Is 50 feet too big?

[Stewartld]

Originally Posted by Horus

50 Ft; In the summer no; in the winter yes!

Why "yes" in winter?

[FollowingCs]

I don't have a great deal experience but did spend 3 weeks on my friend's 51 foot cat. I don't have anything to compare it to. A key component was the props. He had max props, which made reverse just as precise as forward, and with 2 engines, I was 'almost' docking it on first attempts, if it wasn't for the strong St. Augustine currents. Fairly easy to maneuver in tight quarters.

~ Following Cs ~

[imiloa]

Have you considered a Voyage 500?
Super build quality, great performance under sail and power, my wife and I sail ours with ease.

And ours is for sale! 2009 owner's version, fully equipped. PM me if you have interest.

[Turnstone]

No. My wife and I sailed our 55ft Chris White designed Atlantic 55 35,000miles over 10 years, with and without crew. But this is a boat designed for sailing, with the accomodation fitted in afterwards. And construction is glass epoxy with carbon strapping - going to windward at 12 knots in a blow the tips of the hulls were rock solid. The size of the boat made her a delight in a seaway; if you are used to a 50ft monohull a boat like this will amaze with the amount of stress she does not put on her crew. And size does matter. Moored along side a anchor drum encrusted monohull in Brazil, the skipper looked the boat over, and said: "I would take her to Georgia, but nothing smaller". Big cats are safer in big seas than their smaller sisters. Feel safe, have fun!

[briblack]

my 2 cents . . .

get the smallest boat that can do what you need. really need. I say this as one who recently "moved up" from a 40' cruising monohull to a 46'.

but if as you say, cost is no object, then go for it? everything will be bigger and heavier. all mechanical aids will fail, generally in remote and exotic locations. I had to hand-over-hand our anchor and chain back up on deck last week, it was only 25 kg and 3/8 chain. and when you pull into marinas, you will be viewed by some as the daddy warbucks/cash cow. not what I'm looking for as a cruiser, but to each their own.

peace

[Aqualibrium]

Sail Handling will be the biggest problem for a Husband Wife Crew.
Make sure you have powered winches for main and headsails.
A 50ft cat will have about a 20-22m mast with a 2 ;1 halyard purchase thats a lot of heavy winding.
Genoa and screechers are very big and powerful sails and to be able to put furling lines on powered winches tames them very quickly.
Big problem with powered winches is the capacity to winch to destruction, so you need to check everything regularly and hand winch to check for tightness from time to time.
You can minimise this by using single electro hydraulic power pack to hydraulic powered winches, cheaper, easier to maintain, lighter and hydraulic relief valve pressure is adjustable, so can be left at reduced setting.

[Capt Phil]

The only advice I can offer is that moving from 45 to50 feet the size difference is all in the middle of the vessel and gives you 5 feet more living space. A real boon on passage making... Phil

[Stewartld]

This has all been really helpful advice, thank you

[akprb]

Best advice we got was "buy as much waterline as you can afford". We bought a custom 50 in 2002 and cruised for a decade. First time I left the dock with it felt like I was driving a football field. Didn't take long and it felt like driving a pool table :-)

I've singlehanded her all over the Bahamas, Tonga/Fiji and NZ. Cruisersfarm and Bulawayo nail it. We never had trouble finding a place to dock or haulout except once in West End. The mistake I made was calling ahead. We anchored out and came in by dinghy and the marina had plenty of room. From then on I'd generally pull in and ask for a slip once tying up to the fuel dock or just talking to the dockmaster face to face. Once they see you can handle it no prob.

Enjoy every precious minute!

[Bulawayo]

Originally Posted by cenicero

Discovery 50. Reasonably quick, v comfortable, quality build and a big master cabin. Beautiful. Hull design reduces slamming.

Discovery is a fantastic boat. For the money its hard to go past the latest St Francis 50 which is constantly evolving as owners make their comments - all seem to be pretty favourable as well.

[Bulawayo]

You are right - a biggish boat can attract a wary approach from others in tight marina's. As you say, once they see you handle it those doubts evaporate. I always liken it to learning to drive - many of us started with small cars and then upgraded to larger vehicles without even thinking about it. I doubt Captain Kirk was ever concerned about the Enterprise's size after having learnt to fly in a single engined Cessna.

Originally Posted by akprb

Best advice we got was "buy as much waterline as you can afford". We bought a custom 50 in 2002 and cruised for a decade. First time I left the dock with it felt like I was driving a football field. Didn't take long and it felt like driving a pool table :-)

I've singlehanded her all over the Bahamas, Tonga/Fiji and NZ. Cruisersfarm and Bulawayo nail it. We never had trouble finding a place to dock or haulout except once in West End. The mistake I made was calling ahead. We anchored out and came in by dinghy and the marina had plenty of room. From then on I'd generally pull in and ask for a slip once tying up to the fuel dock or just talking to the dockmaster face to face. Once they see you can handle it no prob.

Enjoy every precious minute!

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

I think if you have the skills that are required to drive a 50 ft boat, you can drive a 50 ft cat.

I found big cats easier than big monos.

b.

I'll second that..
Can't beat the training wheels..

or is that a tri..

[dirkdig]

We have a lagoon 440 and its plenty big enough for 2.
Easy to handle with the twin motors.
We were thinking of going to a 50 but just not needed in really any aspect.
Cost of maintenance and berthing will proportionally increase too for not a big gain in anything.


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[Just_cruizen]

we have a 54ft Beneteau. todays equipment makes this as easy to sail as 40ftboats 15 yrs ago.
next month we take delivery of a Sunreef 60. it willbe mainly my wife and I. my only concern is European marinas with all those ropes in the water.

Ive done a lot of sailing and never heard an owner say "Gee i wish we ha bought a smaller boat".

[rabbi]

Three issues:
You will be viewed as today's cash cow by everyone. If you don't mind, OK.

You may have problems finding space in some areas of the Med. Southern Italy for example has many small "marinas" where a 50ft would not fit (really just 2 or three privately managed pontoons tucked into a corner of a harbour). Greece has few Marinas, but mostly town walls and in season you often need luck to find a place for a mono.
Other countries like Spain no problem.

Hauling out will need some planning as many travel lifts are too small (and of course the wide ones are more expensive).