if you had 50-80K...

G

gerry1

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Hi all,

If you had a budget of 45 to 70K €, and needed to buy a boat to spend 6 months sailing in the med with a familly of 4. What would you buy? What year?

And if you were sailing in the caribbean? would your answer be different?

Thanks

G
 
Beneteau 411 or Jeanneau, Bavaria equivalent depending on best boat on offer. Fine for Med or Carrib. Not 1st choice for an Atlantic crossing but perfectly capable of it.
 
I would buy exactly what I have now, a Jeanneau 45.2. Mine is 1998, and they were made up to about 2002. Very good internal space in a traditional hull shape, with a strong masthead rig. It sails well despite having less sail area than some other 45 foot boats.
 
gerry1 said:
If you had a budget of 45 to 70K €...
G
Click to expand...

... I would look at boats costing 70-100K and wish I had a bigger budget. Why do I do that with everything? If I did have a budget of 45 to 70K then what I should do is tell myself I have a budget of 30-45K, then I would be able to make myself really happy by buying a 60K boat.

Sorry, not a helpful answer in any way but sometimes it's useful to laugh at one's own fallibilities.
 
gerry1 said:
Hi all,

If you had a budget of 45 to 70K €, and needed to buy a boat to spend 6 months sailing in the med with a familly of 4. What would you buy? What year?

And if you were sailing in the caribbean? would your answer be different?

Thanks

G
Click to expand...

In my experience in the Caribbean there is always a good wind and you sail everywhere. Spend most of the time anchoring and using the dinghy. Need a well built boat of the Moody, Westerly, Halburg Rassy etc etc.
I have had ten years on and off in the Mediterranean spend lots of time motoring, there is little wind and spend lots of time in marinas. You need lightweight boat with good stern access like a Jenneau or Benneateau or even a Bavaria.
 
What you don't want:-

Teak decks
Centre cockpit
Lots of big windows
Something heavy that takes a lot of pushing along
Something that doesn't have a deck shower
Something that's not easy to get on/off the transom of (either to a dinghy or a quayside)
Something that's not easy to get off the bow of onto a quayside
Something that has a weird engine that you can't get spares for easily
Something that has a cockpit which is not comfortable to lounge in
Something that does not have a bimini
 
Bobc said:
What you don't want:-

Teak decks
Centre cockpit
Lots of big windows
Something heavy that takes a lot of pushing along
Something that doesn't have a deck shower
Something that's not easy to get on/off the transom of (either to a dinghy or a quayside)
Something that's not easy to get off the bow of onto a quayside
Something that has a weird engine that you can't get spares for easily
Something that has a cockpit which is not comfortable to lounge in
Something that does not have a bimini
Click to expand...

Agree with lots of that except centre cockpit.. Went round the world in a Moody 36cc and spent years in the Med with one and the sense of security is excellent.. In the Caribbean I prefer it not to be too easy for folks to get on board.
 
I’d agree with it too apart from getting off the bow easily - in 8 years in the Med I haven’t yet moored bow to the quay and never expect to - happy to moor further off and dinghy it if needed if there is rubble by the wall.

We would get something like what we bought in 2010 - a 10 year old ex-charter boat in fully equipped but grubby condition that we could slowly get up to a spec we liked and had few of the gripes above but also had at least two heads, 3 private cabins with doors, loads of storage and lots of water capacity built in. I would want at least 15k cash left over for first years mooring fees and the first few jobs to do it up - but to try very hard to spend at least one season with few changes so that we could find out if the weird quirks had a reason. Ours is a Jeanneau 42.2 but many boats would have met our criteria. For us slab reefing is desirable
 
It depends mostly on space. Some families can fit in 32ft. Some would need much more space.
I would suggest, given your budget, 38-40ft. Bigger is possible on your budget, but will be older and look older.

For a family on holiday, I would absolutely go for an inline galley.
You get more workspace, and you wont be doing much food prep underway.

This is the search I would suggest you use:

https://www.yachtworld.co.uk/core/l...pid=&rid=&cint=&pbsint=&boatsAddedSelected=-1

I would go for one of the full width drop down transom Bavaria 40's.
It the only way to sit outside a Taverna...
But then I am biased as we have a share in one in Greece.
But then that is because it is a really good choice for an all round performer... :)

And I bet the Bens and Jans there would also be excellent.

DONT go for anything with a TekDek.
WAY too hot underfoot in the sun.
I mean scorching and burn your feet.
 
Last edited:
Airscrew said:
It depends mostly on space. Some families can fit in 32ft. Some would need much more space.
I would suggest, given your budget, 38-40ft. Bigger is possible on your budget, but will be older and look older.

For a family on holiday, I would absolutely go for an inline galley.
You get more workspace, and you wont be doing much food prep underway.

This is the search I would suggest you use:

https://www.yachtworld.co.uk/core/l...pid=&rid=&cint=&pbsint=&boatsAddedSelected=-1

I would go for one of the full width drop down transom Bavaria 40's.
It the only way to sit outside a Taverna...
But then I am biased as we have a share in one in Greece.
But then that is because it is a really good choice for an all round performer... :)

And I bet the Bens and Jans there would also be excellent.

DONT go for anything with a TekDek.
WAY too hot underfoot in the sun.
I mean scorching and burn your feet.
Click to expand...

I loathe drop downs even though they look good. The first reason is that although they would be great to park conventionally by having stern up and big fenders to hold that lovely width against the quay just while you tie up, instead so many people come in with stern down so are too cautious of the quay leaving them swInging around other boats with thrown ropes landing in the water.

The other is a bit selfish - they turn 45 foot boats into 50 foot boats and make getting my boat out of a space that bit harder.
 
RupertW said:
I loathe drop downs even though they look good. The first reason is that although they would be great to park conventionally by having stern up and big fenders to hold that lovely width against the quay just while you tie up, instead so many people come in with stern down so are too cautious of the quay leaving them swInging around other boats with thrown ropes landing in the water.
.
Click to expand...

Thats bad and stupid practice (of them, not you Rupert).
A lowered platform before arrival is not strong enough, nor intended to 'fend' against the quay whilst tying up.
Any half decent skipper would know that.
But ofcourse in the med, not all the skippers are as diligent as the skippers on this forum.. :p:p:p
 
Drop down sterns are very useful for barbecuing from if you buy a big enough boat. I wonder though if with the OP budget sugar scoop sterns might be more common but I certainly would not be put off by oneif in budget . Much easier for washingdown on. The only downside I think is that you cannot balance the dinghy across a drop down and so in absence of Davits might not be so good for those not keen on marinas where dinghy might have to be kept on deck.
 
Despite my previously- expressed snobbery about the build quality of these marques, I was extremely comfortable on the Beneteau 393.

The 393 felt more spacious than the Jeanneau 37, both in the cabin and cockpit, despite being very close in actual length.

I guess when it comes to space and comfort, the law of diminishing returns of kicks in at about 40', because I wouldn't spend extra money for a Jeanneau 45.2 over the Beneteau 393.

I'm most comfortable with 2 - 4 people on a boat this size, and a couple with two kids would probably be fine on the 393. It didn't feel crowded with 3 adult men in the cockpit, so I guess it depends how fussy you are about the size of the master cabin.

They're like Ford cars - if you buy one that's 10 years old you'll probably have to repair things occasionally, but if you just want it for 6 months you can probably buy one, if you're canny, and sell it when you're done without much depreciation.

I haven't sailed on a Bav, but some of these other comments sound encouraging.
 
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