What would your favourite yacht be?

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...... :)
 
If I wanted to upsize from my HR34 I don't think that I would be drawn to the later designs. In terms of grandeur and looks I think that the HR46 of my 2000 vintage would do nicely - it was the smallest HR with a cockpit longer than mine, and it woud cope with any sea that I would be brave enough to go out in. Mind you, I wouldn't say no to the HR62 that we met in Stralsund owned by two young adults and two small children.
 
Having swapped a monohull for a cat to the delight of Management, it would have to be a cat. One with full standing headroom throughout, big cockpit for good weather, inside helm for bad weather and that sails to windward like it's on rails. I rather suspect such a beast doesn't exist.

I'm sure Dazcat could do you something to suit if you've got a spare million. If your budget is more constrained you might have to slum it in a Rapier 400.
 
Having swapped a monohull for a cat to the delight of Management, it would have to be a cat. One with full standing headroom throughout, big cockpit for good weather, inside helm for bad weather and that sails to windward like it's on rails. I rather suspect such a beast doesn't exist.


I think you are right..........................
 
Something that was quick, easy to sail SH, heaves too properly , standing headroom & long berths for my 6ft 6ins. , A decent sized heads near to the companion way. Good engine power , 6 berths for when family visit, Doors I can get through without taking my LJ off. Slab reefing, Good looks and about 35 to 38 ft. No tendancy to broach when over powered,
Probably not a lot out there that fits the bill & besides, at 75 I am too old to change, so my Hanse 311 will do ( it fills some of the above)- I just wish the dealer had shown me a 34 when I bought it, because I would love that extra 3 ft.
 
...it would have to be a cat. One with full standing headroom throughout, big cockpit for good weather, inside helm for bad weather...

And it doesn't heel or draw much water, or lie on its side at low tide.

Aspects of ever-popular monohulls aren't ideal, but are so deeply entrenched in notions of the ways a yacht should look and behave, that the benefits of alternatives haven't turned as quickly as might be expected into a consumer revolution.

I really think it may be easiest to determine what one would most enjoy owning, by deciding what is definitely not wanted.

All sorts of niggles and downsides can be called to mind which one would (or already does) object to having to endure, in an otherwise 'ideal' yacht.

If you can name a boat that comes with the fewest regrettable aspects, that's the one you could live with longest and most happily, even if it isn't what you think you most desire.

I know what I want now, which ticks every box, even though it isn't a cat. And I can afford one! Unfortunately they're so rare, I'm not even going to name it, lest I give someone else the idea. ?
 
Top