Your ultimate boat: please show imagination, don't be a Wally.

[Greenheart]

So when we pass you in your white trousers, blazer and peaked cap at the wheel of your brigantine, we'll point and look, maybe even take a photo, but then back to (relative) warp speed and away we go, and we'll both be happy

I'm just not a thatch person

To each, his own, absolutely.

Although, I wonder at your wholehearted pursuit of speed - at odds with your tacit recognition that planes, trains and Condor catamarans do it much more effectively.

I also wonder why you picture me wearing Old Fart yachting gear? I'm much sloppier than that.

Interestingly, lots of old-time schooners seem to have been able to maintain impressive speeds, in serious weather. Not quite the laughable sluggards which fans of the avant garde enjoy oldies being seen as. And truly photogenic, as you admit above.

PS, many believe the Huf Haus you deride, is in fact a miracle of light and space...so maybe you're as far behind-the-door as me!

 

[Flying Penguin]

To each, his own, absolutely.
Although, I wonder at your wholehearted pursuit of speed - at odds with your tacit recognition that planes, trains and Condor catamarans do it much more effectively.

It's not tacit, I'm pretty explicit about it If I wanted to get somewhere efficiently, with the destination as the be all and end all, I'd take more modern transport, of that there's no doubt. The fun for me is still in the journey, even if I approach the journey a little bit differently to others

I guess I approach it a bit more from the "taking on the challenge" angle and there's no challenge to getting checked in for a flight to the US. Perhaps there's an element of self competition in there, but I want to sail as well and as fast as I can. You don't improve your sailing by doing the same old, same old, you improve it by pushing your boundaries, pushing the speed you can achieve etc etc.

I just want a boat that works with me to do that, not against me.

I also wonder why you picture me wearing Old Fart yachting gear? I'm much sloppier than that.

Well if you are into atmosphere, you might as well go the whole hog

PS, many believe the Huf Haus you deride, is in fact a miracle of light and space...so maybe you're as far behind-the-door as me!

More likely you're stuck in the 17th century, I'm stuck somewhere in the early 21st, and that house is just ugly

 

[Victoria Sponge]

 

[Greenheart]

(Flying Penguin)

More likely you're stuck in the 17th century, I'm stuck somewhere in the early 21st, and that is just ugly

That translates exactly as: "my taste's best, because it's mine"...

Anyway, I asked what others would choose, cost no barrier, and the Shipman 80 is an excellent answer, no argument about it.

(Is it available with a thatched coachroof?)

Lady Celestial, your picture appears to be of a very large motoryacht, with a...range-enhancing implant (mast and sails).

All in the eye of the beholder, okay...but is that really what you'd wish for, cost no barrier? Does it honestly please thine eye?

 

[Flying Penguin]

That translates exactly as: "my taste's best, because it's mine"...

Not wrong there, although I would insert "best for me"

BTW I did mean the house was ugly. (edited to make that clear)

 

[westernman]

in a dream,i'd like a original bristol pilot cutter-possible to sail with 2 and able to handle any weather.

In the real world it's got to be a 435 ovni,with the ballast replaced by batteries.Perfect boats for sailing around the world with a swing keel to visit all inshore places.The large battery pack is needed to be self-supporting.These are fed by solar and a shaft generator-rotating the prop costs about 1/2 a knot

Either the ovni and if payable a beastevaar 50 -same story but slightly bigger

Original Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters are getting hard to come by.

But a decent look alike like mine gives you the possibility to sail with just 2 - actually it can be sailed single handed if you are not in a hurry - setting the top sail needs two people though as does going backwards into a narrow marina berth.

The wood/epoxy construction is of course not original, but it does give you pretty much all the benefits of a wood boat with the lower maintenance of a plastic one.

But why an Ovni?

Going from a BCPC to an Ovni in one paragraph does not seem to make sense to me.

 

[Greenheart]

Re: New vs. Old...

...I begin to wonder if the appeal inherent in the necessity to hoist seven or eight sails just to get a weighty hull up to speed, isn't a bit like the attention-hungry steam locomotive, versus an electric one with an on-off pedal or handle.

Coal, fire, water remaining, steam pressure; lots to keep the crew busy. I've sailed AWB sloops, and enjoyed the responsiveness and high-pointing. But, not a very involving experience. More like a speedy milk-float.

If on the other hand, a gigantic mainsail needs brailing up with the right degree of care and brawn, and the mizzensail and staysails want hoisting at the exactly-judged moment, to maintain steering balance...

...and if, little by little, the stately forty tons of steel and wood under your feet begin to glide in the direction you want to go, and won't stop on a sixpence, then there's necessarily a certain wakefulness required by whoever's in charge...no?

Not that sloops are mindless; at least, nothing like motorboats and their skippers can afford to be. But if sloops were not less labour-intensive and did not allow crew much easier, less-involving passage-making than gaffers, they'd not be at the top in sales.

I doubt there's an easier car to drive, than an automatic V6 Camry. But who'd put one of those on their wish list?

That's why I want a type of boat that ain't a race-winner - because its sense of reward is subtler. Then again, maybe this time next week I'll be a waterborne steam-buff, too...

 

[npf1]

Actually the JP-54 or a Leopard-esque racer would be a very interesting canvas on which to base a lovely fast-cruiser.

For an example, look here at the charter fit for the ICAP Leopard: http://www.leopard3.com/interior_gallery.html

Not the most inspiring work I admit, but with a bit of work you could get a boat that had a very liveable interior and was still a fast, exciting ride when you want it to be.
.

FYI: Leopard is currently having a spruce up at SYS which, IIRC, includes a new interior for luxury chartering.

 

[boguing]

Lakey, you're not wrong. Lovely boats them Dragons. Mine would be a lot lighter, and at 30ft I wouldn't bother with any proper accommodation, minimal galley and a few seats. B&Bs and cheap hotels for me. I've done enough sleeping in converted cupboards to last me out!

John M. It would be light and very quick upwind. I have found that quick boats tend to be pretty dry in the cockpit, spray goes over the foredeck and back down the lee side. Plus. A big plus. Permanent cockpit protection. Won't help much with those awkward ones that slam into the side on a reach, but will work upwind.

 

[Greenheart]

Don't forget...COST IS NO BARRIER!

I'd quite like to know what sailing dreamers wish their boats were able to do, which at present they cannot...

...I mean, on the basis that huge funding can make almost anything possible.

I reckon catamarans are still a rich vein, not well-enough explored. And very few of the designs we've seen were pretty.

A hundred foot cat would allow hulls wide enough for double berths to lie athwartship, but the hulls' waterlines would still only be 1/16th as wide as their length...so, there'd be no restriction to maximum 'hull speed', which monos and fatter cats suffer.

With an overall beam around 40', the bridgedeck accommodation would be palatial, almost too much...unless one enjoys country-house proportions...I could get used to it. And broad, covered sidedecks with bulwarks, would be a nice touch of ocean-liner.

There could easily be a sheltered convertible 'conservatory' within the bridgedeck area, a sort of roof-garden/sunroom. Amusing, to go out on deck during a gale without being blown about. And nice to go outside without having to climb steps.

I'd want centreboards. Picture a hundred-foot cruising cat that can slice upwind at 25 knots without heeling in deep water, then float in a 4' deep anchorage.

I'd prefer to avoid the ugly multi-storey superstructure that usually comes off the drawing-boards of superyacht designers. Nice to have a lofty open cockpit atop the bridgedeck, but no additional decks.

And, full paragliding tow gear. And...a pair of hovercraft. Handy for going ashore across acres of low-tide mud or sand, or ice (unlikely), or everglades.

 

[Flying Penguin]

I'd quite like to know what sailing dreamers wish their boats were able to do, which at present they cannot...

...I mean, on the basis that huge funding can make almost anything possible.

I reckon catamarans are still a rich vein, not well-enough explored. And very few of the designs we've seen were pretty.

A hundred foot cat would allow hulls wide enough for double berths to lie athwartship, but the hulls' waterlines would still only be 1/16th as wide as their length...so, there'd be no restriction to maximum 'hull speed', which monos and fatter cats suffer.

With an overall beam around 40', the bridgedeck accommodation would be palatial, almost too much...unless one enjoys country-house proportions...I could get used to it. And broad, covered sidedecks with bulwarks, would be a nice touch of ocean-liner.

There could easily be a sheltered convertible 'conservatory' within the bridgedeck area, a sort of roof-garden/sunroom. Amusing, to go out on deck during a gale without being blown about. And nice to go outside without having to climb steps.

I'd want centreboards. Picture a hundred-foot cruising cat that can slice upwind at 25 knots without heeling in deep water, then float in a 4' deep anchorage.

I'd prefer to avoid the ugly multi-storey superstructure that usually comes off the drawing-boards of superyacht designers. Nice to have a lofty open cockpit atop the bridgedeck, but no additional decks.

And, full paragliding tow gear. And...a pair of hovercraft. Handy for going ashore across acres of low-tide mud or sand, or ice (unlikely), or everglades.

Perhaps you'd fancy this:

Hemisphere - 145ft

 

[westernman]

Somebodies idea of the ultimate catamaran:-

http://www.liveyachting.com/a-class-apart-super-yacht-asean-lady

Not my cup of tea at all.

 

[Flying Penguin]

Somebodies idea of the ultimate catamaran:-

http://www.liveyachting.com/a-class-apart-super-yacht-asean-lady

Not my cup of tea at all.

Now that is truly hideous..... But unsurprising given the country of origin. Just look at half the floating contraptions in Shanghai or Hong Kong, or even worse, on any river, and you will understand why that seemed a good idea.

It's probably a floating restaurant for the owner to seal business deals more than a boat to be enjoyed as a boat....

 

[john_morris_uk]

Lakey, you're not wrong. Lovely boats them Dragons. Mine would be a lot lighter, and at 30ft I wouldn't bother with any proper accommodation, minimal galley and a few seats. B&Bs and cheap hotels for me. I've done enough sleeping in converted cupboards to last me out!

John M. It would be light and very quick upwind. I have found that quick boats tend to be pretty dry in the cockpit, spray goes over the foredeck and back down the lee side. Plus. A big plus. Permanent cockpit protection. Won't help much with those awkward ones that slam into the side on a reach, but will work upwind.

But you can have light and quick upwind with a more conventional bow. Plumb bows are normally designed to maximise waterline length vs loa to maximise boat speed but keep within class rules.

 

[Greenheart]

Lots of room for big catamarans that AREN'T hideous, too!

I'm not crazy about either of those multihulls, but thanks.

'Hemisphere' seems to be a vast, unashamedly overweight, sadly underperforming monstrosity. Is that a bed on the middle of the main afterdeck? Weird. And strangely, I get the impression it's less roomy than I was thinking my much smaller 100' cat would be.

Heaven knows where they stow her fifty-four foot sports fishing boat! Looks like a cat designed by a motor-boater, with sails as an afterthought.

Personally I was thinking of something along Wharram-Pahi lines, but made big enough for very large cabins on the bridgedeck to be full-standing headroom, yet without the towering ugliness of supermotoryachts. Hemisphere is a pig!

I was thinking of more than one mast, too.

That other thing...a sort of motorised Proa, I guess, disguised as a Holiday Inn? It doesn't enter the debate as I intended it!

 

[Greenheart]

Then again...catamarans don't really make the grade, for historic atmosphere and style on board. The Americans do it best:

That'd be a fat seven-figure chunk of my lotto-winnings, well spent.

 

[westernman]

Then again...catamarans don't really make the grade, for historic atmosphere and style on board. The Americans do it best:

That'd be a fat seven-figure chunk of my lotto-winnings, well spent.

I agree - although it requires far too many crew. I don't want to have to go sailing with that many people each time.

Which is why the Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter is right in so many ways......

 

[Litotes]

Agreed, E39mad, the Spirit yachts are pretty

Funny, that. Everyone seems to like them except me. I think they are failed, and, ultimately, pointless, attempts to copy the grace achieved by designers of an earlier age. They never quite get it right. The one in the photo, for example - the sheer is graceless and the counter disproportionate. I actively dislike these boats.

I want Working Sail's Lizzie May.

 

[Greenheart]

I see what you mean...

A very manageable size, too.

 

[wklein]

in a dream,i'd like a original bristol pilot cutter-possible to sail with 2 and able to handle any weather.

In the real world it's got to be a 435 ovni,with the ballast replaced by batteries.Perfect boats for sailing around the world with a swing keel to visit all inshore places.The large battery pack is needed to be self-supporting.These are fed by solar and a shaft generator-rotating the prop costs about 1/2 a knot

Either the ovni and if payable a beastevaar 50 -same story but slightly bigger

You beat me to it, big ovni every time, absolutely bomb proof, huge brightly lit interior, well insulated and sails very well. Sailed a 435 quite a bit fabulous easy boat to sail. In rtir it was a bit hairy mind!