Buy the biggest boat you can or buy small and sail longer?

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ross84

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Hey all,

Here's an example; if you had a budget of 25k tops, but this was every penny you had to your name, would you be looking at 26ft boats for 10-12k, or larger boats at around 18-21k? If you;

  • Were thinking of crossing atlantic
  • Cruising the med
  • Living aboard
  • Learning how to sail
  • Were mostly sailing solo.


I really like Sadlers - there's lovely 26fter not far from me, but also down south, some lovely 29'ers, but the price difference between a well maintained, upgraded 26, and 29 is about 10 grand.

I've heard some people say buy the best/biggest you can afford, as you'll only be upgrading later, or others say buy small because there a lot of dreamboats up for sale because the owners ran out of money. I'd be curious to hear the advice and experience of the forum on this :)

Thanks,
Ross
 
For a live aboard bigger is better.
If you have the skills then a fixer upper is the way to bigger.
My 48 footer ketch was 20K, sure I have put many hours in as well as extra cash to update systems, but now have a RTW yacht with all the comfort and space I need.
 
In your shoes be buying something older and less fashionable, especially if crossing the Atlantic is your aim - Something like a Rival 32 for circa £10k or a Westerly 31 (pentland/renown/berwick/otherone) or outlier the Sigma 33. Cheap and bombproof but decent internal space.

Consider the cost of sails, running & standing rigging and engine replacement when looking for the *best* one
 
You need to do some serious budgeting about running costs.
'Cruising the Med' will get through quite a lot of cash.
Crossing the Atlantic, the 20 days you're under way can be quite cheap, but even if you spend the minimum time overthere and come back ASAP, you'll be a few grand lighter.

I'd guess if you spend £20k on buying, fettling and maintaining a boat, you'd be lucky to get half of it back after a couple of years?
I'd not be happy owning a yacht if I couldn't find at least a couple of grand if needed. There are a lot of things which can go wrong.
 
I know someone who lived on a 26 footer for a few years. He was fine in the summer, but got a bit stir crazy in winter (UK). He got a 32 ft Ferro boat which was great as a liveaboard, and the extra space made all the difference, but it sailed like the brick privy it was.

There's a sweet spot between the bigger the better for living aboard and the smaller the better for single handing, and maintenance and parking costs. If you're serious about crossing the Atlantic, bigger isn't necessarily better, especially singlehanded. I'd far rather have a Vancouver 27, for instance, than a much bigger marina hopper, but the marina hopper would give more space. A quick look suggests there are a few Vancouvers about in your price range, though the cheaper ones are likely to need more fettling. That isn't a problem as long as it's only fettling and not a major restoration, which would eat up all your capital and come back for more.
 
I don't think many would choose a 26ft boat for the kind of stuff you have on your list ross. The good news is that I don't think you need to go that small to get yourself a very useful boat - provided you are willing to do stuff yourself.
Rivals have been mentioned but check this Sadler 32 out:

https://www.theyachtmarket.com/boats_for_sale/1749894/

It looks in nice order, asking just under 13 grand. This would leave you room for new sails if needed, plus the other bits as required. Don't look for the perfect boat, look for a good one at the perfect price.
 
Personally I prefer the Sadler 25s/26s to the 29, but all are good boats, though not remotely ideal for long distance.

Don't spend all your money on purchase: leave some for "sorting out". Look at (as others have said) look at Rival 32s, Nich 32s - you can get a very good example of either well within your budget. Also look at 1970s/80s half-tonners and 3/4-tonners: for example a UFO34 is a genuinely fast and spacious boat for really not a lot of money. On a less racy level an older Moody 33 is a very comfortable caravan that is not actually quite as slow as it looks.

Whatever you buy, choose a good example, not a fixer-upper. Cruising is already enough of a "repairing boats in exotic places" game without starting with a duff one.
 
Are the Sadler 26/29/32's not bluewater boats? I really like the look of them and the double-foam seems like practical, in terms of keeping warm/cool and noise isolation (important for living aboard). For me, the bigger boats give me anxiety - at my local marina, the difference between mooring a 26 and a 32 is nearly a thousand pound a year, which is quite a lot. When people say 32's are better- is it just simply a question of having more space/comfort? Or are bigger boats better at sea? I've been reading about a lot of solo-handed sailors and the ones like me - i.e. setting out without much exp/money - all seem to sail 26fters.

Thanks again! :)
 
If it's just you, I'd be looking at a 26 footer, unless there was cash coming in regularly in the future to keep running it and fixing it. Everything you do to it with it will just be so much cheaper. I have one of the westerly 31's suggested, a longbow ketch, and it's great. It was also a real bargain. But If i was going away cruising for long periods, I would be quite happy to go in something smaller, like a vega.

I'd rather spend my money on beer or cruising longer than berthing fees and fixing things.

Whatever you do, do not buy anything that leaves you skint, as you WILL need to spend a lot more money than you thought on it.
 
Some have mentioned the ketch compared to a bermuda rig. Would one be better for the Op than the other? (Might narrow things down for them).
 
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