Is everyone happy witrh the boats they bought?

stevebrassett

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Very happy with my new boat, purchased this year.

Just a shame she is only an inflatable tender for my old boat (which I am still very happy with).
 

Halo

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Bought my Westerly 25 in 1983 and sold her in 2010 - great boat, went everywhere round UK and through canals. Built like a brick outhouse. Only sold her because SWMBO required a door on the heads.
Bought Hunter Legend 33 bilge in 2010 through Fox in Ipswich. Taken her across N Sea twice in rough weather and round a lot of UK. She is a great boat for my purposes. SWMBO very happy with downstairs and happy to come on long trips, I can park her easy, single hand her when the mood takes me and she sails well - especially since I put a folding prop on her
Foxes brokers were fine with me.
 

CAPTAIN FANTASTIC

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This is the sixth season with this boat; Macwester Wight Sloop; 31ft; it is just the right size for us; plenty of room below and a solid boat that can take the ground almost anywhere.
 

Kelpie

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I admit that we bought our yacht because it was local and had a new engine, and seemed a sensible and well thought of design. In the first year I wasn't sure if it was the right choice since I was moving up from dinghies and found the yacht a bit sluggish.
Three years down the line, we've got the boat set up the way we want (new sails helped a lot!) and have been through some pretty rough stuff and learned how to get the best out of the boat, and to enjoy sailing her. I've also come to realise that, whilst every boat is a compromise, I've yet to find a design which is a better compromise for us and what we do.
 

Pinnacle

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Oh, yes!!!

I love her even much more than when I bought her three years ago. She is much better than I even hoped for, better sailing, more comfortable, more ingeniously made, more seaworthy. Love her to bits. I want to be buried in her Viking style.

I have been nearly overwhelmed, however, by the vast mass of things which have broken during my three years of ownership, despite the yacht's generally excellent condition and light use by the PO. This may be the inevitable consequence of buying a 9 year old boat -- the "sell by" date on a whole mass of components seems to come up right around 10 years . . . :(

Our boat is 9 yrs old...........:(:(:(
 

yodave

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Very happy with our 32ft Macwester Malin.

Our first boat and as we hadn't sailed before, with the benefit of hindsight I'm relieved that we bought the right boat for our location and the right boat for our purposes (East coast cruising not racing).

Yes we did a lot of research, and yes we nearly bought a very similar boat (a Macwester Wight), but that would have been a less good outcome as our example came with a new engine and a bow thruster along with an thermo-vacuum-epoxy treated hull. The bow thruster has been a huge plus for us, as it's a get-out-of-jail-free card that gives us the confidence to go places that as novices we might not have risked. The ketch format is also great for novices, as it allows practice without the mainsail which makes it easier to avoid problems in strong winds.

Two years down the line and I still think that we bought the right boat AND the right example of the boat. Not something that everyone manages to pull off first time around (see the fin-keelers spending the summer on the hard) ...and although we put in the graft researching and searching (not just the UK, but also Europe), I accept that there was an element of luck involved.

I'm sure that it's easier to buy the right boat second-time around.
 

grazbo

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I have been nearly overwhelmed, however, by the vast mass of things which have broken during my three years of ownership, despite the yacht's generally excellent condition and light use by the PO. This may be the inevitable consequence of buying a 9 year old boat -- the "sell by" date on a whole mass of components seems to come up right around 10 years . . . :(

+1

my boat's 10th year and only a year after I bought her, I had big bits demanding attention - Engine, halyards, standing-rigging,rudder bearing, sail cover.....plus the usual maintenance, anti-foul etc

Never cheap, but unavoidable.......needed to be fixed. Never mind all my free time spent at the boat and not even sailing.

In a masochistic way, I am happy though, cos I now have a better boat than I bought.

My lesson is, next time I buy a used boat, I'll assume the worst and get everything done as soon as I buy it - and be prepared for an extra 15% of spend.

No regrets though. I enjoy boat ownership.

The jib looks past its sell by date tho...........
 

Windy Tonique

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This was our 3rd boat and she went in the water on a very warm 23rd of March. She is ideal for the Lake (Windermere) with a huge aft cabin to sleep in. She is also very fast so good fun to sail and we will probably race her next summer. I love my boat to bits xxxxxxx
 

puddock

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Westerly Storm 33 OD

Bought Rosally @ 4 years ago after 5 days sailing 'experience'. My first ever boat, so nothing to compare her with but she has looked after me very well indeed.
From my first year pottering around the West Coast in pretty benign conditions, trying to learn as much as possible in as short a time as possible, to tramping about on the North East coast of Scotland in some pretty bouncy conditions. She has taken everything in her stride and never faltered.
Most of my sailing is single handed (or with non sailing crew). I find her ideal for this - not too big and big enough to be comfortable to live on (which I did for a year).
I have total confidence in 'my wee baby' and wouldn't change her for the World.
 
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Laurie

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yup...horses for courses, and is there the "perfect" boat? I doubt it, but had my last boat 14 years and loved it, but time to move on, for whatever reasons, and my new (2nd hand one) is suiting us very well it seems (first season)....love it.
:D
 
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Skylark

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I remain convinced that the Bene 361 is the best boat ever built. Bought her at a little over 3 years old and now my 7th season is about to end. I confess to be completley fastidious in keeping clean, tidy and well maintained. She still looks as good as new and I often have to pinch myself to think that she's mine. My pride and joy (lousy season this year, though:mad:)
 

30boat

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Oh, yes!!!

I love her even much more than when I bought her three years ago. She is much better than I even hoped for, better sailing, more comfortable, more ingeniously made, more seaworthy. Love her to bits. I want to be buried in her Viking style.

I have been nearly overwhelmed, however, by the vast mass of things which have broken during my three years of ownership, despite the yacht's generally excellent condition and light use by the PO. This may be the inevitable consequence of buying a 9 year old boat -- the "sell by" date on a whole mass of components seems to come up right around 10 years . . . :(

I must be very lucky.My boat is 32 years old and after 10 years of ownership only one bit broke.Your boat must be very fragile...
 

paulingreece

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We bought a Carter 33 in 2010, it came with a new engine, and was very cheap, we knew there was lots to do, but love her to bits, she is very comfortable for us, not to big, not to small, this year a new mast and sail was fitted, with all the bits that go with it, still alot to do, but i enjoy fixing things and pottering around doing the jobs that need doing, she sails very well now, she might be 37 years old, but she is younger than me, is there better, probaly, but i am happy with what we have, and that is what matters.
 

Habebty

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Yes,
I bought a Sadler 290 at the 2003 SIBS. Well, just after actually following a test sail. Ended up with number 3 and have loved every minute of owning it since. As mentioned in another thread, this will be my first and only new boat, as I had just the right amount of money available then and wouldn't be able to afford another new boat now.

Actually went looking for a secondhand boat at the used boat show, but saw the Sadler and it just looked right to me and ticked all the boxes for the type of sailing I like. :)
 

Quandary

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No, No, No, my old Sigma 38 went back through the canal last weekend and is looking better than when I sold it five years ago, I am still pining for it despite owning it for 12 years. I just got bored and talked myself into believing it was too big for two.
The replacement is an excellent boat and better in lots of ways but at more than twice the price and five feet shorter it would need to be.
 

Laurie

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..am I happy with the boat we've just bought?

yes, very. Just had our first season with her; bought 2nd hand last autumn, to fairly specific criteria, which she fills admirably. Not perfectly....but admirably.

Criteria in no specific order:
-Must sail well, and be suitable for our cruising grounds
-Comfortable below, separate cabin
-Good access to engine/services
-No bigger in length to our last boat, and shoal draught...to keep our mooring and enjoy the creeks of the east coast.
-Affordable!!

Our last boat was a much loved Jaguar 27 TK, which we had for 14 years.
Our new one is a Feeling 286 shoal wing/fin keel. Wonderful:)
 
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