Newbie Questions & Intro

[PEEJAYSEA]

Hi

New to the forum and pretty new to sailing. Keen to "get into it" and the family seems keen too - which helps - I think? I have been plowing through some of the threads which make very interesting reading.

Although a Brit, I currently live in land locked Luxembourg so life is interesting to say the least when considering going sailing - not keen on lakes / dinghy options to be honest.

I would appreciate your thoughts on the following:
As a newbie to sailing, I recently took the plunge and also introduced my wife and young son to it – all of us now have Comp Crew qualifications with the RYA. We fully intend to gain further experience and undertake more RYA courses.
We have as a family discussed at length the pros and cons of purchasing a yacht of our own (costs v use v charter etc) and to that end, we are considering purchasing an ex charter yacht from Sunsail. Whilst understanding there will be additional cost associated with purchase, I am currently weighing up the pros and cons and would appreciate feedback from anyone who has either:
1. Considered this themselves
2. Done this themselves

We also intend to put her (if we proceed) into a Yacht Management Scheme with a well respected sailing school in the UK. The rational for this is we currently reside on the continent and the scheme pays for mooring, maintenance and insurance. For this they get to use her as a school boat and we can also put her into a charter pool if desired. Whilst it will not make us money, and this is not the intention, it does give us the ability to learn the ropes, use her when we want and have her looked after professionally rather than sitting unused for 10 months of a year. Understood that she will get a tremendous amount of use during any season, but it is a case of balances and checks.
Happy to get your comments and feel free to be as blunt as you want – I am not easily offended!

Thanks and I look forward to your replies.

[Sunspot Baby]

Welcome to the forum. Sailing is a great family sport.

There are several threads addressing the pluses and minuses of buying a boat out of charter. As long as you recognize that it has probably been used very hard and go into with eyes open, why not.

One thing I don't favor is that you are buying the "charter version" which maximizes bed and heads. That could be a plus for a family.

Search the threads and read up on the opinions of buying boats out of charter. There are lots of good comments pro and con.

Again, welcome aboard.

George

[David M]

Welcome Aboard!

Its always nice seeing a family getting into sailing. Overall I like what you are considering. The only thing you might want to do differently is to wait a bit longer to get some more sailing experience on a number of different boats so that you know better which sailboat characteristics you prefer through experience. I know how easy it is to let your enthusiasm about one particular boat get ahead of your good judgement. Boats do that to people. I have been there myself.

Unlike many other activities we can take up, with sailing we are with something that seemingly has a soul. Its easy to let it become a whole way of life.

Enjoy the learning experience. It never ends with boats, which is a good thing.

Have a great time out on the water.