up there then??

You can't have too many I'm told
?

Don't be silly, you only ever need wheelhouses on sub 50' boats. At the larger sizes the gods understand that you've already sacrificed considerable parts of your vital organs and give you a break with the weather, suspend the laws of physics, dredge small harbours and shallow spots in advance of your arrival and decree 60% discounts on moorage and harbour dues. I also understand that in special cases they provide deck decor dressed in minuscule oilskin bikinis, no matter if in Ireland/Scotland or off-season Baltic.

 

[Greenheart]

Well why didn't you put a second wheelhouse up there then? You can't have too many I'm told ?

It's no joke.

 

[oceanfroggie]

It's no joke.

Very useful when in port, but underway at sea you can't see anything forward on a flybridge with a covering like that when its howling wind and rain. The clear plastic sections are not like a windscreen and have no wipers, but great for having a sheltered outdoor cabin when moored or at anchor when is raining. PS: Might obscure the mast head wind vane also

 

[Laminar Flow]

All perfectly valid arguments for having a proper wheelhouse/covered steering station with glass windows and wipers. Doesn't prevent us from enjoying the view while having dinner indoors on a less than stellar evening, nor a repas au plein air in the cockpit when things are nice. Moving from the WH to the cockpit is on a single level and doesn't involve mountaineering exercises and we have a bimini too to prevent me from burning the less populated parts of my scalp. While fairly substantial, there is little danger of our WH interfering with the wind vane.

 

[ashtead]

Following this thread is the ideal vessel then a sailing yacht with a fixed screen but outdoor helming,power winches,self tacking headsail,probably in boom reefing or in mast at least ,a generator,island bed in stern cabin, with I guess davits (all Brooms seem to have davits) plus bow thruster and ideally a sternthruster maybe around the 13m length? Budget might be say £300k max? It is of course possible to helm from behind a fixed windscreen but if one was out there a hard top with open end might even have the windscreen wipers on the front .

 

[Stemar]

Very useful when in port, but underway at sea you can't see anything forward on a flybridge with a covering like that when its howling wind and rain. The clear plastic sections are not like a windscreen and have no wipers, but great for having a sheltered outdoor cabin when moored or at anchor when is raining. PS: Might obscure the mast head wind vane also

That's my experience too, albeit on a much smaller boat. Very soon after we got a full cockpit tent for Jissel, we left Portsmouth for Chichester. There was no wind, so we were motoring. Since rain threatened we left the tent up and, as we turned past West Pole, the heavens opened. Two minutes later, the cockpit tent was down because, even with RainClear on the sprayhood windows, we couldn't see to dodge the traffic in the harbour entrance

The tent was still worth every penny, though, as it meant we were sitting outside enjoying the view and the sunset long after most everyone else had retreated below. I don't think we ever ate in the saloon again

 

[Daydream believer]

Halberg Rassey 40 CS but you need to be well heeled to afford one

 

[Kukri]

To achieve something like the spaciousness and comfort of a power boat of a given size, a sailing boat must be much bigger.

On the other hand, the sailing boat will be rather more comfortable under way.

 

[rotrax]

To achieve something like the spaciousness and comfort of a power boat of a given size, a sailing boat must be much bigger.

On the other hand, the sailing boat will be rather more comfortable under way.

Not necessarily so.

The Island Packet PY Cruiser is the same as our SP Cruiser bar the sailing rig and perhaps ballast. Both are pretty spacious for their size.

Makes a nice displacement Trawler Yacht. Try a google and check them out.

I agree about comfort under way, even though my powerboat friends tell me their discomfort is over pretty quick at 30 KTS!

 

[ashtead]

Halberg Rassey 40 CS but you need to be well heeled to afford one

Looks like a Hallberg 43 might fit the bill for a broom owner

 

[dunedin]

Following this thread is the ideal vessel then a sailing yacht with a fixed screen but outdoor helming,power winches,self tacking headsail,probably in boom reefing or in mast at least ,a generator,island bed in stern cabin, with I guess davits (all Brooms seem to have davits) plus bow thruster and ideally a sternthruster maybe around the 13m length? Budget might be say £300k max? It is of course possible to helm from behind a fixed windscreen but if one was out there a hard top with open end might even have the windscreen wipers on the front .

So clearly your suggested spec, not necessarily the OPs, but by that description a properly spec‘ed X Cruising would fit the bill - as usual, few available second hand right now, but at the top end of the size and budget scale Xc 50 #25 |

 

[stuartwineberg]

Hi Guys'n'Gals

Any tips or advice for suitable vessel type for a family considering moving from Motor to Sail? Due to health issues and physical strength limits almost push button controls and electric winches needed back in the cockpit for total sail management, furling main and head sail essential, no lazy bags. We've 20 years coastal cruising experience in various aft cabin Broom motor boats in the same general area we'd like to sail cruise. Typically we spend 2 weeks at a time on board, sometimes 3-4 weeks, sometimes one night, so comfortable internal living space is important as is a full beam walk around island aft cabin. Once you've had that you'll just never go back to anything else. We anchor out or use mooring bouys rather than marinas so no interest in forward V cabins due wavelet noise and chain noise at night forward, and lack of walk around double berths. We're both retired now so we can just want to jump in the car and drive to the boat when the weather presents itself. No airport hell, just a 2-3hr drive so no interest in Med.

Any tips or advice welcome especially from folks who have already made this transition from motor to sail cruising. We spend a lot of time living on the Broom, most sail boats we've looked at so far would not be suitable from a living comfort point of view.

I've probably missed a pile of things, but any tips from those who've ploughed this path before would be welcome.

Key criteria:
o - Coastal Cruising boat to be based in an Irish coastal harbour or marina in a popular cruising area with many destinations within a days sail.
o - Size? whatever gets us a full beam aft cabin be that 40ft or 50ft. Only need 4 berths, two 80% of the time as it will just be the two of us.
o - No interest whatsoever in racing nor long distance cruising, no interest in med either.
o - Furling main and head sail
o - All lines back to cockpit with electric winches
o - Full beam aft cabin
o - Bright Deck Saloon format with bigger windows rather than dark coffin cabins found in some monohull keel boats.
o - Generator and Inverter nice to have
o - Aft boarding plus davits or aft arch frame for tender storage underway.
o - Spray hood + Bimini with option for fold down sides.
o - Easy to handle with two crew and must be capable of being single handed

Thank you in advance

I’m jumping to a direct reply without reading the massive thread so apologies for any repetition. I have done just this perhaps on a smaller scale. So…..
furling Genoa no prob
furling main. Controversial. I prefer a slab reef with electric halyard winch Or winchrite
Electric winches, not model specific so in effect always available at a cost
full beam aft cabin. If size and budget permits go for full beam bow cabin. Wave slap aft is horrible, no chine slap on a yacht, just occasional rubbing from a mooring buoy
Deck saloon, this is the main limiting factor. Beware apparently deck saloon Awb which look like they have one but aren’t raised inside. southerleys, nordship are unusual options that are deck saloon
genset/inverter not model specific ditto spray hood/Bimini and arch for davits all usually retrofits
most modern yachts can be handled by 2 especially with thruster

ours is a 1998 moody 36 which apart from deck saloon and lack of room for a genset could meet your spec. Went there from a Hardy 36. All above only my opinion.

 

[ashtead]

So clearly your suggested spec, not necessarily the OPs, but by that description a properly spec‘ed X Cruising would fit the bill - as usual, few available second hand right now, but at the top end of the size and budget scale Xc 50 #25 |

Lovely boat but leaving aside the budget no walk around at stern and even the bow cabin has one of those awful offset doubles seen on Dufour but if someone gifted me an XC I wouldn’t turn it down naturally . If an XC 42 wasn’t so pricy it would be on my shopping list for a 12-13m boat certainly .

 

[Sinbad1951]

Try a Fisher 46. Inside and outside helm positions. Easily handled by 1 or 2. Goes everywhere at 7knots.
Class boat in all respects.