Charter preference, MAB or AWB?

[CFarr]

I was chatting with a mate and we got onto talking about good old proper sailing boats, you know, heavy layup, proper wood below, good in a blow, Sadler, Contessa etc., etc. (so boats up to 36ft max I suppose).
We then got onto charter boats which are almost exclusively AWB's, designed for cruising the Med, sunning in the cockpit etc.
So my question is; when chartering in the UK, would you prefer an AWB or a (well preserved and kitted out) MAB and if so why?

Would you prefer the larger accommodation over her ability to sail to wind?
Would you put up with her tenderness in a blow over her ability to entertain whilst in the marina?

I've sailed both types and am buying an MAB but that's not only due to her sailing ability but due to what I can afford as well
So, cat, pigeons?

 

[Tranona]

AWB dominate the charter market because that is what clients demand. Newish boats with good accommodation and performance that are well equipped and reliable. Operators like them because they are reliable and there is a good chance they can make money from them.

 

[[70521]]

AWB dominate the charter market because that is what clients demand.

And are cheaper to maintain. Profit, my boy profit.

 

[prv]

For a week's charter it would be more about the location, the cost, and the number and layout of berths vs people in the party, rather than about the particular kind of boat. Through this route I've ended up chartering both AWBs and MABs (though the latter are rare in charter) and had a lot of fun on both.

Pete

 

[jimi]

Charters usually seem to be about stuffing as many people on board as possible to minimise cost per person ;-)

 

[CFarr]

Charters usually seem to be about stuffing as many people on board as possible to minimise cost per person ;-)

I understand this and have done the same myself but, if it's just you, the Mrs and a sprog or two the cost is the whole boat - not each.
My question is what would YOU prefer, not what's make sense for the Charter Co. or 5 blokes on a jolly.

 

[jimi]

I understand this and have done the same myself but, if it's just you, the Mrs and a sprog or two the cost is the whole boat - not each.
My question is what would YOU prefer, not what's make sense for the Charter Co. or 5 blokes on a jolly.

Depends where I'm sailing, who I'm sailing with and what the objectives of the trip are.

If I were heading out to St Kilda , for example, I'd want a big boat. MAB or AWB immaterial.

So really I think its a bit of a non question as it basically would come down to cost and accomodation. For a serious trip, I'd use my own boat. Which is an AWB , I suppose.

 

[Rossynant]

For UK, as I'm a tourist - to see the country - preferably MAB, for getting into drying places with no fear of knocking the keel off... (or keels in this instance probably)
Otherwise both can do.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

I have chartered both MABs and AWBs.

My conclusion is I'd go for as new as I could afford all other things being equal.

I chartered a MAB in Scotland and she initially looked in fine fettle. On the 5th night she started emitting smoke from the fuse board and I spent 'till 3 in the morning re-soldering most of the switch panel. Fortunately I was in company and my Dads boat had a generator and comprehensive tool kit on board. Had he not been there it would have been disconnect batteries and wait 'till morning, then limp home with a potential fire hazard.

For a charter holiday I want everything to work, and that tips the scales in favour of AWBs every time, simply 'cos they're newer and the risk of a ruined holiday is lower.

 

[prv]

I chartered a MAB in Scotland and she initially looked in fine fettle. On the 5th night she started emitting smoke from the fuse board and I spent 'till 3 in the morning re-soldering most of the switch panel.

As students we used to charter different MABs from the same guy, and usually gave them back in better nick than we'd taken them .

One boat we had to modify a manual deck-wash pump into a wandering-hose bilge pump and have a daily pump-out session to clear the leakage

Pete

 

[Resolution]

MAB=damp, dark stained woodwork, cramped space, ancient smells, cranky motor, low speed.
AWB=space, light, new smells, fast motor speed.

Not that I am biased.....

 

[Three kings]

For a weeks charter in some sunny location with the lads I'd pick an AWB. For coastal cruising, marina hopping and posing, it would be the AWB again.

However, since I do neither of these things we chose a MAB - just not the damp, dark stained woodwork, cramped space, ancient smells, cranky motor, low speed type.

She's quite stunning actually...................I am biased.

 

[dunedin]

AWB every time

Would you prefer the larger accommodation over her ability to sail to wind?
Would you put up with her tenderness in a blow over her ability to entertain whilst in the marina??

why do you thank a MAB necessarily has better sailing performance than a good AWB ? I suspect this is more of a Perception than a reality.

I once had a lovely looking MG B roadster which was great fun at the time, but noisy, unreliable and slow. A modern Mazda MX5 is equally smart looking - but faster, smoother, more fuel efficient, indeed better in every way without compromise.
In my view the best modern boats can likewise be better in every way than MAB - albeit like a modern car they will depreciate so at a price.

 

[prv]

I once had a lovely looking MG B roadster which was great fun at the time, but noisy, unreliable and slow. A modern Mazda MX5 is equally smart looking - but faster, smoother, more fuel efficient, indeed better in every way without compromise.

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

 

[Greenheart]

Might we illuminate the question by giving model names to the boats we're praising/scorning?

Just how M is the AB (and how A?)...and how A is the WB?

Otherwise, the claims made by fans of either 'type' will be based on excellent reasoning by supporters/defenders...

...but their reasoning will be roundly ignored by parties of the other persuasion, who'll only impose their existing, probably justified dislikes/distrusts/memories of bad experiences aboard examples of their notional opposite style at its worst.

I didn't give even a short glance to the French mass-producers' stands at the Southampton show. I s'pose I ought to have - but for the same reasons that I never look round motorhomes, I did not. All looked bright, insubstantial, slab-sided, voluminous & shallow-hulled...

...but there could have been something great in there! I doubt it, but I'd prefer to disrespect a particular marque, rather than besmirch a whole field. I'm about to though...

I like hefty old designs which mayn't sail particularly well, and may be a bit dank and rather slender and in need of serious freshening up, but were definitely built to last...

...of course they may not last, if some aspect of construction or maintenance wasn't as organised or assiduous as would have been desirable, but at least whole sections of deck and locker-lids can't be seen to flex when the dog parks his hind on them.

I really think it's exactly equivalent to the type of accommodation you prefer ashore, when visiting a place you don't know...

...Premier Inn, or a privately-owned apartment/house to rent?

Don't go looking for any scrap of personality in the hotel, and don't be surprised if you can hear whatever's going on in the next room. Meanwhile, don't count on the rented house being warm enough, and don't rule out the chance of leaks in the roof or iffy drainage.

It's like restaurants, too. MABs, at least before they get very auld, remind me of the type of restaurant that provides linen napkins. AWBs...they're those junk-food stops where there's a steel box of 'grab-yer-own' nasty squares of loopaper ...(or so I'm told)

 

[Tranona]

Well, Dan, what a long winded way of displaying your ignorance.

Modern (nearly new) boats dominate the charter market because that is what the punters want and that is what the operators provide. I say dominate because there are always exceptions to any rule and there are many non-new style boats operating in the market for those that want them. Just look at this month's Classic Boat. However they occupy only a small niche in a very big market.

The charter market exists to provide people with a short term experience of something they can't afford or justify long term so not surprising that people want something different from what they might own.

 

[Greenheart]

I had a lovely looking MG B roadster which was great fun at the time, but...a Mazda MX5 is equally smart looking - faster, smoother, more fuel efficient, indeed better in every way without compromise.

Isn't the MX5 a special case? I understood Mazda goes to great lengths in order NOT to let the car handle any better than the ideal traditional exciting rear-drive roadster...and unlike other cars, each new generation of MX5 doesn't put on weight! Hence it's so good.

I'd say the MX5 is like an AWB in an MAB mould.

 

[Uricanejack]

I used to charter regularly. It depends on availability, The Charter company rep and my relationship with company.
I never really found chartered boat just quite right. Usually good enough.
Not certain of MAB. But guess its Manky Auld Boat. What makes a boat a Manky Auld Boat.

A Sadler 34 would be a nice new boat by my standards and perfect for sailing the West of Scotland. Probably nicer than most of the boats I have chartered.
Some of my best holidays were on MAB.

I must be a MAS “Manky Auld Sailor”

A suitably rigged modern boat can sail in anything most sailors can handle and are fun. Unfortunately most of the ones I chartered were rigged for fair weather only.

Charter company is the important decision a good company has good boats Auld or Average a MAC “Manky Charter Company” has Manky boats Auld or Average. .

 

[CFarr]

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

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

 

[Greenheart]

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

I guess it's hardly fair to blame the designer/builder if the incompetent agent in the UK hasn't prepped the boat...even an AWB...

I guess the car-comparison has bearing on our instincts, re yacht charter...if, when on holiday or far from home, we had the option to hire either a 2012 VW/Ford or a mint 1970s Rover V8...if we could hire a new Merc SLK or a 1960s Shelby Cobra...who with a soul, would pick the new?

Granted most buyers today wouldn't want to OWN a fragile, high-maintenance car - or yacht - but it's impossible to deny the oldies are any amount more appealing in abstract.