Choosing a sailboat!! ⛵️

[SV Melody]

Originally Posted by Lonelysailor

Yes I think so too. But I have a special feeling for Endeavours...

Hi lonelysailor,


I'm also quite aware of "plans with the wife changing". Mine took off out of nowhere before I even got the boat. Just talking about it seemed to have scared her off. I now have my boat in a beautiful marina and she has a crappy little apartment with sirens and gunshots. At twice the price of my slip fees, no less. So let 'em run off of that's what they want. The sea will always be there for you.



If you have an Endeavour and like it and you're ok with their faults (all boats have faults), get what you want even if it's another Endeavour. Stepping in to a HR or IP or similar others will get you a different look and different performance/feel. But like a previous post said, 20 year old boats will definitely have their issues. Mine is 20. She has her issues. None are ridiculously expensive to fix (good surveyor!) but there sure are a lot of them to work through. Luckily, most of them are minor or cosmetic from disuse and general neglect instead of being abused or damaged. Melody was made in 1998 and the original engine has 643 hours on it. Three of those are mine from the sea trial and the one brief outing back in August playing with her before settling in for the refit over the winter.


I don't have any personal experience with HR yachts but they certainly seem to have an extremely high ratio of happy owners/sailors to unhappy owners/sailors. Matter of fact, I can't think of a single negative thing I've heard being said about them in the three or four years I've been exploring the world of sailing. IP also has its loyal followers and there are 4 of them right near me in the marina. Their owners are all very happy with them as well, not a bad word said once. By sheer numbers, the most common ones here are Beneteaus and Jeanneaus. Seems most people are pretty happy with those too even if they're not generally regarded to be of the same level as the ones on your list. Get what you want that does what you want it to do, then sail it and go live your life.

[mjgill1]

Originally Posted by nortonscove

Not sure you're familiar with the Hallberg Rassy line of boats when you make this statement. They are the rare combination of of good sailing characteristics and great boat to take you anywhere. Number 1 on the list presented is number 1. I've been on two IP 35's and they are nice. Impressed until my first run in with a Rassy.

I am no expert on the HR. That's why there is no comment for or against them. I do know the IP line and did my best to give an honest summary of the positive and negative aspects. They are a terrific boat, have a big following, great customer service, super high quality and really hold their value well.
When the rubber meets the road, it's all a matter of personal preference. If the OP wants an Endeavor over the other two, more power to him. I currently don't want either one.
Last year we went to Annapolis and got aboard many boats in the 40'-50' range. Some larger, some smaller ones too. Out of the entire fleet that was there, my favorite was the Outbound 46 named Horizon that was there for the show. From the second I stepped on board, I knew the boat was my favorite. I wont go through the laundry list of reasons why in order to stay on topic. Maybe some other thread.