Fulmar owners –what would you/did you buy next

bedouin said:
That's the whole point isn't it. You either get a boat that is a delight to sail and uncomfortable in a marina, or vice verse :) Below about 40' it seems very hard to get a good compromise (much easier once you go above that).
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The Jeanneau sails very well but would I like to be out in a prolonged blow in her ? - No

We analysed our sailing needs long and hard.

For us it reads
Still working for at least another 5 years
Weekend Sailing
2 maybe 3 weeks each summer (if we ever have another one)
Day sails / evening sailing

We don't need a long distance cruiser.

If we were to go long distance we looked at and would look at again
Oyster Heritage
Vancover 36
Rustler 36
HR 36 but the 39 is better
Malo 38 or 39
 
Keep the Fulmar their great, you know that. Anything bigger will be more expensive to run will probably not look after you so well and may take the edge off your enjoyment.It does depend on your sailing interests and requirements.
 
All depends on what you want the boat to do. Aft cabin on a 37' with reasonable looks is going to be quite a tall order.

If you'd like the full chapter and verse on the Oyster Heritage, PM me. Yes, I do own one and can reccomend them. The albeit, forward head, is larger than most. I've replaced the awful 80's white taps with a proper thermostatic shower mixer. SWMBO and I never use the shoreside ablution block. Our on board one is so much better!
 
The reason the BenJenBavs are so popular is that they represent a compromise (and all designs are a compromise) that suits the priorities of the vast majority of leisure sailors. Sail when the wind is good, motor went it is not and stay in port if it is blowing too hard.

These days there is no reason for a coastal/offshore sailor ever to get caught out in conditions much worse than they are prepared for, so why consider how a boat will cope in >F8 if you never expect to be out in more than F6?
 
If you want to stay at a similar size, but would like to add mod-cons, how about a Dufour 34?

Quicker than a Fulmar (about 10% faster according to the IRC ratings) with decent if not caravanish accomodation and a good fit out.
Only ever gets rave reviews on the sailing front.
 
Twister_Ken said:
No to the Dufour 34.

Sails well, but a friend with one since new has had many problems to sort out. Quality control lost out to cost control it seems.
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Sadly I don't know of a (not obscenely expensive) brand that I can't think of examples of this for.
Including things such as missing mast compression posts, keels bolted to the hull (missing the reinforced keel backing plate), masts delivered with massive cracks in them, one boat launched with a different keel to the one specified, a winch jumping off its mounts the first time it was used in anger (only one bolt had been used to attach it).

My dad has a Dufour 40, from new, and the quality was on a par with what I have come to expect from being involved in getting a number of boats from all the major manufacturers (except Bav, never been involved with a bav) up and running.

Some agents are a whole truck load better than others at sorting things though.
 
Many thanks to everyone for the advice.
Of all the boats mentioned 4 are also on my list. (great minds or fools seldom…?)
The Typhoon would be very near the top, just not sure I can face another mega headlining replacement session. Teak decks too scary for me so Malo out.
Don’t intend to cross Oceans and happy to anchor when possible.
Probably will be away for 4 to 10 weeks at a time so creature comforts are important.

Bedouin probably has it right in terms of boat choice
“These days there is no reason for a coastal/offshore sailor ever to get caught out in conditions much worse than they are prepared for, so why consider how a boat will cope in >F8 if you never expect to be out in more than F6? “

That echoes the advice given to me by a friend who spent 5 years cruising between the Baltic and Madeira.
If its raining don’t go
If its above a F6 don’t go
If the winds in the wrong direction don’t go
If the sea state is horrid don’t go

When your not under time constraints (i.e must get back for work) everything gets easier.

And at the top of my list assuming I can ever find a way to part with the Fulmar is….Starlight 35….. but then they have teak decks don’t they!
 
santavey said:
Starlight 35….. but then they have teak decks don’t they!
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Not the one I was rafted alongside in Yarmouth this year. However the anti slip pattern was very rough, almost like a spiky ceiling artex pattern, so the anti slip finish might have been disguising the removal of a teak deck.
 
santavey said:
Many thanks to everyone for the advice.
Of all the boats mentioned 4 are also on my list. (great minds or fools seldom…?)
The Typhoon would be very near the top, just not sure I can face another mega headlining replacement session. Teak decks too scary for me so Malo out.
Don’t intend to cross Oceans and happy to anchor when possible.
Probably will be away for 4 to 10 weeks at a time so creature comforts are important.

Bedouin probably has it right in terms of boat choice
“These days there is no reason for a coastal/offshore sailor ever to get caught out in conditions much worse than they are prepared for, so why consider how a boat will cope in >F8 if you never expect to be out in more than F6? “

That echoes the advice given to me by a friend who spent 5 years cruising between the Baltic and Madeira.
If its raining don’t go
If its above a F6 don’t go
If the winds in the wrong direction don’t go
If the sea state is horrid don’t go

When your not under time constraints (i.e must get back for work) everything gets easier.

And at the top of my list assuming I can ever find a way to part with the Fulmar is….Starlight 35….. but then they have teak decks don’t they!
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I've been reading this thread with great interest as we're in almost exactly the same situation, the difference being that we'd like to skip the Fulmar and go straight from a 27 ft long keeler to a more modern 33-35ft with comfortable summer live-aboard accommodation. We've been looking at the mid-size Moodys and in particular the 34/346, but I'd like to cast the net a bit wider before we make a decision.

There's some good ideas here, and the comments about "when to go / when not to go" sums-up just about most of the cruising sailors I come across, and us as well!
 
The Fulmar is indeed an amazing boat.I'm more or less beginning to think about what to replace mine with but so far haven't come up with anything.The Dufour 34 could be one and a secondhand example should have been sorted .Apart from that I can't think of a moderatly priced boat that will be as good overall as a Fulmar.Might as well keep mine for now.
 
Fulmar replacement

I too have been following this thread having bought an old Fulmar 5 years ago in NL for a very good price we spent 9 months refitting and subsequently doing one piece of major work each year since ( replace cooker, install fridge, electric windlass etc). Now anyone who comes down below can't believe she is 26 yo. I'm not sure I can face doing that amount of work again while I'm still working. The gain would be too small.

Easily handled by two people, comfortable, nice cockpit with no wheel to get in the way when moored.

I did look at a Falcon before buying the Fulmar but due to a tactical error on my behalf (I wasn't personally there at survey time when the surveyor found an apparently important fault and the owner became even more desperate to sell) I didn't persue it. The Falcon seems much bigger and has two heads and an aft cabin.

Regards
 
jonjo said:
Not the one I was rafted alongside in Yarmouth this year. However the anti slip pattern was very rough, almost like a spiky ceiling artex pattern, so the anti slip finish might have been disguising the removal of a teak deck.
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No, it's the way that Bowman did it. My Starlight is like that and its really effective anti slip.

The Starlight really is a brilliant boat and the only negative I can see is that accommodation space is less than other more beamy modern alternatives. And I guess it's round the cans speed is average for its length with an IRC of abut .95 and a PY only 20 points less than the Fulmar
 
Onia said:
I too have been following this thread having bought an old Fulmar 5 years ago in NL for a very good price we spent 9 months refitting and subsequently doing one piece of major work each year since ( replace cooker, install fridge, electric windlass etc).

How did you fit your windlass?
I'm considering one for my Fulmar but don't want an opening on the foredeck for the chain.
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