In what way?
Yup you can buy a £5K boat and sail it locally and find out all the things that are wrong with it that you haven't budgeted for or you can buy a good well regarded boat that is in commission from a well regarded and experienced sailor. Hmmm let me think about that one. Here's that shovel.
Some old boat!!!!. Somehow I think one might struggle to find something more suitable and well maintained. Id hazard a guess she would cope admirably with an Atlantic crossing as she is. Poignard dont do it and get out there sailing.
I hope that you are still with us and that somewhere amongst all our ramblings and diversions you can find some encouragement. Go for it in your own way, as we have all done. There is no one "right answer", we all find our own.
Having done the full round Britain singlehanded, I have to disagree with you. It is a series of day sails. I should have left in late April but final preparations took longer and I left nearly a month later. You mention time pressures, but I was flexible on my route with the only critical points were rounding Out Stack, meeting my daughter and grandson in North Wales,and attending the whole of the Southampton Boat Show. It took 5 months and I had plenty of days in port exploring the places I visited. There were a few days that strong winds changed my depature days, but as I am happy to sail in predicted winds of force 7, the winds have to be very strong to stop me. If someone only wishes to sail in fair winds only then this can cause some time problems.
If it was essential to have only one kind of boat to go there it would be a pretty empty space. It is clearly your preference to have only one kind of boat but the majority (including those who sail in those waters may not agree.
You write as if there is only "one way" and it is fraught with problems. amazing then that anybody does it at all. There are so many ways of going about it from taking years to dashing round as quickly as possible with as few stops as possible. The series of day sails seems to be the most popular for th very reasons you see as problems.
I don't suggest one kind of boat what I suggest is a boat that is a far better choice for many reasons than many including a Westerly Centaur
I would say that's a very sensible approach.
I have to disagree with the last bit - I think it is pretty easy to find a small boat for <£5k where the owner has done most of that and the boat is pretty much ready to cast off and sail.
There are old boats where previous owners have put money into upgrades and seen that as the cost of using the boat.
As I have already admitted, I have never set out to sail "Round Britain". I have however bought a number of boats in the south of England and sailed them home to either Shetland or Orkney, along with similar passages in either direction made for other reasons. The passages were made both with crew or single handed. In all but one cases the primary object was to get from one end of Britain to the other so can be regarded as delivery trips. Stops were only made as required for fuel, rests, or to avoid strong head winds.
) But what the OP has not mentioned is, is he aware of the additional costs that many have indicated and as seasoned cruisers understand and consider part of the joy of sailing. Does he intend to anchor for most of the time or expect to use marinas, what is his time available for the voyage? In any case it's too late for this year so the sound advice would be to buy what he can and likes and get to know and prepare it ready for next year, however as for many next year might not come when he finds the true costs and pleasures of owning a hole in the water.I hink 3 people have sailed around in Lasers,A Hobie Cat, the quicker the better
Fair comment.On reflection I think this is quite an interesting thread. Who in fact is qualified to give the advice?
Not me although I have to all intents and purposes sailed around the UK including the more remote and challenging parts but not in the sense that most would consider a circumnavigation and not in one go but the passages were singlehanded but again not in a £5K boat or even close. I have though sailed in such boats but it has been short coastal sailing with facilities close at hand. Now much has been made of the fact that that is all that a UK circumnavigation is and 90% of it is but there are some with long stretches of sailing in exposed areas where if there were a problem life would quickly become difficult. For me it's risk management and their are elements of the voyage that contain "risks" which can be managed by a strong and able sailor who chooses his weather windows carefully and is prepared to have some very long days and possibly nights because in those conditions the boats in question may not average the 4 knots. However all is possible corks and letters in sealed bottles make far longer and more arduous journeys and a boat can be made like a cork ( almost)
So who is qualified there are people on here that sail £5K and under boats and no doubt are for the most well maintained and they have total confidence in them but just what type of sailing do they do? I will wager that the most experienced have spent a lot of time fettling their boats and developed the skills necessary to sail and maintain them. There is a forum member that doesn't post on here much now that took a sturdy boat in need of a lot of fettling and has sailed it down to Portugal where amongst many other things he had to fit a new engine.
So yes it can be done and I have no doubt that a Leisure 17 could do it, they have sailed further but I wouldn't recommend the OP to try it in one.
Finally the OP has said that he could with time push the budget to £10K which is beginning to look more promising ( Poignard will be rubbing his hands together in anticipation of a sale