Down to 4 Boats...Please Help Me Decide...

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Well the hull speed of the Laurent Giles designed Solway is a tad faster than the Gozzard... and he designed slippery hulls.
On many points they are surprisingly fast, the downside of the bilge keeler is going to windward, but is it worse than a full keeler.???
As for a delivery skipper.. maybe 50% of the shipping cost depending on travel costs.

The Reinki 12 is the fastest with a hull speed of 7.90kts

[MartinF]

"Only sailing experience is through classes, but I'm confident I can handle skippering. I'm a natural at it thus far. I've found my talent."[post 42]

You are a dreamer; it makes for an interesting thread. Go buy the best boat you can find locally for 15000$. When you have sailed her 1000NM single-handed, then look again at your dream boat.

Good Sailing!
- M

[Don C L]

Originally Posted by Wild_At_Heart

I may have to bite the bullet.

Don't bite any bullets yet. Is there a rush? As you gain more experience sailing, your tastes in boats will probably change. Martin's suggestion of finding a good local boat to learn on is a good one I think. As many wise people here have said before, never spend more on a boat than you are willing to lose.

There is nothing wrong with being a dreamer, everyone here is.

[Wild_At_Heart]

Originally Posted by MartinF

"Only sailing experience is through classes, but I'm confident I can handle skippering. I'm a natural at it thus far. I've found my talent."[post 42]

You are a dreamer; it makes for an interesting thread. Go buy the best boat you can find locally for 15000$. When you have sailed her 1000NM single-handed, then look again at your dream boat.

Good Sailing!
- M

Wise words.

Found a Morgan OI 41 Ketch for $10,000 locally. Needs work, but that just means I can make it what I want.

[Wild_At_Heart]

Originally Posted by Wild_At_Heart

Wise words.

Found a Morgan OI 41 Ketch for $10,000 locally. Needs work, but that just means I can make it what I want.

There's also this peach of a OI 41 in Canada for $34,500 US...

https://www.popsells.com/ketch-sailb...ario-r1-322630

...and this Endeavour 37A that's about a B+...

https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/197...r-37a-8943701/

[Wild_At_Heart]

I need to keep looking. I'm finding other more suitable boats. The latest is the Morgan 383/384.

https://sailboatdata.com/sailboat/morgan-383384/

[Wild_At_Heart]

Ok.

I hope and pray this is the last list!

BELLIURE 40 40.00 ft

CENTURION 36 35.73 ft

CENTURION 38 37.73 ft

IRWIN 38-2 40.00 ft

IRWIN 41 41.50 ft

LANDFALL 38 (C&C) 37.58 ft

MORGAN 383/384 38.33 ft

NORTH CASTLE 36 36.75 ft

WESTWIND 38 37.92 ft

[Island Time O25]

Check out Mariner 36. Very solid and well built. Old school quality.

https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/198...er-36-8845303/

[Wild_At_Heart]

Originally Posted by Island Time O25

Check out Mariner 36. Very solid and well built. Old school quality.

https://www.yachtworld.com/yacht/198...er-36-8845303/

I've added it to the list. Thank you for recommending!

[Mickeyrouse]

Don’t let age of a boat necessarily scare you off. If the hull is well built, it should last a lot of years. The age of a boat usually appears in add-ons: engine rigging, wiring, appliancex, fixtures, hardware, etc etc. Our boat is 51 years since initial launch. It sank in a hurricane several years back, an event that likely significantly extended its life- I used the insurance money to replace EVERYTHING except deck hardware, cabinet work, tanks and spars.
As to choice of your boat you should try to at least do an overnite on every one under considerstion. Charter may be a possibilty. Keep in mind that likely each boat has been through multiple owners, and their individual tastes and preferences are reflected in equipment, add-ons, set-up and care. No recommendations made here can account for those variations.

[Island Time O25]

Originally Posted by Wild_At_Heart

I've added it to the list. Thank you for recommending!

BTW, the asking price is on the high side for that model and vintage but if it's in Bristol shape and/or newish engine it will be worth it. Most in sail away condition are around $20-25k today. They are the proverbial under the radar type of boat as less than 100 were made and the name is not well known outside of New England. When new they were selling for twice as much as Catalinas and Hunters - $80ish vs $40ish. With corresponding level of quality.

[AiniA]

I had a Bristol 45.5 with centreboard for years and about 40,000 nm and had no issues with the board. I would not reject well-designed, well-built board boats.

A bigger conclusion is that I think you are not close to making a decision on a boat. You keep posting lists based on observations by a bunch of strangers who may or may not know what they are talking about. Also, your lists include boats that are very different from one another. Don't just use LOA for comparison, displacement also matters. A 40 footer that weighs 15,000 pounds is very different than one that is 27,000. Also, I think you should be looking in the 35 to 38 foot range for single handing.

[Wild_At_Heart]

Originally Posted by AiniA

I had a Bristol 45.5 with centreboard for years and about 40,000 nm and had no issues with the board. I would not reject well-designed, well-built board boats.

A bigger conclusion is that I think you are not close to making a decision on a boat. You keep posting lists based on observations by a bunch of strangers who may or may not know what they are talking about. Also, your lists include boats that are very different from one another. Don't just use LOA for comparison, displacement also matters. A 40 footer that weighs 15,000 pounds is very different than one that is 27,000. Also, I think you should be looking in the 35 to 38 foot range for single handing.

Thanks for the recommendation. Both valid points. "Trust, but verify."

I've read about and seen the horrors of dealing with centerboards. As I eventually plan to circumnavigate, I want to do so with the most basic of systems to limit the points of failure and maintenance.

My lower limit for displacement is 15,000 pounds. My preference is above 20,000. Also, limiting displacement-to-length ratio to above 250, displacement-to-ballast and comfort ratios to above 30ish, and capsize ratio to under 1.9.

[Wild_At_Heart]

Here's the 5 boats that made the cut in order of preference...

1. IRWIN 38-2
2. MORGAN 383/384
3. CENTURION 38
4. IRWIN 41


Happy to hear your thoughts on any of these boats. I'll be checking out each one and will let you know what I find. Planning to purchase in the next 6-12 months. Thanks again for all the insights thus far.

[Don C L]

Looks like the old bluewaterboats.com site has gone away but you might scan these, if you haven't already.

https://sailboat.guide/discover/blue-water-boats

https://waterbornemag.com/best-bluewater-sailboats/

https://mahina.com/wp-content/upload...e-Cruising.pdf

https://atomvoyages.com/

from the first site I saw this one that seems it might be the kind of boat that is a good candidate, in Florida.
https://sailboat.guide/zojb42