NealB
Well-Known Member
Our approach to boat ownership has been 'promisuous' (to name just a few, we've owned: Westerly Discus, Wharram Pahi 31, Seadog 30, Manta 19, Halcyon 27 and, for the last ten years, a beautiful wooden gaff rigged Tidewater).
We now feel it's time to move on again.
Budget is £20000 to £30000.
We want:
- comfortable accommodation for two for up to several months a year, plus space for 2 occasional guests
- decent, responsive handling under sail (it would be nice to sail the pants off 'Windfall' in her She 31b to windward).
- shallow draft and ability to dry out are a big 'plus', but so are
- looks
If we let our hearts rule, we'll go for something like: Rustler 31, Northney 34, Excalibur 36, Seacracker, Centurion 32. We like the looks, the way they behave at sea, and we'll still have that enjoyable feeling of having a 'special' boat (absolutley no disrespect to what are very fine boats, but we didn't get that feeling at all when we owned either a Westerly or a Moody).
The problem with these 'classics' is their draft, as we like exploring, and drying out, in creeks and lakes (yes, we do overnight coastal, and cross Channel type, passages too).
A logical choice might be something like the Hunter Horizon 30 or Red Fox Vision. How do they sail? Is the Red Fox as big inside as it seems, or has stowage and tankage been sacrificed?
The real engineering answer, would be a cat. However, other than the Iroquois (they turn over don't they?) and the Wharrams (too camping orientated for us now), they don't score highly, in our eyes, on the 'looks' criteria. I quite like the Edel 35, but the Mrs thinks we'd only use one hull 90% of the time (maybe the vendor would accept a 50% offer, hmmm....).
All ideas welcome!
Confused of Devon.
We now feel it's time to move on again.
Budget is £20000 to £30000.
We want:
- comfortable accommodation for two for up to several months a year, plus space for 2 occasional guests
- decent, responsive handling under sail (it would be nice to sail the pants off 'Windfall' in her She 31b to windward).
- shallow draft and ability to dry out are a big 'plus', but so are
- looks
If we let our hearts rule, we'll go for something like: Rustler 31, Northney 34, Excalibur 36, Seacracker, Centurion 32. We like the looks, the way they behave at sea, and we'll still have that enjoyable feeling of having a 'special' boat (absolutley no disrespect to what are very fine boats, but we didn't get that feeling at all when we owned either a Westerly or a Moody).
The problem with these 'classics' is their draft, as we like exploring, and drying out, in creeks and lakes (yes, we do overnight coastal, and cross Channel type, passages too).
A logical choice might be something like the Hunter Horizon 30 or Red Fox Vision. How do they sail? Is the Red Fox as big inside as it seems, or has stowage and tankage been sacrificed?
The real engineering answer, would be a cat. However, other than the Iroquois (they turn over don't they?) and the Wharrams (too camping orientated for us now), they don't score highly, in our eyes, on the 'looks' criteria. I quite like the Edel 35, but the Mrs thinks we'd only use one hull 90% of the time (maybe the vendor would accept a 50% offer, hmmm....).
All ideas welcome!
Confused of Devon.
