One of those What-Boat posts

Fire99

Fire99

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Hi All,

As some of you may know i'm a member of the dark side of the force, being a fully fledged stinky MOBO owner.
After doing a Competent crew course i've been rather taken with the 'Sticks-n-Rags' approach.. (just kidding re. the terminology)

Anyway i've owned MOBO's between 18 and 30ft over the past 7 years so would like something with reasonable accommodation / headroom. i'm about 5'9 5'10 ish..
Good seakeeping is very important as i'd like to be able to explore and do extended sea passages (British coast and trips to France / Netherlands etc)

Its hypothetical at the moment but the budget would be pretty tight.. 10-15k absolute max.

Boats i've taken interest in have been like:

Jaguar 27, Achilles 9 metre, Hunter Sonata etc.

If you guys have any suggestions i'd be more than pleased to hear..

thanks,

Nik
 
I'm sure a nice Trapper 500 would serve you well!!!!(recommendation comes with bias I'm afraid!). Decent size, quick and easy to sail, capable when it gets a bit rough, and within your budget!! /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Nothing better than a bit of Bias.. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
Saying that i'm a big Moody fan so, on different budgets, both you're boats are very appealing. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif

I'll check out the Trapper tho. thanks.
 
Another biased reply! How about a Varne 27/Weston850? Take a look at www.varne.co.uk One for sale at £13500 there at the moment - not mine.

Solidly built - no balsa cored decks, lead keels (on most), accomodation adequate, but not huge (5'9" ish headroom) but a terific sailing boat, stiff and good in the rough stuff. PM me if you would like more info.
 
Thanks alot for that.
I'll check out the info and i may drop you a message after for more info.
Whats the story regarding balsa cored decks? do many boats of that class have them? i take it thats not recommended?

many thanks,

Nik
 
If I had that budget this week, I would be looking at a Westerly Cheiftan, a Sabre 27, a Centaur Ketch (natch) and probably a few others, but then that's this weeks set of notions.

I'll have changed my mind next week.

Now what is the name of the Centauresque 26'er for sail at Wilson's at the moment. Solidly built in GRP but with attractive wooden spars...
 
Thanks.. Timing isnt ideal as at present im still the owner of one of those smelly contraptions.. will take a while to have available finances.
I have looked at an Achilles and they look fine boats. I hear people used to race them?
 
Many boats have decks made up of a sandwich construction with thin GRP skins and end-grain balsa between. Gives a stiff and light structure. Alternative is solid GRP which needs to be quite thick, and therefore heavy to give the stiffness. Balsa cored is fine until water gets in and then you can imagine the rest... Always something to check on older boats, is there any sponginess in the deck or coachroof?
 
The best bit of advice I had, during my long search for the right boat, was to buy something simple for a year or two, because once you do, you get a better idea of what you'll really want and what you'd be prepared to go without.

With you already having owned a few boats, albeit without sails, you might have a much better idea than I had, but I am not sure how transferable those preferences are from mobo to raggie.
 
ahh yes i get your point.. hadn't considered that.. But saying that the last boat i sailed was a 3 or 4 year old bavaria 36 which probably wouldnt have that kinda problem yet. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
Thats a good point but one thing that i think is common on MOBO's and Yachts is Interior space. or how much you need.

My 1st boat you had to really crouch inside and that was a pain after a while. My 2nd had loads of space (a big Freeman) and was mega comfy for me.

My current one is in the middle but it does have standing headroom (just) for a 5'10 which is ok for me.

I dont need acres of space but 'virtually' standing headroom is important and somewhere comfortable to sleep plus the ability to have a wash, use the toilet and cook for a few nights is important too.

And if i can squeeze 3 or 4 mates on board then that should cover it.
That plus a good turn of speed and being solid in the heavy weather and that should do nicely. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif

If i can find a boat with that lot then i'd be a happy chap.
 
The bit that is not transferable is the 'what are you going to do with it', because obviously that changes with a sailing boat.

I thought I would be looking to race with my mates, and I would love to, but I think that to race competitively within my budget is not going to work so I've arranged to crew for other people. At that point, SWMBOs wishes become more important as she is usually my crew, so now, all of a sudden, I am worrying about a table to eat off, a (almost) propper toilet and a better galley.
 
I'd give some thought to the type of sailing you want to do

Cruising or racing sheltered waters or ocean passages?

How many crew you likely to want to carry and how comfortable do you want to be?

Our ofshore 8m (£8500-£12500) is a very fogiving comfortable caravan and can be fun to sail in club persuit races but watching the fleet disapear over the horizon when we start together is a bit disheartening! Saying that the cockpit is very deep and shaltered and the boats very fogiving. Not to roomy though.

If you can stretch your budget to £17500 a UFO 31 may be worth a look. i sailed on a friends a lot and it was a lovely boat to sail and plenty of space downstairs.

lots of stuff i've read support previous suggestions perticularly the elizabethan and the trapper.
 
Some UFO 31s are much cheaper. There's one on the lake that must be a lot cheaper. It holds the record for sailing the furthest without a crew and has gone walkabout 6 times in the last 2 years. It was a lovely boat but is now a bit scruffy.
 
Thanks for the post....
I'm not interested in racing. I dont have enough miles under my belt yet and to be honest if i wanted to start out in racing i think id race little Dart cats. or something.

No i would like to be able to cruise sheltered and unsheltered ocean passages with a decent turn of speed and confidence in the boats capability plus all aforementioned relative comfort 'down-below'

Crew would likely be between 1 (me) and 4.. Possibly very occasionally 5 but comfort wouldnt need to be a consideration with 5 onboard..
 
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