Gotta admit I amazed..

[Joli]

by the folks with little or no sailing experience buying large boats. 50-60-70 foot mono's and multi's.

Those are larges platforms to learn on. The costs and dangers on boats that size are substantial.

Why take the risk? Love to hear from the newbies that are doing this.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Joli,
I agree with you 120%.
Regards,
JohnL

There was a very good thread on this awhile back "Why do new sailors buy big" I believe. Great subject. I look forward to some new perspectives on this.

[Boracay]

Big boats have 3 advantages. They are...
1) Interior space
2) Interior space
3) Interior space

[S/V Elusive]

Big Boats have 3 disadvantages. They are:
1) Big exteriors
2) Big exteriors
3) Big exteriors

Often, the same can be said of their owners

[dana-tenacity]

The delivery I just did on a Tayana 55 was a newbie, boat is now for sale, we all know the reasons

[S/V Elusive]

Originally Posted by Kai Nui

Often, the same can be said of their owners

Yes ... I'm long ... and a bit beamy'r than some ... now what does that say about Cat and Tri owners??!!! Oh MY! ::::running and ducking::: geeesh did we just go off topic or what?

[ssullivan]

Yup... just had one graze our tender yesterday as they were trying to get into the slip. Bow thrusters and all, they couldn't manage to dock it without hitting every other boat around. tsk tsk

[Joli]

And I'm not saying folks can't learn to handle larger boats or that they cannot afford them because there are lots that can. But damn, why start there? Why not buy the 30 and go bash around the race course for a couple years and sail with others who own larger boats so you know what it is your getting into.

Trust me, I'm a proponent of sailing big boats but from the start???

[Islandmike]

While we have owned a couple of 30+ foot cabin cruisers (power boats), many years ago, Paula and I purchased a 40 foot 28000 lb fiberglass ketch. The hull was in great shape as was the interior, however, there was no engine, systems, etc. We have presently put in a new engine, wiring, winches, some new rigging etc, most of which we are doing ourselves. We had no expeirence with that either, and I feel the work we have done is as good as anybody could do. Last week we took her from where we purchased her two years ago, Warwick RI, to Deep River CT where we will keep her, the weather was fairly snotty, we made sure we were prepared. Other than sailing some small sailboats over 30 years ago we are very inexpeirenced sailers. If you are healthy and have a will you can do anything you want to, just be prudent, safe and informed. Maybe we are the exception? I dont know, or care. If we could do everything over maybe we would have gained more expeirence earlier in our lifes, we didn't and we want to sail down the ICW to the caribbean and back. We are both 52 and not getting any younger.... That is why we purchased a fairly large boat with our present {in}expeirenced level.

Mike and Paula

[Islandmike]

Sean,

I have witnessed plenty of boat owners who have owned their boats for many years and still cannot bring it to a dock without hitting something. Expeirence is a great teacher, but some people never learn...

[Vasco]

Originally Posted by Joli

by the folks with little or no sailing experience buying large boats. 50-60-70 foot mono's and multi's.

Those are larges platforms to learn on. The costs and dangers on boats that size are substantial.

Why take the risk? Love to hear from the newbies that are doing this.

Joli,

They do it because they can and good luck to them. Some will learn, some will not. Whether it's a small boat or large one, the same process will take place. As for costs and dangers, the owners will bear the costs and as for dangers I would submit that a larger boat is safer. On the matter of risk, no venture is risk free and the only risk I see is a financial one if one screws up or decides it's not what one wanted and has to sell the boat quickly. Actually the only time a large boat presents problems different from a smaller one is coming alongside. And even with a smaller one you have to practise and learn. Most of the people I've met that started with larger boats had the money and felt they didn't have the time or the knees to start on a Laser.

[Tspringer]

I have been planning a post to introduce myself and my families cruising plans and my ideas on boats and such.... and I will be getting to that soon....

But in short, we will be among the "guilty" here. My wife is on-board with the entire cruising concept. We are in our late 30s and we plan to leave in January of 2011 for hopefully 6 years. We want to spend the first year coastal cruising the eastern seaboard into the caribbean and then head through the canal and west all the way around. Our kids at that point will be 12 and 8, we want them to be old enough to really remember the adventure and to learn self sufficiency and experience other cultures during their formative years.

My wife is not going along with this plan if its "camping in a tiny cave". We want the kids to each have their own cabin and we want space for family and friends to be able to come visit. For a family of 4 who will be living aboard for extended periods, a 40' boat isnt going to work. Not unless I want a divorce 1/2 way around!

So we will be looking at boats in the 47' to 55' range. I fully anticipate outfitting the boat for short handed sailing. I accept that a larger boat means greater expense, more difficulty in docking and in general maintenance and handling. I GET IT. But whats a better choice: Dealing with all the hassles of a larger boat OR having a cramped and unhappy family during the voyage?

We are relatively young and in good shape physically, I hopefully can make the money work for this and I am a very mechanically inclined person. I race and rebuild vintage cars, have been around boats all my life, we have owned largish powerboats and I am confident that there are very few systems on a cruising boats such as we desire that I am not capable of fixing/repairing/maintaining myself.

I would also submit that running a 50' sailboat today that has been well fitted out for short handed sailing today is a far different proposition to what it was 25 years ago.

I also feel that people adapt and become capable with what they need too. If you learn properly on a 50' boat, you will be capable on a 50' boat. Heck, you may not even realise that a smaller boat is "easier" since you have no experience with that! That said, there will always be some people who will be incompetent no matter what size or type of boat. I teach racing and track driving and we have a term for some students: OSB. Other Sports Beckon!

Boats I am attracted too: Tayana 55 (but may be out of the range of what I want to spend), Irwin 52, Gulfstar 50, Pearson 53 plus I am VERY open to suggestion!!!



Terry

[Joli]

Maybe an analogy would be in order to explain my amazement.

Would you learn to how to drive in a Class A Motor home? Would you learn how to fly in a 747? Of course not but it seems many are ready to jump into a rather large sail boats with little or no skill.

Of course you can learn the skills required to sail and maintain a large boat. So why not a bit of development in a smaller boat prior to making a big commitment? Buy and sail a boat that can be manhandled off a dock, those weighing under 24,000 pounds? Learn to sail a boat where the sheet loads are measured in hundreds of pounds not tons?

This doesn't mean you need to buy a dinghy. There are many 30 footers that can be had for a song to get your feet wet with. Take the family for a weekend, see if you all get along. Sign it up for a local race and go even when the weather is shitty, you know 58 degrees with 30 knots and 8 footers to jump over.

And while your enjoying the smaller boat take a diesel class, a seamanship class, learn to navigate, learn to anchor, learn to maintain a boat, and go sailing on larger boats to see if you really like what a larger boat brings.

We love our large racer/cruiser and we are very happy we own her. But I gotta tell you, experience is a cold hearted bitch that teaches very rough lesson over time and miles. What are you betting when you skip those lessons?