how did you choose your first sail boat??

[NSGhostrider]

I've been looking at several boats lately with the plan to buy one next year, but now I think I'm going to buy one this year. my problem now is I've looked at so many boats in the last couple months I'm not really sure what to look for any more.

every boat I've looked at has a little of what I would consider comfort items, but none has really 'spoken" to me and now I wonder if its just me and I'm lost in the idea of buying or is it something more.

I want a boat that I can weekend on, no racing, large enough that me and my wife can comfortably control, and easy enough to learn on. my wife has never been on a sail boat and I havent sailed in 25 +/- years. and my last sailing experience was on a Laser.

part of me is interested in a project boat or a simple fixer upper but part of me wants one I can sail this year and not have to do anything until this winter.

I've looked at some Tanzer 22's, a nice Mirage 24, a grampian 26, 22 ft and a 25 ft O'days, 25 ft hughes, and a catalina 24 ( I think 24).

my real question is when you first purchased your boat was it a matter of affordability, love at first sight, the thrill, basic needs......................
or what???

I keep going back to the mirage 24 for some reason, seems big enough not to have to upgrade but seems too big to sail without a lot of experience. tanzers are nice but seem they would become too small too fast and have to sell in a year or two.


thanks

Dave

[St Anna]

I looked at a 30' production grp yacht as a known quantity, a longish keel as it was what I was used to, a comfortable, yet fast cruiser which had accomodation for the 3 of us (inc a shower, pressurised water, & a hot water tank)

After looking at a lot of other things, we knew we had found the right one as soon as we saw her. This is what happenned each time we bought a yacht. Maybe the yacht chooses you!!

We kept her for 2 years and then upgraded (to a long fin 36'design) and went cruising.

That yacht we kept for 5 years, sold for the current and biggest, a peterson 46.

All boats are projects at some time or other - my opinion is to get one well looked after and ready to sail as the prev owner has loved the boat, not let it go or trashed it.

Any boat can feel too small in some seas!!! As you may be re-learning how to sail a boat - a low aspect, masthead rig with a longer keel might be more forgiving - aka wont scare the boss.

[jpl4nscale]

My first sailboat "spoke to me". Keep looking until you find one that does.

[johnshasteen]

Rule in the boats that will do what you plan to do with the boat (putz around in bays or lakes or sail offshore), then rule out the rest.

[deniseO30]

what ever boat you think you want add 5 ft!

[MSN2Travelers]

The two items that helped us determine what size/kind of boat we got ... 1) where we intended on sailing it and 2) what was the cost of ownership.

Boat 1 was a 2006 MacGregor 26M. We sailed inland lakes, it launched in 12" of water and sat on its trailer in the back yard when not in use. It is a dream to singlehand and is a great weekender. Cost to own/maintain was next to nothing.

Boat 2 is a Beneteau 352 because we sail the Great Lakes now and the water ballast & narrow beam weren't comfortable on Lake Michigan (read ... the wife told me we needed a bigger boat!) With the bigger boat comes winter haul/storage and sailing season slip/mooring charges. Bigger boats have more and bigger systems to maintain (there is a price for comfort).

So ... get the biggest boat that you can afford to maintain that also meets your needs and is suitable for the waters you plan to sail. IMHO just about any boat under 30' is pretty easy to sail single handed and under 36 is good for two people if both of you know what you are doing.

[deniseO30]

My first was a hunter 23 with swing keel I loved it but it was way too small for my wants/needs. I truely feel smaller boats are not always easier to handle either. My 30ft Oday feels small lately!

[bljones]

We started with an excel spreadsheet and listed what we wanted and needed in column A. In our case it was:
Standing headroom.
Private head.
Accomodations for 4.
Wheel steering.
Furling jib.
Diesel inboard.*
Minimum 20' LWL, 22' Overall
Fixed keel*
3-4.5' draft
Ready to sail
Under $7k*

*Negotiable- want, not need.

Once we knew what we were looking for, we started shopping on line. We were able to eliminate a number of models of boats just by doing some easy online research and comparing specs.
Once we had a short list of the model of boat that would suit our needs,
we expanded our spreadsheet by adding a number of more criteria to column A, such as the age and condition of all systems and equipment, on a scale of 1-5,like:
Main sail
Jib
Spinnaker
Engine
Running rigging
Standing rigging
Electrical panel

etc...

Then we printed off a dozen or so copies of our spreadsheet and hit the brokerages. Every boat we looked at got an evaluation, and then would get entered in the master spreadsheet for comparison purposes. We saw a lot of junk. We saw a lot of boats that were almost, but not quite, right, according to the chart.

And then we ignored all of that effort and scientific research when we fell into the right boat in our own backyard. Immediately upon climbing into the cockpit we KNEW it was the right boat.

[NSGhostrider]

thanks everyone for their replies.

I guess I'm feeling like I'm getting lost in my quest. every boat I've looked at has had a little of what I want in a boat but have not found one that was just the right feeling.

a couple weeks ago we looked at a boat and and it was a tanzer 22. kind of felt right but not at the same time. what we say on the stern plate made me cry a little.

my wifes mother past away a couple years ago and she was a devote church goer. when ever anything happened that was good news within the family she always used to say 'hallelujah". the name on the boat was Hallelujah,

guess I'll keep looking.


oh, and the owners of the mirage 24 dropped their asking price to 4500.00 tonight

[bljones]

Mirage 24 is a good solid racer/cruiser, easy to handle even if you are a novice. One of the guys I sail with regularly has a Mirage 24 and likes it a great deal. The headroom is a little tight (5 feet) but otherwise a decent boat. the fact that the waterline is a little longer than a Tanzer 22 may make the boat easier to handle, and a little less likely to hobbyhorse in square waves.