What's the attraction of owning a BIG mobo?

oGaryo

oGaryo

Well-Known Member
Joined
28 Nov 2008
Messages
8,203
Location
Isle of Wight
Visit site
been pondering this one for a while now, not that'll ever be able to afford one:o but what's the big attractcion of owning a big motor yacht, say 50 ft + from the perspective of driving the thing?

I can't imagine it feeling anything other than mundanely pootling around from port to port and to that end, I also can't imagine owning a boat that I wasn't able to throw about a bit to get the old adrenalin going :confused: Maybe the need for no speed will come to me in time or I'm wrong and these big boats can have their day in terms of getting a buzz from sailing them?

As for the mahooooosove private boats/ships.. that can't be anything other than the feeling of walking about on a cruise ship, right?
 
oGaryo said:
what's the big attractcion of owning a big motor yacht, say 50 ft + from the perspective of driving the thing?
Click to expand...
From the perspective of driving her, none. Nothing can beat a 22' catamaran with a big outboard, in that respect.
But from the cruising perspective, well, that's exactly the other way round I reckon.
 
MapisM said:
From the perspective of driving her, none. Nothing can beat a 22' catamaran with a big outboard, in that respect.
But from the cruising perspective, well, that's exactly the other way round I reckon.
Click to expand...

Ooo .. I recon a 60' trimaran with a stupidly big mast and no propulsion engine would beat that!!

As for cruising ... I like it when the engine gets switched off ;)
 
Hmm, yep, you're right that there's no driving pleasure in the sense of throwing it around corners when you're in a 50-60-70 footer. But tbh, if that's what you want you should get a Fountain or something similar, like MapisM's, in which case you are really playing with the marine equiv of an F430

No, the pleasure of a bigger boat simply comes from visiting more distant places, not being made uncomfortable by weather, being able to anchor out indefinitely with comfort, and being able to have more friends aboard. The technical challenges that interest guys (and gals, occasionally!) come from navigation planning, weather planning, finding the nicest spots, entering some of the breathtaking harbours that exist around the place (Valetta, Bonifacio, Istanbul, for example), keeping a fairly large amount of machinery running, parking/unparking in challenging conditionsand so on. Not from the driving per se. Though a fast tender can give you 30mins of nice fun when you feel like it.

I did 2000nm++ lat season, which wouldn't be feasible in a day boat, but you're right that there was no "sports car" driving pleasure and I'd guess that 90% of the miles were driven in straight lines by the a/p

For some philosophical reflection on the attraction of boats, check out this thread from 2005
 
  • Time on the water
  • Living space
  • Chill out factor
  • Sleeping on board
  • Eating on board
  • Extended cruising
  • Comfort
  • Fun and relaxation
  • Weather ability
  • Overnighting on the anchor away from those awful caravan park marinas
  • Can use tender for a buzz
 
I think jfm has it bang on, mechanical challenges and distances you can cover, you just get the freedom to see so much. Lovely post that benjenbav linked, amazing looking trip.

On the really big stuff the OP asked about, 90-100ft plus the appeal is more for non-boating people being able to take their own 5 star hotel to all the beautiful places we get to see, and if they're boating people i guess it's like a moveable hotel but that carries their favourite, fun to drive, toy with them.
 
It's like living in a country cottage by the sea but being able to move the scenery whenever you want. Anyway getting a thrill from thrashing a small boat about at sea is well overrated IMHO. You get cold, you get wet and you need a chiropractor afterwards
 
fireball said:
Ooo .. I recon a 60' trimaran with a stupidly big mast and no propulsion engine would beat that!!

As for cruising ... I like it when the engine gets switched off ;)
Click to expand...
Each to their own of course.
I also like sailboats btw, and had the opportunity to try a Tornado years ago. Much smaller than 60', but fantastic fun indeed.
But the OP was talking of adrenalin. And trust me, in this respect no sailboat on this planet comes close to an air entrapment boat capable of speeds well in excess of 80 knots - even into 3 digits. If you have the opportunity to try one (with an experienced helmsman), there's one thing you'd better not forget: some spare trousers.
Granted to make 150mph on the road a pipe and slippers thing, in comparison.
 
jfm said:
For some philosophical reflection on the attraction of boats, check out this thread from 2005
Click to expand...
Nice one! I must have missed it at that time.
Anyone capable to guess (without reading) who said "this explain people like mjf liking having nice day at the marina and not going anywhere. And me too", wins a virtual mars bar!
 
It's a comfort thing mainly. We can handle bigger seas without being thrown around so much, we can anchor out for days at a time without feeling cramped, we can invite friends on board without feeling like we're living on top of them, we can store lots of toys to keep us entertained. You're right, it's not as exhilarating to drive as a small boat, but i'm with Deleted User on that one, small cruisers are only fun underway when it's pretty calm, the rest of the time it's just about getting there.
 
MapisM said:
OP was talking of adrenalin. And trust me, in this respect no sailboat on this planet comes close to an air entrapment boat capable of speeds well in excess of 80 knots - even into 3 digits. If you have the opportunity to try one (with an experienced helmsman), there's one thing you'd better not forget: some spare trousers.
Granted to make 150mph on the road a pipe and slippers thing, in comparison.
Click to expand...

I read that with interest. OK, a ride in an air-entrapper has just been added to my Bucket List, as Jack Nicholson would say
 
For us its a bit like the difference between camping and staying in a posh hotel.

Done camping when younger - now older and wiser and like to be comfortable.

Both the smaller and the larger boats take you to places but you can generally go further in the larger ones - see the link posted above on our run to Malta - try that in a smaller boat.
 
Is the 'elephant in the room' here simply cost? Another 3' and costs spiral up - fuel, berths, maintenance.... and the speed goes down!
Can't comment about how far you can go coz I havent gone very far yet, but seems to me that if you can handle a chop locally you can do that farther afield. And the wee boat gets there faster: If a big boat does 20knots and a smaller one 25 in the cruise then that is 25% faster - 20% less time to get wherever you want to go, and at less cost.
I take the points about space in the longer trip and having more friends (or at least folk who will sponge a lift) but I am still not convinced that bigger is better for us average Joes. I can charter something for the Big Trip.
Would I spend more on a larger boat? I could, but I don't so that must tell me summat.
Would be interesting how many people would if they could.
 
AllanJ said:
If a big boat does 20knots and a smaller one 25 in the cruise
Click to expand...
I was just about to mention speed then saw your post. It's the other way around. Deleted User alluded to this above, ref chiropractors. The big boat will do 20-25 consistently, day in day out, and it takes pretty big seas to stop it or make it slow down. A smaller boat needs flat sea to do anything like 20kts. The specific speed limitations depend on the specific sizes but a 20 footer can do 25 knots in open seas for 3 hours solid perhaps 20% of the days in a season, whereas a 60 footer can do it 80% of the days, kinda thing
 
its true that the slower a boat, the farther it goes. yachties (and I am not one) generally speaking wander farther round the planet than fast mobos. The same is true of displacement and semi/displacement boats. Small fast boats turned me on when I was younger, now they don't. I used to go camping when I was younger - now I don't. A short term buzz on the one hand or real travel and the freedom of the seas on the other. An individual choice.
 
Who says big boats have to be slow? The latest spec of the V85 with 2400MTUs is capable of driving her at 40 Knots. There are a number of big boats >100' LOA with gas turbines that are capable of over 50 knots. I don't care how big or small you are, that sort of speed is exhilarating now matter what size you are.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Other threads that may be of interest

M
Galeon in the 50ft Class – Hoping to Borrow a Bit of Owner Wisdom
Replies
4
Views
346
Elessar
Elessar
Y
The Seafarer 700 and NASA clipper sounders saga
Replies
10
Views
429
Dellquay13
Dellquay13
bluey01
Anyone want to design a folding sailing dinghy with me?
2 3 4
Replies
66
Views
2K
bluey01
bluey01

Share this page

Top