Hi John,
I just came across this post and thought I would pipe in. My husband and I owned this Switch 51 for almost ten years and then
sold it to Dave. I think we owned a Switch 51 longer than anyone that ever had one! That said, we did extensive cruising and
live-aboard on the boat. We originally purchased it in
Maryland and sailed it down and into the
Gulf of Mexico for final
work and
provisioning before leaving the country. Then it was off to the
Caribbean. We raced the boat -- and won -- at
Antigua Sailing Week. We then sailed up to the
Azores and over to the
Mediterranean, where we cruised for about 1-1/2 years. Then we sailed out and down to the Canary Islands and on to the
Cape Verde Islands before crossing back over to the Caribbean. For the next few years, we spent our time between the Caribbean and the Bahamas.
The boat is fabulous and very well built. While a Catana 471 is quite similar, the Switch 51 is a better built boat. And if you are wanting to spend much time on the boat for
live-aboard, you definitely wouldn't want, I don't believe, an Outremer. The hulls are extremely narrow, making for a not so great living
environment.
This boat is the Grand Cruiser model, which at the time of build back 20 years ago was about a $150,000 option. We had a custom built top with enclosure built for the boat by the Doyle loft in Tortola prior to our first trans-Atlantic crossing. It kept us dry, and we loved it. The owner's version gives you a huge (and I do mean huge)
shower on the owners side which every woman will adore! The
bed on the owner's side is longer than standard, providing a very comfortable sleep. You've got a great pantry on that side also (starboard), with lots of room to load up for long term live-aboard. That said, one thing you need to be careful with is putting
too muchstuff on the boat! She has
storage everywhere!!! But cats are very sensitive to weight, much more so than a
monohull. Each year, it seems we would take things off of her as opposed to adding them to her.
The
saloon is super, as it's a wrap-around settee, but the angles are right angles. This means it makes for very comfortable sleeping/napping arrangements should you choose. It's much preferred to a curved couch design.
We had a custom built frame added to the stern for
solar panels and holding the
tender. The
solar panels with
inverter allowed us to live 'green' for the majority of the time, even while running the
watermaker. About the only time we needed to use the
generator was when we wanted to use the clothes washer or if we had several cloudy days. But for the bulk of the time, we were able to live strictly off of
solar power.
One of the best features on the Switch 51 is the
cockpit. It is huge, and it is where you will spend the bulk of your time. There is room to have massive parties! It also gives you plenty of room if you are doing a crossing and two people want to both stay in the
cockpit resting. We did this numerous times during rough
weather.
I'm not sure what
sails Dave has on the boat and if he's purchased any since we
sold her to him. We had a lot of sails on her, as my husband was a
sailmaker and we built some specifically for the boat. We also had Dave Calvert design a new main for us about a year before we sold the boat. It was a Hydranet sail and terrific. But I know nothing of the condition of the sails at present.
We absolutely loved the boat and would recommend her over other
boats in a heartbeat. She is fast (we topped out at 23.8 with her, although Rex Conn had her over 25!) well built, safe for blue
water cruising, and wonderfully spacious for live-aboard. I always knew the boat would perform regardless of what Mother Nature tossed at us. Feel free to drop me a PM if you have any other questions.
Darlene
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