First yacht advice please

[pompeydave]

Hello. I'm looking for my first yacht after 20 years of motor boating. I'm looking for a 23-30 ft bilge or lift keeler that has good performance, easy handling, good accomodation for four adults and if possible to be priced on the thin side of 10k. I've done some research on the net and bought the excellent 'Good yacht guide', but could do with a nudge in the right direction. Early possibles include: Leisure 23SL, Seawolf/Cobra 26, Hunter horizon 23 (suspect the 26 is out of my price range). Any idea's? Thanks in advance....

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[bruce]

go out and walk the docks, find boats you like and talk to owners. also decide what is necessary for the boat to do, enclosed head?, cooking area? standing headroom? going to overnight? onboard storage, local docking costs, insurance requirements,what WIFE wants. take a day course on sailing, hang around launching ramps.....then choose some boats to look closer at. good luck...

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[Spuddy]

the asking price is not necessarily what boats go for.
It seems to depend on where they are - Solent boats seem to be dearer, what gear they've got, obviously and also the condition.
But if the owner has got disillusioned or lost patience after trying to sell for a while, then you can pick up a bargain. I missed a Contessa 26 which went for £4K a year ago - owner moving abroad and wanted to get shut.
Keep sniffing around and enjoy the hunt, it costs very little - as you know the work and expense start after you've bought.
best wishes Spuddy.

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[VirgoVoyager]

Bruce and Spuddy have already given good advice. Having a clear idea (as you have) of what criteria are important to you helps enormously. To the yachts you have mentioned, I would add the Seamaster 23 and the Newbridge Virgo Voyager. Both of these meet your requirements. I can particulary vouch for the Voyager. Ours is proving itself to be comfortable and capable (sailing in the West Coast of Scotland) and has more that lived up to our expectations.

When it comes down to it, availability is often the most important factor, though. You really need to be able to get to see some boats which you can afford!

Good luck

Stuart

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[paulburton44]

i like my snapdragon 26. under 10k. standing headroom. sleeps 4.....

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[ex-Gladys]

If you can find one (only 11 made) the Anderson 26 is great. Amber is our first boat, 2'1" draft keel up, 6' keel down, and has a 23' LWL. This means you get a very quick 26 footer (we'ver seen off boats up to 33' so far) with 6' head room and fairly traditional four berth accomodation.

YMMV

<hr width=100% size=1>Larry Botheras

Anderson 26 "Amber"

 

[jakeroyd]

Dear Portsmouth David,
Consider the Ford Escort of the sea , the Westerly Centaur , good examples can be found at less than 10k. They provide a safe capable boat with good accomodation. Not fast by today's standards.
Ours had pathetically thin cushions that lowered you onto the wood overnight. Kept meaning to fix them. If buying look fro one that has been re-engined and has the keel bolt roots glassed in. They are getting old now so expect some work to do.

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[pompeydave]

Ok, thanks for the replies everyone. As you can probably tell from the date of the last post, I like to take my time when making a decision like this! Soon after the original post was made I got married, then took voluntary redundancy from my job in the telecoms industry and went off in a completely different direction to do truck driving for 9 years. Having got that well and truly out of my system, I sold out and joined the civil service!

Now that I'm 9-5 mon-fri again for the first time in over 30 years, I'm finally coming back to the idea of a first yacht.

Only problem is that my budget this time around is tiny- not much more than £1000. I realise that this is going to severely limit my choice of boat to projects only, but I have 30+ years experience with grp motor boats, so I'm not a complete beginner.

So, I'm looking for something with the same criteria as before, but I'm realistic enough to know that I'm probably only going to find a rough 21-23 footer only.

Any updated suggestions welcome please .

 

[Norman_E]

The problem with any £1,000 project boat is going to be the several more thousands needed to bring it up to scratch. My advice now is to join a sailing club, take at least a Competent Crew course if you are new to sailing boats, and offer to crew for anyone who wants to take you. That way you can get some sailing whilst saving cash for something that you will enjoy owning. Good Luck.

 

[jav301]

Look here.

http://trident24.com/30-2/other-tridents-for-sale/

A Trident for £500. You can't go wrong, a few others that you might be able to afford. I've had mine for 4 years and covered many miles. Safe, capable, well laid out. Most people who have one love them but age has caught up with several people so there are some real bargains, well looked after, to be had.

 

[pompeydave]

Mmmm, that's cheap at £500. Might be worth a punt. Added to the shortlist of possibles, many thanks for the link.

 

[dylanwinter]

The problem with any £1,000 project boat is going to be the several more thousands needed to bring it up to scratch. My advice now is to join a sailing club, take at least a Competent Crew course if you are new to sailing boats, and offer to crew for anyone who wants to take you. That way you can get some sailing whilst saving cash for something that you will enjoy owning. Good Luck.

my advice is exactly the opposite

buy a really cheap boat for £700

as long as the mast stays up and the water stays outside then you are in business

- buy as good an outboard as you can afford

go sailing

forget the training, forget sailing with other blokes who might teach you all sorts of bad habits

have fun

 

[pompeydave]

Tricky one. My instinct has always been to dive straight in (albeit in this case with a 10 year gap ) but I've often found something better came along if I waited. Then again if you don't act on a bargain quickly, someone else will.

 

[bikerbill]

It's a pity you are so far away from me, as my Hurley 20 will be going up for sale shortly. It only needs a clean and tidy up, no money needs to be spent on it. They are good sailing yachts that can be got reasonably cheaply. Other Hurley's can be viewed here http://www.hurleyownersassociation.co.uk/index.htm

 

[pompeydave]

Hi Bill, I've got the Hurley 20 and 22 as one of my possibles. Both look like good starter boats with good manners. I would prefer the 22 if possible just for the extra length.

 

[sailorman]

http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?42329-First-yacht-advice-please

 

[V1701]

Don't forget Gumtree & Preloved, e.g. one here from Preloved:

http://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/show/111416844/sailing-yacht.html

Happy hunting...

 

[PetiteFleur]

Also check out ebay - usually lots of cheap project boats available, but make sure you view before bidding! Just checked and there is a Halcyon 23 which looks complete and currently at £510 with 3 days to go. I've had a Halcyon 23(albeit a fin keel) and they are excellent boats - sailed all over the Thames Estuary with trips to France, Belgium and Holland.
Just type in project boat and a few turn up. Good luck!

 

[pompeydave]

A bit more info Re the mooring I allude to in the first post- in the intervening 10 years I've acquired my own tidal pontoon berth at Langstone, opposite the ECA. I always knew I'd come back to boating one day so took the plunge when they were cheap 10 odd years ago. I've rented it out since then but now it's vacant again and I'm putting something on it myself this time. It dries out to soft mud, so a lift keel would be best really, otherwise I'll be sitting there for some while waiting for the tide with a lot of bilge keelers.

 

[pompeydave]

Ok, thanks for all the tips. I have a list of the following that all appear to have something going for them:

Anderson 22- 2' lifting keel

Kestrel 22- 2'4" bilge keel

Leisure 23- 2'8" bilge keel

Newbridge Venturer (22)- 2'2" lifting or 2'3" bilge keel

Trident 24- 2'1" lifting keel or 2'6" bilge keel

Hurley 22- 3' bilge keel

Seal 22- 2' lifting keel

Jaguar 22- 1'8" lifting/triple keel

Of the above, the Anderson, Trident, Seal, Venturer and Jag appear my best bets on minimum draught. I don't want to lose half a tide waiting for enough water as I'm on a tidal pontoon berth.

If I consider those to make it onto my initial shortlist, my next criteria is sailability and performance. From what I can gather from the net and my trusty 'Good yacht guide' for boats up to 27', the Anderson, Seal and Jaguar all appear to be good hulls with good performance. Having said that, I do like the look of the Venturer- it looks like a proper boat, particularly the later ones that lost the blue banding.

I realise that the above is not an exhaustive list, but can anyone add any comments about the merits of the four above boats please?