What? - no love for the
Hylas? In your price range I would hope so, but the Med of course, is the most distant pond for this brand, and therefore rare.
Of teak? CF reflects the tastes and needs of NorAm cruisers, who's most admired waters lay South of the
Gulf of Mexico and the
Sea of Cortez. In other words, nowhere near the mid-lat playgrounds of the Med. Hence, tropical sun and heat are primary considerations to us. Not so to visitors.
I hugely admire the Amel. But is the Maramu Super at 53' too long? One
survey found median lengths of sailing yachts in the
Azores at 44' but 50' in
Bermuda. On this basis, 53' hardly seems ginormous.
There is the issue of subjective judgment. Yet there are some universals found among Jimmy Cornell's 57 RTW cruisers that he surveyed:
Quote:
What some owners found to be a more serious handicap on long voyages than actual size was the lack of storage space, a deficiency they blamed on the fact that many current boats are built for charter, for which storage capacity isn’t a priority.
Regardless of the size of boat, the most common feature that people wished they’d had was a comfortable, sheltered watchkeeping position.
|
To the last point, the Amel's hard
dodger is frequently praised and envied.
Now, Jimmy Cornell in 2012, author of "World Voyage Planner," offered this sweeping opinion about these matters: "Over the years, I’ve conducted a number of surveys to try to find out if there’s such a thing as an ideal cruising boat—only to conclude that
the ideal vessel is a chimera. While a particular boat may be perfect for one sailor or one particular voyage, the same boat might be totally unsuitable for another."
Beyond these important and nearly universal issues, including
safety, come subjective values. In particular, the whole CC versus AC debate.
Consider that in the
Caribbean, daylight is about 11 hours in
winter, 13 in summer. And thus one is likely to spent maybe 12 hours a day topside. By contrast, in the summer Med, daylight is closer to 18 hours.
And therefore the pragmatic question becomes: "in which style cockpit and which topside am I - and my wife (or partner and friends) - going to most enjoy spending those 12 to 18 hours?"
Answer this one well, and the CC or AC question answers itself.
Perhaps a final consideration of 'best feature' selection comes down to a practical few, writes Cornell: "Asked to specify any design feature that would’ve made a considerable contribution to the enjoyment of their voyage, several owners mentioned shallower
draft, which they said would’ve extended their cruising range. Other features mentioned were better access to the
engine room for maintenance, a compact and safe
galley, comfortable sea berths, but also provision for a double berth when in port."
https://www.cruisingworld.com/sailbo...globe-girdling
I think the OP now has a long, if not longer, checklist of both important and useful questions to interrogate his prospective options about.
Linear Mode
Recent Discussions