Who has downsized and why?

rwoofer

rwoofer

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I went from 45ft to 29ft because with the bigger boat:

- spent to much time on maintenance
- felt obliged to spend every weekend on her cause so much money was invested in her
- found getting berths in the solent was becoming stressful cause it is much harder to just squeeze in a big boat
- realised that even at 45ft it still felt like "camping" and was not really as luxurious or comfortable as the cheapest of B & Bs

What about others?
 
In the process of downsizing, because any year now, I am not going to be able to manage 16 tons of boat on my own on and off a pontoon without denting something. At sea in and out of the Sound, and up and down the rivers, it's fine, but alongside...

There is always the problem of headroom, though. I have a psychological imperative for at least three inches clearance above my pate. But boy, am I going to miss the room for taking 12 people on board, and still being able to have my own seat in the cockpit !
 
have downsized and then upsized again - had freedom 35 and downsized to hunter 272 bilge (twin fin) and now have Dehler 34 and thinking about going bigger ,

why?

for us the switch down was driven by 3 factors (probably about equal ) - the freedom was great for sailing further but with - at the time - 3 young children (all below 10) we found we were splashing round the solent and could do that with the smaller boat ok,

the second - and in truth probably more influential factor was that the freedom had more of our money tied up in it and I was made redundant and felt frankly less secure and therefore felt easier through selling and having less money tied up by having a smaller boat - in practise we found that the running costs did not change much as berthing for a smaller boat - whilst cheaper was not dramatically so - same with insurance and normal self maintenance costs,

3rd factor for us was that the hunter was hugely lighter to handle compared to the freedom (or perhaps more accurately the freedom was much heavier to handle than conventional yachts ) - hoisting main on freedom was a take deep breath and go for it and recover afterwards (ie hard winching to raise it) and the helm could and did get very heavy in a breeze - by contrast the sail handling and helm on the hunter could literally be "childs play" - mind you we find the same now with the dehler so suspect it is more design than size driven ,

we have fond memories of each of our boats but have found our current dehler a winner for us as being and doubt we would be tempted by significantly smaller again

mind you - we were not sailing with triplets!
 
Downsizing

I went from 35' to 24' albeit with a few years as an expat and several dinghies in between. Got rid of the bigger boat, which I cruised and raced, to move to FE and had dinghies to race, mainly for the kids, when we came back. When the kids went to university I decided to move back to a cruising boat but with no real desire to race. Chose 24' because of ease and cost of getting a mooring around Southampton and to be able to handle easily on my own. Hurley because of simple maintenance and good accomodation for size. About 50% of the time I have others on board so standing headroom and reasonable space are important.
 
We went from full time living and cruising on a 41' boat to pottering around Lake Windermere on a 19' day sailer. Horses for courses.

I've now converted the day sailer to a motor boat to explore the canal system! Variety is the spice of life.
 
The temptation to downsize is increasing with some of the exciting smaller boats coming on the market. The Jeanneau 3200, Elan 310, and Pogo 8.50 look like they could provide a lot of short-handed fun in the right kind of conditions. And have enough accommodation for one or two people. Is it possible to nominally downsize by choosing not to upsize any further?
 
I downsized from a Coaster 33 to a Fisher 25. I had shared boats for many years but my sailing partner decided that he was getting too old for sailing. I had arthritic hips and simply could not get out of the cockpit of the Coaster quickly enough to tie up getting in to a berth on my own so the Coaster had to go. The Fisher is small enough for me to cope and still has the wheelhouse which makes it possible to go on sailing in one's 80s. {Keeps you out of the wet and the cold!]

The problem now is that swimbo is getting frail and has to be looked after and so it is difficult to get away to sail. That's another problem, however.
 
thinking about it when the horizons change ! but for now we have a big boat for two reason... better ride and quicker passage maker for crossing channel and long distance stuff.... for pottering about a small boat is ideal !
 
Cerddinen said:
Is it possible to nominally downsize by choosing not to upsize any further?
Click to expand...

Yes, I think this is what we will do. 31 feet is fine for the two of us plus dog. At a pinch we also queeze in two teenagers but they are less likely to want to come sailing with us in the future. Of course we would love the space of 40 feet but not the costs and maintenance.

Pete
 
rb_stretch said:
I went from 45ft to 29ft because with the bigger boat:

- spent to much time on maintenance
- felt obliged to spend every weekend on her cause so much money was invested in her
- found getting berths in the solent was becoming stressful cause it is much harder to just squeeze in a big boat
- realised that even at 45ft it still felt like "camping" and was not really as luxurious or comfortable as the cheapest of B & Bs
Click to expand...

Nice when you are away from home as well. Those grand finger berths at St Peter Port are designed for something around 30ft, get in there and you don't have to raft up with the Hoi Polli.
 
We used to spend six months of the year living on-board, and abroad, but two years ago, we downsized from 15 metres and 25 tonnes to 13 metres and 13 tonnes, both mobos. Towards the end of last year, we realised we hadn't gone far enough and have now sold the 13 metre one. Reason? Change of plans due to health issues and advancing years. So two lots of commission into the brokers pocket!:mad:

Can't face the prospect of a future without a boat of some sort so now looking for something around the 30' mark for occasional inland use. They say old age doesn't come on its own..............:(
 
Up, UP and down.

From "barely floaters" to dinghies, then to a Folkboat. Then a huge jump to an old 60ft wooden fishing boat, which I partially rebuilt, and completely converted, and sailed around for 30 years. Three years ago, decided that the big wooden boat required so much maintenance, that it was starting to get beyond a joke (and beyond us), we have downsized to a Cromarty 36.

She is a deck saloon Motor Sailer, and is wonderful. Have really enjoyed getting back to sail, and not just because of the price of fuel.
 
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