Mambo Kings
Super Anarchist
I'm looking for my blue water cruising boat.
About me:
I'm perceived as a racing sailor in monohulls. I do enjoy racing. Two time Masters world champion in the international 21' sport boat class, Viper 640 and national Champion in 3 different classes. But my enjoyment of racing comes from a love of sailing.
Completely separate from racing, I love cruising and remote places. I grew up in Kenya. I have hiked around Patagonia and Nepal. I'm making plans to do the Malawi raid on a multihull with Alex Schon. So the next chapter in my life is to own and live part time aboard a blue water cruising boat.....probably 6 months of the year.
As I set about choosing my boat, I started with the idea of a expedition go-anywhere mono hull (Boreal, Allures, Garcia).....with 5 important criteria:
1. I want to be able to see the outdoors when I am indoors.. Some kind of pilot house boat. I don't want to descend into a cave when its cold outside. I want to enjoy the view when I am in the boat.
2. I am NOT going to race this boat but I want performance because I want to be able to cover distance in a timely way.
Importantly, the boat has to be a "joy to sail". I don't want to drive a cab around the world or have the autohelm steer 24/7. I am cruising around the world in a sailboat because I love helming sailboats. I understand that for long distance cruising I will use the autohelm a lot. But I want a boat that on a beautiful afternoon, with a perfect wave set and a narrow reach , I cannot resist turning off the autohelm and taking the helm because the feel of the boat is so beautiful.
I am not going to race this boat. I am keeping my racing separate from my cruising....so dont recommend a Gunboat. Its not on the list. But it has to be fast because I want to get to interesting places and cover a lot of miles and I want a boat that is truly a joy to sail.
3. The boat has to be seaworthy and protected. When I am faced with unavoidable bad weather on the open ocean, I want to be confident in my craft. If choosing between the vertical beam that ensures the boat is stiff and seaworthy in 55 knots and following seas or a perfect wide opening between saloon and cockpit for serving cocktails......I choose the beam.
4. The boat has to be manageable single handed. My family and my wonderful friends are going to join me for most parts of my voyage but I have greater independence than they have and there will be times when I want to sail on my own. This is important!
5. The boat has to be beautiful inside and out. I am not stopping racing. Race boats are spartan . My cruising boat will not be spartan.
So inevitably criteria 1 and 2 have shifted the search to mutihulls. First to the Dragonfly (beautiful workmanship and a joy to sail but probably not a live aboard) then to blue water performance cats.
The current shortlist includes:
Outremer 51
Balance 482 or 526
Slyder 49
C-Cat 48 (56 is probably too big) . This is on the list because I really like the two helm positions...more on that later.
Hovering on the outskirts but probably not going to make the short list:
Have at it.......tell me what I am missing and what are the pros and cons of my short list. I am a good listener and I will reply to your posts.
In my next post I will list my perceieved pros and cons of my short list. But I will let you go first, except I will talk about helming positions.
About me:
I'm perceived as a racing sailor in monohulls. I do enjoy racing. Two time Masters world champion in the international 21' sport boat class, Viper 640 and national Champion in 3 different classes. But my enjoyment of racing comes from a love of sailing.
Completely separate from racing, I love cruising and remote places. I grew up in Kenya. I have hiked around Patagonia and Nepal. I'm making plans to do the Malawi raid on a multihull with Alex Schon. So the next chapter in my life is to own and live part time aboard a blue water cruising boat.....probably 6 months of the year.
As I set about choosing my boat, I started with the idea of a expedition go-anywhere mono hull (Boreal, Allures, Garcia).....with 5 important criteria:
1. I want to be able to see the outdoors when I am indoors.. Some kind of pilot house boat. I don't want to descend into a cave when its cold outside. I want to enjoy the view when I am in the boat.
2. I am NOT going to race this boat but I want performance because I want to be able to cover distance in a timely way.
Importantly, the boat has to be a "joy to sail". I don't want to drive a cab around the world or have the autohelm steer 24/7. I am cruising around the world in a sailboat because I love helming sailboats. I understand that for long distance cruising I will use the autohelm a lot. But I want a boat that on a beautiful afternoon, with a perfect wave set and a narrow reach , I cannot resist turning off the autohelm and taking the helm because the feel of the boat is so beautiful.
I am not going to race this boat. I am keeping my racing separate from my cruising....so dont recommend a Gunboat. Its not on the list. But it has to be fast because I want to get to interesting places and cover a lot of miles and I want a boat that is truly a joy to sail.
3. The boat has to be seaworthy and protected. When I am faced with unavoidable bad weather on the open ocean, I want to be confident in my craft. If choosing between the vertical beam that ensures the boat is stiff and seaworthy in 55 knots and following seas or a perfect wide opening between saloon and cockpit for serving cocktails......I choose the beam.
4. The boat has to be manageable single handed. My family and my wonderful friends are going to join me for most parts of my voyage but I have greater independence than they have and there will be times when I want to sail on my own. This is important!
5. The boat has to be beautiful inside and out. I am not stopping racing. Race boats are spartan . My cruising boat will not be spartan.
So inevitably criteria 1 and 2 have shifted the search to mutihulls. First to the Dragonfly (beautiful workmanship and a joy to sail but probably not a live aboard) then to blue water performance cats.
The current shortlist includes:
Outremer 51
Balance 482 or 526
Slyder 49
C-Cat 48 (56 is probably too big) . This is on the list because I really like the two helm positions...more on that later.
Hovering on the outskirts but probably not going to make the short list:
- Some fantastic Chris White designs: If I purchased new, this would be a custom build project. I dont have enough cruising multi-hull experience to supervise and specify that project. There is nothing on the used market that captures me. In buying one of the established manufacturers I am buying all the accumulated experience and refinement of hundreds of thousands of miles of previous owners.
- The ORC 50 from Marsaudon Composites. It really doesn't fit my criteria because it leans too far towards the spartan racing orientated end of the spectrum. But I just cannot help myself from admiring beautifully executed boats from a yard with such a stellar reputation, and yes I enjoy a tiller. The build quality will be impeccable. A 50 foot boat with an empty weight that really is 8.6 tons because they weigh everything they build down to the gram....and can be filled with 5 tonnes of equipment, fittings and gear and still go like shit off a shovel. I have not been able to put the red line through it...but nor has it made the short list because the interiors are not lined (nor should they be). I think it will feel spartan for my guests and I worry it will be noisy (and I want to be able to visit cold places).....but God what a boat. The price/value is also attractive.
- HH Catamarans. I don't need the all carbon hull because I'm not racing. But Seth wants to come Viper racing with me so I'm leaving the window open for him to persuade me.
Have at it.......tell me what I am missing and what are the pros and cons of my short list. I am a good listener and I will reply to your posts.
In my next post I will list my perceieved pros and cons of my short list. But I will let you go first, except I will talk about helming positions.