Charter preference, MAB or AWB?

[Tranona]

Well in my case it's been more like 'this is what the charter company provides so this is what you get'
Season before last I chartered a brand new (I was the first ever user) 36ft AWB from a well known brand and it was horrible.
Tacked through about 110 deg, no useful trimming on the main, massive leeway etc. the rookie crew loved it though 'cause it had loads of room and hidden lighting

Perhaps you have to accept that your needs are not the same as the typical charterers'! Chartering is a business and operators offer what people want. Clearly they can't hope to satisfy everybody's needs, but as this straw poll of diehard enthusiasts shows there is a preference for AWBs. However, suspect it is the "newness" aspect that is more important plus of course the fact that such boats provide the kind of experience people are looking for.

 

[Mark-1]

In the Uk prefer an AWB 'cos the sugar scoop stern is so handy and you get more space, and it doesn't take too much imagination to avoid too many long sails with the wind on the nose.

In practice MABs can sometimes be hired slightly more cheaply so often go for them for that reason.

Well in my case it's been more like 'this is what the charter company provides so this is what you get'

Where have you chartered in the UK where older designs were not available?

 

[Greenheart]

Imagine a charter company that only dealt in classics, ideally very traditional and timber! Fabulous for all of the admirers of gaffers and schooners who need reminding that those vessels don't necessarily accord with most of their needs, most of the time...

...but it might introduce young crews who only know bland, minimal-maintenance AWBs, to the vastly more flavourful and interesting smells, textures, challenging complexities and inefficiencies of designs which couldn't rely on powered winches, epoxy and bow-thrusters.

My dad drove a Renault 4 in the 'seventies. It wasn't grand or fast or cool in any respect; in fact he always started it by hand-cranking the thing sticking out of the grille. But that was fabulously eccentric - as well as singularly practical and instructive.

I'm always glad to see that young people tend to be thrilled by the hands-on approach required by low-tech ways of doing things.

The trouble with mass-produced economical cruising yachts is that they must be a compromise - so they strive towards notional luxury, sophistication & performance, without generally feeling very prestigious or thrilling. Just - adequate. And a tad dull.

Sad: most yachtsmen's costliest self-indulgence is an AWB designed down to a budget while trying to seem glamorous. I prefer the unashamed simplicity of low-tech systems on old boats; much more stimulating! Apart from the head compartment. New's good, there...

 

[Seajet]

Dan,

now that's an idea !

Happily I don't charter, but if I did and had the choice between something with character off the cover of Classic Boat festooned with baggwrinkle, compared to a BenJenBav Blandmatic 38, guess which I'd go for, and I bet we're not the only ones !

 

[jordanbasset]

Imagine a charter company that only dealt in classics, ideally very traditional and timber!

As much as I would like to charter one of these for a couple of days I suggest the cost would have to be very high. Friend of mine had a traditional wooden boat, he was having to spend long periods keeping it up to scratch. He did not mind this as it was part of the 'joy' of ownership for him. Would suggest a charter company would have to employ people to maintain their boats, that would probably be uneconomical.
Of course I could be wrong and we may see companies springing up chartering traditional wooden boats all over the place.

 

[Resolution]

One of the reasons modern charter boats tend to be similarly bland AWBs is that the charterer will find them relatively quick to learn how to operate. Simple systems that work. Saves time in the initial handover briefing.

Yachts with "character" take longer to explain, and probably lead to more things being done incorrectly by the charterer, hence frustration and breakages.

 

[Tranona]

Imagine a charter company that only dealt in classics, ideally very traditional and timber! Fabulous for all of the admirers of gaffers and schooners who need reminding that those vessels don't necessarily accord with most of their needs, most of the time...

Dan - you need to pay another visit to WH Smiths and read the latest February edition of Classic Boat pages 44-51 and lo, behold your prayers are answered. An enormous range of individuals and organisations offering exactly what you want in all kinds of traditional boats and locations from the Caribbean to the Med, to Scotland, France and even the muddy East Coast.

Very active scene and has been for years. Far more choice than modern boat chartering although mostly skippered rather than bareboat for obvious reasons.

Accessible too for the financially constrained compared with modern bareboating.

 

[Greenheart]

Thanks for these responses gentlemen. I'd no idea such firms were already in business. Only received YW this Christmas...

Accessible too for the financially constrained compared with modern bareboating.

Seriously? I'd have thought the combined cost to a charterer, of paid crews, complex rigs needing 'artisan-maintenance' and the constant, unstoppable deterioration of hulls that need ongoing caulking, new decking etc would be vastly greater than a new AWB...

...but it's a happy thought if classics are out there available for hire and affordable. I'll look at February's CB, cheers.

 

[Tranona]

Seriously? I'd have thought the combined cost to a charterer, of paid crews, complex rigs needing 'artisan-maintenance' and the constant, unstoppable deterioration of hulls that need ongoing caulking, new decking etc would be vastly greater than a new AWB...

...but it's a happy thought if classics are out there available for hire and affordable. I'll look at February's CB, cheers.

Lots of good stuff for you to learn about. Most of the boats are run on a relative shoestring by Trusts, charities, groups of enthusiasts or keen folks trying to make their expensive toys pay for themselves. Usually there is only a skipper and small permanent crew - often cook and bottle washer and the paying punters make up the crew. Typically they are priced at so much per day per person which may or may not include food. You have a good choice for the equivalent of under £500 for a week which compares very well with other packaged activity holidays.

You may well be interested in the pilot cutters which are flavour of the times - several new builds or rebuilds of original boats specifically aimed at this market. Anyway spend your £4.50, buy the mag and find out more about the scene.

 

[mjcoon]

Makes sense, as I believe the MX5 was specifically designed to be a modern equivalent to the MG B. I'm not really into cars, but if I did have some sort of mid-life crisis and rush to get something sporty, that would definitely be on my list. Despite the fact that one of my mates constantly derides it as a "hairdresser's car".

Pete

I had a hard-top MGB-GT which was a mid-life crisis car, too. And the crises could be mechanical ones...

Mike.

 

[Greenheart]

I had a hard-top MGB-GT which was a mid-life crisis car, too. And the crises could be mechanical ones...

Mike.

Didn't Peter Egan's character, Paul Ryman, drive a white hard-top MGB-GT in Ever Decreasing Circles?

And he was meant to be the cool one! Sorry.

 

[Yacht Yogi]

Try a good sailing boat!

In all this talk of MABs and AWBs, you could try a non-average charter boat. MEC Sail Ltd charter Sigma 38s in the UK for a very reasonable cost. The Sigma 38 Offshore One-Design is a very special boat and will give you some experience of how a yacht should handle and is a very interesting boat to sail. This boat will really look after you when the wind and seas get up a bit.

Check out www.mec-sail.com

 

[Cloona]

before I had my own boat I would have like to charter something like an Anderson 22 or even a massive Contessa 26 for a modest sum - nothing around then - don't know if there is anything now

 

[jimi]

before I had my own boat I would have like to charter something like an Anderson 22 or even a massive Contessa 26 for a modest sum - nothing around then - don't know if there is anything now

Maybe you did'nt look hard enough?

eg http://www.cornishcruising.com/charter/artemis

 

[Mark-1]

Maybe you did'nt look hard enough?

eg http://www.cornishcruising.com/charter/artemis

Perhaps they don't operate in an area he wants to charter in?

I've failed to find small boats that will take to the ground for in the area I live (between Littlehampton and Southampton water). There was a firm but they seem to have gone to the wall.

 

[Kelpie]

Personally I find the idea of sailing into a marina in a 36ft AWB, which handles completely differently to my own MAB, pretty terrifying. If SWMBO and I ever charter a boat we will almost certainly be looking for the smallest one available, and not just for cost reasons.

Oh and Dan- maybe you should give these guys a look: http://www.sailezra.co.uk/index.php

 

[Greenheart]

Oh and Dan- maybe you should give these guys a look: http://www.sailezra.co.uk/index.php

Thanks. I can see why pilot cutters like Ezra are popular...they surely beat the latest plastic hull!

 

[aquaplane]

Maybe you did'nt look hard enough?

eg http://www.cornishcruising.com/charter/artemis

I thought about chartering their Centaur just so that I could sail in that area without spending mega bucks on a 6 or 8 berth AWB with loads more room than I need for 2. I decided against it though as sailing a different boat seemed like a good idea too.
They didn't have the Sadler 26 at the time....

Edit, they have a Sadler 29 for the same price, that's got my juices flowing.

 

[snowleopard]

Modern (nearly new) boats dominate the charter market because that is what the punters want

When I owned charter boats I discussed this topic with the agent who ran them for me. He said it would be a waste of money to offer anything other than a well-known make as the punters simply wouldn't hire them. The only real opening for out-of-the-ordinary boats is at the bigger end of the scale on skippered charter.

 

[CFarr]

When I owned charter boats I discussed this topic with the agent who ran them for me. He said it would be a waste of money to offer anything other than a well-known make as the punters simply wouldn't hire them. The only real opening for out-of-the-ordinary boats is at the bigger end of the scale on skippered charter.

Been away boat hunting so just catching up with this.
What about something like a Halberg Rassy 352? Only (!) about £80k to buy now so similar in cost to a 2000 and something AWB.
Surely there must be folk wanting the chance to sail something of that pedigree rather than the modern AWB's? I know which one I'd choose in a heartbeat.