Is 40 foot an Ideal size Sailing Boat

savageseadog

savageseadog

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I know it depends on what you are going to do, but I'm talking about an all rounder, something that can be cruised almost anywhere and could be raced as well with a sensible size crew.

The basis for thinking this is that over 40 foot costs seem to multiply, sail size and sizes of everything again get too big. The draught gets very restrictive too.
Maintenance wise a 40 footer can be maintained by an owner alone. Beyond 40 foot lifting becomes a difficult issue as well.

Any comments, I'm not talking about a hard and fast 40, more like 38-42 foot.
 
I think 40 foot is a pretty good size, but the real question is 'for what?' Our boat is 39 foot and we live on her for a few weeks a year, with a plan to live onboard for a year or two when I get my pemsion. For us, the size is good - and its what we can afford (just!)
 
As the owner of R38, you expect me to agree and I do. Your points are valid, I'm a great fan of the maxim of "If you can't manhandle it, then think carefully about putting on it a boat." So anchors and sails that, above 40' ish, start to need power winches go into that category. I'm not knocking a power windlass, I'm fitting one myself this winter it is just that if it all goes wrong I'm know that I can heave the thing up by brute force.

As for docking in any kind of a blow and manoeuvring in a marina, some marinas are tight at 38 foot.

Yes, I know that the Dame Ellen's and Mike Goldings of this world handle their huge craft single handedly but these boats are equipped with whopping great coffee grinder winches which well outside of what I would want to put on a cruising boat.

I've got a fair few friends with bigger boats and they all seem to have problems handling the loads that these craft can deal up. It's a real shame because I'd love the additional space.

Below 35' is a bit small for me (I'm 6' 4")
 
I would rather say, maximum

I have an older boat than most people but the weight of sails, anchors and chain, etc is much the same. At 37ft she is big enough to live aboard for extended periods of time but not so big that very fancy gear is needed. For example, I don't need a power windlass.

Also, she is big enough to be able to make an ordinary coastal passage in most weather conditions in a reasonably predictable time scale. i.e. up to F6 we're not bothered, whilst still being small enough to singlehand.

A particular pleasure with an old fashioned boat of this size is the ability to carry a decent rigid dinghy on deck (a 9ft sailing dinghy, in our case).

I would not want anything bigger, if anything my ideal boat might be a little smaller, say 32ft.
 
I totally agree. As an owner of a 39 footer that I live aboard on for about 8 months a year, I have found that she is absolutely the perfect size for me. She is large enough to be very comfortable to live on, but small enough for me to be able to sail and moor single handed if I need to. It is also the smallest size I would like to cross an ocean in or be caught out in a serious blow in, but that is a personal choice.

Last point: the prices for mooring in many marinas in the Med goes up rapidly above 40 ft.
 
We have a R41 and also tend to live (and work) on her in the summer. We find her a good size, and underway there are no problems with two of us sailing her.

She is also docile enough to single hand. There are sometimes problems with close quarter handling - we solved those by wimping out and fitting a bow thruster (I know, I know).

This is a boat "of a certain age" and I suspect that a more modern boat would not suffer from the handling problems and would offer more living space.

Yer pays yer money.......

Cheers

Colin
 
Well yes, we have 40', liveaboard full time and have more than enough space to carry all we need to be self sufficient for up to 8 months at a time. We do most of our own maintenance and can cope with sailing singlehanded if we need to. If anything though I think I would go for something a bit smaller, around 36'. We are carrying an extra cabin that is usually filled with more stuff than we truly need to cruise ie Christmas tree etc!!
Drives the husband mad.
 
OK, so as everyone's agreeing with you I hope you won't mind a note of controversy. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
As the owner of a 29 footer who sails weekends and takes a 1-3 week holiday each year I cannot understand why a couple would need anything bigger. For liveaboard, fair enough, it is your house and you can't go somewhere else when it rains but as a pleasure yacht the advantages of smaller are:
Cost - we're not all millionaires
Harbour handling - I'm not built like Geoff Capes, neither is my wife, but between us it is no problem to manhandle the boat around a dodgy marina berth. 29' and 3 tons is quite tractable. I have seen 40 footers that are unhandleable except with a 50hp engine and a bowthruster.
Safety - many large boats have a massive freeboard, so that boarding from a dinghy is hazardous, as is loading goods and chattels. And you can forget trying reach the toerail, let alone climbing back on board from the water without a ladder. We have a freeboard of less than 18" amidships, and in a non-emergency situation it is quite possible to get yourself back on board. I'm sure 3' of freeboard makes for a pleasantly large living space once on board, but I don't live there, I use the boat to visit places, and once in harbour the main task is to get out and explore. The boat is a place to sleep, sip sundowners and store things. And eat, occasionally, .

And then there's the hidden cost increases: a 25-30 footer needs no more than 10hp to get around under power, sipping 2-3 pints an hour. Any anchor that can hold you is going to need a windlass (or a visit to the physiotherapist) to get it back in again.

Finally racing: I don't, but I am informed by a fellow '29 owner who does that the Liz 29 has a wickedly unfair handicap when the wind perks up, in addition to her innate upwind speed.
 
I don't think that you are being controversial, most of the above posters said that their perfect boat would be nearer the 29', apart from long tall me.

The only quibble I 'd have with you is the rate of fuel consumption, at 5 knots with 37.5 hp we use the same amount as your goodself rising to a thirsty 4 pints at 6 knots /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
[ QUOTE ]
at 5 knots with 37.5 hp we use the same amount as your goodself rising to a thirsty 4 pints at 6 knots

[/ QUOTE ]

that's interesting, fuel consumption is always quoted as being a function of engine horsepower, although logic and the laws of physics would suggest that the number of horses actually engaged is more significant, but I wouldn't have guessed that the same amount of fuel would be used to drive a 20' lwl/3 ton boat and a ?35' lwl boat at the same sub-max. hullspeed speed.
 
We live aboard a Sadler 34 for half the year. This is not an enormous boat for her length but there is ample for the two of us. There are significant savings to be had in marina cost bands, which in some places are 10 - 10.99 metres and in others are 10 - 11.99 metres. 10 .99 metres (just over 36 feet) would seem to be close to the ideal size from this point of view, as however hard you try it is necessary to use them sometimes.

20 years ago this size of boat used to be the 'ideal size' but I suppose expectations may now be higher. We find it excellent for sailing, close quarters handling and single-handing.

Over the whole season of 2006, our Yanmar 3GM30F engine consumed just over 1 litre of fuel per running hour. We mostly cruise at about 6 knots
 
40 footers perfect! I loved my hillyard which was 40 feet,plenty of water large reliable? engin wheel steering great easy to fit davits or dingy on coach roof bags of stowage space, plenty of deck to wander about at anchor and often a comfortable aft cabin and perhaps as with the hillyard a fixed rain sun roof over a good part of the comfortable cockpit.

Downside: Harder to find a place in port can be very expensive and often just to big for small fishing harbours!
If i could justify the cost i would still have my hillyard, but im very happy now with a slightly more compact boat!
 
40 foot & 10t displacement is probably the upper end that is manageable by a couple without mechanical assistance (powered winches etc). Note the comment on displacement, its not just size, but the weight too.

A lot depends on what exactly you want to do with the boat and how many folks will be entertained on board.

Net net, 40 foot (35 - 40) is a great size as they are fast enough to give a good long cruising range, large enough inside to be a lot more comfortable than camping, have enough displacement that they don't jerk around in a cop or at anchor and the physical loads aren't too big.
 
EXactly /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif

No matter what size, those extra 4 feet seem to become highly desireable.

Until you size up, when you are still 4 feet short. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
My wife and I live for three months a year on our 31ft boat - next year it will be six months - and we find the size perfect for two but a squeeze if we have guests.

Smaller boat every time for me for a number of reasons:

1. Reduced costs - berthing, maintenance, replacing gear etc.
2. Manoeuvrability in confined spaces.
3. Modest draught (fin keel).
4. Lighter weight of gear.
5. Easier to find space in congested marinas.
6. Concentrates the mind on making sure the boat is efficiently organised to maximise space.

As a rider, I would add that weather plays an important part. If you're going to sail somewhere that's cold and wet, you will spend more time down below. In this case, a bigger boat might be desirable.

Whether the boat is 30ft or 40ft isn't going to make any difference to how seaworthy she is - so that's not an issue.

If I sailed alone I'd go even smaller - something like a Vancouver 27 or a Twister.
 
I'm extremely happy with my First 42s7. She's very comfortable, for up to six people, fast, and rewarding to sail.

The one down-side is that single-handing is no longer an option, and I keep feeling tempted by the thought of a cheap little 20 footer for fun runs round the harbour...
 
26ft is ideal for us, we have 26ft gear and costs (under £400 for a full standing rigging replacement). A mast we can or could in dire need manhandle down. Engine equipment that can be removed and carried off the boat by two people (lots of swearing and shouting but can be done). Speed comparable to a 40ft boat most of the time.

We have the space of a 40-45ft yacht, 3 double berths! Full galley and heads/shower. Storage space that we are not allowed to fill, well, not supposed to.

Yet on our 45ft equiv. yacht we have a 10kg anchor which holds firm, a bigger storm anchor which touch wood is never used for purpose. We can even sail with our tender inflated on the foredeck.

we draft around 2' 4" and can take to a dry mooring and live and sleep on board as if she were afloat.

I keep playing around with selling up and buying a much bigger boat, but then reality hits and I realise that this is the perfect fit for two people sailing and living. I pay for a 26ft yacht on my mooring, may get stung in a marina, but then I am paying for a 39ft yacht which is still a little smaller than I have, so it is win win.

Maybe you guys are extending in the wrong direction, what'dya think?
 
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