It does not always follow that once you know what kind of sailing you want to do then the type of boat you need is self-evident.
Whether you race or cruise there are still choices to make.
Racing yachts
Every step of a racing yachr’s design, construction and fitting out aims to make it go as fast and as close to the wind as possible. Hull, spars and rigging are made of lightweight expensive materials, and a different high-tech sail is needed for every change in wind strength or direction. Racing yachts are driven hard. Equipment has a brutal, short working life. A fresh design concept, or the introduction of new materials or gadgets, results in a costly refit.
Racing means joining a club and buying a class boat that fits their race programme. This narrows choice and Choosing the Right Boat: A Guide Based on Your Experience and Budgetdetermines your budget. If you buy a type of boat not raced by your club you may still be able to race on handicap and can travel around the country to rallies of boats of the same class.
Source: wikipedia.org
By definition, second-hand racing yachts are last year’s models and no longer lead the fleet. Although they can be bought quite cheaply, the need for regular upgrades to keep them competitive keeps their running costs as high, or higher, than those of a new racer. What scope there is for savings comes from picking the right mooring, doing as much of the annual refit yourself and buying the right personal equipment.
Racing yachts can be divided into dinghies, keel boats and club racers.
Racing dinghies
Modern racing dinghies need fair levels of competence and physical fitness to sail them competitively. They are a young person’s boat and, although they are the least expensive form of racing, they are not cheap. A state-of-the-art machine with a decent set of sails, road trailer and launching trolley costs as much as a small to medium-sized cruising yacht.
With few exceptions, building your own to save money is not an option. It is important to check that boats fully comply with class rules. Unauthorised modifications will be picked up by race scrutinisers and are expensive to correct. Between races, dinghies live in the club dinghy park or at the back of the garage, both of which keeps berthing costs low.
Racing keel boats
Keel boats are large dinghies with a fixed, ballasted keel such as Flying Fifteens, Dragons, Solings and Tempests or local classes like the Loch Long on the Clyde in Scotland.
They demand less gymnastic ability to sail than dinghies, which explains their appeal to the more mature, deep-pocketed sailor. None are cheap. Between races, keel boats lie to a pontoon, on a mooring or are lifted out onto a trailer.
KEELS
It is possible for otherwise identical hulls to have completely different keel configurations. It is beyond the scope of this book to discuss the merits of different keel types but if you keep your boat on a drying mooring or “ditch crawl” with the ever-present possibility of involuntarily taking the ground, then you want a keel that lets a boat sit on the mud without falling over. In practice this means either a bilge or lifting keel.
On some GRP boats, bilge keels may be glassed into the hull. If so, the bottom of the keel should be protected against grounding. The upwind performance of bilge keels is, supposedly, below that of fin or lifting keels, but on small boats this is academic.
Lifting keels may pivot or be a dagger board travelling vertically. Its weight may contribute to the ballast. Some lifting keels even have a heavy bulb or wings at their foot. In the cabin the box which houses the keel is usually disguised as a table. On larger boats raising and lowering the keel is done by electric motors which adds to the complexity and cost.
On trailer sailers, water ballast is normally used which is dumped as the boat comes out of the water. This keeps the towing weight as low as possible. Lifting keels on these boats do not normally form part of the ballast.
Club racer. The average club racer is 22-35 ft (6,7-10,6 m) LOA and is sailed like a dinghy. The only reason the crew sit out on the rail and are not hanging on trapezes during races is that the rules prohibit it. To save weight, the fitting out below decks is the minimum required under class rules.
To the untrained eye this looks like a bare hull, fit for nothing but sail stowage. Lack of facilities is not a problem as most races last no more than a day, often less, and the crew expect to spend their time on deck.
Cruising yachts
Cruising yachts spend more time at sea and make longer passages than racing yachts but they are rarely driven hard. This means that they age better. For this reason, an old cruising boat is a better buy than an old racing yacht. Simplistic descriptions like entry-level boat, day boat, weekender, estuary cruiser, pocket cruiser, holiday cruiser, offshore cruiser, voyager and bluewater cruiser tramlines your thinking and closes down options.
One person’s weekender is another’s bluewater cruiser. In the UK, small and medium-sized cruisers make up 75 per cent of the market and this is where you will have the greatest choice of boat.
The rule of thumb is the larger the boat, the more it costs to buy and to keep. Save money by not buying a boat which is bigger than you need, has facilities you will not use or capabilities beyond your abilities.
Small cruisers
The smallest, and therefore cheapest, cruisers are open boats 15-18 ft (4,6-5,5 m) LOA. They make great family day boats. Occasionally they are faithful (and expensive) replicas of traditional designs but more often Use of Fiberglass in Boat Constructionfibreglass imitates their original construction.
Life aboard is primitive. Shelter underway is provided by warm clothing and good waterproofs. A drysuit may prove a better investment than separate oilskin jacket and trousers. Once you become cold or wet, the lack of shelter on open boats brings a very real threat of hypothermia.
Realistically, the range of an open boat is within three or four hours of a harbour. Short daytime coastal passages and a boom tent in harbour each night make longer cruises possible.
The next size up are small cruisers with a cabin 18-24 ft (5,5-7,3 m) LOA. They have between two and four berths although, in reality, berths can only be used in harbour and then only if everyone goes to bed at the same time. Parents with young children may wish to invest in a decent cockpit tent so in the evening when the children are in bed they can socialise in the cockpit.
Under 21 ft (6,4 m) LOA, engines are often an outboard of 4-10 hp hanging off the stern or in a well. These are less efficient than an Advantages of the Inboard Enginesinboard engine but cheaper and easier to replace when they reach the end of their working life. Over 21 ft (6,4 m) LOA, it is normal to fit a small inboard diesel or saildrive engine. Both are more expensive than an outboard engine and should have a second battery dedicated to engine starting.
In settled conditions, small cruisers can easily stay at sea for 12 hours and are well suited to making 20-30-mile coastal passages. Occasional overnight passages should not offer any problems in settled weather.
Medium-sized cruisers
At 24-32 ft (7,3-9,7 m) LOA there is now enough space for the forepeak to be separated from the main cabin by a couple of bulkheads with the space between them providing a home for a toilet to port and a wet locker to starboard. Standing headroom becomes possible.
In harbour, the forepeak gives the illusion of a double bed while the setters in the main cabin double as bunks.With the addition of good leecloths, these make excellent sea berths. On some boats, quarter berths may take over the cockpit lockers to create a small, separate cabin under the cockpit or something larger in centre cockpit boats.
Coastal and offshore passages should not be a problem, although in heavy weather, upwind progress becomes minimal around force 5, and without the aid of the engine is non-existent somewhere towards the top end of a force 6.
Large cruisers
In strong winds, cruisers in excess of 32-40 ft (9,7-12 m) LOA have the weight and power to punch through heavy seas and continue on their way rather than travelling sideways like their smaller cousins.
They also have much more living space. Above 40 ft (12 m) LOA, the curse of having every inch of space serving at least two, perhaps three, incompatible purposes is lifted. Separate ensuite cabins guarantee the privacy essential to civilised life on long cruises.
Larger cruisers tend to have:
- fridges,
- freezers,
- watchmakers,
- water heaters,
- air conditioning,
- central heating,
- microwave cookers,
- washing machines and dishwashers.
Life aboard approaches shoreside levels of comfort but at a price, for the equipment that makes it possible is expensive to buy, costly to maintain and so greedy for power that the engine alternator must be supplemented with some combination of generator, wind or solar power.
Large cruisers are easily capable of a warm weather circumnavigation, and a few are able to make the traditional "three capes" route through the Southern Ocean.
Hybrids
In an attempt to be all things to all yachtsmen, some yachts claim to be multi-purpose. The truth of these claims is a matter of judgment. Your opinion is as good as any other.
Cruiser/racer. Depending on your preference, a cruiser/racer may be a racing hull fitted out for cruising or a cruising hull stripped for speed. Neither is as fast as a racing machine or as comfortable as a cruiser but is likely to be competitive on handicap with similar boats. This would be your answer to joining in mid-week and weekend races while still making a summer cruise in relative comfort.
Read also: Types of Sailboats and Their Management
Motor sailer. In return for modest upwind performance, a beamy, boxy hull, reminiscent of a traditional fishing boat, offers more decent living space than a similar-sized yacht. Motor sailers start around 23 ft (7 m) LOA but most are 30 ft (9 m) LOA or more. Foot for foot they are more expensive to buy and maintain than a similar sized yacht.
Trailer sailer
Dinghies and most open boats are transported on trailers and the term trailer sailer usually refers to small cruisers, 18-22 ft (2,4-6,7 m) LOA, with a cabin. Their design is heavily influenced by traffic regulations which dictates the maximum towing dimensions and all-up towed weight which should not exceed 85 per cent of the car's weight.
All-up towed weight means not just the weight of the boar but all the gear you have stowed aboard including the engine, fuel, water and other supplies. This can add up to 50 per cent or more of the boat's weight. If you opt for one of the larger trailer sailers then you may need to buy a bigger, more powerful car.
Much over 22 ft (6,7 m) LOA, any boat becomes too beamy for road transport by trailer and fin and bilge keeled boats sit so high on trailers that they can be difficult to tow, launch and recover. Consequently, the majority of trailer sailing yachts have lifting keels with the centreboard casing taking up valuable living space in the cabin.
Source: wikipedia.org
If you are looking for small cruiser then these have some very attractive advantages. Escaping marina fees heads the list. Between cruises you can keep your boat on the driveway at home. If there are problems over keeping your boat at home then there are alternatives which will not break the bank.
You will have to pay a fee to launch your boat each time you sail, But if you use your yacht club slip then launching may be free, or an add-on to your membership. Some slipways charge per launch, others offer monthly or seasonal deals; there may be discounts for yacht club members. Even if you sailed every weekend during the season and took holidays afloat, the bill for launching your boat will still be far below the cost of keeping it in a marina.
You will not incur much extra cost in transporting the boat (perhaps a slightly higher fuel bill) as you would probably have to drive to the marina anyway, plus having the boat at home makes working on it between trips or for the winter refit much easier.
Owning a trailer sailer opens up distant cruising grounds. For anyone based on the English south coast, cruising the Western Isles of Scotland involves a week or so of hard sailing before you can start exploring the islands plus the extra cost of overnight fees. With a trailer sailer you can be up in the Highlands and ready to sail within a couple of days.
How far afield you chose to travel is limited by your imagination. One trailer sailer based in the middle of Germany, which is about as far from open water as you can be in Europe, has cruised the Aegean Islands, the Black Sea, the Adriatic, the Baltic and visited the Lofoten Islands.
Since a trailer sailer’s mast is designed to be easily stepped and rigged, the low bridges of inland waters hold no fears, trailer sailers really are a good budget option for all waters.
Multihulls
You either love or hate multihulls. Supporters claim they are faster, more comfortable and spacious than monohulls and because they lack ballast, they may capsize bur never sink. While racing, multihulls are extremely quick but their performance over long passages is similar to that of the same-sized monohull.
