What boat would you buy to circumnavigate the UK and beyond, with only £5k?

[Charlie Boy]

The OP could, for example, do a lot worse than buy my Twister, which is basically sound but "needs tidying" as they say in the motor trade, for not a huge amount more than his £5k budget and circumnavigate the UK (or the world) in her.

She is in France but by the time he had sailed her back to the UK, he would surely be proficient enough to carry out his planned cruise.

I was going to say “Twister”! In fact I’d even been poking around on the web but there are few, if any, examples for sale in the UK. If I was thinking of circumnavigating the UK solo and I didn’t already have a well found boat then THAT would be a fantastic chance!
PS what’s the VAT situation ATM?

 

[Tranona]

Although there only seem to be 2 for sale currently twister.org.uk/twisters-for-sale/ they do come up frequently.

The boat referred to would remain UK VAT paid if the current owner sailed it back to the UK. If it was bought in France it would be EU VAT paid and a UK resident could not bring it to the UK without paying VAT.

 

[Sea Change]

Thanks I'll check them out.

That's another thing, bilge vs fin - the same peers recommending folk boats turn their noses up at bilges. "No fun to sail windward", "Keel damage from taking the ground", "Keels fall off if not encapsulated", "Slamming is annoying".

I had a Leisure 23 and found it pretty boring and slow to sail.

I was going to suggest a Leisure 23, or possibly even slower, a Pageant!

 

[Sea Change]

Another benefit of a bilge Keeler is you don't need a cradle to haul out with over winter - saving £100's per winter. Thats if you opt to haul out at all. They can 'easily' do below waterline stuff between tides (although a brave man would change seacocks whilst dried out between tides!

I've done seacocks between tides. Four in total I think. I grew a few grey hairs in the process. It's great for your work ethic when you can see the tide returning and you still have a hole in the bottom of your boat.

 

[Sea Change]

Regarding costs, that’s why I mentioned that if on a budget good anchoring gear and an ability to use it is important.
Concerto gave details of his costs - but also noted that he chose to bypass anchorages and primarily use harbours / marinas. That is a perfectly good approach that suits most. But in large sections of coast a budget conscious sailer could save a lot by taking the opposite approach - bypassing the marinas and using the anchorages (only briefly going into harbours for fuel etc, although some can be done by dinghy and cans).

My understanding is that this is fairly difficult along most of the east coast?

 

[Poignard]

Although there only seem to be 2 for sale currently twister.org.uk/twisters-for-sale/ they do come up frequently.

The boat referred to would remain UK VAT paid if the current owner sailed it back to the UK. If it was bought in France it would be EU VAT paid and a UK resident could not bring it to the UK without paying VAT.

Yes, that seems to be the position as I understand it.

I don't suppose the amount of VAT would be great, given the age of the boat but I can't be sure of that.

As a matter of fact, and following a trial sail this morning, I concluded a (provisional) sale with a very experienced French sailor but he wants to check with the French authorities tomorrow how he stands with regard to re-flagging the boat and possible certification issues.

I told him that, as far as I know, certification would not be a requirement with a boat built before 1998 but, understandably, he's not going to take my word for that.

 

[Tranona]

Yes, that seems to be the EU position on recertification - they retained the pre 1997 exemption for EEA built boats, but as ever the decisions are taken locally. VAT coming back to the UK would be based on declared market value or what the importer paid so maybe a couple of grand at the outside. However recertification on our side is also unclear.

Good luck with the sale.

 

[Poignard]

Yes, that seems to be the EU position on recertification - they retained the pre 1997 exemption for EEA built boats, but as ever the decisions are taken locally. VAT coming back to the UK would be based on declared market value or what the importer paid so maybe a couple of grand at the outside. However recertification on our side is also unclear.

Good luck with the sale.

Thanks.

If I learn anything useful about selling in France I will post it here for the benefit of anyone else in a similar situation.

 

[dunedin]

My understanding is that this is fairly difficult along most of the east coast?

I am no expert on the East coast, but there are some options, specially for shallower draft / bilge keel boats.
There are masses of anchorage options on the North and West coasts that many choose not to use, increasing their costs.

 

[B27]

I am no expert on the East coast, but there are some options, specially for shallower draft / bilge keel boats.
There are masses of anchorage options on the North and West coasts that many choose not to use, increasing their costs.

Most of my friends who've done a loop of the Uk/GB/'England and a bit', by the time they were sailing down the East Coast, they were having to pick weather windows and wanted to be in a decent harbour when not sailing. I suspect they might have had a better time going the other way around?

 

[bedouin]

Here's one that catches the eye:

Westerly Centaur for sale UK, Westerly boats for sale, Westerly used boat sales, Westerly Sailing Yachts For Sale Westerly Centaur - Apollo Duck

Just look at the work done recently - engine 2019, main 2018,Genoa 2020, rigging 2015....even a liferaft 2020

The owner has spent thousands so just turn up buy it and sail.

 

[Tranona]

Here's one that catches the eye:

Westerly Centaur for sale UK, Westerly boats for sale, Westerly used boat sales, Westerly Sailing Yachts For Sale Westerly Centaur - Apollo Duck

Just look at the work done recently - engine 2019, main 2018,Genoa 2020, rigging 2015....even a liferaft 2020

The owner has spent thousands so just turn up buy it and sail.

That particular boat was suggested earlier and dismissed out of hand by some of the sages here!

 

[Buck Turgidson]

That particular boat was suggested earlier and dismissed out of hand by some of the sages here!

if the OP wants to buy it I will sail it round for him in one go. That boat looks like it's ready to go. Just fill the tanks.

 

[Tranona]

Wales seems to be a good place to buy boats as the local market is limited and a long way from more densely populated places. Loads of Centaurs sailing happily all round the UK and far better bet for the OP than some of the suggestions.

 

[steve350]

There are a couple on ebay at the moment that meet the design criteria of the OP. In budget and would leave a few grand to spare.
Cutlass 27 with a wind vane. £2500
An Invicta 26 with an engine replaced in 2015. £2800

 

[dgadee]

When I did it I was surprised how much engine I used. Get something with a decent diesel.

 

[srm]

Get something with a decent diesel.

Depends how quickly you want to do it. If time is no constraint then wait somewhere comfortable for suitable winds. Also, does it have to be completed in one season, especially given the OP's expected size/speed of boat? For comparison the full Round Britain will give most, if not all, of the minimum requirements for the YM Offshore. Stromness marina is a safe place to leave a boat, it was my home port for many years and I never had concerns leaving the boat afloat and unattended for a winter.

Having said all that, on my last north bound delivery passage from Plymouth to Stromness we used the engine for a significant part of the journey. We also needed a fair amount of radar watch keeping, including leaving Mull and Skye to starboard without seeing anything of them.

 

[dgadee]

Depends how quickly you want to do it. If time is no constraint then wait somewhere comfortable for suitable winds. Also, does it have to be completed in one season, especially given the OP's expected size/speed of boat? For comparison the full Round Britain will give most, if not all, of the minimum requirements for the YM Offshore. Stromness marina is a safe place to leave a boat, it was my home port for many years and I never had concerns leaving the boat afloat and unattended for a winter.

Having said all that, on my last north bound delivery passage from Plymouth to Stromness we used the engine for a significant part of the journey. We also needed a fair amount of radar watch keeping, including leaving Mull and Skye to starboard without seeing anything of them.

I went north up the East coast. Not a lot of wind but many pot markers, even out at 50m depth.

Interesting what you say about shelter in Stromness. I was wondering about leaving a boat in Wick for a winter

 

[Minerva]

I think it’s beholden to anysailer to at least learn a bit of the tradition and skills to be a mariner inthe process are errant sailer will have the skills and respect for the sea……what we don’t want are people thinking it’s ok to just set off in any craft because they have seen it on YT….not that the OP has

Yes there are some who just buy a boat and get on with just sailing.

On the other hand there are others who deliberate for many, many, many years over buying anything, remain boatless and miss out on so many sailing experiences.

 

[capnsensible]

If you want to do it on a crewed yacht, a friend of ours is a part time skipper for an East Coast sailing school that does it as a charity event every year. They use the Crinan so not 'over the top'.

He is on his 4th lap and heading for Inverness as I write and he is booked for another one in the summer.

Actually he was just messaging with Mrs. S on face book and complained about getting dizzy. So she told him to go the other way round next time.

Edit, thanks ylop for pointing out I wrote the wrong canal.