Getting back into it...via group / syndicate?

[Dellquay13]

Small boats in the 22-28’ size range haven’t been built in any numbers in the last 30 years, as boat builders have moved into the bigger and bigger sizes, and virtually no one apart from a few very specialist companies still make them. There are one or two models out there, but they tend towards small spartan day racers or traditional styles like Cornish Crabbers, no one builds a new 25’ average white boat.

 

[Refueler]

Small boats in the 22-28’ size range haven’t been built in any numbers in the last 30 years, as boat builders have moved into the bigger and bigger sizes, and virtually no one apart from a few very specialist companies still make them. There are one or two models out there, but they tend towards small spartan day racers or traditional styles like Cornish Crabbers, no one builds a new 25’ average white boat.

Correct - the profit margins are not there ....

But there are many existing boats on 2nd hand market and its obvious from OP's first post - that he is not in position to buy a new boat outright himself.
My point earlier is that he could be part of a syndicate for a relatively young boat ... but for LESS money he would cough up to a syndicate - he could find himself an older but good boat and own outright.

 

[Dellquay13]

Correct - the profit margins are not there ....

But there are many existing boats on 2nd hand market and its obvious from OP's first post - that he is not in position to buy a new boat outright himself.
My point earlier is that he could be part of a syndicate for a relatively young boat ... but for LESS money he would cough up to a syndicate - he could find himself an older but good boat and own outright.

I agree about owning a 40yr old 24’ outright, that’s the route I went down, but for the OP it’s a big commitment of time and effort just for a 2nd hobby when it’s too windy to fly

 

[flyingmono]

Thank you all for your fantastic replies and sage advice, which is all taken onboard and given me a lot to think about.

If it helps with clarity, my budget would be a maximum of £10k which I understand is extremely tight for anything, hence teh thought about buying into a share. I am very confident working in wood, albeit with experience only on aircraft (I'm actually restoring a wooden aircraft as we speak) - I'm sure there is reasonable overlap, given that most of my supplies come from marine sources! So, if buying something that needed a bit of work is feasible, I wouldn't necessarily be put off.

I will have a think about all of these replies over the weekend and start to gather my thoughts. It feels as though yachting has perhaps 5 - 10 x the number of options, choices and dilemmas that exist within aviation, so it can be difficult to work out where to start. Lots of food for thought here!

 

[Refueler]

10K ???? Loads of boats out there in the mid 20's ft size for less than that.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

10K ???? Loads of boats out there in the mid 20's ft size for less than that.

Indeed; a friend is looking at that market right now, and £10k is at the top end of the price range, Plenty around at £2k!

 

[jac]

10K ???? Loads of boats out there in the mid 20's ft size for less than that.

AGreed

IMHO the issue is more around it being a second hobby and maybe 10 days use a year. Even as a main hobby many struggle to get nmuch use and if one factors in the maintenance time and costs which are pretty much flat ( e.g. mooring) then it makes a difference. a 25 footer costs pretty much the same to maintain and moor whether she cost £100 or £100k

 

[ylop]

If it helps with clarity, my budget would be a maximum of £10k which I understand is extremely tight for anything,

Shouldn't be, but you need to think running costs too. Lets assume thats £1k per annum (that's cheap but 1/6th of a 60k boat would be possible). So over the next 5 years £15k. £3k per annum would easily get you a week, maybe 2 weeks outside school holiday in a reasonably comfortable family yacht. Or a number of weekend/midweek charters each year in the UK. If you found a friend who was into sailing and could also go at the right time you could quite feasibly "charter share" - spend less than you are talking about and have the flexibility to pick between locations each time and none of the ownership hassles. The problem with looking at £50k boat shares for a new boat is the alternative is a rather nice older bigger boat. Owning 1/6th of a new small nice boat v's owning 1/6th of a larger 20 year old but respectable 35 ft'er is a difficult sell. Running costs of the two probably aren't massively different when divided by 6 either. One think I don't think anyone has mentioned is that wear and tear on a shared boat is going to be higher than a single owner boat. It might not be charter boat bad, but the sails, engine etc are going to see 4x+ as much use, ropes, fenders, cushions, etc are all going to get more use if not abuse.

Your budget would be far more than required to buy you a 1/64th share of Brighton Belle and a lot of "day use fees" if you wanted to sail further or and gain experience with others. Indeed I'll bet that a number of the Brighton Belle members have small "dayboats" they sail closer to home! I know it wasn't quite the type of sailing you were talking about but if my wife and kids weren't interested I'd have gone down that route for sure.

 

[Dellquay13]

Thank you all for your fantastic replies and sage advice, which is all taken onboard and given me a lot to think about.

If it helps with clarity, my budget would be a maximum of £10k which I understand is extremely tight for anything, hence teh thought about buying into a share. I am very confident working in wood, albeit with experience only on aircraft (I'm actually restoring a wooden aircraft as we speak) - I'm sure there is reasonable overlap, given that most of my supplies come from marine sources! So, if buying something that needed a bit of work is feasible, I wouldn't necessarily be put off.

I will have a think about all of these replies over the weekend and start to gather my thoughts. It feels as though yachting has perhaps 5 - 10 x the number of options, choices and dilemmas that exist within aviation, so it can be difficult to work out where to start. Lots of food for thought here!

I bought a 1980 24’ bilge keel yacht in a tired but sailable condition 3 years ago for £3.7k.
I’ve gradually spent about £5k more including new standing rigging and sails, electronics, windows, heads etc. More than it is really worth but I’m really happy with it. Had 3 good years and now ready for plenty more.
About £3k annual costs in a Welsh marina, insurance etc.

However it’s very time consuming and getting enough use of it causes difficulty fitting in other hobbies

 

[Minerva]

I bought a 1980 24’ bilge keel yacht in a tired but sailable condition 3 years ago for £3.7k.
I’ve gradually spent about £5k more including new standing rigging and sails, electronics, windows, heads etc. More than it is really worth but I’m really happy with it. Had 3 good years and now ready for plenty more.
About £3k annual costs in a Welsh marina, insurance etc.

However it’s very time consuming and getting enough use of it causes difficulty fitting in other hobbies

Very true - my man-maths makes it better value to own a larger boat on the basis my wife sees it as a "holiday cottage" with responding levels of comfort. Much easier calculating the £/days use ratio when you spend 3+ weeks aboard for holidays each year!

By my applied man-maths it makes holidays on the boat a chunk cheaper than staying in a premier inn per night therefore the boat is clearly astonishing value for money.

 

[Dellquay13]

Very true - my man-maths makes it better value to own a larger boat on the basis my wife sees it as a "holiday cottage" with responding levels of comfort. Much easier calculating the £/days use ratio when you spend 3+ weeks aboard for holidays each year!

By my applied man-maths it makes holidays on the boat a chunk cheaper than staying in a premier inn per night therefore the boat is clearly astonishing value for money.

Man maths is good for me too
We have typically 40 nights p/annum aboard inc 4 week holidays . About £4.6k annual costs and improvements = £116 a night. Hopefully the big spends have finished for a few years so it might drop to about £75 a night
My miissus loves camping so a little boat is fine for us.
I am saving about £1.2k p/a in fuel now I have laid up my motorboat so that’s the initial purchase price recouped too.