Is bigger better??

SAWDOC

SAWDOC

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I have knocked great fun out of a 26 footer for the last few years and our family of 4 have spent some lovely times on board.
Recently I have been considering whether to upsize or not - our 26 footer is a great sea boat and inspires confidence. However a growing family is leaning me towards greater length. Also quite simply a shorter boat does not seem to have the same cruising speed as a longer model. So on the plus side there is greater comfort and extended cruising range ( more sea miles per day possible with say 1 knot higher average speed) .
On the other hand, several more experienced skippers say that the best fun is to be had in smaller boats and I have heard that one spends more time sailing and less time tied up with a samller boat. Could I ask if anyone has made the leap from medium sized cruiser of mid twenties to a larger craft (say 30-33 ft) and economics aside, did they find it a worthwhile upgrade./forums/images/graemlins/confused.gif
Thanks for taking the time to read this and looking forward to some interesting comments. /forums/images/graemlins/grin.gif
 
Economics aside... /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

A smaller boat, especially a bilge keeler, will give you access to many more areas, depending on your preferred cruising grounds.

A bigger boat will allow greater range, and you can sail in conditions that would be very uncomfortable in a smaller boat. The extra space enables more supplies, so you can stay away from shops for longer!

I sail a 35' sloop, mostly singlehanded, which may be a bit bigger than you are considering, but I get to do far more than when I sailed in a 23' boat. The little boat is great fun for inshore and estuaries, and manoeuvering and maintenance is much easier, but I much prefer the bigger boat /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Hello, We upgraded from a Westerly Griffon (26') to a Feeling 346 at the end of last season. We made the change because my wife, who has never done much sailing, enjoyed our first holiday so much SHE wanted a bigger boat! As yet we haven't done much - but we are planning to go away at Easter. Yes - there is a disadvantage in not being able to dry out, but we have moved from a marina to a swinging mooring and invested in a largeish inflateable and decent outboard so can go on 'adventures' in that with the kids (which at their age (3 and 1) are more exciting than the actual sailing anyway) up to the places we can't get to with Hermit 2.

We had great fun in our Griffon but now want the chance to go further afield in a bit more comfort. It is also nice not to have to sleep in the saloon!

Maybe at the end of the season I can give you a fuller answer. /forums/images/graemlins/ooo.gif
 
The decision to upsize a boat is somewhat akin to the decision to buy a boat in the first place. You won't know until you have a bigger boat.
If you are like me ( a smaller boat) then if you only do short cruises in sheltered water you can accurately say a bigger boat won't do any more for you.
On the other hand a bigger boat may encourage you to go further and spend more time on the boat. A bigger boat will certainly be more comfortable in rougher water. But if you don't take advantage of the bigger boat it will all be a waste.

A smaller boat is cheaper to own and can more easily be left unused as not so much of a waste of money if not used.
A bigger boat will be more expensive to own and so leaving you more obligated to use it more often. (assuming you are not filthy rich with money to waste).

So you will probably have to go into a bigger boat to find your own personal answers. I like my tiny boat but do wonder if a bigger boat would take me into a different kind of sailing. good luck on the decision olewill
 
We upgraded 4 years ago from a Hunter Ranger (26 ft) to a Wauquiez 35, transferring from River Orwell to Turkey. Hunter great for day sails or odd overnight but bigger vessel far more enjoyable for longer criuse, more seaworthy and goes faster. Suggest charter a larger boat to test the difference
 
[ QUOTE ]
The little boat is great fun for inshore and estuaries, and manoeuvering and maintenance is much easier,

[/ QUOTE ]

Our yachts previous owners went to the States, down the Eastern seaboard to the West Indies, across to the Azors, Gib, Western Med, up through Biscay back home. They never found the 27 foot lenght a problem for range or sea state.

The end of the day it's what you need to meet your requirements.

Brian
 
what we found challenging is that whilst the boat stays the same size the crew don't! we have had a 19' (young free and single days sailing with friends ) then a 25' then a 28' with which we started sailing with first 1 then 2 babies/toddlers - at time of no 3 arriving we went to a 35' but then hit a critical stage where the children were able to help on board but the loadings on for example the helm of that 35' boat were too heavy for them - that coupled with redundancy made us decide to go smaller and we bought a 27' which we kept for only 2 seasons - we found that the children were growing so quickly (no. 1 approaching teens) that what in theory was ok for family of 5 became very cosy and that the space and performance of the 27' was way below the previous 35' - the advantages of bilge keels/ light loads and cheaper to run were all great but once we could afford slightly bigger again it was for us an easy and has proved right decision to go upto a 34' which we have now had for 5 years - the size issues change as whilst the crew are now 17/15/13 and the eldest generally does his own thing rather than comes with us for weekends - when he does come it is with company (girlfriend) and likewise his younger siblings generally whenever possible bring friends - for us we keep umming and ahhing about going up another size , good luck
 
Over the years I have moved on from 18 to 26 to 32 feet and , on the whole, I have found it all positive. There is a certain amount of work you have to do on a cruising boat of any size, so the maintenence aspect is not as daunting as you might expect. Provided you can keep your existing mooring (and you are not in a marina) it will not work out that much more expensive to run. For example; a new inboard for a 26 footer is little different to one for a 33 foot boat of similar type; I use the same 21/2 lts of antifouling on my 32 foot boat as I did on a long keel 26'; safety equipment and electonics can be identical in cost. Sails on the other hand do start to get expensive, ditto insurance.
The experience of living aboard is transformed however particularly cruising in poor weather. There is an upper limit to all this though. I would never buy a boat that I could not singlehand in comfort. I suspect many people do this and end up sitting in a marina berth polishing. PS. don't bank on increased speed, I still seem to end up doing 41/2 to 5 kts on passage - tho if you are willing to fire up the nice big engine it helps.
 
Change up - absolutely YES. We had a Hunter Horizon 272 for several years and then moved up to a Hunter Channel 323 which we still have. Nothing wrong with the 272 but a fantastic difference in accommodation and general comfort especially as we now spend long periods (up to 3 months at a time) on the boat. Still easily handled by two (or one at times). Not sure I would want to go any bigger though for various reasons, mostly financial and in terms of ease of boat handling.
 
We went from 24 ft to 30 ft last year and don't regret it. Our daughter was a toddler when we went from 18 ft to 24 ft and now she is the size of a small adult. The main issue is volume not length.

As others have said you have a boat that can handle adverse conditions more comfortably but you also acquire that much needed commodity of space - not only while sailing, but also if you need to spend any time in one place.

Best fun can be had in smaller boats when there are just two of you, no more - most people look back to those days with affection from the comfort of their bigger boats. You don't actually hear of that many people downsizing right back down to their first boat again.
 
I have a 26 footer and will upgrade to a 30-32 footer shortly. There are obvious advantages to a bigger boat and they have been covered above. What you also have to consider is do you need an expensive larger boat and can you justify the expense. I look around at all the fibreglass production yachts on the market, most are cheap, some very cheap. I have just about decided that cheap is maybe the way to go if your not going to spend long periods onboard. Maybe more important considerations are lead keels versus cast iron or encapsulated keels.

really most people would be better served by a large daysailer.
 
Thanks to all for your replies - overall positive for the move I would say. family discussion today has centered on the suggestion to charter something similar for a week during the season and hopefully we will do that to see how she fits. could fishermantwo elaborate anymore on the lead keel versus iron keel consideration ? I have considered keel shape and would be more inclined towards long keelers for better sea motion but keel material had not registered.
 
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