Catamaran 38-46 Foot Vs 50-60 foot

[mikethedane]

Originally Posted by Aussiesuede

If you leave rounding Capes and spending the requisite time in the high lats, off the list, the bigger Cat becomes a bit more realistic of a possibility if you're going to be crewing up for longer passages as you suggest you will. But some things just needn't be on a bucket list. Would you want to walk down the streets of Mogadishu dressed in a suit made of $100 dollar bills carrying a shopping bag full of Big Macs just to say "I accomplished that"? Some things are just smarter left off the bucket list.

Originally Posted by Jim Cate

If one looks at the OP's posts, he is now saying that he will hire professional crew for passages (I think).


This changes the game completely IMO, and also causes me to loose interest in his project. What he proposes is not cruising as I know it, but rather being a passenger in his own boat.


All the worries about handling the boat under arduous conditions are now foisted off on tough, skilled (hopefully) pros, so sure, he can do it. Why are we concerned?

None the less, I will be astonished if he actually does follow through, all the way around the Horn, professional crew or not. As others have said, if you leave that part out of the plan it all becomes more reasonable, and something that other newbies have accomplished in a like manner.

Meanwhile, I've filed this in the "likely a non-starter" drawer.

Jim

Originally Posted by ArtM

I should have read further into the thread I guess. I was responding to the original question from the perspective of an individual cruiser seeking to liveaboard and cruise casually.

If you're looking to take a full crew on a deep-ocean adventure around the world, that is entirely a different matter of course.

I agree that would kill interest in the project, as there is nothing new, unique, or unknown. It's very easy to do if you have unlimited funds, access to professional crew, and a boat purpose-built for that job. It's been easy to do for a long time, even for single and double handers with very average boats.

However, I read the OP's comments to suggest that he would hire on crew if needed for certain portions of the trip, and to help him gain knowledge and skill on his own boat.

This is no different from hiring a delivery captain or going on a liveaboard ASA course, which many of us have done - it doesn't make us passengers.

Ok To make it Clear since it seems some has misunderstood what i wrote

I will try to make it as clear as i can

I will be the captain of the boat and when it comes to crewing up this is not to hire a professional Crew but having people on board to share the experience and some will have sailing knowledge and some will have less

We All start at a point and if some of you had spend time Reading my blog you will see i will not do ASA course but getting a Yacht master Ocean "theory and practical Learning Course " for the Crew who will be joining Us on board for the longer crossing
they will be posted on different forums and to make it Clear

This will not be paid Crew but People who want to share the experience and also pay there share of Food and other things but not the boat cost

But when it comes to Training and learning handling the Cat yes here i will hire a Captain for shorter period of time to teach me and my GF how to handle different situation

Hope i made my self clear

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I say Go For It...
Buy the biggest boat you can afford..
Then work your way down to the biggest you can handle..

There's the answer - Thread done!

Originally Posted by mikethedane

Ok To make it Clear since it seems some has misunderstood what i wrote

I will try to make it as clear as i can

I will be the captain of the boat and when it comes to crewing up this is not to hire a professional Crew but having people on board to share the experience and some will have sailing knowledge and some will have less

We All start at a point and if some of you had spend time Reading my blog you will see i will not do ASA course but getting a Yacht master Ocean "theory and practical Learning Course " for the Crew who will be joining Us on board for the longer crossing
they will be posted on different forums and to make it Clear

This will not be paid Crew but People who want to share the experience and also pay there share of Food and other things but not the boat cost

But when it comes to Training and learning handling the Cat yes here i will hire a Captain for shorter period of time to teach me and my GF how to handle different situation

Hope i made my self clear

So - I started to wonder who is this guy and why is his plan all over the map?
So I invested 10 minutes reading about you on your blog -

40-something project manager, no wife (but GF) dreams of buying a boat and sailing away. Sailed as a kid (not clear how much real experience after dinghys as a kid) and remembers those summer days fondly. Quite frankly not a unique dream and if you are a successful project manager maybe you really can afford a 60 foot cat. But I suspect not and you will need to dial back the plan.

Your "sailing" blog posts intermix your distractions (was gonna do this but work got in the way - etc.) with your plans - We don't know you. We only know what you write so sorry if I am characterizing you wrongly. There are a ton of 40-somethings that want to unplug from their jobs and sail away. That's a tough reality and those that do it, do it in much smaller boats.

People are judging you - it's an "unfair" feature of the internet. But they are judging you because you are stating your plan as "fact" without the prerequisite experience to state facts.

For example - the final piece of your financing puzzle is that you won't "hire" crew to round the horn. The crew will pay you for the experience - this is not an uncommon "dream." The reality is not many will pay for the adventure and if they do they will expect you to be a "professional" skipper.

So here is my advice - I don't know where you are but stop going to boat shows for a while. Get in a boat, any boat. Club sailing, racing, crewing. Put your energy in that for 6-12 months. Then revisit your plan.

Dreams are dreams and plans are different - make sure you know what you are working with here.

BTW - My observation is that people who buy 50-60 cats show up on CF after they buy the boat and are looking for support groups. They are usually successful, monied and don't need anyone to validate their purchase. The other folks come and ask owners about their experience with boat A, B or C. i don't know how many of these "tire kickers" actually end up purchasing after that...

[jimmysbliss]

Hi Mike, I am a person who does not make judgements about people based on posting on forums. I do feel you have gotten both good advice and being criticized too much. But, I think the guys here on CF who are responding to your posting are giving you good bits of information and have a filter on everything else.

I was in your situation a year ago and invested much time, research, energy and time in choosing a blue water ocean catamaran which could be handled with 2-3 crew. It came down to a catamaran in the 45-50 range. The boat needed to have high bridge clearance, dagger boards, galley up, quality construction and International brand (when time to sell), and must be a proven offshore blue water catamaran.

The list of manufactured catamarans got real short with the above criteria and came down to a handful of boats in my price range. A Switch 51, Catana 47, St. Francis 50 and a few others.

I decided to buy a Catana 47. Before doing so I decided also I should consider the Catana 50 and older 521 catamarans although it was another 200K or more. The exposed helms was almost a deal breaker in my book, but in the end. I personally felt the Catana meet 80% of my needs and was one of the better production boats I had a budget 600K-780K.

I plan to live full time on the boat and and go full time cruising for the next four years.

I ended up buying a 2003 Catana 521 which had go thru a major refit with mast, rigging, sails, ect and was in great condition. The Catana 47 would have been a excellent choice and size for me.

But, the reason I went with the larger boat was for the increase payload capacity, larger living spaces, more storage and room need for all the domestic goods, tools, parts, Maintenance supplies, water sports equipment, provisions for extended voyaging and all that adds up to weight. I'm in Shelter Bay, Panama and let me tell you a 42 foot catamaran loaded to the gills with provision for a six month South Pacific passage to the Tahiti is not a pretty slight. And is not a boat I would take offshore on a 4500 mile offshore passage.

I sailed my boat up to florida from Panama and set up the boat for my four year journey. After loading it with 5 scuba tanks, compressor, 2 SUP boards, 3 surfboards, 2 Folding bikes,Kayak, tools, parts, thousands of pounds of gear, and provisioned for 5 months (food, booze, drinks, ect. ) With full fuel and water tanks. I measured the waterline before and after. The boat had lost less then two inches of water line. The boat still has 5 inches to the top of the manufacture water line.

The boat saw double digit speeds in 15-20 knots of wind crossing the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas and arrived 3 hours ahead of ETA and was before dawn. We had to wait for sunrise to make anchorage. This ETA was based on 8 knots of average boat speed.

The jump from the 47 to 52 foot boat was more of a financial decision and handing it is very similar to the catana 47 and slightly higher loads. Don't get me wrong, it is a beast of a boat and the loads are tremendous. The advice on this post for experience from CF sailers on large cats is true and have agree with what advice they are giving you.

But, my advice for what you want to do and can afford. By a Catamaran in the 47-50 range and you will have no buyers regret if your looking for a capable long distant offshore catamaran. Just get out there and start sailing now on other peoples boat and get a small boat if your a few years away from the going.

aloha,
David

[mikethedane]

Originally Posted by Ex-Calif

There's the answer - Thread done!



So - I started to wonder who is this guy and why is his plan all over the map?
So I invested 10 minutes reading about you on your blog -

40-something project manager, no wife (but GF) dreams of buying a boat and sailing away. Sailed as a kid (not clear how much real experience after dinghys as a kid) and remembers those summer days fondly. Quite frankly not a unique dream and if you are a successful project manager maybe you really can afford a 60 foot cat. But I suspect not and you will need to dial back the plan.
Yes I¨m a PM from Trade but i have 55 employees presently and as i hope i made it clear on my blog i¨m a person who is best in getting ideas and making them happen and I have sailed but for the last 7 years i haven¨t sailed that much ..

Your "sailing" blog posts intermix your distractions (was gonna do this but work got in the way - etc.) with your plans - We don't know you. We only know what you write so sorry if I am characterizing you wrongly. There are a ton of 40-somethings that want to unplug from their jobs and sail away. That's a tough reality and those that do it, do it in much smaller boats.

I will not completly unplug my work i will still be Chairman of the board so i will still have an income both passive and active
People are judging you - it's an "unfair" feature of the internet. But they are judging you because you are stating your plan as "fact" without the prerequisite experience to state facts.

I would really like to know how many of the so called Expriance people have actually done heavy training and are not Table Sailings

For example - the final piece of your financing puzzle is that you won't "hire" crew to round the horn. The crew will pay you for the experience - this is not an uncommon "dream." The reality is not many will pay for the adventure and if they do they will expect you to be a "professional" skipper.
I know there are lots of people who have a dream to take 2-4 month of work and go sailing but they don¨t have the funds to go buy a boat or to stop working "look at most long term sailors there are all above 55 years mark "at least in Europe"
So here is my advice - I don't know where you are but stop going to boat shows for a while. Get in a boat, any boat. Club sailing, racing, crewing. Put your energy in that for 6-12 months. Then revisit your plan.

I will Attend one more Boatshow in Cannes and i be getting a smaller cat and use that for a year or so before i will move o the bigger cats

Dreams are dreams and plans are different - make sure you know what you are working with here.

For me a Dream is Goal with a deadline and i would not invest both the time and money in Dreams again i¨m a goal setter and i will do it..

BTW - My observation is that people who buy 50-60 cats show up on CF after they buy the boat and are looking for support groups. They are usually successful, monied and don't need anyone to validate their purchase. The other folks come and ask owners about their experience with boat A, B or C. i don't know how many of these "tire kickers" actually end up purchasing after that...

I¨m aware of it but do personally believe there is nothing wrong in asking and you will get some valid advise and not just those " table sailors (simple rule if you get 100 People¨s advise you remove 90 of them and use the last 10 who actually have something useful to say )

[mikethedane]

Originally Posted by jimmysbliss

Hi Mike, I am a person who does not make judgements about people based on posting on forums. I do feel you have gotten both good advice and being criticized too much. But, I think the guys here on CF who are responding to your posting are giving you good bits of information and have a filter on everything else.

I was in your situation a year ago and invested much time, research, energy and time in choosing a blue water ocean catamaran which could be handled with 2-3 crew. It came down to a catamaran in the 45-50 range. The boat needed to have high bridge clearance, dagger boards, galley up, quality construction and International brand (when time to sell), and must be a proven offshore blue water catamaran.

The list of manufactured catamarans got real short with the above criteria and came down to a handful of boats in my price range. A Switch 51, Catana 47, St. Francis 50 and a few others.

I decided to buy a Catana 47. Before doing so I decided also I should consider the Catana 50 and older 521 catamarans although it was another 200K or more. The exposed helms was almost a deal breaker in my book, but in the end. I personally felt the Catana meet 80% of my needs and was one of the better production boats I had a budget 600K-780K.

I plan to live full time on the boat and and go full time cruising for the next four years.

I ended up buying a 2003 Catana 521 which had go thru a major refit with mast, rigging, sails, ect and was in great condition. The Catana 47 would have been a excellent choice and size for me.

But, the reason I went with the larger boat was for the increase payload capacity, larger living spaces, more storage and room need for all the domestic goods, tools, parts, Maintenance supplies, water sports equipment, provisions for extended voyaging and all that adds up to weight. I'm in Shelter Bay, Panama and let me tell you a 42 foot catamaran loaded to the gills with provision for a six month South Pacific passage to the Tahiti is not a pretty slight. And is not a boat I would take offshore on a 4500 mile offshore passage.

I sailed my boat up to florida from Panama and set up the boat for my four year journey. After loading it with 5 scuba tanks, compressor, 2 SUP boards, 3 surfboards, 2 Folding bikes,Kayak, tools, parts, thousands of pounds of gear, and provisioned for 5 months (food, booze, drinks, ect. ) With full fuel and water tanks. I measured the waterline before and after. The boat had lost less then two inches of water line. The boat still has 5 inches to the top of the manufacture water line.

The boat saw double digit speeds in 15-20 knots of wind crossing the Gulf Stream to the Bahamas and arrived 3 hours ahead of ETA and was before dawn. We had to wait for sunrise to make anchorage. This ETA was based on 8 knots of average boat speed.

The jump from the 47 to 52 foot boat was more of a financial decision and handing it is very similar to the catana 47 and slightly higher loads. Don't get me wrong, it is a beast of a boat and the loads are tremendous. The advice on this post for experience from CF sailers on large cats is true and have agree with what advice they are giving you.

But, my advice for what you want to do and can afford. By a Catamaran in the 47-50 range and you will have no buyers regret if your looking for a capable long distant offshore catamaran. Just get out there and start sailing now on other peoples boat and get a small boat if your a few years away from the going.

aloha,
David

Hi David

Thank for that information and it is finally a good valid point and i do agree with you the Catana 47 is a great boat saw it at the La grand motte and it almost fitted my needs but was a bite to tight in the hulls for me .. so i do believe the 50 or the longer sister the 55 would be a good option and i will have a look at it in aug.

[RichinBoca]

I hear your question. If you want some really good answers to your question take a look at the Antares 44i it's built in Argentina. The designer of the boat is Ted Clements. He has a blog on the site... He is straightforward and no typical marketing BS. He has sailed... And has some stories to tell. It should really help you out.
Best of luck.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[Tropic Cat]

Originally Posted by mikethedane

Hi All ..

I have now Gotten a lot of input from many competent and skilled persons and i have really appreciated this Personally I have learn and gain a lot of knowledge, this is the reason for my question . ..

You asked your question, and already received your answers. Why are you back for more?

Just hire a fully crewed, long time, charter and be done with it.

[mikethedane]

Originally Posted by Tropic Cat

You asked your question, and already received your answers. Why are you back for more?

Just hire a fully crewed, long time, charter and be done with it.

If you have nothing use full to say it is better to quite .... And based on your reply here I would say in this case you are not one of those who are giving use full information ... We can not all be master of the universe like you who knows it all and have all the knowledge in the world ... Some of us are still learning and want to get more information .. And lucky enough some here do actually want to share knowledge and experience..




Sent from my HTC One using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Doe818]

Mike,
I and my partner have put down about 30k miles on two cats in the last 4 years, a 46 footer and a 62. This includes north atlantic crossings, 2 tropical lows and 2 trips into and out of new zealand at the end of winter. It all comes down to 2 things at the end of day:
1 - how fit and practised you guys are (note I said practised and not experienced. Experience is important but I have had very 'experienced' people on board before who have not sailed in a while and they were terrible). General fitness is an issue on all boats of course, but the bigger the boat one does seem to put in just that extra bit of activity, even just covering greater distances around the boat. This can all be learned provided you practise the right things.
2 - how the boat is set up. Makes a big difference, a standard production boat is unlikely to have the same quality of deck gear, fittings, sails etc as a higher end boat like an outremer or gunboat or atlantic 57 etc. But there are cost effective ways you can prepare the boat regardless what it has on it. Eg: on the 62 we had a storm jib, so no messing about with furling lines and unsuitably overeefed and badly shaped headsails etc in heavy weather, it was very simple to handle and quite a few times we spent a day plus in 40-50 knots. Same with mainsail reefing, the system on our 46 was sh*thouse and wayyyy harder to manage than the 62. Anchoring is done the same way, you will sruggle picking up chain and anchor for a 46 by hand as well. Same again with winches. Also, you shouldn't handle rig loads by hand, even in a 40 footer, that's just daft....the loads are handled the same way on the 46 and the 62...ie both boats will injure you if you get it wrong. And if something breaks you have the same problem dealing with it, an undersize winch in a blow is an undersize winch no matter if its attached to a 46 or a 60....either way you have to work smart on both boats.

I found docking the bigger boat easier. She was less inclined to fall off in a gust, provided I caught it early. She held inertia better meaning I could get off the power sooner and she was less affected by side chop etc. I always felt like I had more time on the big boat. You will get used to it....slow is pro!

At sea the bigger boat was heavenly, the extra waterline and beam makes a huge difference. Her rig hardly ever felt heavily loaded up to maintain good average speeds and her speeds / motion would be more constant and predictable with less shock loading. You could double reef her for the entire night to avoid working if it was squally and still roll off a 200 mile day without blinking. Everything was easier on the big boat and we explored more out of the way places because spending time going upwind and deviating off the milk run on her was a pleasant option rather than a chore. A short 3ft chop at anchor on an exposed lagoon anchorage was a terrible nights sleep on the 46, but not bad at all on the 62. So we were less inclined to high tail it at the first sign of some wind.

Particularly if you take crew with you for the big trips early on, then I say go with the big boat if you can afford it, no question. Check insurance, they will most likely want 3-4 on board for bluewater crossings anyway, but that's easy to solve and makes for a goods nights sleep if you pulling one watch a night. I have never spoken to another skipper on a sked out deep in a blow who said they wished they were in a smaller cat...

All this said, however, I do believe that the perfect sized cat FOR ME is around 52 foot, it has that extra waterline length to give it long sea kindly legs but stays within a size where deck gear can easily be oversized just a tad without too much $ or weight. Something with the same space and capacity of a 'normal' 46-48 footer but with a far better hull length to beam ratio and a better rig....in fact its being built right now....

[mikethedane]

Originally Posted by RichinBoca

I hear your question. If you want some really good answers to your question take a look at the Antares 44i it's built in Argentina. The designer of the boat is Ted Clements. He has a blog on the site... He is straightforward and no typical marketing BS. He has sailed... And has some stories to tell. It should really help you out.
Best of luck.

Hi Richin

Thank you and i did look at it and i can also see they got some great feedback as well i just don¨t like the design even do the helm solution seems really great..

Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

Originally Posted by Doe818

Mike,
I and my partner have put down about 30k miles on two cats in the last 4 years, a 46 footer and a 62. This includes north atlantic crossings, 2 tropical lows and 2 trips into and out of new zealand at the end of winter. It all comes down to 2 things at the end of day:
1 - how fit and practised you guys are (note I said practised and not experienced. Experience is important but I have had very 'experienced' people on board before who have not sailed in a while and they were terrible). General fitness is an issue on all boats of course, but the bigger the boat one does seem to put in just that extra bit of activity, even just covering greater distances around the boat. This can all be learned provided you practise the right things.
2 - how the boat is set up. Makes a big difference, a standard production boat is unlikely to have the same quality of deck gear, fittings, sails etc as a higher end boat like an outremer or gunboat or atlantic 57 etc. But there are cost effective ways you can prepare the boat regardless what it has on it. Eg: on the 62 we had a storm jib, so no messing about with furling lines and unsuitably overeefed and badly shaped headsails etc in heavy weather, it was very simple to handle and quite a few times we spent a day plus in 40-50 knots. Same with mainsail reefing, the system on our 46 was sh*thouse and wayyyy harder to manage than the 62. Anchoring is done the same way, you will sruggle picking up chain and anchor for a 46 by hand as well. Same again with winches. Also, you shouldn't handle rig loads by hand, even in a 40 footer, that's just daft....the loads are handled the same way on the 46 and the 62...ie both boats will injure you if you get it wrong. And if something breaks you have the same problem dealing with it, an undersize winch in a blow is an undersize winch no matter if its attached to a 46 or a 60....either way you have to work smart on both boats.

I found docking the bigger boat easier. She was less inclined to fall off in a gust, provided I caught it early. She held inertia better meaning I could get off the power sooner and she was less affected by side chop etc. I always felt like I had more time on the big boat. You will get used to it....slow is pro!

At sea the bigger boat was heavenly, the extra waterline and beam makes a huge difference. Her rig hardly ever felt heavily loaded up to maintain good average speeds and her speeds / motion would be more constant and predictable with less shock loading. You could double reef her for the entire night to avoid working if it was squally and still roll off a 200 mile day without blinking. Everything was easier on the big boat and we explored more out of the way places because spending time going upwind and deviating off the milk run on her was a pleasant option rather than a chore. A short 3ft chop at anchor on an exposed lagoon anchorage was a terrible nights sleep on the 46, but not bad at all on the 62. So we were less inclined to high tail it at the first sign of some wind.

Particularly if you take crew with you for the big trips early on, then I say go with the big boat if you can afford it, no question. Check insurance, they will most likely want 3-4 on board for bluewater crossings anyway, but that's easy to solve and makes for a goods nights sleep if you pulling one watch a night. I have never spoken to another skipper on a sked out deep in a blow who said they wished they were in a smaller cat...

All this said, however, I do believe that the perfect sized cat FOR ME is around 52 foot, it has that extra waterline length to give it long sea kindly legs but stays within a size where deck gear can easily be oversized just a tad without too much $ or weight. Something with the same space and capacity of a 'normal' 46-48 footer but with a far better hull length to beam ratio and a better rig....in fact its being built right now....

Hi Doe What are you sailing now ?

Thank you for your feedback and i do have two favorites candidate at them moment "this is me " and my GF has her own .. for me i¨m in a mix between the Catana 55 and Nautitech 542 and on the dark side i have 2 the Outreemere 5x and the Catana 59 "talking with a few owners of the C59 but personaly i believe both of them will be to much work to handle for and for my GF " and she is really in love with the lagoon 52 "

[socaldmax]

Originally Posted by tomfl

I sit corrected.

She looks like she has a lovely personality.

[Zindab]

It is all about you not the Boat, your age can you manage all the maintenance and sail handling,anchoring and so on and on things break can you fix them at sea buy a Boat that is built well and you are comfortable with.

[Mystic38]

Heres the sort of point you are completely missing,

You are gathering information about pretty and fast boats that are ideally suited to the Caribbean, and planning to round the cape in the same boat.

a) anyone who goes around cape horn with daggerboards either has no clue as to the hazards involved or has something approaching a deathwish.

b) anyone who wants to be strapped, yes strapped (cos if you are not strapped you will get washed overboard), to that exposed helm in mountainous seas and driving rain is certifiable... a "the autopilot will be driving" mentality wont save you from this inevitability.

a catana is a nice boat..for what its good for. and going around cape horn is NOT what it is good for.

So other than buying a vessel completely unfit for the purpose you intend to use it, you also completely ignore all discussion of "what happens when things go wrong".. because it does. Things can and do go wrong bad and in a hurry.

I suggest that if you dont wish to take conservative prudent advice because it contradicts your prejudices then you are better off not asking for opinions.

Originally Posted by mikethedane

Hi Doe What are you sailing now ?

Thank you for your feedback and i do have two favorites candidate at them moment "this is me " and my GF has her own .. for me i¨m in a mix between the Catana 55 and Nautitech 542 and on the dark side i have 2 the Outreemere 5x and the Catana 59 "talking with a few owners of the C59 but personaly i believe both of them will be to much work to handle for and for my GF " and she is really in love with the lagoon 52 "

[smj]

Originally Posted by Mystic38

Heres the sort of point you are completely missing,



You are gathering information about pretty and fast boats that are ideally suited to the Caribbean, and planning to round the cape in the same boat.



a) anyone who goes around cape horn with daggerboards either has no clue as to the hazards involved or has something approaching a deathwish.



b) anyone who wants to be strapped, yes strapped (cos if you are not strapped you will get washed overboard), to that exposed helm in mountainous seas and driving rain is certifiable... a "the autopilot will be driving" mentality wont save you from this inevitability.



a catana is a nice boat..for what its good for. and going around cape horn is NOT what it is good for.



So other than buying a vessel completely unfit for the purpose you intend to use it, you also completely ignore all discussion of "what happens when things go wrong".. because it does. Things can and do go wrong bad and in a hurry.



I suggest that if you dont wish to take conservative prudent advice because it contradicts your prejudices then you are better off not asking for opinions.

I guess the owner of the Catana 44 "Brumas Patagonia" didn't consult you before he sailed around the three capes at the age of 70.
And why can't you sail a daggerboard boat around Cape Horn?

[maytrix]

Having spent some significant time on cats of varying models and just completed 12 days on a Leopard 39 owners version, I'll give my perspective as my wife and I are going to live aboard in the future.

We'll be very happy living aboard our Oceanis 43. We'd be happier living aboard a Leopard 39 owners version but ideally if we could afford it, we'd go with the Leopard 44. I wouldn't go any bigger even if we could afford it. Here's why..

39 would work fine, but it is a bit cramped in the galley/salon area and it would be nice to have two spare cabins each with their own head. This is what the 44 gives. 44 would have plenty of room for the 2 of us and guests. And while it is big, it is not quite as big as their next upgrade which is the 48. There's really nothing the 48 would give us that we wouldn't be happy with on the 44.

So I'd say the best bet is to go with the smallest boat that meets all your needs. The bigger the boat, the more there is to maintain, clean..etc. I take a look at the house we live in and family and friends houses and ask - why do we have such large houses. In our house, we use 3 rooms primarily and a bathroom. So I look to take this realization to our living on a boat and go with only space we will use regularly and not any extra that isn't needed. There's just no need for excess space.