the ideal blue water yacht

[chrisb]

what makes the ideal blue water design.i believe that we would possibly agree on characteristics such as displacement, long keel,protected keel and probably steel construction. however the majority of these designs seem to one offs. what do we think are the ideal characteristics and how do we find that ideal yacht. this compares with the AWBwhere there is plenty of experience of a particular design or class to facilitate choice

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[snowleopard]

there is no such thing, any more than there is an ideal coastal cruiser. it's all down to what you want in a boat.

some insist on a long keel and heavy displacement, others prefer lighter weight and fin keel. i personally prefer a multihull but certainly don't think it's the only answer to that question.

then again it depends where you plan to go. i find my boat ideal for the tropics but i wouldn't consider it if i was heading for the southern ocean.

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[StellaGirl]

Having crossed the pond on a 60ft long keel schooner and sailed around the Carribean in a Ben' Oceanis for a while and seen the variety of boats that all do the same I agree with Snowleopard. There is no ideal - just what suits you.
If money wasnt an option I would go for a Swan 60 for long term living and cruising. The beauty of this is that I could still race in all the regattas competitively!

<hr width=100% size=1>Its 11.59am - lets open the beers...

 

[Neraida]

I would recommend reading Bruce Robert's "Choosing for Cruising" so you can decifer the answer yourself. He goes through virtually everything you need to think about for either long term or coastal cruising. There is a bias towards the Spray and steel, but thats understandable!

IMHO, Steel, long fin and skeg or "modern long" keel, plenty of room and "oversized everything" is the solution to Bluewater cruising. Bruce's (and other designers now) "kits" offer a halfway house between "one offs" and production boats, and, if you dont fancy 2 years hard graft, you can always get a yard to do it for you for less money than you would pay for a Crealock or similar equivalent.

Cheers



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[ianabc]

I have friends who consider that the ideal yacht is one they designed.

The origami boatbuilding that is becoming popular in the fashion pioneered by Brent Swain (Google Origami Boatbuilding) has allowed at least one person to build their self designed 42 footer in 3 months from first weld in the aluminium to launching. That was with two first time metal boatbuilders and one professional who welded the tacked sheets before the big bending operation and then along the joins.

The model was build in cardboard (a dozen times), the fold up checked, then the lines drawn.

Our efforts are to rebuild a steel hull.....not recommended......

The origami style builders are completing their projects for around thirty thousand pounds. They usually have low pilot houses and often self built roller furling.

I believe that Brent has a design for a water maker that uses a commonly available pump from a pressure washer, a stailess steel pipe and regular 2 foot R.O. media. I haven't seen the design yet.......
Ian

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<hr width=100% size=1>Building a steel sailboat in Comox, B.C. Canada.