Old sailor looking for new adventures

[saxandsail]

Hi all,

I have been sailing rather seriously but this was a while ago. Living and working inland, I drifted away from sailing apart from a few opportunities that vanished as I became a dad and focused on raising my kids, too far away from the sea.

Now that I am approaching retirement, or at least that's what I'm lead to believe, I am fantasizing another chapter of my life on a boat.

My racing past tends to push me in a direction that I know is not wise. I am considering purchasing a boat and I am tempted by ex-racing machines.

Anyways, it's only the beginning of this new adventure, so I'm counting on all of your good expertise to help me choose wisely.

By the way, I'm French, having sailed mostly in the Med, but also in the British channel, the Atlantic and the Pacific. I'm looking forward to sail around Europe initially, then perhaps across the Atlantic. All depending on my remaining physical condition!

Looking forward to meet new friends here.
Jacques

[JPA Cate]

Good day, Jacques, and welcome aboard Cruisers Forum.

My Jim and I hailed from a low level racing background, and all the cruising boats we've had have been boats with good light air performance, and fin keels. It is where some of the joy of sailing comes from, getting her to make her own breeze and sailing along in light airs when the other guys are motoring, or motor-sailing. If you have that mind set, then you are going to want to have all the "strings", so you can tweak things when the mood is on you. Choose well your boat. She should offer you the joys of good performance, but also be able to take good care of you if you find yourself in heave weather.

Our present boat is a 7/8 fractional, swept back spreaders, modern timber composite one offf, with a launch displacement of 9 tonnes. She is a tad over 13 m overall, so bigger than we need now, but we have her. She was built by a guy and his wife for their use, and we are 2nd owners of her. We spent roughly 3 years looking for her, and she fit all but two of the criteria on our list.

Make your list of what you want, and what you don't want, too. Ignore those who say no such boat exists, you go find the closest to what you think will be best for you, and then go enjoy. You know what you're getting into. You know what you can and can not afford. You're actually well placed, too. The French make some fine boats!

Enjoy.

Ann & Jim

[Adelie]

Welcome to CruisersForum!

I would suggest updating your profile with your general location and your boat make & model or “Looking” in the "Boat" category. This info shows up under your UserName in every post in the web view. Many questions are boat and/or location dependent and having these tidbits under your UserName saves answering those questions repeatedly. If you need help setting up your profile then click on this link: https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3308797

I would happily help more if the link above is not enough.

[saxandsail]

Thank you @Adelie. I'm quite used to forums. I was already a member of the Compuserve Sailing Forum back in the 80's! And I live in another forum (Cafesaxophone) while I'm grounded...

[Don C L]

Welcome aboard Jacques! Having come from a racing background I can't imagine you'll be content with a poor performing boat! My first thought when I read your post was an old Swan. You know racing boats, I say go for the boat that excites you. The only thing for me about ex-racing machines is they don't have much in the way of creature comforts. Like a dodger is one of those things I think is really nice to have but may be a trick to rig on some racing boats. Also, they weren't really designed with anchors in mind too. But these things can be overcome. Anyway, good luck in your search, and send photos!

[saxandsail]

Thank you @Don C L for the warm welcome.

I must say that when I say ex-racer, I mean 'vintage ex-racer', like 70's or 80's... In the late 70s, my dad fancied acquiring a sailing boat and I was very excited. We had eyes on a half toner called 'Naupathie', that means seasickness, a small wood built beauty that I fell in love with. But I recently came across a Huisman built 37' that reminded me so much of Helisara VI that I am still pondering if that could be what I want.

But to be honest, I don't think I've really matured my requirements list enough to make a good decision. I need to get back on the water to fine tune the concept.