Size of yacht

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

Boat size to me is about speed more than anything else. Anytime I can sail from destination to destination without exposing myself to weather the happier I am.

Well, that's certainly a consideration. So is handiness in a crowded mooring field or marina. Everything is a compromise.

But "luxury" isn't a compromise you have to make with a smaller boat, unless space alone equates to luxury. There is no reason why a 30 ft boat has to be spartan.

My one issue with a smaller boat is lack of standing headroom. Once you have that, plus adequate storage and tankage, you are pretty much there.

If I were circumnavigating with more than two people (e.g. with children) I would want a 40+ ft. ketch. But I'm not.

[imagine2frolic]

My 46ft. cat is probably more spartan than most new 30 ft. boats.......i2f

[Curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by imagine2frolic

My 46ft. cat is probably more spartan than most new 30 ft. boats.......i2f

Yes, and much faster too. I really don't know much about cats, other than sailing a Hobie.

I would certainly look into a multi-hull if and when I go cruising full-time.

I'm told they are not good about carrying alot of weight, but I'm sure they are a blast to sail.

[jheldatksuedu]

I would go with a trimaran if I went multi hull. I've had both cats and tris. I saw a neat one on TV the other day, it had crank out pontoons that folded back against the main hull, didn't need as large a slip that way. I like the more standard hull of a trimaran. I've been on a 18 foot Cat that I owned and it broke up, it was in the lake near my house, when that happened you had nothing but a bunch of pieces floating, not much to be seen. A power boat passed within 50 feet and never even saw us in the water. There was about a 1 foot chop, that's a lot for a lake 2 miles wide, I was sailing downwind, a gust came up and nosed us in, didn't pitchpole, it leveled off with the hulls about 1 foot underwater. It slowed almost to a stop, then the downforce of the mast broke the cross beams. Luckily I and the wind was headed to home port and in an hour we drifted the last 500 yards or so pretty close to where we put in. I took the car up to the house/farm, less than a mile away and brought the tractor back with a big flatbed trailer and hauled the mess home.
A trimaran wouldn't have broke up like this. I don't like cats for this reason.

House cats are ok, farm cats are great, and maybe even a boat cat, I could stand, but I'm not fond of cat type sailboats.

[imagine2frolic]

Curmudgeon,

When I bought Imagine the P.O. took off over 1000lbs of stuff. When he, and his wife left the boat they took 6 more huge suitcases with them. What was left behind was everything from dishes, blankets, sheets, towels, tools. 2 spinnakers, 2 extra headsails, cloth, fighing gear, 2 Diblasi folding scooters, tons of extra line, and hardware, rebuild kits for pumps, canned goods, and the list goes on. Even with all this weight we hit 18 knots under spinnaker on my test sail.

I have stripped everything, except the necessities off the boat. We live on the boat full time. What I haven't removed I have reduced. I have found a great difference in the boat. She sails a lot easier in light winds, and I am reefing sooner to keep the speeds down at times.............i2f

[Southern Star]

jheld, your experience of the break-up of an 18 foot catamaran is indeed a valid reason for criticizing the suitability of any catamaran for cruising - and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. On the opposite side of the coin, I once walked into my son's playroom with the lights off and stepped on a model of a monohull, crushing it beyond recognition. From that day forward I was committed to selling my full-sized monohull; had the model been of a multihull of a comparable scale, my foot would likely have crushed only one hull, leaving another capable of floating and saving the lives of any Lilliputian occupants. From that I was able to extrapolate the increased risks to monohulls of any size from clumsy giants.

Brad

[Randall]

If you have spent all your money on the boat you most likely bought the wrong size. if you cant sail it bye your self you most likely bought the wrong size. if you have bought equipment you dont know how to fix and cant do with out you might not want to leave to dock till you can. And always plan for the worst and exspect that there should be no issues but know you planned for them to happen on the trip and usualy you will get there just fine.