Top 10 boats you'd love to try

mrming

mrming

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There are too many boats to own em all, and many apart from your own to admire.

So if you could have a test sail in 10 boats, what would they be?

Here are mine off the top of my head and in no particular order:

Centaur
A fast tri like the Dragonfly
Anderson 22 (after all the talk some first hand experience is required)
Beneteau Figaro 2 or First 10R
Pogo 30
Contessa 32 (to see what all the fuss is about)
Laser 28
SJ320
Starlight 35 or 39 (again to see what all the fuss is about)
Aphrodite 101 (if it looks fast...)

These are boats I might one day realistically be able to buy second hand - obviously I would also love a shot on an IMOCA 60 etc. ;)
 
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mrming,

you're welcome on my A22 but we have to organise a decent breeze, I'd be the first to say they're no good below F3...please PM me for sail test reviews and to organise a sail when she's back in.

Boats I fancy a go on;

Aphrodite 101

International Canoe

Foiler Moth

Any keelboat like Troy etc near Falmouth ( have tried and loved a Working Boat ).

H-Boat

Swan 65

Hunter 19

Bluenose ( replica if any is going now of the grand Banks schooner )

Whitbread 60

The brig used in ' Master & Commander ' as HMS Surprise
 
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mrming said:
There are too many boats to own em all, and many apart from your own to admire.

So if you could have a test sail in 10 boats, what would they be?
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Well James Jermaine after a career of testing and sailing all kinds of boats chose a 10m Dazcat for himself, so that would have to be on the list to see what it's all about.

Pogos of various sizes look interesting as well.
 
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mrming said:
Charming. Merry Christmas to you too. :)
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I only meant, if I could, I would ;)

The only boat I want a test sail of is the one I'm trying to buy, a Colin Archer type design, it probly weighs nearly as much as the USS Hilary Clinton Carrier Battle Group though..
 
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Of the boats mentioned so far...
H-Boat, my first boat with a lid. Lovely lines, great to sail, should have bought a Mariholm Folkboat though.
C-32 still pretty, I enjoyed sailing a friends boat. Always a head turner for me.
Starlight 39. Was nice to be on but just a large awb.
Aphrodite 101, never sailed one but coveted when I bought the H-Boat.
Had a lot of fun with my Wayfarer.
Now have a Falmouth Working boat..Heard28, which I love and will never sell.
 
Yes the Contessa 32 & She 36 ought to be in there too, on sheer recommendations from forumites, + the books on the 1979 Fastnet when both designs did so well, if I had the money - equivalant or more than running and doing a really serious refit on an old Rolls Royce I suspect - and wanted a larger boat the She 36 ( As in Lorelei in '79 " I knew she would never let me down " ) would be on a very short list, so I'd better go back and scrub one !
 
mrming said:
Oh I see - no worries in that case! :)

Are you planning to venture further afield then?
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Yes I'm "pining for the fiords" and although it's a tardis I just can't fit enough stuff in the faithful Hurley..plus, there aren't enough strings to pull..

Test sail? I would love to try a lateen rig dhow, a big lugger like the Cancalaise, a full-on Colin Archer gaff ketch, The Pickle Replica, any random unfamiliar historic rig really.
And also one of those engineless spotting autogyros they used to tow behind U-boats!
 
AngusMcDoon said:
Someone here must be able to arrange that for you.
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Seajet said:
It takes all sorts, judging from recent reports about cabinet ministers there must be a club catering for that sort of thing. :)
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No seriously, I'd like to try one. I've never been on one - or, indeed, steered a sailing boat with a wheel - and it would be interesting to see what they are like. I might even get hooked! Happy to return the favour with a whizz round the Clyde in a long-keeled double-ender.

Edit: "Whizz" should not be interpreted as referring to immense speed.
 
JumbleDuck said:
No seriously, I'd like to try one. I've never been on one - or, indeed, steered a sailing boat with a wheel - and it would be interesting to see what they are like. I might even get hooked! Happy to return the favour with a whizz round the Clyde in a long-keeled double-ender.

Edit: "Whizz" should not be interpreted as referring to immense speed.
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You are welcome any time. However it is best if tried somewhere nice and warm with deep blue sea, low cost wine, good food - and don't forget to bring you swimming gear.

You have to be careful as you might get hooked and spend your running away fund on one.
 
I had never driven a boat with a wheel until I booked myself onto a free Berthing and Boat Handling under Engine course at the last Southampton Boat Show. Some kind of 40 ft+ Beneteau. The reassuring thing was, there was an instructor responsible for the session rather than just an owner with their pride and joy. He asked us all what our sailing experience was, and I explained it was with small things with tillers and diddly little outboards, and so when I had a go and obeyed what I thought was the universal law of engines in my experience, namely Give It Serious Welly Right From The Start Or It'll Go Out And Refuse To Get Going Again, I was gently corrected without any screaming, boat damage, keel-hauling, etc...
 
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