Favourite boats I haven't tried

[Daydream believer]

Often wonder whether the Mystery 35 might be 'the best of all worlds,' provided that maximum internal volume isn't your priority.

Traditional looks, and presumably sea keeping qualities, combined with modern (low) maintenance and efficient underwater appendages (as in handles in reverse under engine and gets going, under sail, in 8 knots of breeze).....

Anyone know the reality?

I berthed alongside a Mystery in Breskens & it looked beautiful. Probably one of the best looking smaller boats around. But spoiled by the lack of room inside.
I always though that my Stellas looked good & size for size they sailed every bit as good as my current Hanse 311.
But of course the Hanse 311 is much larger & relatively miles faster.
People have often commented that that is a good looking boat as well
I cannot understand the fascination with Victorias. They are very slow & look pretty awful. I sailed in company with a 34 once & even though i reduced sail as much as I could, I had to keep going back for it. In the end I had to leave it. It was being sailed by 2 experienced sailors.

 

[steve yates]

whats the wbf?

 

[steve yates]

I am really taken by the little westerly nomads I must admit. I would like a bigger small boat than beth frans 18ft for more proper adventures, and that looks really quite iconic, in a cheeky way
On the cruising boats I do love the look of those rustlers, and vancouvers too. But then golden hinds are also quite appealing, and I have seen some bruce roberts spray designs that get me thinking too.

 

[doug748]

. I sailed in company with a 34 once & even though i reduced sail as much as I could, I had to keep going back for it..........

Maybe they were hoping to lose you?

:- )

 

[Daydream believer]

Maybe they were hoping to lose you?

:- )

Probably ashamed of themselves, If it was your partner, you would want to keep the curtains drawn, ?

 

[johnalison]

I am really taken by the little westerly nomads I must admit. I would like a bigger small boat than beth frans 18ft for more proper adventures, and that looks really quite iconic, in a cheeky way
On the cruising boats I do love the look of those rustlers, and vancouvers too. But then golden hinds are also quite appealing, and I have seen some bruce roberts spray designs that get me thinking too.

I don't know about the Golden Hinds but my mate once had a Waterwitch. On one occasion we joined her in a flotilla sailing downwind. I had to drop my main to slow down to match her, then I had to shorten the jib, and in the end I ended up under bare poles and still passing her. You can take 'slow and comfortable' so far, but there is a limit for someone with my short attention span.

 

[DownWest]

whats the wbf?

Wooden Boat Forum. US based but a mine of info.

 

[Kukri]

Golden Hind a bit faster than Waterwitch.

Waterwitch faster than Roberts Spray..

 

[dancrane]

I cannot understand the fascination with Victorias. I sailed in company with a 34 once & even though i reduced sail as much as I could, I had to keep going back for it. In the end I had to leave it. It was being sailed by 2 experienced sailors.

That's odd - not my experience at all. In a friend's very tidy Vic 34, on a day of force 2 - 3, and with only my dubious helming (and nobody else on deck), we slipped steadily ahead of a larger but lighter Bavaria, also under full sail. Maybe the one you left for dead had serious underwater fouling?

 

[JumbleDuck]

I berthed alongside a Mystery in Breskens & it looked beautiful. Probably one of the best looking smaller boats around. But spoiled by the lack of room inside.

I was tempted by a Folksong, Eric Bergquist's take on the Folkboat, until I saw pictures of the inside. It's very, very low. Shame, because from the outside they are stunning.

I cannot understand the fascination with Victorias. They are very slow & look pretty awful.

It's a style thing. You either understand or you don't. Sorry.

 

[Orion Jim]

I was anchored beside this Besteaver in St. George’s Harbor, Bermuda, this past spring. I have always been fond of them. They exude seaworthiness with a bit of industrial charm.

 

[wombat88]

Pandora anyone? For those with a hankering for the bargain basement.

 

[johnalison]

Pandora anyone? For those with a hankering for the bargain basement.

Good little boats. We had trouble beating them with a larger boat in the racing series in the '70s, but consoled ourselves with the thought that ey weren't 'real' cruisers, not having a bulkhead internally.

 

[Stemar]

TBH, while we're slumming, I still rate Snapdragons. OK, forget going to windward - that's what the engine's for, but off the wind, they can surprise a few bigger boats, and you get a lot of space for your 24 ft. I got caught out in the Channel in a steady F7, and the boat was quite happy - certainly a lot happier than the Admiral, who still hasn't forgiven me

 

[wombat88]

Having seen all the exotic stuff tempted to suggest the OP changes the thread to Under £5k...or perhaps lower...

 

[doug748]

That's odd - not my experience at all. In a friend's very tidy Vic 34, on a day of force 2 - 3, and with only my dubious helming (and nobody else on deck), we slipped steadily ahead of a larger but lighter Bavaria, also under full sail. Maybe the one you left for dead had serious underwater fouling?

I can believe it, I always scan the Round the Island results when stories of interstellar speed emerge:

Round the Island Race - Results for the 2017 race

Often the porky cruising boat of yesteryear is about as fast as the latest beige porky boat. Ye old cruiser racers pan most "fast on all points of sail with four cabins" white boats. Handy boats of all sorts finish withing a few hours of twitchy, needy, expensive, dedicated racers.

 

[wombat88]

Corribee anyone?

 

[mjcoon]

TBH, while we're slumming, I still rate Snapdragons. OK, forget going to windward - that's what the engine's for, but off the wind, they can surprise a few bigger boats, and you get a lot of space for your 24 ft.

Looking back to the early 1970s, I still marvel that four chaps could spend a fortnight's flotilla in a Snappy 747 (=24 feet) without serious falling-outs!

Mike.

 

[dancrane]

Corribee? Are you over 5ft tall? I love the looks of these little boats and came so close to buying one...I still regret not doing so, but am also sure that the headroom is downright punitive. It's a step too low for me, and that's saying something.

...tempted to suggest the OP changes the thread to Under £5k...or perhaps lower...

Interesting idea, although I reckon the small stuff is appearing here, too, because wherever we berth, we look about and wonder what our neighbour's boat is like. Here are two very different small designs I'd like to try, though they're not quite sub-£5,000...

H-Boat - lovely, svelte, if rather cramped cruiser-racer supposedly based on a Soling Olympic keelboat;

and Hunter Minstrel or Liberty - the cat-rigged two-master.

 

[steve yates]

I'd love 5ft headroom, I have 4 ft 8 in my bradwell, I cant even sit upright inside her