Entry level boat - YM October

[blackbeard]

In what seems to me to be a good and interesting issue of Yachting Monthly (though, evidently, not entirely uncontroversial) one detail raised the hackles of this grumpy old git. Maybe I'm just being a bit tetchy but:

Affordable new entry-level family cruiser (Hanse 325, loa 31' 6", a snip at around £ 75,000).

Piffle. Balderdash. And, in my view, bad, sloppy, lazy journalism.

Apart from the description "affordable" applied to £75,000 being a slap in the face for half the readership:
the clear implication is that this is the boat one should buy as a first yacht. Or possibly the boat to buy if one wishes to take up sailing.

Now I realise that the readership of the august journal, or indeed of Scuttlebutt, is far too wise and experienced to be taken in by this nonsense, but I am concerned that some hapless novice may happen upon this article and be deceived.

Most of us know that sailing can involve many different types and sizes of boat and that some of the best fun has been had in smaller boats. And that experience is best gained with a variety of boats, and by sailing with others more experienced, before setting off in a 31' 6" boat of one's own. Most of us would, perhaps, prefer not to share crowded waters with 31' 6" of boat in the hands of someone who has, perhaps, not the experience needed to handle it safely.

Also, we have too many boats languishing expensively in marinas unused because the owner discovers too late that he can't find enough time to go sailing.

Meanwhile, I must regard this as a sad lapse in an otherwise very readable magazine.

 

[flawed_logic]

To be fair, this is exactly what the manufacturer (in new boat terms) has produced. I think your point is slightly different. You are saying that it would make more sense to start on something second hand and a damn sight cheaper (and smaller) if you are new to sailing. A bit like buying your first car, you can still spend 12k on a new 'entry level' car, but does it make sense if you just passed your test?

 

[Grumpybear]

Nothing new anyway. One of the sailing mags reviewed the SO35 as an entry level boat when it first appeared.

 

[Rivers & creeks]

Hanse are big advertisers in YM.

 

[benjenbav]

I could see a Hanse 325 being an "entry level" boat...to someone who had spent years of dinghy sailing, crewing on other people's boats and chartering.

That is to say, the first boat someone with plenty of experience might actually buy. Not really the place for a sailing virgin to begin.

Had a look round a Hanse 545 a few weeks ago. Very nice!

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

We all know that assumption makes an ass out of you and me.

I bet there are many who spend more that £75k on their first boat and who buys bigger boats than that first off.

I do not subscribe to this whole "I learnt to sail in a minute bathtub so that is what everyone else should do"

There was a very good thread on this recently.

 

[johnalison]

I don't think it is lazy journalism so much as a recognition of the state of boating today. Deepest Essex isn't exactly at the centre of the nation's economic centre of gravity but all around me I see people starting their sailing in boats in the 32-36' range. The Hanse is not particularly my cup of tea but it would make a satisfactory starter boat and an alternative to the Bavs and Beneteaus for those who really think they can plunge into the sport without enduring the years of discomfort and inconvenience that made most of what we are.

 

[Bav34]

I was impressed to read that ''the cockpit oozes simplicity'' and is both comfortable and uncomfortable depending which part of the article you read.

Being ''designed for sailing with the utmost of ease'' is a definite plus.

 

[Rivers & creeks]

I bet there are many who spend more that £75k on their first boat and who buys bigger boats than that first off.

I do not subscribe to this whole "I learnt to sail in a minute bathtub so that is what everyone else should do"

I doubt if those are the two most common scenarios; rather they sound like two extremes. In the middle are the majority of people who can neither afford £75,000 for a first yacht purchase, nor want to set sail as a family in a Cornish Shrimper. Sure, some people do one of those two extremes, most people don't.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

I doubt if those are the two most common scenarios; rather they sound like two extremes. In the middle are the majority of people who can neither afford £75,000 for a first yacht purchase, nor want to set sail as a family in a Cornish Shrimper. Sure, some people do one of those two extremes, most people don't.

I never said majority. I just said many.

The majority of people cannot afford a boat at all.

 

[Koeketiene]

Hanse are big advertisers in YM.

Cynic

 

[dylanwinter]

but logical

Cynic

I have to say that it is one of the reasons I seldom go to boat shows anymore

I feel completely outgunned - financially speaking

D

 

[Supine Being]

I have to say that it is one of the reasons I seldom go to boat shows anymore

I feel completely outgunned - financially speaking

D

It's the kind of thing that made me think that I would never have enough cash to buy a boat, assuming also that older boats would require love and attention (and cash) far beyond my capabilities.

 

[dylanwinter]

thank goodness

It's the kind of thing that made me think that I would never have enough cash to buy a boat, assuming also that older boats would require love and attention (and cash) far beyond my capabilities.

thank goodness for plastic hulls, plastic sails and bilge keels

 

[toad_oftoadhall]

I bet there are many who spend more that £75k on their first boat and who buys bigger boats than that first off.

Really good point, and it's convinced me.

I don't think a 75k boat is my first impression of a starter boat, but now I think about it that's just down to the price. Newbies charter/buy boats that cost £300,000 all the time, why not a 75k boat?

So although a 75k boat is never going to hit me as an obvious first boat, it's impossible to say it *isn't* a first boat.

I guess the truth is there's no such thing as a starter boat. Sailing's easy and choice of boat is totally divorced from talent as a sailor. Roger Taylor who's been at it for a lifetime blasts around in a Coribee and people with no talent for sailing hire/buy 50 footers and manage fine.

If boat cost/size and ability were in any way related the UK sailing Olympic squad would all be buying 250 footers, and it seems they don't.

On reflection, one of the things that makes meeting people in the sport interesting.

Thanks ex-solentboy for an insight that's obvious, but hadn't hit me 'till this moment.

 

[wotayottie]

The OP is urinating into the wind. The size of starter boats has gone up year after year and the editor is only reflecting reality. Most older members of my club started on things like Leisure 19s when moving up from dinghies. None of the new ones consider anything that small and we are in a poor area with not a lot of money around.

Whats more people are moving away from older second hand boats to something more like the way they buy cars - part ex it after 3 years for a new one.

And 75k isnt a huge amount for a young person in a decent job. Increasingly people are splitting into two groups. Those that are relatively poor and cannot afford a boat at all, and those who can spend 75k ( maybe the banks money) on a new one.

In short I reckon you are out of touch.

 

[FullCircle]

Nothing new anyway. One of the sailing mags reviewed the SO35 as an entry level boat when it first appeared.

That's what they told me when I bought mine, assuring me that I would have it for less than 3 years and trade in fo rlarger.
Wrong. It's my last boat, not my starter boat.
We were in the very fortunate position of being able to afford it, just, at the time.
7 years, no sign of trading it in.

 

[doug748]

Like Grumpybear I have seen lots of 35 footers called "starter boats". In the old days they would be described as: "suitable for the inshore man moving into his first serious cruising boat" and would be 10 foot shorter. It's all a bit daft but I guess if you drive a BMW and have a place in the company car park it is a bit of a come down to start in a place that you see as the "bottom". Marketing people and magazine staff are, no doubt, well aware of this.

Of course we all know sailing is not to do with boats but what you do with them, underlined this week by the passing of Charles Stock.

However a number of posters have reported starting at 35 foot plus with no problems, so it suits some. Seems a bit sad to me, dunno why.

 

[Kelpie]

The majority of people cannot afford a boat at all.

If that's true, it is very sad. I suppose it is highly dependant on where you live.

 

[Captain Haddock]

And 75k isnt a huge amount for a young person in a decent job. Increasingly people are splitting into two groups. Those that are relatively poor and cannot afford a boat at all, and those who can spend 75k ( maybe the banks money) on a new one.

In short I reckon you are out of touch.

Eh?! 75k not a lot when in a decent job? What's a decent job to you? Most people I know in decent jobs earning 60k plus do not have that kind of cash spare for a boat.