SailBoat or much bigger Moto Boat

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the-drifter

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Hi All,

I read most threads with interest. But after spending 2 weeks in the Cornish coast, and not being able to get out much I am considering my options,
• Should I move to a sail boat or upgrade to a bigger Moto boat.

Currently I have a 26 sports curser (the Drifter) which is good on fuel, but I would like something that I can spend more time on during the weekend, so something a lot more live on board, I have around 80k saved, but after spending 1 week in La Rochelle and watching all those sail boats I was wondering if I would get more for my money if I upgraded to a sailboat. I know that a power boat will cost me money in fuel, and a sailboat will take more time to get somewhere, but this is the swing bridge I am crossing. Some direction will be nice.
 
the-drifter said:
Hi All,

I read most threads with interest. But after spending 2 weeks in the Cornish coast, and not being able to get out much I am considering my options,
• Should I move to a sail boat or upgrade to a bigger Moto boat.
Click to expand...

Good question the -drifter, good Post
Now me Mate 'Philiz' of this Parish will no doubt contribute here;)
One thing you have to consider when considering moving to the windy side
Are the winds!!!
3 types our yachty friends talk about
1--- not enough
2--- too much
3--- from the wrong direction
So, quite often
They don't get out much:D
Yep, it seems yer get more fer the 'buck' with a saily thing that's fer sure
Yep, yer aint gonna stuff loads of money at it ref fuel
But yer will if 'it' needs a suit of sails etc
Then they are awkward beggers when yer walkin about the deck etc, all them wires an stuff ter trip yer!
But then again , handy to hold on to when the saily boat is heeled over, which they do I,m told
But then again, what do I know?
Never (driven?) one
Well, did once----with 'Searush' of this Parish, Oh! and another time, once upon a time with 'Misterg'
Thing is with boats
Propelled by the will of the Gods or a motor
Fascinating things
Yer pays yer money:D
 
the Oracle has spoken :)
truly his words appear.
Wind free
Fuel not.
Sails make sense.





Oh yes, and all sorts of things like better for the planet, bigger boat and more friendly space for your money, more independence.

For that kind of money, or say 3/4 of it, you can get a large sailyboat, with a decent engine, masses of comfortable accommodation, and have money left over for running costs which are much smaller than a mobo.

Perhaps even consider a catamaran ?
 
You could have a very nice sailboat for £80k, maybe try posting on Scuttlebutt asking for someone to take you sailing in something modernish from one of the big manufacturers (Jeanneau, Beneteau, Bavaria) and around mid thirties feet, which your budget would easily run to...
 
I'll take another "tak" on this. Boating is generally more pleasurable with company. Unless they are particularly "sporty" my belief is that women prefer motor boats and bigger the better.
My brother and his mates are yachties and I observe very few wives going out with them.

So depends as well as the comments above (and below) about what company you want to keep.
 
I'm here as predicted by the Sage!

I am almost certainly moving to sail, hopefully next year if Mirrormile sells. You may realise my good friend Kwackers doesn't quite get it, but he will when I've taken him out a few times! Specially when he sees the size of the funboxes on them things.

The thing is about changing to sail is, you can't do it because of better fuel consumption, or more for your buck, you've got to do it because you want to sail.

Kwackers is right, it'll take you ages longer to get anywhere, they're not as 'user friendly' as mobos and you'll get cold and wet if it's cold and wet. The wind is quite often not perfect for sailing, but if you don't want to mess about tacking this way and that you can drop the sails and hey presto, you've got yerself a slow mobo!

Can't comment on other folks SWMBO's but Liz is looking forward to it!
 
we've made the change....

......from Targa 39 to Nauticat 39. The latter is a cruising yacht with a creditable performance record but is no speedster. We made the change in 2004 after ten years with motorboats. Sailing is (comparatively) slow and your weekend cruising range is limited. However it's a much more engaging activity and underway on the water is, in my view, much more pleasant under sail than with 2 x 230hp Volvo's. You have to accept that if you want to get somewhere quickly then best to go in the car/plane/ferry. It's just different and I suppose you either take to it or you don't. I recommend it!

rob
 
We have been on both sides several times over the years and like many have moved up in size as we went along. We had a late 80's 40ft flybridge mobo which at the time was 12 years old, liked it a lot over the 4 years of ownership and then decided to buy a newish 4 year old 43 foot yacht. We loved that too, but we're back to a 44ft Flybridge mobo.

Anyway FWIW here are a few observations that might be trivial to some people, jumping from the mobo to the yacht and back again. BTW I am not biased on one against the other and will go back to a yacht at some point. Also I agree with everyone elses comments so will add a few more that might give you something to think about.

1. For a given buy price you get a much newer yacht with all the benefits that new includes. Winner yacht.

2. Yachts are vastly cheaper to own. Forget about the cost of sails unless you are going racing or the sails are ripped to bits. They last for years from what I can tell. Even if they do need replaced, they are not too expensive (relatively) as long as you don't want some high tech fabric like they use in the Americas Cup! Berthing is the same cost, but yachts can go on a mooring to for low cost berthing, whereas the insides of mobos start to deteriate when left on a mooring. Winner yacht.

3. Mobos are far more complicated from the point of view of systems and machinery hence lots of repairs! Rarely have I found a mobo that is 100% problem free for more than 10 minutes in terms of faults that need fixed. My newish yacht was fault free which a revelation for me! Now I am back to fixing things nearly all the time. Last weekend the sternthruster stopped, which took me a couple of hours to troubleshoot and fix. I also have three engines to service, including the genny. Winner yacht.

4. Assuming the same LOA, mobos have much more space and a decent bed. With a yacht it's either coffin like (or cozy) under the aft cockpit, or you are facing the wrong way in a triangle bed at the bow where your pillows end up on the floor. Winner mobo.

5. If it's **** weather and you are moored or berthed, you will tend to be stuck inside down below and if you're like me can soon become fidgety/bored not being able to see the world outside. Targa style mobos are the same in that respect. On a FB or similar mobo you can see everything that's going on and don't feel trapped inside. Winner mobo.

6. Fitting and removing washboards can become inconvenient if you are used to big patio doors. A small thing to many and something I had never thought about in the past, but when I moved from a patio door mobo to the washboard yacht it was something that quickly became a bit of a pain. Winner mobo.

7. Mobos are much better for entertaining people both at berth and on the move. Winner mobo.

8. In very bad sea conditions, I would take a yacht over a mobo any day. Winner yacht.

9. Mobo owners are more sociable (sorry raggies, but in my experience). I have no idea why, but maybe it might be because mobo owners see their mobo as a means to have comfort, fun with friends and socialising in general, whereas yachties maybe are more focused on the yacht and the sailing experience as an end in itself. A sweeping generalisation I know, but nevertheless it's what I have experienced. Winner (for me) mobo.

10. In the right conditions sailing is just fantastic. The best thing ever. Winner yacht - except sadly these condition happen rarely so the winner really - has to be mobo.

11. Our yacht had a 2.2m keel. We soon discovered that we couldn't berth at some of our favourite places. Also if there was one mooring left the mobo is gets there first! Winner mobo.

12. When planning a our summer holiday, we felt that with the yacht we could be more confident of making a plan and being able to stick to it. Significantly the cost would be relatively low compared to our mobo. A bargain holiday! With the mobo, if the holiday doesn't work out as planned we could literally spend £2k or more on fuel for a **** holiday in the rain or stuck in a place we don't want to be. That means when planning we are thinking "let's go abroad it's cheaper and the weather is guaranteed".
Winner - yacht.

That's a few things that spring to mind.

I would definately recommend spending some time on a yacht first before making the big decision. Yachting is brilliant, but at the end of the day it's not for everyone.
 
I have always considered myself a sailor first and foremost, however, I have never owned a yacht, but am now on my third mobo.

I really enjoy sailing, but I also enjoy relaxing with my lady wife. I could not do this on a raggie. I would need at least 1 mate along for the raggie to work, although I know there are some who enjoy single handed sailing. You have to be in the perfect mooring to make this work.

Our mobo is not expensive on fuel, 6-8 gph at 25ish knots, with a 33ft boat, that sleeps 4 in comfort (2 cabins).

However, if anyone wants a crew, and I have the time available, then I am always up for a sail!
 
asteven22's post is an excellent and insightful comparison for the OP

one other thought - in terms of relative costs esp. fuel which will always count against the mobo to some extent. If this is an issue and speed is not important to you, forget fast planing boats and go for a slower displacement or Semi/D boat and close the gap between sail and power even more.
Slow doesn't mean you don't get far - we took ours from south coast to Greece at 7 knots!
we have been overtaken by raggies often and don't mind in the least.
 
As a confirmed raggie, I was interested by Dashew's (sp) comments. He designed some seriously nice big yachts (google deerfoot). But now cruises in efficient mobos. Cost of fuel compares with the ongoing cost of sailing gear. Couple of transats and other trips seem bear out his ideas.
 
Last edited:
Sail Boat or Motor boat

If you are feeling brave..go for a Classic you can pick up a Peter Duck..or Wanderer for around 30k...if you buy a good one and they are out there a sailing yacht every time...and why do we want to go from A to B as if we are a motorway.. there is nothing like turning the donk off when you are out of the harbour and over the bar and everthing goes quite..MAGIC.:)
 
Hi all,
I would like to thank you for your comments, you have provided fuel for thought (excuse the pun).
After deliberation I have decided to stay with power, the reason as to why is because that I don’t have loads of time to go sailing as of yet, so weekends are limited. However I will move eventually.
In the meantime I will complete all sailing courses that are needed over a 3 year period, also take as much opportunity to go sailing as I can to gain the experience and to see if I do like it.
 
asteven221 said:
We have been on both sides several times over the years and like many have moved up in size as we went along. We had a late 80's 40ft flybridge mobo which at the time was 12 years old, liked it a lot over the 4 years of ownership and then decided to buy a newish 4 year old 43 foot yacht. We loved that too, but we're back to a 44ft Flybridge mobo.

Anyway FWIW here are a few observations that might be trivial to some people, jumping from the mobo to the yacht and back again. BTW I am not biased on one against the other and will go back to a yacht at some point. Also I agree with everyone elses comments so will add a few more that might give you something to think about.

1. For a given buy price you get a much newer yacht with all the benefits that new includes. Winner yacht.

2. Yachts are vastly cheaper to own. Forget about the cost of sails unless you are going racing or the sails are ripped to bits. They last for years from what I can tell. Even if they do need replaced, they are not too expensive (relatively) as long as you don't want some high tech fabric like they use in the Americas Cup! Berthing is the same cost, but yachts can go on a mooring to for low cost berthing, whereas the insides of mobos start to deteriate when left on a mooring. Winner yacht.

3. Mobos are far more complicated from the point of view of systems and machinery hence lots of repairs! Rarely have I found a mobo that is 100% problem free for more than 10 minutes in terms of faults that need fixed. My newish yacht was fault free which a revelation for me! Now I am back to fixing things nearly all the time. Last weekend the sternthruster stopped, which took me a couple of hours to troubleshoot and fix. I also have three engines to service, including the genny. Winner yacht.

4. Assuming the same LOA, mobos have much more space and a decent bed. With a yacht it's either coffin like (or cozy) under the aft cockpit, or you are facing the wrong way in a triangle bed at the bow where your pillows end up on the floor. Winner mobo.

5. If it's **** weather and you are moored or berthed, you will tend to be stuck inside down below and if you're like me can soon become fidgety/bored not being able to see the world outside. Targa style mobos are the same in that respect. On a FB or similar mobo you can see everything that's going on and don't feel trapped inside. Winner mobo.

6. Fitting and removing washboards can become inconvenient if you are used to big patio doors. A small thing to many and something I had never thought about in the past, but when I moved from a patio door mobo to the washboard yacht it was something that quickly became a bit of a pain. Winner mobo.

7. Mobos are much better for entertaining people both at berth and on the move. Winner mobo.

8. In very bad sea conditions, I would take a yacht over a mobo any day. Winner yacht.

9. Mobo owners are more sociable (sorry raggies, but in my experience). I have no idea why, but maybe it might be because mobo owners see their mobo as a means to have comfort, fun with friends and socialising in general, whereas yachties maybe are more focused on the yacht and the sailing experience as an end in itself. A sweeping generalisation I know, but nevertheless it's what I have experienced. Winner (for me) mobo.

10. In the right conditions sailing is just fantastic. The best thing ever. Winner yacht - except sadly these condition happen rarely so the winner really - has to be mobo.

11. Our yacht had a 2.2m keel. We soon discovered that we couldn't berth at some of our favourite places. Also if there was one mooring left the mobo is gets there first! Winner mobo.

12. When planning a our summer holiday, we felt that with the yacht we could be more confident of making a plan and being able to stick to it. Significantly the cost would be relatively low compared to our mobo. A bargain holiday! With the mobo, if the holiday doesn't work out as planned we could literally spend £2k or more on fuel for a **** holiday in the rain or stuck in a place we don't want to be. That means when planning we are thinking "let's go abroad it's cheaper and the weather is guaranteed".
Winner - yacht.

That's a few things that spring to mind.

I would definately recommend spending some time on a yacht first before making the big decision. Yachting is brilliant, but at the end of the day it's not for everyone.
Click to expand...

Most of the above objections to yachts don't apply to catamarans which tend to have lots of space for entertaining or just relaxing, have comfortable, large beds, stay upright and are female friendly.
 
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