What would your favourite yacht be?

[capnsensible]

I have steered clear of yachting as work. I have friends who work in yachting, as brokers, surveyors, chandlers, designers, builders and paid crew, and who also enjoy sailing, but I always feared that, were I to do so, the pixie dust would be blown away, and I would stop enjoying sailing.

That's the reason I left the charter business. Preparing yachts for others looses it's edge quite quickly, even when it was quite lucrative.

Working as a full time Instructor and Delivery Skipper for twenty odd years has been a complete blast though!

Wouldn't change a second of that. But you can't get to sea without the inboard team.

 

[KompetentKrew]

Lovely, but I've a feeling you'd need a second lottery win to maintain and park her.

My boat would have to be something I could single hand - Milady could steer while I do stuff, but doesn't need to be heaving on bits of string; but still have the space for guests. My idea of fun (and hers) is sailing for a bit then sipping a nice cold rosé in a quiet anchorage, The odd longer passage to get to more nice anchorages is fine, but neither of us wants to cross oceans,

The ability to take the ground is very useful, as it opens up so many more places, so I'm back to my cat. I know plenty of other boats would do that, but Milady's done with sloping decks.

I don't enter the lottery if the jackpot is less than £20 million. The Dashews double-handed the pictured boat - I think they were still dong so at the age of 70.

"At 78 feet in length you would think she’d be a handful for the two of us. But of all the boats on which we’ve voyaged, Beowulf was the most easily managed (and comfortable) at sea and well-behaved in port."​

 

[LONG_KEELER]

If you've ever owned more than one boat and used them a lot, you might not want to go there......

No problem.
I would tow the HR and O60 behind the Oyster.

BTW. Are there any creek crawling possibilities in the Caribbean ?
Some mud would also be nice.

 

[Kukri]

Big question! I've been lucky enought to sail stacks of yachts over the years, but for different reasons my favourites are:

My Moody 33. 22 years of living aboard and 4 transits. Love it.

Favourite boat for teaching on. I had aJenneau 36.2 for nine years. Brilliant, giant dinghy, great fun but very seaworthy.

Nicholson 55. Brute of a yacht but with 12 crew can take on anything.

When it comes to luxury, Sunroof 74 catamaran. Enough ice cream and movies for a very comfortable Atlantic crossing.

But any yacht can be pleasurable as one learns its foibles......

I am learning to love the Nicholson 55.

I started in a state of near constant terror, because of the immense power of the boat, after stepping up from a 37 footer. The terror is gradually becoming respect and affection. She actually has lovely manners…

She is very good at bad weather, but she is also a sweetie in light airs, which I had not expected, and she has forgiven a number of silly mistakes…

Kukri running up the Channel, F7

Ghosting up the Orwell, September 26th 2021

 

[Sybarite]

Money no object :

Mono
Amel 50
Garcia Exploration 45 or 52
KM Bestaever 45 with Airorig.
Meta Sainte Marthe 46
HR 43 hard top

Multi :
Rapido 60 tri. (OUR NEW BOAT REVEALED (Can’t believe we pulled this off) - YouTube )

Common theme : comfort, weather protection and ease of sailing. (at my age.)

Second hand
Amel Sharki 39
HR 352

 

[Laminar Flow]

I think you’re right. My three boats would be
1 A small Wally, both for purely aesthetic reasons and to enjoy the good life in warmer climates
2 An expedition yacht, aluminium hull, reinforced for ice, pilot house, for high latitude sailing, think Bestevaer, Koopmans…
3 My current Starlight 39, as it enables me to hugely enjoy sailing and to travel all along the West European shores

If I won the lottery I'd commission a yacht along the lines of Dashew's Beowulf:

I love the idea of 200-mile days.

You do realize that 200 miles a day is pretty damn average for a 70' WL sailing vessel? It works out to a relative speed of 0.99 and is actually, size for size, slower than my Watson and some other 30 odd footers I know.
Besides, try finding room for that thing in some quaint Danish fishing port or watch your cruising kitty evaporate mooring it in the Med.
Crossing an ocean is fine, but the real fun begins at the shallower and more compact bits on the other side, IMHO.

 

[Jmc1764]

Mystic 60
Just because.

 

[Laminar Flow]

I am learning to love the Nicholson 55.

I started in a state of near constant terror, because of the immense power of the boat, after stepping up from a 37 footer. The terror is gradually becoming respect and affection. She actually has lovely manners…

She is very good at bad weather, but she is also a sweetie in light airs, which I had not expected, and she has forgiven a number of silly mistakes…

Kukri running up the Channel, F7

Ghosting up the Orwell, September 26th 2021

Thank God there is at least one other person here, happy with the boat he has.

I think I was five the last time I played "if I had a million dollars". I only ever dream of things I can do and, as a consequence, we have and do make them happen.

 

[westernman]

To quote from "The Best Marigold Hotel": "In the end everything will be perfect, if its not perfect its not the end".

Excellent film.

 

[Koeketiene]

2 An expedition yacht, aluminium hull, reinforced for ice, pilot house, for high latitude sailing, think Bestevaer, Koopmans…

You might want to add a Boreal to your list if that's your thing.
This Summer, I helped to deliver a 44 and she was absolutely gorgeous - and a dream to sail.

Boréal 44, the long trip yacht | Boreal Yachts

 

[westhinder]

Thank God there is at least one other person here, happy with the boat he has.

I think you have missed a number of posts. Can I refer you to my number 3 boat in post # 69

 

[HenrikH]

I wonder why Swan or Baltic do not show on somebodies list? Baltic 67 looks good to me.
But it would have to be the lifting keel option in order for port flexibility
Baltic 67 | Baltic Yachts

 

[westernman]

Most boat builders currently have full order books and LONG waiting lists, despite prices that have really shot up over the past few years. Trust me, I asked a few at the Paris boat show yesterday. It’s hardly proof that the buying public don’t like what’s on offer…….

I was at the Paris boat show yesterday (different yesterday to your's).

I got the same answers about long waiting lists. Some brokers are saying, you are lucky, I already have a build ordered, and can have it delivered spring 2023.
Others were quoting 3 years.

Also, many builders who are normally at the show were not there and it was a relatively small affair. Just hall one - with a small bit in hall two for jacuzzi's, swimming pool covers, navigation electronics, wine and hand bags made from old sails.

No engines on display. No canal boats.

Not a patch on what it used to be.

Still, free ticket to get in and a metro ticket from my friends place to get there it was OK for the price.

 

[Frogmogman]

I was at the Paris boat show yesterday (different yesterday to your's)……..

……..Not a patch on what it used to be.

Still, free ticket to get in and a metro ticket from my friends place to get there it was OK for the price.

I guess with COVID we have to be thankful that it happened at all. As you say, the show is a pale shadow of its usual self, with everything in the one hall, and pretty much only the big builders represented. The things I like to go and drool over at the Salon Nautique are generally the Tofinous, the Black Peppers etc. None of them there this year.

 

[Frogmogman]

I am now in the process of buying a superbly equipped Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 349, with the hydraulic swing keel; boat inspection and test sail completed yesterday, deposit paid today.

I now officially nominate this as my favourite yacht.

 

[Koeketiene]

I am now in the process of buying a superbly equipped Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 349, with the hydraulic swing keel; boat inspection and test sail completed yesterday, deposit paid today.

I now officially nominate this as my favourite yacht.

Congratulations.
Fair winds.

 

[Frogmogman]

Congratulations.
Fair winds.

Thank you !

 

[TSB240]

Well I am really going through the mill of emotions.
There is no doubt that my favourite has been our baby Hanse 301 for the last 8 years. We have spent many hours enjoying her fast crusing capability but realise that enjoying that with all our growing family is impossible for extended periods.

Meeting and having Wally trying to board was a clincher as the Admirable uttered the immortal line from Jaws.

My rapidly growing new favourite is our recently purchased Oceanis 40 CC. The amount of work to bring her to the same standard as the Hanse is manageable and I hope to be completed by early March.

Having two boats on the books is a bit scary but someone will rapidly appreciate the qualities that a well looked after baby Hanse can offer them.

 

[westhinder]

Having two boats on the books is a bit scary but someone will rapidly appreciate the qualities that a well looked after baby Hanse can offer them.

I know the feeling, the relief wil be great when you have sold her

 

[Kukri]

I once asked Ted Heath which his favourite boat was - he had models of all of them.

He replied “Whichever was winning at the time!”