G'day

I recently took up sailing and am looking for recommendations from experienced skippers what sort of boat to buy. I've only been learning to sail for a few months so I'm probably not in a position to buy my own boat just yet, but am hoping to get one next year. I have been looking at the boat sales websites but the amount of different options available is quite overwhelming to a newbie like me so I figured it might be wise to ask some more experienced people what they think. Here is the information I can offer if it helps:

- I live in Sydney.

- I am currently sailing 3 times a week so very determined about wanting to pursue my dream of a sailing adventure. Looking for a true bluewater boat to cruise Sydney harbour but which will also take me around Australia and one day around the world.

- Good robust construction / keel for ocean crossings.

- A boat that I can stand up in below decks (I am 6FT 2 IN).

- 1 to 3 cabins.

- 30 to 40 FT range.

- I may well end up sailing solo so a boat I can rig up for solo sailing.

- Fiberglass (not wood - I heard this can be a lot of maintenance.)

- Budget $30,000 to $100,000 max.

Let me know if there is any more information I can offer. And thankyou so much in advance for any advice.

Probably the broadest range question I have ever seen posted here - that's ok it can be attempted to be answered.
Suggest you break your dream into at least 2 parts with appropriate timing and experience / skills gained for each part.
Part 1 would be to buy a yacht around 25 foot and cruise Sydney Harbour and then the near east coast and gain required experience and skills in single handed boat handling, sail trimming, maintenance and repairs, weather forecasting, action plans for when things go wrong. A Tophat 25 with inboard diesel would be ideal but there are many others suitable - not sure if the TH25 headroom is 6'2" though, and it doesn't have 3 cabins. Say at least 2 years for this part 1 depending on how much sailing you do and how far up and down the coast you go.
Part 2 would be to upgrade to a 40 footer or larger for the round Aust and the world cruise. Obviously there are many yachts on the market but they are probably not set up for such a cruise, including new standing rigging, diesel and drive system fully refurbished etc.
Sure fibreglass can be less maintenance than wood depending on the boat you buy. What maintenance are you expecting to do yourself? Dollars will quickly accumulate if you have maintenance done only by others.

I might be able to put you on a Cavalier 32 if you are interested.
Send me a pm and we can go from there.
The boat is in Sydney btw.

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sirgallivant said..
I might be able to put you on a Cavalier 32 if you are interested.
Send me a pm and we can go from there.
The boat is in Sydney btw.

I will PM now

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r13 said..
Probably the broadest range question I have ever seen posted here - that's ok it can be attempted to be answered.
Suggest you break your dream into at least 2 parts with appropriate timing and experience / skills gained for each part.
Part 1 would be to buy a yacht around 25 foot and cruise Sydney Harbour and then the near east coast and gain required experience and skills in single handed boat handling, sail trimming, maintenance and repairs, weather forecasting, action plans for when things go wrong. A Tophat 25 with inboard diesel would be ideal but there are many others suitable - not sure if the TH25 headroom is 6'2" though, and it doesn't have 3 cabins. Say at least 2 years for this part 1 depending on how much sailing you do and how far up and down the coast you go.
Part 2 would be to upgrade to a 40 footer or larger for the round Aust and the world cruise. Obviously there are many yachts on the market but they are probably not set up for such a cruise, including new standing rigging, diesel and drive system fully refurbished etc.
Sure fibreglass can be less maintenance than wood depending on the boat you buy. What maintenance are you expecting to do yourself? Dollars will quickly accumulate if you have maintenance done only by others.

Hey mate, thanks so much for taking the time to reply.

I kinda had a rough idea of around 2 years preparation in the back of my mind. Your plan sounds like a good one and I'm gonna go with it mate. Hoping that if I buy a smaller boat for the first year or two that I won't lose too much money on it when I resell that's the only thing.

Regarding maintenance work, I dont know anything right now, but I learned to service my motorbike and do plumbing work around the house just from self learning so I'm defo keen to learn as quickly as possible to do my own work as much as I can. Im a big believer in "where there's a will, there's a way".

I'm currently crewing for a race yacht once a week and also crewing on a cruising yacht another day. Also planning on doing my RYA competent crew course ASAP and more.

Certainly seems like you are on the right track, all the best with your sailing and please let us know what you purchase initially.

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r13 said..
Probably the broadest range question I have ever seen posted here - that's ok it can be attempted to be answered.
Suggest you break your dream into at least 2 parts with appropriate timing and experience / skills gained for each part.
Part 1 would be to buy a yacht around 25 foot and cruise Sydney Harbour and then the near east coast and gain required experience and skills in single handed boat handling, sail trimming, maintenance and repairs, weather forecasting, action plans for when things go wrong. A Tophat 25 with inboard diesel would be ideal but there are many others suitable - not sure if the TH25 headroom is 6'2" though, and it doesn't have 3 cabins. Say at least 2 years for this part 1 depending on how much sailing you do and how far up and down the coast you go.
Part 2 would be to upgrade to a 40 footer or larger for the round Aust and the world cruise. Obviously there are many yachts on the market but they are probably not set up for such a cruise, including new standing rigging, diesel and drive system fully refurbished etc.
Sure fibreglass can be less maintenance than wood depending on the boat you buy. What maintenance are you expecting to do yourself? Dollars will quickly accumulate if you have maintenance done only by others.

+1 for r13's strategy.

Get a small, relatively cheap, boat now. Use it to get the experience you need to go to the market for a larger blue water boat. Enjoy it. Don't worry too much about the money you might "lose" - its better to lose 20% on a $15K boat than 20% on a $150K boat. Its not just your personal experience - you'll need to find that network of tradies, shipwrights, diesel mechanics, slip operators, sail makers, electricians and mates that boat owners rely on to keep their boats afloat.

Top Hats have a good reputation - some have been circumnavigated. So, small and blue-water are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but you have to wonder about what it's like to live on a 25 foot boat for extended cruising.

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Achernar said..
Top Hats have a good reputation - some have been circumnavigated. So, small and blue-water are not necessarily mutually exclusive, but you have to wonder about what it's like to live on a 25 foot boat for extended cruising.

Indeed, I have a Top Hat, and have read "Two in a Top Hat" by Jan Mitchell. They circumnavigated the world in Caprice back in the early 70s before GPS and with a somewhat dodgy diesel at first. You can find out what it's like to live on one here. www.writingsfromjanmitchell.com/

Their exploits is why I bought mine, 12 years ago.

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slimth said..

r13 said..
Probably the broadest range question I have ever seen posted here - that's ok it can be attempted to be answered.
Suggest you break your dream into at least 2 parts with appropriate timing and experience / skills gained for each part.
Part 1 would be to buy a yacht around 25 foot and cruise Sydney Harbour and then the near east coast and gain required experience and skills in single handed boat handling, sail trimming, maintenance and repairs, weather forecasting, action plans for when things go wrong. A Tophat 25 with inboard diesel would be ideal but there are many others suitable - not sure if the TH25 headroom is 6'2" though, and it doesn't have 3 cabins. Say at least 2 years for this part 1 depending on how much sailing you do and how far up and down the coast you go.
Part 2 would be to upgrade to a 40 footer or larger for the round Aust and the world cruise. Obviously there are many yachts on the market but they are probably not set up for such a cruise, including new standing rigging, diesel and drive system fully refurbished etc.
Sure fibreglass can be less maintenance than wood depending on the boat you buy. What maintenance are you expecting to do yourself? Dollars will quickly accumulate if you have maintenance done only by others.

Hey mate, thanks so much for taking the time to reply.

I kinda had a rough idea of around 2 years preparation in the back of my mind. Your plan sounds like a good one and I'm gonna go with it mate. Hoping that if I buy a smaller boat for the first year or two that I won't lose too much money on it when I resell that's the only thing.

Regarding maintenance work, I dont know anything right now, but I learned to service my motorbike and do plumbing work around the house just from self learning so I'm defo keen to learn as quickly as possible to do my own work as much as I can. Im a big believer in "where there's a will, there's a way".

I'm currently crewing for a race yacht once a week and also crewing on a cruising yacht another day. Also planning on doing my RYA competent crew course ASAP and more.

Why do you want to get a smaller boat and waste $ if your intention is eventually something grander? As you are crewing on a race boat as well as another weekly you should have sufficient competence to manage something bigger , unless you have just started crewing . If so stick with just doing that for a while then get what you want.