Help me find the right boat

[jeremyrfoster]

My wife and I are looking for a boat to sail away on. I'm trying not to be too picky with the layout, but I have a certain general layout in mind and it doesn't seem as difficult to find as it's turning out to be.

We want to have guests aboard as much as possible and look forward to sailing with a couple of kids. We want to buy a boat that is going to last us for a long time.

The layout I have in mind would provide 3 separate cabins - one for my wife and I and two smaller (one or two berths) that kids or guests can call their own. I love center-cockpit layouts that leave so much room in the aft. I wonder why I haven't found any layouts that divide the aft right down the middle creating two identical cabins. It seems like there's plenty of room. I also wouldn't mind if the master cabin was in the aft and the forepeak was divided into two separate cabins.

We're talking about a diesel, ketch rig (flexible), 44-50' boat under $150k. Any help would be appreciated.

jf

[dcstrng]

<I wonder why I haven't found any layouts that divide the aft right down the middle creating two identical cabins…>

Not familiar with current vessels like that but some of the Caribbean charter boats of the 1970s and 80s offered exactly that – I remember seeing one at the Annapolis show many years ago and carrying the brochure for awhile – if you are interested in a boat of that vintage, you might check for one that came out of those fleets… those weren’t all that popular because the aft cabins became rather small, which didn’t appeal to many… can’t recall which vessel(s) offered that, but I’d start checking the usual charter suspects; larger Irwin, larger Morgan OI series, CSY (I think), etc., etc…

[jeremyrfoster]

Thank you. I've looked at the Morgan and CSY but will look again. The small cabins don't bother me since they're either temporary homes for guests or permanent cubby holes for small children that will do most of their "living" in the salon anyway.

[jeremyrfoster]

I found the Elan and the Grand Soleil 46 that have the layout I'm looking for. They're well out of my price range, however, but it's good to find that the layout exists. Any ideas on a more affordable model?
Here's a link to the Grand Soleil layout: http://newimages.yachtworld.com/1/5/...?1146774873000

[irwinsailor]

The Irwin 52 in the "charter version" could be what you are looking for. The prices have gone up from a year ago when I would see some of them priced around $150k.

[camaraderie]

You might find a Hylas 44cc from the mid-80's in that range. Excellent boat.

[Nordic cat]

Have you considered a cat? You can find a number of good cats that will offer what you want in the 38-42 ft range, 3 proper cabins, deckhouse saloon, redundant diesels... Good for retaining some privacy - all others in the other hull

Might be worth considering, especially if you let your admiral have a say, if she goes for a sail on one

Regards

Alan

[caribnsol]

I did not want to be the first, but have been patiently waiting for someone to say Cat !!!

[Lightfin]

You may want to check out the Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 45.2 with the 3 cabin / 3 head layout. They are a comfortable, great sailing boat. Some of the late 90's, very early 2000's are getting close to your price range.

[Pblais]

We're talking about a diesel, ketch rig (flexible), 44-50' boat under $150k.

The idea may be right but the budget is going to be tight except for a late 70's boat closer to 44 than 50 ft. The CSY if not ideal is closer to the budget. with a boat in this age you need about $30K in reserve for surprises and updates - minimum.

You probably need to be looking at a lot more brands of boats because in the end you are going to need the right boat at the right price and being too specific will leave you at the dock. It's also going to require something that has already been updated or at least a lot of it updated to make this work from just a budget perspective.

A quick trip to Yachtworld.com brought up 100 boats in the US between 44 and 50 ft in your price range. They cover a lot of variation. You might try some searches there to see what the market looks like. Condition may be the critical issue you need to consider that is hard to judge from an ad. You might further limit the searches to close to home and actually look at a few to better see yourself what boats you can afford look like up close.