Returning to the begining

[Wansworth]

Having done a bit of long distance sailing and served in the merchant marine it’s coming upon me the return to a small yacht capable of short coastal trips,cheap to moor up and light to handle probablywith bilge keels and an outboard to avoid struggling with hidden away fuel lines and shaft seal deep below the cockpit a small boat that will give a safe ride with just that degree of excitement to recall my youth!

 

[AngusMcDoon]

Like this?

https://m.apolloduck.com/boat.phtml?id=473875

 

[Topcat47]

The hunter duet was the boat of Choice for the RYA Young Skippers initiative back in the late 70's. I often saw then in twos or threes with four young teenagers aboard racketing around the south coast. They weren't fitted with an engine at the time, just sweeps as I recall. They are a bit cramped below, I like standing headroom myself.

 

[LadyInBed]

Suggestions are like blind mans bluff without any idea of how big and how much.

 

[Wansworth]

Wasn’t looking for. suggestions really just pondering on the possibilities of what would make a practicalboat for me.

 

[Dan Tribe]

Having done a bit of long distance sailing and served in the merchant marine it’s coming upon me the return to a small yacht capable of short coastal trips,cheap to moor up and light to handle probablywith bilge keels and an outboard to avoid struggling with hidden away fuel lines and shaft seal deep below the cockpit a small boat that will give a safe ride with just that degree of excitement to recall my youth!

Seems sensible.
I have noticed in my group of aquaintances, that young people have small boats that they can afford for the fun & excitement of sailing. As they become more affluent they get larger and more comfortable boats. At the same time their physical abilities slowly decline and at a point the difficulty of handling a large boat exceeds their strength or need to sail so they stay in the marina in a comfy cottage.
A friend went through this process but when his wife decided to stay home he bought a small boat [Contessa 26] with a friend. He said that he got far more pleasure from it than all the big boats and sailed almost every day.

 

[LadyInBed]

large boat exceeds their strength or need to sail so they stay in the marina in a comfy cottage.
A friend went through this process but when his wife decided to stay home he boat a small boat [Contessa 26] with a friend.

How times change, it used to be that a 26ft boat was a medium size boat!

 

[Dan Tribe]

How times change, it used to be that a 26ft boat was a medium size boat!

Yes, owning a 32 footer used to be the ultimate goal, now it barely ranks as a starter boat.
The guy I described started at 18ft, through 26, 34 and 48ft, so 26 must have seemed small.

 

[PetiteFleur]

I started with an Enterprise dinghy, then a Vivacity 20, then a Halcyon 23, Jaguar 27 and finally a Moody 33 - SWMBO now says that I should be downsizing...

 

[johnalison]

I started with an Enterprise dinghy, then a Vivacity 20, then a Halcyon 23, Jaguar 27 and finally a Moody 33 - SWMBO now says that I should be downsizing...

I started with a Firefly, then Cirrus, Mystere, Sadler 29 and HR 34. There was a time when a Contessa 26 seemed like a large yacht and quite inaccessible. When I get old I will downsize to a day-boat, with heated seats.