Dreamboat

sweden yachts 42 /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

or may be this /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

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They go like trains, but would be be better with a few staff aboard.


[/ QUOTE ] If I could afford a Swan 46, hiring a few staff would just require a bit of loose change! /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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Saxe Ocean, literally a go anywhere yacht. Has been into the north west passage and back. Built for days like today!
 
There is no such thing as the perfect boat. Before providing a considered answer you would have to describe planned usage and all sorts of peripheral personal lifestyle criteria.

At present I could not afford to spend more than 2 months a year sailing so I don't need a blue water greyhound. To make effective use of the yacht it would have to be UK based and since there is limited appeal to hopping around the Solent in typical British weather I would not need to accommodate lots of people.

38' is too big for 1 or 2 person short term cruising, so if I may I would like to split the available budget. For the UK I would like a Nauticat 331 because even though I currently own a racy yacht I am still a defacto motor sailor so I may as well own a design that embraces that fact.

For the med boat I would like to "own" something around 40' in the SunSail fleet, then I can take a group of non sailing friends down to Turkey for a couple of weeks each year. It is also fun to tag along with a regular SunSail flotilla at times.
 
Well in that case my current dream is a modest one. I would like to limit work to 6 months a year, live on the west side of the IOW within a 5 minute drive of Yarmouth where my Nauticat 331 would sit on a cheap harbour authority mooring.

During the winter I would sail around the Solent and get to know the winter sailing fraternity, then each April I would spend 3 weeks singehanding my boat to a summer cruising destination SW Ireland or Holland or Scotland and then spend June/July cruising back home.

There is more to a dream boat than the boat, what lifestyle comes with the dream? Hate the thought of becoming a 12 month liveaboard semi-alcoholic nautical nomad.
 
I can't stretch to the size stated in the thread, though regularly sail boats that qualify. What has surprised me is that when we finally bought our boat we had scoured for months through max volume boats that would be safe and steady for a family with young kids. All came with oodles of space and easily managed rigs, high on comfort, less than sparkling performance.

Then when we saw the Elan it was just 'right'. Nowhere near the space down below, tracks and ropes all over the place in the cockpit. No simple rig controls. But damn, she's beautiful and fast. And easy to handle when the kids want to try. Sure, when they grow up a bit they will complain about being squashed at night and we might change our views, but they demand to sail when we go sailing, and for that she's perfect. And as it turns out, you don't need a long boat when they only want enough space to park their bum on deck and fish over the side. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
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In no order....

Bowman 40 - Chuck Paine - Serious blue water cruiser, went on board one at SIBS one year to shelter from the rain while I was waiting to get onboard the Bowman 46....Love at first sight, everything in the right place

Rustler 42 - Stephen Jones - Serious Blue water cruiser, My first boat test with YM in my home town of Gale swept Falmouth back in 1999, locally built to where I'm from, could handle the force 8 Gale we took her out in, sailed like a peach, proper job

Victoria 40 - Chuck Paine - Serious blue water cruiser, great design, can pound the miles

Najad 400 - Judel Vrolijk - Serious blue water cruiser, during the test sail we were able to leave the helm for over half an hour, well balanced, built to last, great wood work

Thinking about these boats has got me through many a night passage

All these boats are serious blue water cruisers, I like my boats bullet proof, and me being the weakest link in the chain. Long fin keels with skeg hung rudders that are built to cross oceans...Maybe that's telling me something.....Hmmmmm /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

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Bowman 40. Hydrodynamics do not begin to compete with the Rustler 42. Science has moved on and SJ has done a fantastic job on the R42. Best heavy displacement 42 footer I have ever sailed, performance wise. Sad that the workmanship doesn't get near the Scandies, but the price does.

The R42 no question, the dream design.
 
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