What was the first boat you bought with your own cash?

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Wansworth

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My first boat was a odd ball Macwester kelpie double ended which they sold to me in 1971 complete with mast and riggingOver the winter I converted it to a coastal cruiser with retentions to sailing to Spain.Ended up doing a West Country cruise with a break in Falmouthworking .Sold it on in 1973,never to be se3n again total cash outlay about 300 quid
 
Westerly Centaur, in 2005. I bought it around 2005 after I came out of hospital following near-death illness, and I'd spent several weeks thinking how I could spend my savings. So I paid off my mortgage, bought a new car and the boat, and I still had £12.30 left in my account! I even kept my job, and was paid normally, during months recuperating at home.
 
Blimey ... back in late 80's ... Alacrity 19 ..... road trailer and Seagull ... years later sold it for same money I paid ... about 1000 quid I think it was ..





Thornham Marina .....

The 2.8i Capri (my second one) towed it a treat ...
 
anoccasionalyachtsman said:
The 2.8 Capri would probably seem tame to the yoof of today, but they were a bit of a hoot (especially drifting in the wet), great engine compared to the asthmatic 3.0 .
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I wanted the Tickford - to replace the 2.8i Special I first had - it shed its offside rear wheel near Shoreham Airport ... but Ford RS Centre who had one - first of all didn't believe a young guy had the money and near ignored me ... then it was sold and nearest one was up country .... so I spoke with the Race Guys who helped me with my JPS MK2 S for club racing and they advised to get the 2.8i without LSD and preferably the 4 speed box ... but only one I could find was the 5 speed. They were right ... it was far better to drive than the LSD version that they failed to pre-load the LSD enough ... the LSD version tramped when pushed pulling out in T junctions ...
 
Leighb said:
We paid cash for all our boats. First was a GP 14, in the 1970s. Most recent our current Storebro Biscay 31
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At College - I raced a GP14 ... Plymouth college had the plans and used to get the cadets to build them. My contribution to building them was to replace the centreboard everytime I broke one coming onto the slipway ...

I also think the College had a sense of humour ... they were all named after Stars .... the one I was given for use - POLLUX .....

Needless to say - when we raced local clubs - it was embarrassing at times .....
 
Enterprise dinghy. Bought as a damaged wreck from my Uni sailing club for £50. Repaired and done up, sailed for. afew years and sold (with a trailer) for £350. So not a bad start. All downhill from there really. This was mid renovation (and a part-completed trailer) at my sister's flat. She hated it.

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~1984, A Listang T24, which I subsequently lived on for over ten years and sailed for something stupid like 30,000 miles, mostly up and down the south coast... Two mainsails, nine headsails, two spinnakers ( I did learn to fly them properly, but probably after this photo was taken.)
 

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Started with a half share with my brother in a Mirror dinghy kit. The youngsters at our club said we could sail against them as we were armchair cruiser sailors. First time we raced her against them, we came second and later on were rarely beaten out of first place.

Later after starting offshore racing bought a new Laser. I can remember collecting up from the factory and driving through London in rush hour traffic. The first sail was memorable as I was desparate to try her. Launched at Medway Yacht Club on a breezy day and managed to sail across the river and back, capsising 5 times on the way over and 3 on the way back. That was enough for that day!

The first yacht was a Hunter Formula One. Pure racing machine designed by Stephen Jones. Quite easy to get on the plane. On one race we tried a towed log and it stopped at 10 knots, so we still did know how fast we got this 22ft machine to go. So not everyones cup of tea, but great fun.
 
Wayfarer, varnished deck on a grp hull. Loved that wee boat. When SWMBO decided to get in on the act, we got a yacht, and realising that I could no longer justify the maintenance time on the W, I sold it and got an all-grp one. Wasn't quite the same though...
 
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