Sailing, any good?

Murv

Murv

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Anyone had a go at it?
I've never had any interest in being puffed along by the wind, after all, that's how tumbleweed gets around...
But, lately, I must admit I've found myself wondering. So, anyone given it a go?
Obviously I could've put this in the sailing forum but opinions will be a bit biased there!
 
I have to admit to being a secret raggie occasionally. Very smooth ride, quiet and very relaxing but slow. probably average @ 5kns in a 40footer with good wind maybe 7 1/2. Using just the main sail and the jib its all quite easy. Problem with sailing is the wind is unpredicatable so your journey will also be unpredictable, so quite often you end up with the engine on.
 
I started by sailing and have to tell you it's really good fun and very satisfying, have a go at a sailing school somewhere warm you will not regret it, for me now at age 60 and with a wife that weighs 45 kilos and wanting a liveaboard size boat it motors or nothing.
 
It's a bit like golf. Fantastic, occasionally.

When the weather is suitable, it's very enjoyable and feels like a bit of a clever trick - moving without noise or fuel burn.

But often it's the wrong sort of wind, from the wrong direction. Impatience and sailing don't go well together either.

Cheers

Garold
 
Did a week filming on a J44 racing yacht with a pro crew off Florida. 15 knots at a 20* list was probably the scariest thing I've ever experienced and the most exciting. Otherwise pottering along at 5 knots in the North Sea does not constitute enjoyment.
 
Had a flotilla holiday in the BVI. Really good fun if the weather is warm. Its worth a go. Wouldn't want to make a hobby of it though.
 
Started with sailing dinghys and progressed to yachts occasionally over the years. Nearly bought one a couple of years ago but decided to stick with power and charter a yacht abroad occasionally. Done Greece and the BVI...great fun and to be honest wouldn't swap for a mobo in either location. Mobo suits us better in the UK though, can do rivers and the sea and when it is cold, wet and rough we aren't out there all day and all night.

I guess I am happy in any kind of boat and enjoy sailing at 6 knots or planing at 25 :-)
 
Murv said:
Anyone had a go at it?
I've never had any interest in being puffed along by the wind, after all, that's how tumbleweed gets around...
But, lately, I must admit I've found myself wondering. So, anyone given it a go?
Obviously I could've put this in the sailing forum but opinions will be a bit biased there!
Click to expand...

Nah, you woulden't like it.
 
I am very happy on a yacht or dinghy, and love a windsurfer in warm waters. Started with dinghy's on the Sarf coast, did a couple of sailing holidays on the Norfolk Broads, and more recently have done the Round the Island race in Sunsails. Have also crewed a Global challenge yacht on the Solent as well. Fantastic. I really don't get this us and them thing.
 
gravygraham said:
Well Murv. There's your answers - what are your thoughts then?
Click to expand...

Very interesting replies!
I don't think it's for me, one thing I don't have any of, at all, is patience.
I will give it a try though, just out of interest.
There's something very elegant about a sailing boat that mobos seem a little short on.
Thanks all :)
 
Please do. I thought i would really miss it when i passed to the dark side 6 years ago. Thing is I don't. As mentioned like most games of golf - mostly good walk messed up, with occasional days of pure heaven.

If you get the chance try to have the boat you go on fly a spinnaker on a reach in about a f 4 or 5, that might just convert you.
 
We had a year living on a trawler style mobo in Florida until I had a stroke. My recovery has us back living on dirt again and having traded the 47ft mobo 'up' to a 36ft sailing boat again to carry on cruising like before as in not living on board 24/7 but doing weekends and vacations . It is different and to be honest I do like both ways of getting afloat but getting somewhere quietly and at no/very little cost for fuel still appeals most.
 
It can be frustrating but it beats bounce, drop, slam, bounce, drop, slam for a few hours as far as I'm concerned. If it's calm and Force 2 or less I'd take a powerboat unless time is really no object. F3 to F8 and much more than flat calm I'd MUCH rather be sailing. Over F8 I think I'd take a 4 bedroom detached house by preference.
 
Sailing - any good?

In a word - yes.

But - I wouldn't do it in this country. We recently changed from a Phantom 40 to a Jeanneau SO 45 DS and immediately sailed her out to Spain. Warm weather and retirement go soooo we'll together.

Did a couple of flotilla trips in Greece, bareboat charter in Corsica, Sardinia and SOF before selling the P40 just to try this raggie business and to decide on which boat we wanted.

No rushing back from Channel Islands on a Sunday afternoon to get back to work on a Monday morning, no big diesel bills to pay, no high engine service costs etc. just gentle wafting along with all the time in the world. Really enjoying it.

Do I miss the Mobo? Well, yes. But I always was and will always be a "petrol head".
 
There are many different sorts of "sailing" tho.

Dinghy sailing can be exciting & you may need to be very active & with good balance to stay upright - or it can be relaxed & pleasant feeling completely "at one" with the boat (like a push bike) & enjoying the skills of keeping it going where you want at a decent speed. It all depends on the design of boat you choose. Modern planing dinghies are exciting, a traditional day boat is dryer & safer, but just as much a challenge in a different way.

The bigger the boat, the more stable it is & the slower it reacts to wind & seas. Big boats can be comfortable & stable, but a smaller one will turn on a sixpence & you may find it hard to stand upright at sea unless holding on with both hands. The forces on sails & sheets for a big boat are massive & you need powerful winches, small ones can be easily sheeted in & sailed singlehanded.

Cruising is about being on the water & playing the tides to spend time in beautiful places that might be hard to reach by land. Racing is about the fastest possible time around the buoys (or from A-B) & bragging about it in the bar afterwards. Racing sailors know how to trim their sails & how to use the rules, cruising people carry plenty of food & booze with them to spend max time out of the marinas.

So what might appeal to you? Pick the wrong one & you may hate it, pick the right one & you may change your boat. There is a great deal of satisfaction in getting from A-B under wind power & working the tides.
 
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I don't think racing appeals, but cruising in warmer climes definitely does!
I also like the idea of tackling rougher water though, sailing boats look to be a lot more stable in the rough stuff, I guess because they sit more in the water rather than on it?
 
Murv said:
I don't think racing appeals, but cruising in warmer climes definitely does!
I also like the idea of tackling rougher water though, sailing boats look to be a lot more stable in the rough stuff, I guess because they sit more in the water rather than on it?
Click to expand...

It really depends on the relative strength and direction of the wind to the waves. If there is more chop than wind, then a sailing boat can get very rock and rolly. If you have a decent breeze and on a reach, then this is a nice point of sailing. Running before the wind can get a bit unpleasant if there is any significant chop.
 
There's no reason for them to be mutually exclusive - other than cost, fo course. Sailing is to motorboating much as horse riding is to driving a car. They are all ways of getting from one place to another, but in the cases of sailing and riding, much of the pleasure comes from the skill of handling the means of transport and the relaxation of travelling slowly in silence. Cars and motorboats are more functional forms of transport - for most people the pleasure comes from the arrival than from the journey.

Plenty of people have both a horse and a car - and enjoy both for the things they are good at. Boats tend to represent a larger investment and it is more difficult to own both for most of us.
 
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