Which boat would you get for 1-2 year RTW cruise on a $900k budget?

[Adelie]

Welcome.

1yr is racing fast with minimal stops.
2yr is still very fast.
3yr is kinda fast.

I would suggest updating your profile with your general location and your boat make & model or “Looking” in the "Boat" category. This info shows up under your UserName in every post in the web view. Many questions are boat and/or location dependent and having these tidbits under your UserName saves answering those questions repeatedly. If you need help setting up your profile then click on this link: https://www.cruisersforum.com/forums...ml#post3308797

I would happily help more if the link above is not enough.

[AiniA]

Originally Posted by 4ndreas

4 years sounds amazing. You might be right, but I'm not sure we can dedicate that long this time around. How did you go about planning your route before departing? Which boat did you sail?

Is the book you're referring to World Voyage Planner By Jimmy Cornell?

45' was also my initial thought although it's a bit tempting to look at the bigger Beneteau/Hanse/Bavarias.

We went with a Bristol 45.5. I am a big fan of Hood's large centerboarders. They are relatively fast and very comfortable. You could go with a Little Harbor in the 44' to low 50' range and it would be even nicer. Book I was referring to was World Cruising Routes. It saves you the busy work going through dozens of pilot charts. It is tricky to do the scheduling because you need to be in certain times of the year and not be in certain places at certain times. We went with a few non-standard places like Easter Island and South Africa. Having a bit more time allows you to go such places.

[Don C L]

I'd get this one.

[Auspicious]

Originally Posted by TrentePieds

Auspicious:

What a splendid précis - yours #52!

Do you have any publications we could read in their entirety :-)?

TrentePieds

Of mine? Jeepers. Articles in Sail and Cruising World and Ocean Navigator. Design documents in entirety I have written are classified and I don't have access any more. *grin* I have a metric ton of presentations I've given at boat shows and rendezvous.

I do have a book in the works, but it has been in the works for ten years so don't hold your breath.

[wingssail]

Originally Posted by 4ndreas

Hi there

I'm exploring boat options for a 1-2 year cruise round the world. The total budget is USD $900k +/-.
The crew would mainly be my girlfriend and I (aged 27/35) but ideally the boat could comfortably fit 2-6 guests for extended periods.

We’ve grown up doing inshore racing and cruising on various dinghies and monohulls 30′ - 45′.

Given these circumstances, what would be your considerations when it comes to:

1) Price. Out of the $900k budget how much would you spend on the boat itself? Would you consider a boat loan to get the dream boat? (Can’t get over how beautiful that Beneteau First 53 is)

2) Size. What would be the sweet spot that is easy to handle for a couple, yet offers space enough for friends and family? How much would draft play into this decision?

3) Any suggestions? Any specific models you’d recommend looking at?

Thanks for any advice!

Andreas

First of all we don't know your actual objective. You say 1-2 years sail around the world. That isn't really a cruise. And in that time frame (even double that) you won't see much. So it sounds like a "check the box" trip. (not my cup of tea, by the way, I took 18 years to do the RTW).

Then you mention a $900k budget, implying you have that much you can spend then you have to start earning again. Or something.

So we have to guess.

I'd say you should plan your expenses for a 3-4 year trip and buy a boat with the remainder.

1. Budget. Given your total is pretty huge I'd guess you're used to a lavish lifestyle. So plan on about $4000 a month to live. Then another $20,000 for annual boat expenses such as haulouts or refit (you're looking at a big boat, right?). Then a trip or two back home, say $5000. Now you are up to $75,000 a year. Say 4 years, that is $300,000.
This leaves $600,000 for a boat, Seems like plenty.
Maybe you should try to retain some of the $900k for afterwards

2.Boat. Upper 40's to low (low) 50's. Bigger boats are easy when they are easy but can get to be a handful. Given your background I'd say you'd be happy with a modern performance cruising boat. A Hylas 49 is one of my favorites but since you are racers you'll know a good boat when you see one.

Just remember, you're going to spend a lot of time at sea going around the world; get a boat which will be fun to be sailing, one which lights up in 12 kts of breeze and scorches down wind. Avoid a slug, you'll wonder why it has no "feel".

As for draft, we sailed with 8' of draft and had no issues (however, we avoided the US east coast).

Finally not mentioning specific models, but go for a simple, fast, sloop with a nice keel and rudder, good sails, and minimal "this makes it easier" cruising gear. It usually does not. (simple? I mean keep the important stuff simple, your toys can be high tech. Toys? don't carry any of them on deck, and with your time frame you wont' have time anyhow. Davits and arch, forgeddabout it. And I don't like roller furling mains, bow thrusters, or spinnaker socks).

[CaptainRivet]

Originally Posted by 4ndreas

Have been eying cats too Just never sailed one bigger than a Hobie so it's a bit foreign. The Seawind 1370 looks v nice but probably out of budget.

Are they that much faster than a 45-50' modern monohull cruiser though?

Forget Hanse or Bavaria for that trip, they fall apart in the first month…

Cat much faster, if you take the right one doubled till tripled speed.

That’s the right cat on steroids, TS42 does easily 15kn but 25kn is often possible.
https://www.marsaudon-composites.com...ls/orc42-ts42/

New 600k with the right goodies and gear.
300k enough for 2 years for the rest and afterwards you sell it for 500-550k.
More comfortable and 30% slower look at OC44 or outremer 45

Short Periode 1-2years only get a 2-3 year old boat or cat, not a new one because you will otherwise spend a lot of time of your Short 2years sort a lot of Refit and repair time in Harbour and dry docks before setting off. And that will be the hard part in today’s dry market to find one…

[DeValency]

Originally Posted by 4ndreas

What a beauty! Normally would lean more towards a modern racer/cruiser but this looks so fit for the purpose of ocean crossings.

Well, if you plan on two years around, you need much more than a racer, maybe a Gulfstream GIVSP, but it’s a bit out of your budget

Seriously, unless you just want to check a circumnavigation or race (but here again you’re under budget) there is no practical way to make it and definitely no way to enjoy it. First; getting to remote and less remote places and stay, rest, enjoy etc. is the essence of cruising, not mile counting…
Second; the best boats in the world do have technical failures and these tend to happen in the most remote areas. Repairs can take a week at a time or six months… depending on the situation.
Third; the fatigue for a couple only with such an intensive plan is a severe risk that may take you back faster then expected.

But anyway, Outbound and alike, such as; Hallberg-Rassy, Najad, Amel, Malo, Contest, Hylas, Oyster…. at the range of 42-46’, center cockpit would be the ideal, especially if you find those that were already fully equipped for long offshore cruising and very well maintained.

Especially if you still want to try to do it in two years, these boats can optimise your comfort, safety and performance while cruising - which will take most of your time...

[mako]

Originally Posted by Paul L

Outbound 46
https://outboundyachts.com/outbound-46/

I really like the hard dodger. Really nice boat.

Figure $500k for a recent boat a few years old. Another $100k for outfitting and repairs. That leaves $300k for RTW cruise over the next 4 years. Much more than doable plus reserve/ contingency. Likely can sell at that point for say $400k, so you recover that much.

[jmh2002]

Originally Posted by pbmaise

With a 900k budget, I would allocate at least a small portion, about $30k to hire two Filipino sailors to help with the 24 hour sailings, cleaning, and shore trips. They will provide so much support to the trip.

I would not depend upon a young girlfriend to provide this work.

How about 3 young girlfriends instead... ?

[Cynara]

Don't know if you can do the entire world in 2 years. We were late 30s and met a couple in their early 20s at a beach party, the ones that randomly broke when there were 2 or boats in an Anchorage.

Their plan, or at least his was, to do the world in 2 years.

Everyone was having a great time. About 4pm the guy looked at his watch and said "time to leave " according to the schedule they had to leave to get to next place. She was mad and very disappointed that they were leaving in the middle of the party.

They went to their boat and sailed away.

Never heard from them again. Don't know if they made it.

Be careful of schedules.

[Cynara]

A word about buying a boat to carry 2 to 6 guests. The chances of having any guests at all are slim if you are going to foreign countries .

They might come to visit if you stay in one place, but if you think you are going to sail them somewhere else than the port they flew into you will have a lot of paperwork to deal with. And if you sail them to another country it can even be worse. Just arranging return flights will be difficult.

Besides if you have visitors your wife? Might enjoy time in a hotel where everything is taken care of. Otherwise someone is still cooking, cleaning, etc.

Don't buy a boat so big your hauling extra footage your not using

[sailingharry]

Originally Posted by Cynara

A word about buying a boat to carry 2 to 6 guests. The chances of having any guests at all are slim if you are going to foreign countries .

This. We did 3 1/2 months from Annapolis to Canada and back this summer. Despite lots of invitations to friends and family, we had one guest for a week, and one for a day. Not that people weren't interested. It's just that it is HARD for people to take time out of busy lives to join you. And that's in one country!

[mako]

Hence the 95% rule!

[DeValency]

Originally Posted by sailingharry

This. We did 3 1/2 months from Annapolis to Canada and back this summer. Despite lots of invitations to friends and family, we had one guest for a week, and one for a day. Not that people weren't interested. It's just that it is HARD for people to take time out of busy lives to join you. And that's in one country!

Have been doing the way up from the Caribbean to end at home in Boston back in August. The main problem in getting friends and family joining the crew, even for shorter sections was the pandemic, lockdowns in Islands, problematic and limited flights and the general justified avoidance using commercial transportation to or from stopovers.

In normal times and if well planned we wouldn’t a problem to have multiple guests joining.

[dannc]

Originally Posted by 4ndreas

...

I'm exploring boat options for a 1-2 year cruise round the world.
...
The crew would mainly be my girlfriend and I (aged 27/35) ...

When the wife and I started talking about getting a boat and cruising, we came up with a long list of places we wanted to live and visit. We also have a time limit of 10 years which is based on our ages and reasonable expectation of our health allowing us to travel. Hoping for more than 10 years but 10 years is the plan.

We would ask ourselves how long we would want to stay in a certain country or region and we listed them in a priority order. Even with 10 years, I don't think we could see all of the places in the world we want to live and visit.

Notice I say live and visit. Visit mean simply seeing a place for a short period of time because we do not have an interest to stay in that place or there is simply not that much to see or do in that place.

Living means we would want to spend quite a bit of time in the place maybe years. We might have to stay in the place, leave and return due to visa issues but that is the plan. We have also looked at long term visas and such.

We have no desire to do a RTW cruise. However, if we have the time we would end up doing a RTW or come close. Our goal is NOT to RTW but to visit and stay in other places. We LIKE to sit in places to get to know the area and people. To just visit a bunch of places is of no interest to us, and frankly, it would be cheaper to just fly in compared to having the expense of a boat.

If your goal is to visit as many places as possible in 1-2 years, go for it. On the other hand I would suggest thinking about an area, that could be a huge area, like the South Pacific, Europe, east coast of the US, Australia, etc., and spending that 1-2 years experiencing and living in that geography.

As an aside, there is a mindset I call Localitis. We have it and I think most people do as well.

Localitis is ignoring or taking for granted what is in one's local area. Many areas have wonderful places to visit and explore but we do not do so because we are so busy and those places are not going any where. We tell ourselves that the place is not going anywhere, and it really is not, and we will visit someday but someday never happens.

We have a long list of places to visit in our area and we are slowly visiting them as we try to fight off Localitis.

Years ago we were in a wee small town in Western Scotland and met a family with two adult daughters. They ran a shop in a kinda tourist town and there is a ferry that runs to an island close to the town. Yet the daughters have NEVER been to that island that is Just Right There. All they have to do is walk out of the shop, down the street and get on the ferry to go to that island. It would take them five minutes. One of the daughters has studied in the US but has never been to the island that is right next door. That is Localitis.

The other problem with just visiting is what one misses. We have spent two long vacations in Ireland where we have sat in place for up to 10 days. The first visit was by boat down the east coast of Ireland. What I did not know then, but do know now, was how much history we missed as we went down the coast. For instance, we passed a point where one of the first, if not the first, places invaded by the Normans. If we had had more time, and better weather, it would have been nice to get close to that point in the boat. Even better would have been to visit by land as well. But all of that takes time....

Later,
Dan