How MANY boat do I need... Seriously though.

[he b gb]

My quiver, no more than 3 needed.

 

[130lights]

My therapist says it's not healthy for me to discuss the details of my personal boat inventory. All I can share is that my household fleet is now down to 6 from a high of 13 (or was it 14?). And each remaining vessel serves specific purposes (offshore, singlehanded dinghies, double handed dinghy, center console, etc). My trailer inventory has fluctuated at similar levels.

In addition to following the advice of my therapist, I'm finding that advancing age brings with it a corresponding need for "Reduction Plans".

In addition to the Fleet Reduction Plan illustrated above wherein I now have fewer vessels to maintain/winterize/store/etc, my wife and I have been initiating other similar plans: Lawn Reduction Plan wherein we install more native plants and I don't have to spend as much time mowing, Decorative Plantings Reduction Plan where in we spend much less time on our knees digging in the dirt to install colorful "annual" plants each year, House Reduction Plan wherein we utilize fewer portions of our home so we spend less time cleaning/dusting/vacuuming (we simply shut the doors to rooms we no longer use), Offspring Maintenance Reduction Plan wherein we encourage our children to become self-sustaining and live elsewhere (this is still a work in progress), Offspring Belongings Reduction Plan wherein we are working to rid our residence of everything belonging to our children (also a work in progress), Small Kitchen Appliances Reduction Plan wherein we are divesting ourselves of any corded device we haven't used in two years, and so on and so on. I think you get the idea...

This is not to say that this methodology is being deployed in every aspect of our lives. I can confidently report that there are no Reduction Plans regarding my workshop's capabilities and... much to my dismay... there is definitely no Reduction Plan in place regarding my wife's shoe inventory.

It should be noted that I am not certified or licensed to dispense advice, your mileage may vary.

LOL to the shoe inventory! When I retired and traded city for lake life, I reduced my 👠 by donating 75 pair. Can’t wear heels at the lake, right? Being replaced by athletic shoes and 👢. ( We get a lot of snow).

Not sure you can take the shoes away from the 👩.

 

[Curious2]

I've decided that I need 3 motorcycles (road/track, cruiser, dual sport).

I've decided that I need 6 pairs of skis, and 2 snowboards.

How many boats do you have, and why?

I currently have a 26ft winged sportboat, and really want an easy but fun single hander (say, an RS Aero). But I also really want a A-cat, although that sort of fulfills the same role except it's far harder to rig/transport and there's no racing here. I'm in the process of buying a small fishing boat for easier beer drinking and whale watching...

Really?! Fawk how am I here now, is this what it's come to?

11 boats, from 36' down to the little classic lug rig dinghy and the Opti for the grandkids when they get old enough. I don't know how many boards we have, but there's 3 Windsurfer LTs (his, hers, his good one for championships), 3 Raceboards (ditto), etc etc.

Everyone needs a cruising/offshore boat. Everyone also needs a hoon boat for sailing with their spouse (spinnaker cat, skiff, sportsboat) and a hoon boat for sailing alone (A Cat, F16, Int Canoe, singlehanded skiff, etc. It's mandatory to have a boat for doublehanded racing with the better half, and a popular singlehander for racing in big fleets; of course your partner needs a singlehander too and you need a beater boat for training in. These days one needs a foiler to keep up with that "future of the sport" bullshit. And of course all that plastic needs a classic wooden boat or two as contrast.

With a few boats that can double up, a lot of deep sighs and a lot of bravely muttering about the sacrifices being made, a couple could possibly get away with a mere 11 boats and boards.

Of course, this isn't counting RIBs, powerboats, canoes, kayaks, tenders etc. That's a different story.

 

[Gouvernail]

I've decided that I need 3 motorcycles (road/track, cruiser, dual sport).

I've decided that I need 6 pairs of skis, and 2 snowboards.

How many boats do you have, and why?

I currently have a 26ft winged sportboat, and really want an easy but fun single hander (say, an RS Aero). But I also really want a A-cat, although that sort of fulfills the same role except it's far harder to rig/transport and there's no racing here. I'm in the process of buying a small fishing boat for easier beer drinking and whale watching...

Really?! Fawk how am I here now, is this what it's come to?

I share your interest in an A cat, reason for not having one, and I bought myself an AERO as my 65th birthday present.
I “need” to own or have access to:
* a fun zippy singlehander…. AERO
* a big fleet singlehander…. Laser
*a local big fleet keelboat… J/80
*a traveling big fleet keelboat… J-24 (J-22)

Currently I also own:
* two Wood Thistles neither of which is race ready but I am in the process of building a special workshop specifically built for restoring wood thistles
* a Highlander which is ready to go to Ohio for a regatta … hopefully this summer
* a Taser … the local juniors love borrowing it
* a Banshee…. It is ready to go with lots of spare parts but it hasn’t sailed yet. I will happily sell it to s good home
*a Pearson 26 in the process of restoration to add to the existing 25 boat fleet at the club down tge street. All I need is somebody who wants it and I will help that person join the fleet
* another J-24 that is a great candidate for refurbishing. The core is in great shape so it actually can be refurbished without super effort.
**and a little powerboat that could be used to
Set all the buoys if we were to have a regatta on Euphala in Oklahoma. I swear the place should be the middle America gathering place for racing fleets.
Every time I drive over parts of it on US 69 I want to stop, pitch a tent where I can sleep, rig, and sail there for a month. It simply looks perfect for fleet racing. It is huge!!


Link to Wikipedia about that lake

 

[Pewit]

I have two boats - but both are Weta Trimarans - one in Australia and one in the UK.
The Weta fulfils my desire for a fast, fun, forgiving boat which is competitive in mixed fleet racing, offers good one design racing (travellers, state, nationals), can be raced and recovered solo without effort even in a blow, can take out friends (or the dog) for fun, easy to store (2x4m) and rig and available worldwide.

 

[George Hackett]

Plus side is three boats makes me a fleet for insurance purposes. Nice discount!

 

[SolGato]

I don’t know how many you need, but for myself the answer is as many as I can fit in the yard! …provided of course they each offer a different sailing/motoring experience.

At least that’s what I tell myself and others, and I think it’s a legitimate excuse/justification similar to your motorcycle collection.

I’m not a big fan of marinas or storage and our marinas are on the other side of the island and our mooring season short, so I like to keep my boats at home where they are secure, can be strapped down and filled with water if a big storm is coming, and most importantly where I can work on them, which means they all have to be trailerable.

They also all have to be single-hand manageable from trailering to sailing/motoring. I feel bad sometimes for people who can’t go sailing when they can’t find people to go with them.

So for me, that means my quiver includes a fast simple Beach Cat to keep me humble that can be pushed to the edge (and over) to remind me I’m not Super Man and that things can go wrong real quick when you lose focus, a fully autonomous Solar Electric Catamaran small enough to navigate and explore our rivers during the Winter when our Bays see world class surf/swell that also doubles as an emergency generator and a tender in the Summer to get to a moored Trimaran that’s fast but comfortable for its size with a cabin and amenities for coastal cruising and overnighting, and lastly a larger Solar Electric Catamaran (still building) that will be capable of coastal cruising and eventually inter-island channel crossings.

I’m just glad I grew out of my fast motor boat phase and into sailing and electric cruising, and that those hull forms aren’t appropriate for the waters I now boat in here in Hawaii, otherwise there would probably be a few more in the yard like a Flat Bottom V-drive and a Cigarette which provide my two favorite powerboat experiences.

As I get older I’m also growing out of motorcycles. I just don’t have the desire to ride as much as I use to as it is physically exhausting (I ride vintage bikes), and there are way too many bad drivers on our one (pretty much) main road.

I’d much rather spend my time on the water where I often have the ocean all to myself, or so it feels at times, on my own personal island away from the island and away from the crowds.

So I say go for more if they’ll serve a purpose, and Happy hunting/shopping!

 

[ExOmo]

You should have one boat but it should be 10 feet longer than you can afford.

 

[Gouvernail]

You should have one boat but it should be 10 feet longer than you can afford.

I disagree. You should never try to own a boat unless you can easily afford 100% of the maintenance necessary to keep it in great shape.
The alternative is to suffer the ownership of a dying formerly nice toy.

 

[Se7en]

I'm allowed as many boats as I can put together a feasible plan to give away.
So there is the Tasar that lives at the yacht club, that I can give away to juniors. There is the Tasar that lives at home to give to the kids. There is the 15' cat that I have already given to my best mate that lives on the beach at his bayside house. (he is already coming to the realisation that what he thought was a generous gesture, actually wasn't. So now my family lob up, live at his house, drink his beer and sail 'our' cat. Then he fixes it. He did get me back by refusing to get a power boat license, so I'm the one who has to tow everyone around on his 15" 1/2 cabin thing)

I'm between family cruising boats, but need something to put on the mooring. Only have 2 dingies, 1 hard and one inflateable - that's the bare minimum right?

Windsurfers, kayaks etc don't count, there is 5 or six of them (Seven, just went and counted). Pretty sure only 2 are technically mine. Actually 4, there are 2 that live down in Tas.

Skiing is different. Everyone needs a set of cross country touring gear, XCD touring with pattern bases, resort Tele (or downhill for when you get old), snowboard for hard pack aussie conditions, and a snowboard for powder. If I was younger there would be a floppy short park board as well. Luckily I can share gear with my son, so he only adds one board and one set of skis to the mix. And partner and daughter only ski, so I think they only have 5 sets of skis between them.

Lucky I'm not a gear freak. This is just the minimum to have in order to do stuff with friends at any opportunity. I'm actually a minimalist.

People sometimes ask me how I'd fill in my time if I retired. Odd question.

 

[SkipJ]

Full disclosure, sailing is just a small part of my nautical obsession. After the November 2018 tornado wiped out our small fleet, first craft to be replaced was our venerable Larson Sweet sixteen runabout replaced with a new Yamaha 190SX. Followed promptly by a new solo wood strip canoe built once house was rebuilt and shop replaced. Then a new foam cored canoe from the same mold; lighter, stiffer just not quite as pretty as the wood stripper but more suited for tri weekly paddling.

Then the sailboat(s). First a down and dirty proa to finalize decisions regarding rig and rudders followed by current construction of a foam cored trailerable camp cruiser proa.

Re the original question the unspoken limit around our house for decades now is seven.

 

[Whinging Pom]

Two boats, a little one and a big one. A Flying Fifteen and a Dehler 35 CWS compliment each other.

 

[knh555]

Cyclists, being numbers-minded kind of people, have a formula to evaluate the number of bikes they need. If they presently have n, the number required is n+1.

https://road.cc/content/feature/do-you-really-need-another-bike-find-out-what-n1-means-289875

Guitars too.

 

[Autonomous]

For a long time the desire was for a comfortable retirement cruiser. As that stage got closer it became apparent I did not want to maintain a boat that lived at a slip.
Something that could be put to bed in the shop and not suffer from being ignored made more sense. Counting my wife's 3 kayaks we have 8 small boats.
We can tow them behind the RV wherever we want for day trips.

 

[Floating Duck]

I like to keep my boats at home where they are secure, can be strapped down and filled with water if a big storm is coming, and most importantly where I can work on them, which means they all have to be trailerable.

I think I've come to the same realization. I really don't have to do beer can racing on Monday nights as im just exhausted usually from all my damn Monday meetings. So i could race a little dinghy that's easy to deal with (Aero) on Thursdays.

And then if I'm only doing distance (Saturday) racing, say, twice a month... Im starting to feel bad paying the damn marina for all other 29 days of the boat just sitting there.

Lucky I'm not a gear freak. This is just the minimum to have in order to do stuff with friends at any opportunity. I'm actually a minimalist.

I'm 100% a minimalist myself, seriously, no joke. But I've also discovered that having the right tool for the job is SO nice. Fine line I'm walking...

 

[bluelaser2]

I have four:

-Drop Stich inflatable kayak. For fitness, walk-up water access, portability

- Expedition 14.5 For sailing pleasure

- Hobie Tandem Island. For adventure sailing, sailing with newbs, beach landing, fitness

- Carib 12.5 RIB w 40HP Yamaha. For transportation, spectating, watersport, speed jollies, something for the kids to play with

I race on an impeccable J-35. The owners is a super skilled craftsman with a super hardworking girlfriend. Better him than me!

 

[bfloyd4445]

I've decided that I need 3 motorcycles (road/track, cruiser, dual sport).

I've decided that I need 6 pairs of skis, and 2 snowboards.

How many boats do you have, and why?

I currently have a 26ft winged sportboat, and really want an easy but fun single hander (say, an RS Aero). But I also really want a A-cat, although that sort of fulfills the same role except it's far harder to rig/transport and there's no racing here. I'm in the process of buying a small fishing boat for easier beer drinking and whale watching...

Really?! Fawk how am I here now, is this what it's come to?

First I need to know what you consider a boat? Are inflatables considered boats?

 

[Curious2]

Two boats, a little one and a big one. A Flying Fifteen and a Dehler 35 CWS compliment each other.

Ooooh, that's a nice pair of boats.

 

[Curious2]

So there is the Tasar that lives at the yacht club, that I can give away to juniors. There is the Tasar that lives at home to give to the kids.

Oh shit, you just reminded me that we have a second Tasar, bought to resell to try to kick off local interest. Now I have to crank my count up to 12 boats (plus boards, canoes, kayaks, dinghies, etc), and I thought nothing went higher than 11.

Perhaps one answer to the "how can you tell you have almost enough boats" question is "when you manage to forget at least one of the ones you currently own".

You make a very good point about skis, though.

 

[Curious2]

I'm 100% a minimalist myself, seriously, no joke. But I've also discovered that having the right tool for the job is SO nice. Fine line I'm walking...

Minimalism is so great that one just can't have enough minimalist stuff.

I have a sister in law who is into minimalist ultra-light cycling touring gear. She loves her minimalist gear so much that she carries about 30kg of it.