They have to start somewhere. This type of boat is aimed at a "new" market not as a substitute for existing cruisers. Unlikely to find many customers in the UK as our conditions are not suited to what the boat has to offer. However for rich Europeans it (and the other similar offerings) has a lot to offer as a weekend or holiday plaything.
By way of explanation. I am 77, so physical effort becomes harder. A single handed sailor for years. Been there done it, had the T shirt. Just fitted a larger engine in the boat, so I now can get more knots instead of difficult sailing. Besides what is wrong with a nice motor up the river Blackwater, Crouch or Orwell, The river Trieux, the Little Russel etc. Sit back & enjoy life in the sun while a brand new engine chugs quietly away & one does 6.5 kts with ease. Wave to passing vessels. Plus , of course, a cup of coffee in one's hand.
I'm not saying that at all. I'm just saying that if the winds are suitable to sail 40-50 miles in a day then great. If they're not still go out, just don't go as far... Spending 10 hours with the donk on just to be in a different harbour - then turn around and motor back the next day....
Actually I have always been a sail a day rest a day sailor. So to sail back the next day has been a rareity for me, for the past 20 years. I always have left 1 day for rest , even going 25 miles up the coast, whether returning or going on. 2 days on the 100 M plus legs.
Sometimes it's worth it in the hope of a good sail back the next day.
Indeed, it's a well worn path of paper studies and actual boats, so what does this particular dip into the EU funding trough bring to the party?
It does show a door on the interior plans …. So you can confirm your order.
What is the “dip into EU funding trough“ to which you refer? And if there is EU finding, why would that be an issue to a Uk forum.
The SA/Disp ratio is inadequate for us, and ours is a cat. B. We'd be better off electrifying our own boat.
I didn't realise this was a UK-only forum.
We've never motored more than about 5 miles. And even then we’d have been motorsailing for a fair chunk. Presumably this wee beastie is meant to do much the same. This year we hope to improve on that with a code 0 sail. That increases our upwind area to nearly 80sq m. Downwind we don’t carry as much as the Grand Soleil, but then we generate more apparent wind. I think the concept is perfectly viable for coastal cruising, it’s whether there are enough willing punters to give it a go. Is there a big enough gap between, say, Pogo 30 customers and Dragonfly customers.
