Most seaworthy 30' boat?

IanCC said:
I have the opportunity of a very reasonable birth. But the boat can't be longer than 30' 5".
I don't have time for two boats in my life so want to get the decision right. Or try my best. Don't want my dreams of voyages to be restricted.
Nich 31 looks good but may be a slug. I want a boat that is nice to sail.
Not a twister or a vancouver 27/274, did I say it must have a double berth?
Rustler 31 out of my price band for a good one. Up to 25k ish.
Halmatic/Barbican maybe.


Looks like I am fixated on long keel but I am not and nor by skegs.

All input apprectiated.
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I'm out! :cool:
 
IanCC said:
I thought I was replying to the suggestion of a Whitbread 30. The Moody is a good suggestion.
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I take your point. In my defence there was a flurry of replies. Perhaps a quote first might have helped. Anyway my comments re the Moody still apply & i am sure that others may well agree. Of course there are others Some will always say their boat is the best. I do not own a Moody & would never have one, but my requirements are different to yours.
 
I sailed a Sadler 29 very happily for many years in the Channel and North Sea, but I wouldn't describe it as being especially seaworthy. Although faster, it would need reefing down earlier than some of the boats mentioned such as the Halmatic. It would do the job safely but I wouldn't choose it to go into the blue yonder.
 
The Angus Primrose Moody 29 is a big boat for the length and is very solid and seaworthy.
 
Dufour Arpege?

First 30?

Generally the French boats of a certain age have better accommodation than the British.

Check out the Jeanneau, Gibsea, Dufour marques. Also Feeling and Etap.

Moody 29 or 30

My own choice of the ones already mentioned would be the Sadler 29 (we have a 32 which is a lovely boat but a foot too long unless you can get away with overhangs)
 
Seaworthy ? Bit of a wide ranging comment ...

Personally I prefer older heavier boats that sit IN the water and not ON it ...
Older boats - these are my observations over more than 5 decades of boating - tend to have heavier gauge rigging ... and often sturdier fittings.
My Sunrider although only 25ft is built like a battle tank ... hull is 50mm solid GRP. I would not worry about sailing her literally anywhere ... but she is no racer !!

If I was to look for a 30ft'r to give reasonable ability, comfort, reliable, nothing to be looked down on (there are some real snotty b*****s in the boating world !! ) .... then I would be looking in this order :

Moody
Colvic
Westerly
Nicholson
Jeanneau

just as examples ... age range ? in the 1990's bracket ....

I do have a personal fav - but its outside of the OP's range ... Macwester Seaforth.

And the ultimate for me if I could ....... Moody Eclipse 43 ....

But those two are not the issue here ...
 
IanCC said:
Some say the sadler 32 and 29 have the same volume inside. Hard to believe.
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theres a sadler 32 next to my boat on the hard at my club, i found the interior very dark and dated. prefer the open lightness of my jeanneau and mine has separate cabins and head
 
IanCC said:
Halmatic/Barbican maybe
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Good choice imho. Seek out a good one and you won’t be disappointed. I have > 10k nm in a Halmatic 30 (including UK to the Med’ and back) and never found it wanting. Surprisingly good in light airs (mine was a Mk 1 so bigger mainsail) and coped well to windward across the Golfe de Lyon with up to 45kts apparent wind. There were things to be aware of (chain plate attachments the main thing) but most will have been sorted out by now. Performance wise? 2nd overall in the ISC handicap division (600+ boats) in the 1991 Round the Island Race wasn’t bad.....
 
IanCC said:
I have the opportunity of a very reasonable birth. But the boat can't be longer than 30' 5".
I don't have time for two boats in my life so want to get the decision right. Or try my best. Don't want my dreams of voyages to be restricted.
Nich 31 looks good but may be a slug. I want a boat that is nice to sail.
Not a twister or a vancouver 27/274, did I say it must have a double berth?
Rustler 31 out of my price band for a good one. Up to 25k ish.
Halmatic/Barbican maybe.


Looks like I am fixated on long keel but I am not and nor by skegs.

All input apprectiated.
Click to expand...
How do you define 'seawothy'?
A lot of people will bang on about one or two older designs, but a lot of those boats are not very 'seaworthy' in the sense that a lot of the gear is worn out, rigging past its sell by date etc etc. With a £25k budget you need to find an individual boat which does not need too much spent to do what you want.
Personally I would look for a nice 30ft boat and concentrate on the type of sailing that it is good at. There is a lot to be done with this size of boat which does not involve crossing oceans or facing F10.

If you dream of the odd big voyage, you can do that on someone else's boat. But OTOH, people have been to far flung places on modest boats which the pundits would say were unsuitable.
 
I think the Nicholson 31 would be a good one to consider. Yes, it’s a long keel design, but it is very definitely faster than the 32. (I confess to being prejudiced in favour of Ray Wall designed boats, as I own one).

Accommodation can perhaps be judged from the link below.

Unfortunately she is thirty feet seven inches long so you might need to lose two inches somewhere.

Nicholson 31 archive details - Yachtsnet Ltd. online UK yacht brokers - yacht brokerage and boat sales

The Nic 30 by the same designer is a totally different beast being a light displacement racer - still very nice but quite different.
 
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IanCC said:
Some say the sadler 32 and 29 have the same volume inside. Hard to believe.
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The 29 has the galley sink partly under the bridge deck. It's not so cramped there on the 32. So the cabin is a little longer there inside. The 32 also has a bit of a counter aft with the rudder shaft mounted through it and a locker, whereas the 29 has a transom mounted rudder.

We thought the 32 seemed more spacious and less compromised when we bought her.

No problem with droopy headlinings on these boats, they are grp mouldings.

Dark inside? That's your choice, the interior is teak or teak faced marine ply so you can lighten it up as much as you like.

But we're quite happy with a cosy traditional oil lamp lit ambience. You could brighten it up easily with modern led task lights or led ribbon lighting when you want to.
 
I don't get the Barbican. Nicer in some ways but with an extra half tonne of ballast. Means you can carry half a tonne less stuff or is the halmatic super tender?
 
Wansworth said:
Nic 32 sailed non stop via three capes by old age pensioner,came back with no problems!
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Not quite, he did break the boom in the Southern ocean, repaired by cutting down a spare spinnaker pole and used as splint, which lasted to get him halfway round the way and back to Chichester, A side effect was that the main was now loose footed, so could not be used for collecting rain water. He only just survived dehydration.

But back to the thread - his Nic was the later model, so actually 33ft overall, so not for the OP.
 
At that price point there are some 20 odd year old 30 foot production boats coming within range but if you really are planning longer ocean voyages in a 30 foot boat I think you'd be better off with an older design, not necessarily long keel but something that's less of a handful and more comfortable for longer voyages. You have to treat each boat on its merits though and factor in cost of replacing anything that needs it. Fixating on particular makes and models doesn't help, just restricts your choice unnecessarily...
 
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