Recommend me a boat.

[pessimist]

After 22 years we, with much regret, parted company with our much love Rival 41. A few years ago I suffered a fairly major heart fart which left me with a bit of a mobility problem. The heeling of the Rival and steep companionways eventually proved too much. We made the decision not to give up sailing (and not to take up stink potting ) so we're looking for a new boat and would appear to have plenty of time for research. Budget, ideally, up to 70k. We could stretch it but would be more than happy to spend less
Our priorities are, in no particular order

1. Enough room and comfort to spend the summer on board.
2. Easy Handling.
3. Deck saloon for those not so clement summer days.
4. Seated helm position.
5. Adequate sailing performance - we're not expecting anything like the Rival but do require the ability to make to windward.
6. Decent double berth accessed from anywhere but over the head.
7. Length probably 27-37' ;
8. Reasonably seaworthy but a RTW is probably out of the question.
9. Shallow draught would be an advantage.

This has led us to settle on catamarans but quite happy to consider other hull forms. We've so far looked at Prouts (34 and 37) and Solaris (not immediately taken by Frogjobs). We preferred the layout on the Solaris but but had some qualms about the interior finish. I also know very little about their sailing characteristics. We've not considered Catalacs as we've heard horror stories about their sailing performance and the same for Heavenly Twins.

Should say that SWMO is just as keen a sailor as me so I'm not looking for a man shed.

You may have guessed that I'm bored - we should be out there inspecting boats not writing silly threads on a forum, but I'm hoping that others are just as bored and may fancy contributing.

Any and all thoughts welcome.

Cheers,
Colin

 

[[70521]]

Friend had one of these for a few years.

Colvic - Narvik 35 in , Bangor | Boats and Outboards

 

[Lightwave395]

Amazed that a thread with such a title isn't up past 100 posts yet !

 

[V1701]

I've never heard of a Colvic Narvic 35, I think it's more likely a Colvic Watson 34, of which I have one as my full time liveaboard. I don't think it's one of the very few Jura 35s. I was also wondering whether you'd considered a motorsailer - Nauticat, Colvic Watson, Fisher, LM? They'll go nicely to windward with the engine on! Actually some are reputed to sail pretty well, e.g. LMs. partly depends as well I guess on whether you like that style of boat...

 

[Motor_Sailor]

I'm not a multihull person, but I chartered a French 35 foot cat in the Pacific NW (can't remember what it was), but it was much better in nearly every way than I imagined. Certainly the deck saloon with galley up, and the seated helm position made for very enjoyable passagemaking and month onboard despite some very typical damp autumn weather.

 

[PhillM]

I wonder if you could go smaller and save some pennies for paid crew? Met a chap in France who was wheel chair bound. He was still out sailing, but had a couple of crew to deal with stuff he either couldn’t or didn’t want to. Not suggesting that you need the help, but it might make for a more pleasurable sailing experience if you have a couple of younger and fitter crew to do the heavy lifting.

 

[E39mad]

Southerly 115 - Mk2 onwards with the Rob Humphreys keel rather than the old triangular shape (also less intrusive) - it's 36'10" so just inside your limit
LM Vitesse 35
Vancouver 34 Pilot (might just get one in your budget if lucky)
Fisher 34 - sloop rig as does sail quite well
Cromerty 36 (same designers as the Fisher but more modern and well built by Blondecell who built the Tradewind 35)
Westerly Riviera 35
Moody Eclipse 33
Seastream 34
Voyager 35
Westerly Konsort Duo
Hunter 27 Pilot

 

[Laminar Flow]

I've never heard of a Colvic Narvic 35, I think it's more likely a Colvic Watson 34, of which I have one as my full time liveaboard. I don't think it's one of the very few Jura 35s. I was also wondering whether you'd considered a motorsailer - Nauticat, Colvic Watson, Fisher, LM? They'll go nicely to windward with the engine on! Actually some are reputed to sail pretty well, e.g. LMs. partly depends as well I guess on whether you like that style of boat...

As far as space and stability goes a Watson might fit the bill. As far as sailing ability, however, it will require some upgrading in the rig and steering department to become a sailboat. Once done, they sail quite well. It will never be as close-winded as your Rival was.

 

[ryanroberts]

I'm a noob so went for something hopefully easy to handle for slightly different reasons. Fjord 33 seems suitable - sturdy old girl with dual helm, 1.4m draught, well under your budget in good nick but not many about, reasonably big tanks, old school layout suitable for a couple. Mine seemed to vaguely point in a 4-5 during the whole 2 hours I have had sailing due to Covid.

Double enders are going to be a bugger to board from a dinghy though if you have limited mobility?

 

[rotrax]

I've never heard of a Colvic Narvic 35, I think it's more likely a Colvic Watson 34, of which I have one as my full time liveaboard. I don't think it's one of the very few Jura 35s. I was also wondering whether you'd considered a motorsailer - Nauticat, Colvic Watson, Fisher, LM? They'll go nicely to windward with the engine on! Actually some are reputed to sail pretty well, e.g. LMs. partly depends as well I guess on whether you like that style of boat...

Some of those dont have the easy handling bit though.

Our choice, the Island Packet SP Cruiser ticks some of those boxes, but not all. Certainly not the easy handling bit!

But we find ALL boats are a compromise and accept some shortcomings for other advantages.

We bought our primarily for easy on/easy off from the swim platform.

We feel it might keep us sailing for a few years more.

Good luck with your search.

 

[[70521]]

I've never heard of a Colvic Narvic 35, I think it's more likely a Colvic Watson 34, of which I have one as my full time liveaboard. I don't think it's one of the very few Jura 35s. I was also wondering whether you'd considered a motorsailer - Nauticat, Colvic Watson, Fisher, LM? They'll go nicely to windward with the engine on! Actually some are reputed to sail pretty well, e.g. LMs. partly depends as well I guess on whether you like that style of boat...

It is really a Narvic 35. Spend many an evening on it, they had a lovely diesel heater that they could do a slow cooked stew and heat the boat.

 

[Frogmogman]

A Sirius 32 would fit the bill except for the budget - you'd need to splash twice as much cash.

How about a Nautical 33 ? I've never sailed one, but I understand that they sail a lot better than you'd think from looking at them.

Nauticat 33 Mk2 Used Boat for Sale 1987 | TheYachtMarket

 

[geem]

After 22 years we, with much regret, parted company with our much love Rival 41. A few years ago I suffered a fairly major heart fart which left me with a bit of a mobility problem. The heeling of the Rival and steep companionways eventually proved too much. We made the decision not to give up sailing (and not to take up stink potting ) so we're looking for a new boat and would appear to have plenty of time for research. Budget, ideally, up to 70k. We could stretch it but would be more than happy to spend less
Our priorities are, in no particular order

1. Enough room and comfort to spend the summer on board.
2. Easy Handling.
3. Deck saloon for those not so clement summer days.
4. Seated helm position.
5. Adequate sailing performance - we're not expecting anything like the Rival but do require the ability to make to windward.
6. Decent double berth accessed from anywhere but over the head.
7. Length probably 27-37' ;
8. Reasonably seaworthy but a RTW is probably out of the question.
9. Shallow draught would be an advantage.

This has led us to settle on catamarans but quite happy to consider other hull forms. We've so far looked at Prouts (34 and 37) and Solaris (not immediately taken by Frogjobs). We preferred the layout on the Solaris but but had some qualms about the interior finish. I also know very little about their sailing characteristics. We've not considered Catalacs as we've heard horror stories about their sailing performance and the same for Heavenly Twins.

Should say that SWMO is just as keen a sailor as me so I'm not looking for a man shed.

You may have guessed that I'm bored - we should be out there inspecting boats not writing silly threads on a forum, but I'm hoping that others are just as bored and may fancy contributing.

Any and all thoughts welcome.

Cheers,
Colin

We had a Prout 37 for 11 years. It was the pre-Elite model with a single engine. It would tick most of your requirements. The single engine model is a lot lighter and easily manoeuvred with its steerable drive leg. The killer for small cats is weight. If you want good performance you need to minimise weight. If you are a hoarder, dont buy a catamaran! Ours had a taller than standard rig and good sails and was fast, but we kept it empty. We did an Atlantic circuit in it in 2004/05 but still kept it light. The twin engined Elite model is a motorsailor by comparison. A lot heavier. For example, the difference between full fuel and water tanks and empty tanks was quite noticable.
Good luck with your search

 

[pragmatist]

I thought I'd expand on point no. 2 - Easy Handling in HWMBO's list. I'm the crew (dog doesn't help a lot) and although much more mobile than Sir I would like an easier life than our gorgeous Rival allowed. And of course we're hoping to have the new boat for a few years and I doubt I'll get stronger ! Several issues with the Rival - firstly raising the main - it was large, of heavy-duty cloth and the mast was tall. Even with a self-tailing winch it was a bit of a disincentive to going out. Secondly, the sheer weight of the boat (about 12 tons loaded) when it came to things like picking up a trot mooring. Hanging on with a boat hook with a tide running was hard work - and not aided by the fact that the Rival was designed as a sailing boat with an auxiliary engine and a long fin so she wasn't that manoeuvrable. Our previous boat (Sadler 29) would turn on a sixpence and with 20hp was pretty much over-engined !

So I wonder if the trend of most of the posts so far - motor sailor and the heavy brigade (Nauticat, Colvic (or wotever ) or Fisher would necessarily be easier for me to crew. Sir is particularly keen on Fishers and Colvics but unless it was significantly smaller (with consequent loss of liveaboard space) would it be any easier to moor on a trot with wind and tide issues ?

 

[pessimist]

Thanks everyone - keep 'em coming.

I've always rather admired the Fisher/Watson style but I wonder about the weight of gear. I should probably hav e mentioneds that in the list of priorities. Mrs pessimist will not be pleased with me. Hadn't thought of Cromarty or LM, I'll take a look. @E39mad - thanks for the list, I'm not familiar with some of those. @geem thnks for that, I think we'd be looking at a single engine. Keeping the weight down would be an issue after the Rival but I guess we'd learn. @rotrax the IP looks a lovely boat and I take your point about the swim platform. Sadly they seem to go for around double our preferred budget. @Frogmogman - I've been taken sailing on a Nauticat and wasn't impressed. Comfortable though.

Once again, thanks to everyone. This is almost as much fun as physically looking. Almost .

 

[Rappey]

When you have shortlisted a few boats the chances are there is a "walkthrough" video on youtube enabling a decent visual tour.

 

[V1701]

Here's a total curveball then & you'll probably hate it but I'm enjoying a spot of vicarious boat shopping...

Dehler 36 CWS - lines are led aft to a single electric winch plus self-tacking headsail...

Yachtsnet archive page gives a good description...

One for sale here...

For that matter whatever boat you decide on how about fitting electric winch or winches, or having one of those winchrite things?

 

[Frogmogman]

That's an interesting, slightly left-field idea. Like it.

 

[Baggywrinkle]

Why not get yourselves a bog standard, almost new AWB like this one ....

2017 Bavaria 34 Cruiser Segel Boot zum Verkauf - www.yachtworld.de

.... they are light, easy to handle, turn on a sixpence, and the sail plan is a piece of cake to operate.

... and 'cos it's so new, it shouldn't need anything doing for about a decade.

 

[Laminar Flow]

I thought I'd expand on point no. 2 - Easy Handling in HWMBO's list. I'm the crew (dog doesn't help a lot) and although much more mobile than Sir I would like an easier life than our gorgeous Rival allowed. And of course we're hoping to have the new boat for a few years and I doubt I'll get stronger ! Several issues with the Rival - firstly raising the main - it was large, of heavy-duty cloth and the mast was tall. Even with a self-tailing winch it was a bit of a disincentive to going out. Secondly, the sheer weight of the boat (about 12 tons loaded) when it came to things like picking up a trot mooring. Hanging on with a boat hook with a tide running was hard work - and not aided by the fact that the Rival was designed as a sailing boat with an auxiliary engine and a long fin so she wasn't that manoeuvrable. Our previous boat (Sadler 29) would turn on a sixpence and with 20hp was pretty much over-engined !

So I wonder if the trend of most of the posts so far - motor sailor and the heavy brigade (Nauticat, Colvic (or wotever ) or Fisher would necessarily be easier for me to crew. Sir is particularly keen on Fishers and Colvics but unless it was significantly smaller (with consequent loss of liveaboard space) would it be any easier to moor on a trot with wind and tide issues ?

We have a CW 32 and she displaces 8.5 tons in full cruising trim, bikes, tools 'n' all. The 34 displaces 12 tons nominally. We really do not worry about loading her down, within reason, but compared to some others of her type we are almost a lightweight flyer.

We live aboard for 3 - 5 months during the summer and for a 32' she is the roomiest boat of her size I've ever been on and in some ways the most comfortable. Much of our time is spent in the large, airy pilothouse level-entry cockpit area and from there it is only a couple of steps down to the salon/galley/ heads.

The standard model is not known for its sailing performance or indeed for its maneuverability. It can be fixed and there will be an article in the next issue of PBO, available as of the 16th of this month, on how to do just that; I will not steal their thunder as of yet.

Suffice to say that their sailing and maneuvering performance can be dramatically improved to the point that, within the parametres of a ketch rig and long keel, she is well within the range of most other sailing cruisers of her size.

On stability; In 18kts and on a reach we heel about 10-15 degr. under full sail. Speed at this point is 7+ knots or better.




Approaching 6kts, close reaching in just over 10kts apparent.