[christian.hess]

although heavy it is similiar to a couple of the boats you posted

I think the westail 42 is a hefty and comfortable familiy cruiser...many of them have an enclosed cockpit(center cockipt)

center cockpits are ofteh preffered for families because they are usually dried and less exposed cockpit wise but most importantly you have an aft cabin that can be used for the kids...

separating adults from kids is sometimes needed jajaja

 

[christian.hess]

I hate to be biased but the morgan oi 41 is one of my least favourite boats and I second the same comments

other boats that Im biased about are those weird schooner bowed bucanneers and similar boats they made in the 80s

anywhoo

pleeeeeenty of boats to chose from

of course dependant on market, where are you planning on buying?

 

[christian.hess]

PASSPORT 40

modified fin full keel and skeg...I liked them..saw a few out there

 

[christian.hess]

I'll sail nearly anything. A boat I own has to speak to me.


wise wise wise

 

[christian.hess]

so you want fast too? I didnt see that part

 

[christian.hess]

I don't know the Montecarlo so cannot comment on it. We have a Bristol 45.5 and has served us well. Tough as can be and reasonably quick for its age and purpose. We looked at Petersons and I think the Bristol is better. Quite impressed with the Stevens 47 and various HRs we have seen. Very big fan of Amel. if we were doing it over and with more money to spend and if we were staying with a mono (answer big question), the admiral has said it would an Amel.

Final comment, the boats you are comparing here are quite different in both size and cost. I like the Saga but it seems much smaller to me. I don't think the Brewer/Whitby 42 (made in my home port of Brewer (I mean Whitby)) are in the same class as the others. Passport 40 is also not close in size to boats like the Stevens and Bristol. There are other boats in the 45' +/- range as well.

Final comment, I have never even done an overnight on cat but there are families out there doing circumnavigations in them quite happily.

While I love the amels they are SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO overpriced...

part of it is cult status but also because indeed they are well made boats...

however they dont all look real good visually to me...takes some getting used to

but alas I agree they are for the most part awesome boats.

other boats that often go the way of overpricing are the hinckley bermudas, some pacific seacrafts among others

when looking at the boats in the list I can see chall has a wide spectrum to chose from...they are in no way the same lines and or characteristics...which is good....

options options!

 

[christian.hess]

we buddy boated with 1 catamaran around 45 feet, up the red sea, they were catalan cats from spain...

they were awesome when anchored out as they had soooooooooo much space to play around on and any time we would stop thats the "comitte" and drinks boat...

having said that they were as slow going upwind, obviously less pointing angle and they always sailed the boat slow cause they were conservative...

they also motored A LOT, but they told me the reason for this is was that they consumed much less fuel by using either engine at a time...a cat has much less drag through water for a given length so they said their consumption wasnt as drastic as it would be on a mono...

having said that all boats have pros and cons...

the issue with cats for me has always been price...they are just too expensive for the same length or comparable volume if you will...

I do think they make better FAMILY boats for all the reasons mentioned before, but speed like KS says is way down the list in reality once out there.

 

[christian.hess]

chall have you thought about aluminum boats? we saw quite a few from australia, nz and other places...

I beleive they were ovnis and another maker, french I beleive I just cant remember the name

they for some reason were all cruised by families dont know what it was! jajaja

 

[christian.hess]

We have I guess never been cat people, which in of itself is probably a silly reason to not at least consider them.

It is hard to ignore the liveability of Cats particularly for a family and the Antares are really an amazing boat, albeit more expensive than even an Amel and well out of budget.

As for Aluminum I do like the Ovni's that I have seen down here. They are still quite rare here however.

Besides I am trying to narrow our search not widen it!!!!

We have also considered the possibility of purchasing and then starting our trip somewhere other than Oz. Purchasing a HR or Amel in Europe and bringing it back this direction make some sense, particularly given that it is difficult to include the Med in a circumnavigation starting from Australia in any case.

Weighed against this option is the potential hassle of getting to know and preparing a boat in a foreign port.

I know you might not want to, but when I was in California and reading latitude 38 a lot there were many articles about cruisers from oz and nz that said the best market($$$ wise) for them and starting point for a circumnav was to go to the states, west coast(california) were there are plenty of well priced good boats, some bargains, outfit there(very good parts and labor) and start the cruise back down to the south pacific...or cruise pacific coast of mexico, go to panama etc then hop back down to south pacific, or go to caribbean etc...plus you get to know your boat down the coast where its easy sailing...etc...

Im a firm beleiver that the bay area and california offer some of the best deals boat wise, especially for cruisers wanting a boat for cruising offshore...some boats already have many of the bells and whistles since they are "mexico" vets or hawaii vets, or transpac vets even round the workd vets..

places to look at are marina del rey, san diego, santa barbara, los angeles, and best san francisco bay area.

just a thought

I should also add the the pnw offers some good used boats too however they are around 25% more expensive on average compared to say san francisco...

but in seattle, port townsend among others many many beautiful boats to chose from.