Quote:
Originally Posted by Freedom92
Thanks for all the responses to my first post - great stuff! To answer some questions- we are in our 50s and pretty fit, we will be using the boat for a mixture of coastal sailing plus longer passages (possibly the Atlantic in a few years), we have been sailing for 20 years. Seems like a toss up - perhaps tossing a coin is the answer after all!
F92
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If you want to have six people on board on a regular basis, you may want to go a little bigger still. Six people is ok on my boat (54 feet on
deck, 16 foot beam) but I would not want to go any smaller (even single-handing, I don't ever wish for anything smaller). The problem is getting everyone around the
salon table; seating in the
cockpit. I agree with the comment above about the frat house -- you will be pretty crowded. 50+
monohull, or cat would be better with that kind of crowd.
As to "handling" bigger boats; plenty of threads on this in the
archives. To summarize -- some people argue for smaller boats, but those are mostly people who have smaller boats. I've never met or heard of anyone with a larger boat who wished for a smaller one. Other than cost (maintenance even more than acquisition) and
docking, there aren't really any downsides. Also, the larger the boat, the easier and more comfortable it is to handle in tough
weather.
If I ever change my own boat (unlikely), it will be for something still bigger -- like the HR 65.