Best singlehanded, bluewater sailboat (not "caravan on keels")

Homeward Bound said:
Hi folks.

This is my first post but I promise have done my 'due diligence' by reading other related threads first and I am aware of the problems in asking for a "best of" anything recommendation ... but I have a specific angle I have not seen asked and I understand might be best served by links to other places as I am looking at a blind spot in my own awareness.

I am look for an economical, singlehanded, bluewater sailboat and not "caravan on keels".

I don't mean to offend anyone else's taste and requirement, and I understand there are perfectly good reasons to go for comforts, but I am exhausted by trawling through all the perfect adequate AWBs to find what I am looking for (... and I am starting to wonder if I should be look at older racing stuff of which I know nothing).

It seems the vast majority of boats are aimed at stuffing in as many people in as possible, including the wife and her kitchen sink, and that the 4 birth-er is the industry standard form. I'm not after that. I'm looking to escape her ... kind of like when a man has a mid-life crisis and buys a Harley-Davidson with a single seat to make the point clear.

I'm looking for a singlehander with good long distance bluewater capacities and am willing to accept low head heights and spartan facilities, e.g. single bunk but more storage/tank space. (However, I am headed off to warmer places and would prefer some ventilation, meaning that some of the more airless low-profile cabin designs are out). In terms of preference, I'd say; wood, steel, GRP (... or if it has to be GRP to have a lot of wood in the cabin) with an inboard engine and a proper head not a portapotty.

I'm aware of most of the obvious good choices around the 28 foot mark and, at present, Folkboat or FB derivatives seem to be the more obvious choice. There are many to choose from and many are either raw or have already been customised. I've also had a look at some of the 20 - 22 mini cruisers which are interesting, but they seem to go for really high prices considering what they are or what the money would buy elsewhere.

What I am thinking is that although this is not an obviously commercial design it must be a fairly common ideal and that, perhaps, there is something in the vintage/classic world that exists ... Or that is a stage a few people go through and once they have it out of their system, or become domesticated, move back to a more comfortable design, so there may be the odd custom designed boat coming up now and again.

Other boats which have caught my eye for other reasons are the Kingfisher 30; strong and with large fuel and water tanks, and a Van de Stadt Zeebonk; steel & built like a tank (as in Panzer tank). Where my knowledge is weak is on potentially lighter & faster stuff.

Thanks. Hope this interests others too.
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The Beneteau Oceanis 30.1 will possibly be a boat that fits that category 'overall'.
 
Homeward Bound said:
Think of those guys who buy the right old car and drive it all the way to Vladivostok without problems and are able to leave it there at the end because it did not cost anything.
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This is impossible, because "the right old car" is irreplacable, and new cars are utter crap.

I'dont think this is quite so true of boats, but a large element of that truth probably applies, particularly in relation to the stated criteria.
 
There is too much certainty now……Buy a boat recommended by the forum and a chart plotter ditto and set off although anchour ing could provide the only moment of doubt and create a frizzion of real adventure…….” Did I chose the right anchour”
 
Hold on. Just to clarify, your trying to identify the best 30 ft blue water cruising boat for single handed sailing.
oh needs to be a looker too. No caravans!!!. We it’s obvious then to me, and must be to anyone else unless your all highly prejudiced. It has to be the one and only, wait for the drum roll.

Contessa 32
If not why not

Steveeasy
 
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steveeasy said:
Hold on. Just to clarify, your trying to identify the best 30 ft blue water cruising boat for single handed sailing.
oh needs to be a looker too. No caravans!!!. We it’s obvious then to me, and must be to anyone else unless your all highly prejudiced. It has to be the one and only, wait for the drum roll.

Contessa 32
If not why not

Steveeasy
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I don’t dispute it's seakeeping qualities, but they’re quite hard work for a full crew.
 
steveeasy said:
Hold on. Just to clarify, your trying to identify the best 30 ft blue water cruising boat for single handed sailing.
oh needs to be a looker too. No caravans!!!. We it’s obvious then to me, and must be to anyone else unless your all highly prejudiced. It has to be the one and only, wait for the drum roll.

Contessa 32
If not why not

Steveeasy
Click to expand...
Contessas seem to attract the same, slightly daft, level of fanatic enthusiast as some wooden boats. I'm watching a professional doing one up on YT, and it's getting the kind of restoration you'd think appropriate for a historic vessel, including a hand-laid teak and holly sole. OK, it isn't teak, and it isn't holly, it's two kinds of maple, because you can't get decent teak or holly, but the labour and the care is the same. By the time it's done, I reckon the boat will have been out of commission for a year or two, and I reckon the bill big enough to buy me a very nice not very old 35' AWB.

Great boats for their time, and that Fastnet earned them legendary status, but Madame would not be amused and, come to that, nor would I.

I know, I know, I'm a Philistine, and have no romance in my soul.
 
Stemar said:
Contessas seem to attract the same, slightly daft, level of fanatic enthusiast as some wooden boats. I'm watching a professional doing one up on YT, and it's getting the kind of restoration you'd think appropriate for a historic vessel, including a hand-laid teak and holly sole. OK, it isn't teak, and it isn't holly, it's two kinds of maple, because you can't get decent teak or holly, but the labour and the care is the same. By the time it's done, I reckon the boat will have been out of commission for a year or two, and I reckon the bill big enough to buy me a very nice not very old 35' AWB.

Great boats for their time, and that Fastnet earned them legendary status, but Madame would not be amused and, come to that, nor would I.

I know, I know, I'm a Philistine, and have no romance in my soul.
Click to expand...
Truer words have never been spoken. My budget limits my choice somewhat or I’d ditch the tub. If it’s the chap I think, he has half dozen lined up for refits.

Steveeasy
 
steveeasy said:
Hold on. Just to clarify, your trying to identify the best 30 ft blue water cruising boat for single handed sailing.
oh needs to be a looker too. No caravans!!!. We it’s obvious then to me, and must be to anyone else unless your all highly prejudiced. It has to be the one and only, wait for the drum roll.

Contessa 32
If not why not

Steveeasy
Click to expand...
Why not - I'll start:

1) The sail configuration is hard work - that large overlapping genoa - better off with a cutter rig for ease of use and balancing the boat
2) Too many berths and not enough storage
3) Whilst is a good sailing boat it's not as well balanced on the tiller as some boats and therefore more arduous to keep on track on long passages giving more work to the autopilot or self steering gear.

A Vancouver 27 or 28 answers all the above 3 hence why it was probably mentioned the most early on in the thread.
 
I've never sailed on a Vancouver, but they always struck me as one of those boats that just looks right for blue water.

iu
 
E39mad and Stemar are right. A Vancouver is the proper boat for the job. I might be biased but having sailed mine some 22,600 ocean miles mostly singlehanded I might be qualified to comment. Besides a Vancouver is a drier boat than a Contessa 32 and has a better sail plan and more storage.
 
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