Ideal Round Britain yacht for singlehander...

[lw395]

When push comes to shove, ISTM that a summer for round Britain is not really leisurely,
All the people I've known 'cruise' around, even Caly Canal, end up running out of time and wanting to get the East Coast over and done with.
As a run of day sails, 2 up or S/H it seems a mess.

 

[Frogmogman]

It's a slightly random question without mentioning your budget.

Assuming cash isn't the big issue, for me, a Pogo 30 with the carbon fibre mast and lift keel would tick all the boxes.

 

[westhinder]

I agree that your boat will be allright, as you can do it in any seaworthy boat.
If you want a bigger boat, that’s fine too. Do not be put off by draught. Yes, there will be places that you are restricted, or even can’t enter, but you will always have to make choices. You can’t visit them all, or it would take ages.
I did the trip in 4 months in my Starlight 39, 2.1m draught and did not have the impression that I was too restricted. There are stretches of the coast that you hurry past in order to spend more time in other regions. I spent 7 weeks in the Hebrides and still feel I only scratched the surface. Most of the time we were two up, but I sailed solo for three weeks and that was no problem either.
My advice would be, whatever the boat you choose, make sure it is well prepared and enjoy the trip.

 

[Sandy]

When push comes to shove, ISTM that a summer for round Britain is not really leisurely,
All the people I've known 'cruise' around, even Caly Canal, end up running out of time and wanting to get the East Coast over and done with.

The primary reason for doing it anticlock wize! Get the boring stuff done first.

 

[bobgoode]

I would suggest that the correct boat is the one you already have! The important aspect is actually the sailing and ports that you visit not what you are sailing in. In a summer you will expect to lose sailing time for bad weather what defines bad weather is your skill level and personal tolerance. Perhaps force 5 on the nose or 6 from astern, in which case one in every three days might be wiped out. How do you feel about a succession of 8 hour sailing days? The passage from Newlyn to Kilmore Quay in Ireland is 30 plus hours, what is your plan if singlehanded? Without a few 24 hour plus passages you may be pushing your time envelope.
All that aside, do it.

 

[alant]

Well I’ve been giving more thought to undertaking a leisurely round Britain gig... maybe over a summer...

Most of this would probably be single handed...

Now, I’m happy that Talisman could do the job easily.... she 31 feet, Cat A, 1.8m draft... but I’m inclined towards something a bit quicker and more sporty... possibly a Dufour 34... or maybe a Dehler 35cr...

I’m also wondering about the advantages/disadvantages of these deeper finned boats... would that cause me issues with getting into places, leaving some of the good bits undoable...

And for the avoidance of doubt... I’m keen to cut the corner and do the run from Inverness through Loch Ness etc...

Tips and thoughts?

One of these with a beach leg.

https://www.michaelschmidt.co.uk/boatdetails.asp?boatid=6751503

 

[lw395]

The primary reason for doing it anticlock wize! Get the boring stuff done first.

My plan would be to right up the West Coast, Orkney, Shetland, Caledonian Canal, Irish Sea.
I have zero interest in doing it singlehanded though.
Well maybe a bunch of singlehanded dinghies in company would be fun.

I don't really understand the urge to sail around GB stopping at a few places. If you want to explore and stop, then you want to explore the Northern bits as best you can, and sailing back down can wait.
I can understand racing around either non-stop or very few stops.
Anything in between seems to be some sort of gap year bucket list thing for retirees.

 

[Sandy]

My plan would be to right up the West Coast, Orkney, Shetland, Caledonian Canal, Irish Sea.
I have zero interest in doing it singlehanded though.
Well maybe a bunch of singlehanded dinghies in company would be fun.

I don't really understand the urge to sail around GB stopping at a few places. If you want to explore and stop, then you want to explore the Northern bits as best you can, and sailing back down can wait.
I can understand racing around either non-stop or very few stops.
Anything in between seems to be some sort of gap year bucket list thing for retirees.

The wonderful thing about this activity is we can all do it in a way we want.

I am planning my circumnavigation on the summer of 2022. Am telling people that I am planning to set off from Plymouth around the X of Y heading towards Dover, people can join and leave the boat as they wish. Weather permitting I am getting to The Faroes, Shetland or Orkney as fast as I can before heading west and south a bit. Most of this will be single handed.

But then this is just a warm up lap for some longer voyages where the butter melts.

 

[LittleSister]

Now, I’m happy that Talisman could do the job easily.... she 31 feet, Cat A, 1.8m draft... but I’m inclined towards something a bit quicker and more sporty... possibly a Dufour 34... or maybe a Dehler 35cr...

I think you should change if you want to, but only if you are fully convinced you want a different boat. The advantages of familiarity, ready set-up to your tastes and confidence in all the parts shouldn't be given up lightly. (Or at least not too lightly! )

Your talk of something a bit quicker and more sporty also reminds me of a friend who has many times toured Europe on a motorbike. He used to frequently thrash down motorways at very high speeds, but now has reached the age where he is content to cruise along at 70ish. He says he has noticed that it doesn't actually take significantly (or at all) longer to get anywhere, because he would previously have had to stop more frequently for fuel, and halted longer each time because of the physical and mental stress of very high speed riding.

Though bikes and boats are quite different, I wonder whether there's an element of similarity in that a sporty boat will be tend to be livelier, requiring more bracing, adjustment and concentration, and be less conducive to the navigation and drink/food preparation etc. that will take up more of your passage time as a single hander on longer than local jaunts.

I am definitely not arguing against sportier boats, for either you or anyone else, but just suggesting you consider the issue.

 

[westhinder]

I think you should change if you want to, but only if you are fully convinced you want a different boat. The advantages of familiarity, ready set-up to your tastes and confidence in all the parts shouldn't be given up lightly. (Or at least not too lightly!

Though bikes and boats are quite different, I wonder whether there's an element of similarity in that a sporty boat will be tend to be livelier, requiring more bracing, adjustment and concentration, and be less conducive to the navigation and drink/food preparation etc. that will take up more of your passage time as a single hander on longer than local jaunts.

I am definitely not arguing against sportier boats, for either you or anyone else, but just suggesting you consider the issue.

I can see your point if you’re changing to something really sporty and spartan, but I did not get the impression that that was the OP’s intention.
If he merely goes up in size, albeit to something slightly sportier, I think he will find that he does the same trip faster and at least as comfortably, as a bigger boat is likely to be more comfortable in a lively seaway. That is what I experienced anyway, moving from a Rival 34 to a Starlight 39. I do not make voyages I could not have done in the Rival, but i make them considerably faster and in more comfort than I used to. There are only a few harbours that I haven’t visited anymore since my draught went up from 1.5 to 2.1m, so I would not make too much of that drawback either, certainly not for a trip around Britain. If your cruising ground is the Wash or the Waddenzee for instance, draught is a different consideration, of course.

 

[alant]

The primary reason for doing it anticlock wize! Get the boring stuff done first.

But the winds are more favourable clockwise.

 

[Sandy]

But the winds are more favourable clockwise.

So it is alleged, I've also heard that tides are more favourable clockwise. Why anybody wants to beat down "le manche" at the end of long trip is beyond me. I'll get a cracking passage from Cork in Eire back to Plymouth.

As I said above the great thing with what we do is there are lots of different ways to do it.

 

[Kurrawong_Kid]

K

But the winds are more favourable clockwise.

Not sure that is so. Depends a bit on time of year! In May often easterly winds that make it easy to reach Lands End and possibly SW Ireland, but cold rough and hard work up the East Coast A bit later and you might be beating all the way to Land’s End, but gliding up the East Coast in an offshore wind,! I think the most important factor is the effect of depressions in the Irish Sea. SW gales are followed by gusty NW winds that make progress north very uncomfortable, whilst reaching southwards is then fast and often sunny. Anti clockwise for me!

 

[Fascadale]

Well I’ve been giving more thought to undertaking a leisurely round Britain gig... maybe over a summer...

Most of this would probably be single handed...

Now, I’m happy that Talisman could do the job easily.... she 31 feet, Cat A, 1.8m draft... but I’m inclined towards something a bit quicker and more sporty... possibly a Dufour 34... or maybe a Dehler 35cr...

I’m also wondering about the advantages/disadvantages of these deeper finned boats... would that cause me issues with getting into places, leaving some of the good bits undoable...

And for the avoidance of doubt... I’m keen to cut the corner and do the run from Inverness through Loch Ness etc...

This is a great plan, great voyage, loads of wonderful places to visit. I've been round a couple of times and would do it again

But,

Don't rush it, a summer will not be enough

Orkney, the Western Isles and the North West Coast of Scotland are three of the five best cruising areas in the UK: 60% of the UK coastline is merely a delivery voyage (that's a bit harsh) : your current plan leaves out the best bits

Deep keel is only a problem between Lowestoft and Hartlepool, a stretch that really does have to be treated as a delivery

 

[dunedin]

Having done about 60% of the route, I personally wouldn’t want a bilge keeler.
Some of the legs are longish, so a modern fin keel boat with ability to SAIL comfortably at decent speeds will shorten the passage times, reduce tiredness and allow more time to enjoy the places to visit.
Also many insurers limit single handers to 18 hour passages, so ability to complete the longer legs in this timescale could be important for the OP.
Though the East Coast has shallowish waters in places, the priority here may be to get the long hops done quickly. Plenty of deep water for the rest of the route (perhaps doing the Irish Sea via Ireland rather than Bristol Channel and Wales (ducking for cover!)

 

[Sandy]

Plenty of deep water for the rest of the route (perhaps doing the Irish Sea via Ireland rather than Bristol Channel and Wales (ducking for cover!)

Check with your insurers about Eire, when I spoke with mine that was not part of a UK coastal policy. The other little known fact was coastal is upto 12 nm offshore <b>unless you are on passage</b>. Next year I am extending my range to 30 miles offshore just to be on the safe side.

I think the key is to talk to your insurers about your plans.

 

[ninjod]

I think you should change if you want to, but only if you are fully convinced you want a different boat. The advantages of familiarity, ready set-up to your tastes and confidence in all the parts shouldn't be given up lightly. (Or at least not too lightly! )

Your talk of something a bit quicker and more sporty also reminds me of a friend who has many times toured Europe on a motorbike. He used to frequently thrash down motorways at very high speeds, but now has reached the age where he is content to cruise along at 70ish. He says he has noticed that it doesn't actually take significantly (or at all) longer to get anywhere, because he would previously have had to stop more frequently for fuel, and halted longer each time because of the physical and mental stress of very high speed riding.

Though bikes and boats are quite different, I wonder whether there's an element of similarity in that a sporty boat will be tend to be livelier, requiring more bracing, adjustment and concentration, and be less conducive to the navigation and drink/food preparation etc. that will take up more of your passage time as a single hander on longer than local jaunts.

I am definitely not arguing against sportier boats, for either you or anyone else, but just suggesting you consider the issue.

It's easy to slow a fast boat down but to get a slow boat to go faster....

 

[Zagato]

Another option could be to do it in a trailer sailer making time more flexible. I know a guy who did the trip over a few years when it was convenient in a Drascombe and wrote a book about it.

"Drascombe around Britain, a circumnavigation in easy stages" by Jim Hopwood.

 

[alant]

Another option could be to do it in a trailer sailer making time more flexible. I know a guy who did the trip over a few years when it was convenient in a Drascombe and wrote a book about it.

"Drascombe around Britain, a circumnavigation in easy stages" by Jim Hopwood.

Who moved the trailer while he was sailing to a new place?

 

[Champagne Murphy]

This is a great plan, great voyage, loads of wonderful places to visit. I've been round a couple of times and would do it again

But,

Don't rush it, a summer will not be enough

Orkney, the Western Isles and the North West Coast of Scotland are three of the five best cruising areas in the UK: 60% of the UK coastline is merely a delivery voyage (that's a bit harsh) : your current plan leaves out the best bits

Deep keel is only a problem between Lowestoft and Hartlepool, a stretch that really does have to be treated as a delivery

Haven’t done it yet but thats the plan. Rather dreading the Lowestoft and over the edge of the known world simply because of the boredom. Leaving the boat over winter in the west and spending a whole season there seems sensible given the fantastic reports about the area.
Only thing holding us up at the moment are the very elderly dogs.