Which boat for one?

[Conachair]

Dear All,
I'm slowly edging ever closer to packing it all in & heading south. Plan is nothing more than head south & see what happens, maybe caribbean after a while. Question is which boat. Budget about £30k for boat with maybe £10k left to fit out. Single handed but nice to have room for visitors. On the list at the moment is Contessa 32, Nicholson 32 and saw a steel 32 van der stadt on the net which looked quite nice. So questions I have:

What boats are suitable? I want something solid which will handle heavy weather if & when it hits.

Steel or GRP? Like the idea of steel if I hit a dead whale or a container out there but not so sure about resale if I find I don't like cruising (doubtful!) or if something that small would be too heavy. Maybe more than that, i really like the idea of steel 'cos I know it & work with it, but I haven't sailed for very long (3rd season) & think maybe it would be better to get say a contessa while I learn more about what my ideal boat may be. But then all that work for a boat you might sell.......

All opinions welcome.

Padz




<hr width=100% size=1>Paddy

 

[boatmike]

There's no perfect answer to this one as there's no such thing as a perfect boat. Your budget is frankly quite small for a blue water boat but not impossible. Steel is good and if you keep looking you will often find an older vessel that needs some TLC in steel relatively cheaply and if you can weld and are practical by nature it is a good way to go. Leave money in your budget to re-rig all critical stays with new wire and fittings (not expensive if you do it yourself) and overhaul mechanical systems etc. New sails are expensive too but desirable. Single handing is all about making the boat easy to sail and bringing all lines back to the cockpit where possible. A windvane steering system like Aires or similar is a highly desirable (if not essential) addition single handing, as is a watermaker of some kind if you are going blue water. If you are going to day sail or have short hops (like many of us do) they are unnecessary. Frankly I would plan to do the latter first and work your way down to the Canaries and build up to say the ARC for your first Atlantic crossing rather than go south and see what happens ( I am sure you didnt mean quite that!)
The nice thing about sailing is that there are more ways of doing it and different boats to choose from than there are people sailing so in the end the choice is yours but personally I would look for a larger (say 36ft) boat, that has already done a lot of blue water miles and has proved itself. An older boat might well come with a lot of extras albeit in "used" condition, and look tatty and tired. If she is sound and seaworthy though everything else can be fixed and if you do the re-fit yourself you will know her inside out by the time you are ready to go. If you have determined you are going I see no point in spending money and time on a smaller boat just to start again on something else within a couple of years. Spend the time and money on the best you can afford from the outset. Keep your money in your pocket and an open mind until you see the right boat. You will. And when you do you will know. Good luck!


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[snowleopard]

a factor to bear in ming with steel boats is that they tend to be heavier than other constructions in the smaller sizes because you need quite thick plate just to prevent flexing. the result is that all the other gear has to be heavier to push it through the water at a reasonable speed or it will be depressingly slow.

it has another great advantage... when the inevitable frenchman anchors inside your swinging circle you simply point to the hull and say "acier!"

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[Conachair]

Thanks for a well thoughtout reply, Mike
Yes, which boat is probably an impossable question to answer. Budget's a bit low but I think achievable, if it comes to it I think I would go in my present boat, Vega 27' but lack of headroom would probably be the biggest negative. Time to start look soon, though, I'd be very interested in anyones views of the sailing qualitys of some steel boats available. There seem to be a few Van Der Stadts around the 32/34 mark and a few ebbtide's as well. As for essential systems, on my list would be depth, log, windspeed (anyone used ultrasonic units for log & windspeed - are they worth the extra?), couple of gps, radar detector and if poss radar. And a windvane.
"Going South" to me means getting over to France & working slowly down a bit, learning a bit of french and working on the boat as I go. Then prob over Biscay and doing the same in spain (Can you day sail Biscay?). A bit of french & spanish has gotta be useful all over the world. Then I should know where to go next.
Time to start looking for the boat soon, so far it's been armchair shopping via ancasta or yachtworld.com. Devon / cornwall seems to be good area for boats just come back - how did you all find your boats?

Thanks

<hr width=100% size=1>Paddy

 

[snowleopard]

<Can you day sail Biscay>

in short, no.

once you get down to the south west coast of france there are long stretches of inhospitable coastline you would definitely not want close under your lee in a blow. general plan is to sail down the southern coast of brittany then 'nip' across to northern spain. it makes the open sea bit a lot shorter than the direct route but no way is it a day sail.

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[boatmike]

While I agree generally, there ARE ports of call around the coast of France and Spain and it is possible to day sail. I have only been as far as the Gironne personally but you can I understand continue coast hopping around if you are very careful about the weather. Problem is that the shallow waters of the bay cause horrible seas that might well be the result of hurricanes in the far west of the North Atlantic and if you get a storm caused by a front on top of that you could be stuck in port for weeks waiting for the weather so it certainly is seldom done. Personally I would not go to Brittany and "nip over" either. It's too near the area of risk and does not actually shorten the trip much anyway. The great Jimmy Cornell (may his socks be for ever blessed) suggests departure from Falmouth making as much westing as possible before landfall in La Coruna. 430 miles. Personally I would not close the coast until well past Cap Finisterre. The Spanish call the coast around here "Costa del Morte" ....... Of course there is always the Canal du Midi. You can day sail down that single handed OK ! Might give it a bash next year....

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[AndrewB]

Yes, agree.

As the owner of a steel yacht, personally I would not want one less than about 34', except as a sailing barge. The weight of the material doesn't just affect performance, but more importantly contributes to stability problems affecting suitability for long-distance cruising. At that size, a decent long keel GRP yacht will be quite strong enough to cope with most collisions. It is the modern fin-keelers that are particularly vulnerable, but then for many reasons they are not good for long-distance short-handed cruising.

 

[AndrewB]

Working slowly down a bit.

Unfortunately the sail from England down to the NW Spain is particularly taxing and does not make for an easy introduction to ocean cruising. Some of the day sails are long, for example Plymouth to Brest is 24 hours, and the approach to Brest from the north is one of the trickiest anywhere, definitely not something to do tired. Plan to do the first part at least two-handed.

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[Erico]

Why wait? look no further than my Rival 34.

We'll proven for singlehanded blue water sailing by me. Fully equiped with all the gear you need including Aries windvane. Not yet on the market but PM me and I'll let you know when she is. She'll be up for around £35k eric.orme@audience.co.uk.

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[pragmatist]

Oh dear Eric - why ? No-one should sell their Rival - unless it's for a different Rival. Every time we have a row I envisage 1 x R41 turning into 2 x R34 ! And of course anyone is fully entitled to upgrade to a bigger Rival under the rules ! Hope your reasons are good ones not bad.

They are truly splendid boats if less luxurious than some.

The ROA is a different kettle of fish - used to run the web site till they decided that only members were permitted to see bits of it. But not all Rival owners are stuffed shirts.

<hr width=100% size=1>a pragmatist is an optimist with a boat in the UK - but serious about not being in the UK !

 

[Erico]

Of course it is for another Rival - growing family and plans for more extended crusing make it rather necessary

Okay she is a 41 and I might have prefered the 38 for ease of use and somewhat better sailing ability but you have to take what turns up with your name on it. Of course she is yard finished just like Aliz Motte.

Eric

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[pragmatist]

Well done ! We love ours. Unsure about the 38 sailing better than the 41 tho' - our calculations - displacement to sail area showed the 41 to be significantly better. Like hen's teeth though - having been gazumphed on one we never thought we'd find a 2nd at an affordable price. 7 years later still a wonderful boat.

Do let us know her name etc - never seem to carry the ROA list when we see one. There were 2 x R36 in Dartmouth this w/end.

<hr width=100% size=1>a pragmatist is an optimist with a boat in the UK - but serious about not being in the UK !

 

[heerenleed]

Do have a look at the Nicholson 31 as well. She is much roomier than the Nic32, and sails very well indeed.

cheers

<hr width=100% size=1>Peter a/b SV Heerenleed, Steenbergen, Netherlands
<A target="_blank" HREF=http://www.heerenleed.tk>http://www.heerenleed.tk</A>