Ex Stinkie?

[RayB]

Currently have a 37ft stinkpot and a couple of seasons experience, trained to dayskipper (motor) and cross channel experience.

I have a strong urge to convert to sailing, and don't know where to start. I intend to go dingy sailing, this coming season, to learn the basics of sailing. But in terms of buying our yacht, where do I start? I want 35 foot plus (not more than 44 foot). I might want to go liveaboard within 10 years and cruise bluewater. Equally I want to buy a boat now that will serve that purpose without having to trade up later, and I don't want a depreciation headache. Budget including kitting out would be upto £90,000 but rather £75,000.

Where do I start?

"Hopefully that won't be too expensive to fix?"

 

[FlyingSpud]

This sort of question almost always leads to an argument between those who support the Benjenbav approach and those who will tell you that you are better off with an older second hand boat of a higher quality.

You will have to pay your money and take your chance, but don’t decide yet, go and do some dinghy sailing and then crew on various types of boat, or charter and then make your own mind up.

 

[HaraldS]

axaxda

http:// [url]www.taniwani.de [/url]

 

[HaraldS]

sorry, above response was unintended and meaningless. Hit the wrong key.

http:// [url]www.taniwani.de [/url]

 

[Ohdrat]

Easy go dinghy sailing ... and get a big flappy boat too.. learn to sail the dinghy ASAP and by summer you can take to the seas big time.. Go for it..

As for the TRAD v BenJenBav debate that's personal taste.. look around and see what takes your fancy.. look at as many boats as you can fit in around the dinghy sailing activities!

 

[tillergirl]

I'm not sure I'd want to do the dinghy sailing bit. If you doing that to see if you like sailing you will find it quite different to the 35+. I'm not sure that liking dinghy sailing means that you will like the 35+ or vice versa. If you are doing the dinghy bit to learn to sail, it might be more relevant (and dryer) to get on a sailing school course. It will give you a lot of ideas about what you will look for when you start the hunt for the 35+. Although I am a deeply committed wooden yachter (and therefore probably not all there), it strikes me that there has never been a better time to buy. It will be personal preference whether you go new or good class second hand; the new stuff needs a fair bit adding to it especially if you are going to liveaboard - there again even when you buy what looks like a fully equipped boat, you get surprises - I renewed all the ropes bar the main halliard and had to chuck the log and the echo sounder.

Some of the charges for extras on new yachts seem to be a rip-off, one test in one of last month's mags quoted £6100.00 for a set of Autohelm log, wind, depth. Given that I presume it's all fitted at the build stage, that looks like about £4 profit to me.

Another idea to find out what you like is to try to get out with someone who sails near where you motor from - where's that?

 

[Strathglass]

Ray. better to forget your dinghy. They are wet and uncomfortable and you spend as much time keeping them upright as learning to sail. Go out and buy something like a British Hunter 701 for a few thousand pounds use it and sail it as often as you can. Even keep the stinkie a bit longer. Then when you come to sell it to buy your bigger boat in a years time you will be a sailor and know what you want. You can then sell the 701 and probably there will be no depreciation on it.

Thats my view

Iain

<P ID="edit"><FONT SIZE=-1>Edited by iainsimpson on 16/01/2003 00:49 (server time).</FONT></P>

 

[rhinorhino]

More Joy

There is more joy in heaven .....
I would suggest that you charter any boat you are interested in before you buy.
This time of year there are lots of offers on.
If you don't have enough experiance to charter on your own a skipper should cost you around £120-£150 a day, and you get free sailing lessons thrown in.
If you don't have a real idea what you want, charter a range, say; a Gaffer, a Baveria (very good value at present), an HR, a Contessa, an Island Packet etc.
You can also ring round and grab as many test sails as you can, this will also give you an idea of the support you might get in future from the builders agent, even if you buy second hand.
A few thousand spent on charters might save you a lot more further down the line, given your fairly generous budget.
Send PM if you want more ideas.
Above all enjoy.

 

[ecudc]

Do the dinghy sailing. It's great fun as long as you are prepared to get wet and a bit bruised (and if sailing in the UK, a bit cold).

Alternatively why not try a holiday with someone like Sunsail and Neilson who do both dinghy’s and yachts, you could probably fit in a course on both in a 2 week holiday.

You don't have to do dingy sailing first though. We went on a villa/flotilla holiday last year and did a 5 day "learn to sail a yacht" course. One lady on the course had never sailed before and picked up everything really quickly.

 

[david_e]

You can try all sorts of boats just to get a feel for what is what by politely asking people, this won't cost you anything so saving more dosh for your boat. It will help you will then start the main process of old v new.

For £90k, buying at the right time/well etc, you could get a good used Beneteau Oceanis 411 Clipper. This is a very successful and well proven yacht that would meet nearly all of you needs.

Keep us informed on your progress.

 

[steveh]

Don't forget to look at proper boats - multihulls!
Civilised, bit quicker and loads of room.

 

[rhinorhino]

Totally agree that asking nicely can get you some sailing.
But I suggest it is a bit of a chicken and egg situation for a newcomer. If you sail already you get to know lots of people to ask, but how would you suggest that a newcomer could get to sail a varied group of boats just by asking nicely?

 

[david_e]

Re: Free sailing

Well I suppose it is a bit much to go onto the pontoon and say to a complete stranger.........

But there are other ways, and most would come through networking, using contacts etc. so a few ideas;

1. Post on these forums
2. Look at the owners/manufacturers websites and go on saying you are interested in that type of boat etc
3. Talk to the main importer, they usually have people who will 'demo' their boats for them
4. Are 'you' a member of a sailing club, if not, then consider joining as it will introduce 'you' to lots of others, quite a few who will fit into this category.
5 Offer yourself up for crew, don't have to commit forever and also learn alot.

I think that one of the main benefits of doing this is the opportunity to learn from others in a non sales environment.

PS. Have you got any free tickets to your Spearmint club)

 

[AJW]

Agree wholeheartedly with advice to buy small yot for a few grand and learn to sail in that rather than dinghy. You will stay a lot drier, will learn more and have the benefit of a cabin (albeit a small one) to boot. Something like a Pandora or Corribee can be had for not a lot at all. Given same advice to future Brother in Law who wants to learn to sail prior to aquisition of 30something foot yot to keep pref in the med! Irony is that sister wouldn't go anywhere near the family yot when growing up but now is as keen as mustard.!

AJ

 

[RayB]

Thanks for all your advice. I think the first route will be to get out with a sailing school and do the rounds at the various dealers for test "drives". I will also ask around at my Yacht club (Chichester). Maybe i'll forget the dingy sailing for now, my logic was to learn the physics of sailing. What do you all think about the Benjenbav vs older more robust boats when it comes to depreciation ie what are the better "investments" and easiest to sell when you are ready?



"Hopefully that won't be too expensive to fix?"

 

[FlyingSpud]

You sure you are not trying to start a fight? /forums/images/icons/smile.gif We have all managed to keep away from this subject for a few months, ‘cos I think it was just getting too boring running through the same subject again and again

Plenty of old threads about this if you do a search. Fall on the old and trusted side myself, but I’m saying no more.

 

[nicho]

You will never get a clear answer to your last sentence - there are two distinct camps - it's simply something you have to make your own mind up on having looked at both.

 

[Sybarite]

Start by chartering. That helps to dispel some pre-conceived notions. It did for me.

 

[Twister_Ken]

No no

It's not an investment. It's a boat that you will come to love (or hate) and to which you trust your life and those of your nearest and most expensive, sorry, dearest.

Having just spent the evening listening to Don Street being quite rude about modern boats, i have to say that I agreed with him. Mind you, I'm not planning to throw my engine overboard just yet.

 

[LadyInBed]

Ray, have you seen the thread on the <A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.ybw.com/cgi-bin/forums/showflat.pl?Cat=&Board=LIVEABOARD&Number=296679&page=0&view=collapsed&sb=5&o=93&part=> liveaboad forum </A>