New Boat Purchase

[the-drifter]

After transferring from power to sail this time last year. i purchased my first sailboat a Beneteau 351. throughout last year, a practiced sailing single handed and completed my YM theory. sailed over to the channel islands . i spent a week with a friend in Greece who has a lovely HR, it dawned on me that my Beneteau was not big enough for what i desired, so my hunting began.

I scrolled this forum for all of the valuable information on various boats, i narrowed it down to a Beneteau and a Jeanneau. I now can confirm that i am the proud owner of a Jeanneau 49DS.
I will still sail single handed and to continue to learn, as i am very much the novice. My home berth is Poole, so if anyone want to go out sailing for the weekend, and i am there most weekend, then your more than welcome. i will be doing some "Own boat tuition to gain confidence.

so thanks to everyone who contributes to this site, as your boating knowledge is second to none. and assisted me in my new purchase

i have added some picture.

Thanks

 

[Seajet]

Nice post to read, and well done for your sensible approach, though you're brave singlehanding such large boats as starters !

 

[maby]

Nice post to read, and well done for your sensible approach, though you're brave singlehanding such large boats as starters !

I'm beginning to wonder if large boats might actually be easier to single-hand, you know. Let's face it - once you are out in open water, there's precious little difference between a 25 footer and a 45 footer - you pull the same ropes. The difficult thing about single-handing is the close-quarters work - tying up at pontoons, going through the lock, picking up buoys - things where it is really useful to have one person doing the ropes while another steers and controls the speed. Big boats just react more slowly than small ones. Taking our old 27 footer into the lock, you could manoeuvre it in, stop close to the windward pontoon and, in the time it took to drop the tiller and get midships you could have drifted half way across the lock. A big heavy boat does everything far more slowly - though admittedly it is further to run to get midships once you've stopped!

 

[lustyd]

I'm curious what it was about the 351 that made it too small for your needs? There isn't an awful lot on a 50 footer that a 34/36 footer doesn't have other than extras of everything like cabins and heads. I totally get that they are generally nicer to be on board and more homely but as a single hander I'd be worried about how I'd handle getting a sail down if something goes wrong, getting a wayward sheet under control while steering, or even getting the anchor up if the windlass dies!
Congrats on the new purchase, she looks a lovely boat.

 

[maby]

I'm curious what it was about the 351 that made it too small for your needs? There isn't an awful lot on a 50 footer that a 34/36 footer doesn't have other than extras of everything like cabins and heads. I totally get that they are generally nicer to be on board and more homely but as a single hander I'd be worried about how I'd handle getting a sail down if something goes wrong, getting a wayward sheet under control while steering, or even getting the anchor up if the windlass dies!
Congrats on the new purchase, she looks a lovely boat.

Almost always I'm sailing with just my wife and we only got the autopilot installed a month ago, so that was over a year effectively single handing in your terms - one of us was the autopilot! Of your various scenarios, it's only really raising the anchor with a failed windlass that would be a significant problem, but that would not be vastly easier on a 25 footer, really - just a shorter run back to the cockpit to regain control once the hook has broken free.

 

[Pinnacle]

After transferring from power to sail this time last year. i purchased my first sailboat a Beneteau 351. throughout last year, a practiced sailing single handed and completed my YM theory. sailed over to the channel islands . i spent a week with a friend in Greece who has a lovely HR, it dawned on me that my Beneteau was not big enough for what i desired, so my hunting began.

I scrolled this forum for all of the valuable information on various boats, i narrowed it down to a Beneteau and a Jeanneau. I now can confirm that i am the proud owner of a Jeanneau 49DS.
I will still sail single handed and to continue to learn, as i am very much the novice. My home berth is Poole, so if anyone want to go out sailing for the weekend, and i am there most weekend, then your more than welcome. i will be doing some "Own boat tuition to gain confidence.

so thanks to everyone who contributes to this site, as your boating knowledge is second to none. and assisted me in my new purchase

i have added some picture.

Thanks

Taking it to Antigua from Poole must have been fun!

[Joke]

 

[Sandy]

Enjoy...

Interesting comments about size and single handed sailing. I shall need to ask in a year or so how you got on.

 

[Sailfree]

Does your insurance cover you for single handed sailing?

 

[Bobc]

I have a Bav49 and most of the time it's just me and the missus, and we find it easier to sail and handle 2-up than our old Bene First345. The bigger boats are more geared-up to make things easier and lighter, and as someone said earlier, things happen a lot slower on a big boat, and they don't get thrown around as much.

Well done on your new purchase, they are a lovely boat. You'll really enjoy owning it.

 

[Eyore]

Strangely after almost a half century of sailing that started in dinghys as a child, then graduated to the first "real" boat a Folkboat and then onto a 35ft timber ketch, a HR 352, a 39ft steel Van de Stadt. Subsequently things started to get smaller to a point where I now consider a 28ft boat will do everything more easily, and cheaply with just as much fun and as safely. I also rely on manual systems , ie myself as opposed to electrical/hydraulics, so little to go wrong.

 

[the-drifter]

Hi all,
Thank you for you compliments.

The main reason for the increase of size was the difference in Ballast, as the some of the comments suggest, a smaller boat gets thrown around easier when in close quarters, maneuvering can be difficult if you have more that an F3 on a light boat.
the new boat has a ballast of 15T, so your slower but you don't loose steering when going slowly. I have to admit I have not practiced the marina as of yet, but I am sure it will be the same, (I require help). I am not saying I have got it right, I am saying I have got it right for me. ( I hope) what could possible go wrong

my overall plan is to get her ready for the Atlantic crossing in 2 years’ time. as this is my dream.

 

[the-drifter]

I have checked and my insurance does cover me

 

[lustyd]

I have a Bav49 and most of the time it's just me and the missus, and we find it easier to sail and handle 2-up than our old Bene First345. The bigger boats are more geared-up to make things easier and lighter, and as someone said earlier, things happen a lot slower on a big boat, and they don't get thrown around as much.

Well done on your new purchase, they are a lovely boat. You'll really enjoy owning it.

I understand that they are easy to sail day to day, and that while things are working they are geared to make light work of sails. My point was what happens when you're already out at sea and have to manually take the sail down. For instance the OP's boat has in mast reefing which is incredibly easy to sail with unless it goes wrong at which point you find yourself pulling down a sheet of fabric the size of a football pitch without lazy jacks.
I agree with the OP though that bigger boats are easier to handle though

 

[Bobc]

I have a fully-battened main and lazyjacks, so no worries there

 

[lustyd]

I have a fully-battened main and lazyjacks, so no worries there

Not sure how to read this one, hopefully you mean it in a light-hearted way and actually have considered the risk of your headsail furling breaking while solo even if your post ignores that eventuality. Having pulled a very large head sail down single handed in weather with a very competent helm in the past I would have to think twice myself. That said Dame Ellen does it alone so clearly it's possible even if not fun.

 

[Bobc]

Of course it was.

At the end of the day, on any size of boat something can go wrong, and sometimes that thing going wrong is worse on a big boat and other times it's worse on a little boat.

If you spend your like mulling over all of the "things can could happen" you'll never go anywhere. In 40 years of sailing I've never had a furling system fail to the point where you have to drop/cut the sail off, but what I have had are a number of engine failures (which is a worse thing to have in a small boat), especially with outboards, and a skin fitting let go (again worse in a small boat), so it's horses for courses really.

 

[pvb]

The main reason for the increase of size was the difference in Ballast, as the some of the comments suggest, a smaller boat gets thrown around easier when in close quarters, maneuvering can be difficult if you have more that an F3 on a light boat.
the new boat has a ballast of 15T

It might have a displacement of 15 tonnes, but the ballast weight is only around 4 tonnes. Nice boat though.

 

[the-drifter]

Sorry i was meant to say Displacement weight

 

[Fantasie 19]

Nice post to read, and well done for your sensible approach, though you're brave singlehanding such large boats as starters !

+1! Respect!!

 

[Carl s]

I do not see a problem sailing a fairly large yacht at sea ,certain things take a bit longer on your own but then you just plan ahead of your self ,for me berthing in unknown marinas,the cost of haulage ,maintainence,etc were more of an issue ,47ft yacht, I have since downsized too 35 , seems about right, though there is no substitute for LOA for comfort