Advice For first time buyers

[EtienneFlavigny]

Hi all,

First post on my end, hope you guys can help

I'm a first time buyer looking for a 30'+ liveaboard in denmark.
I've found an Albatros 33 (similar to the Nauticat 33) which is almost perfect but on the long run I'd like to go sailing around the world, and the albatros 33 is a motor sailor.

Unfortunately, from what I've heard, motor sailors aren't that great under sails. Which is an issue for me considering I don't want to pay the boats price in fuel for crossing the Atlantic :P.

Any advice as to what boats to look for or potential changes that make them better under sail?

Thanks in advance!
Etienne.

[psk125]

We need more information on your budget, among other things. There are a number of Halberg-Rassey and other boats that might suit your needs. Generally, motorsailers are not stellar performers under sail. Every boat is different, however. The Albatross 33 might sail well, and you wouldn't need to use the engine. Or it might not, and you'd use the engine all the time. It does look like they have a LOT of wetted surface, which is slow. One of the ones for sale has a bow thruster, making her even slower. The prices they're asking do make them sound attractive, but the price may be low because they don't sail well, and are expensive to run because of the fuel costs. It would make sense to keep looking to see what else there is that might sail better.

[geoleo]

Originally Posted by EtienneFlavigny

Hi all,

First post on my end, hope you guys can help

I'm a first time buyer looking for a 30'+ liveaboard in denmark.
I've found an Albatros 33 (similar to the Nauticat 33) which is almost perfect but on the long run I'd like to go sailing around the world, and the albatros 33 is a motor sailor.

Unfortunately, from what I've heard, motor sailors aren't that great under sails. Which is an issue for me considering I don't want to pay the boats price in fuel for crossing the Atlantic :P.

Any advice as to what boats to look for or potential changes that make them better under sail?

Thanks in advance!
Etienne.

motor Sailors dont sail well or motor well. Typically. However they live aboard well.

[EtienneFlavigny]

Originally Posted by geoleo

motor Sailors dont sail well or motor well. Typically. However they live aboard well.

That was my understanding as well. But maybe they were way to improve the sailing potential.

[EtienneFlavigny]

Originally Posted by psk125

We need more information on your budget, among other things. There are a number of Halberg-Rassey and other boats that might suit your needs. Generally, motorsailers are not stellar performers under sail. Every boat is different, however. The Albatross 33 might sail well, and you wouldn't need to use the engine. Or it might not, and you'd use the engine all the time. It does look like they have a LOT of wetted surface, which is slow. One of the ones for sale has a bow thruster, making her even slower. The prices they're asking do make them sound attractive, but the price may be low because they don't sail well, and are expensive to run because of the fuel costs. It would make sense to keep looking to see what else there is that might sail better.

So the budget is 25.000$. I've looked at Halberg-Rassy 35 Rasmus and monsun
my main issue is actually height, I'm 6.2'.... And for living aboard, the main cabin area should therefor be slightly higher than 6.2'... In scandinavia, Halberg's aren't really for sale very often.
Any recommendation is welcome.

[Fore and Aft]

Etienne have you looked on Facebook? There's a few nice sailboats in the Stockholm region.
I looked at the underwater profile of the Albatross 33 on a trailer and it doesn't look too bad for sailing, say compared to a Bruce Roberts spray and they circumnavigate the world.
Certainly the review below makes them sound reasonable. By my standards a 32hp diesel in a 33 footer is a bit light on HP for a motorsailer.
Cheers
https://www.yachtdatabase.com/sv/rev...&jsp=showowner

[EtienneFlavigny]

Originally Posted by Fore and Aft

Etienne have you looked on Facebook? There's a few nice sailboats in the Stockholm region.
I looked at the underwater profile of the Albatross 33 on a trailer and it doesn't look too bad for sailing, say compared to a Bruce Roberts spray and they circumnavigate the world.
Certainly the review below makes them sound reasonable. By my standards a 32hp diesel in a 33 footer is a bit light on HP for a motorsailer.
Cheers
https://www.yachtdatabase.com/sv/rev...&jsp=showowner

So this is the Albatros 33 I'm looking at, it's ketch rigged. It's got 34 HP motor so slightly bigger, but I wouldn't mind upgrading it considering the boats is only 19.500$.

https://www.scanboat.com/en/boat-mar...os-33-17453334

Side note: The sailing community must be the best global community. The fact that some of you go so far as to look at the boat market in other countries for other sailors(soon to be sailors rather :P) is really encouraging.
Thank you!

[Fore and Aft]

Etienne I wondered which one you were keen on. Pity there's no out of water photos. She looks good, is that just a bulkhead and storage behind the toilet, or is there a bed in the bow? One thing I don't like and it's probably just my bias is the solar vent on the bow deck. To me it's another trip hazard and a possible leak point if you bury the bow in a wave.
Below are the specifications of a Roberts 10 meter which has a similar profile below the waterline. The Albatross has less beam and more draft so she should sail better.
Cheers
https://bruceroberts.com/public/HTML...escription.htm

[EtienneFlavigny]

Originally Posted by Fore and Aft

Etienne I wondered which one you were keen on. Pity there's no out of water photos. She looks good, is that just a bulkhead and storage behind the toilet, or is there a bed in the bow? One thing I don't like and it's probably just my bias is the solar vent on the bow deck. To me it's another trip hazard and a possible leak point if you bury the bow in a wave.
Below are the specifications of a Roberts 10 meter which has a similar profile below the waterline. The Albatross has less beam and more draft so she should sail better.
Cheers
https://bruceroberts.com/public/HTML...escription.htm

The front is storage unfortunately :/ and I agree, The solar vent is the first "restructuring project". I don't need it now that the front is storage. I've been struggling to gather data on this boat model as the hull was sold without rigging, the rigging on most is custom build.... And not many were made (as far as i could gather).
But after talking to some veterans of the sea they said it sailed just fine for a motor sailor.

[boatman61]

There's one for sale in Denmark on Scanboats with a Perkins 55hp that looks very nice.
Unless your planning on sailing the E route around the world I reckon it would do nicely for your purposes.
Crossing the Atlantic is running before F5+, same from Caribe to Panama.. Panama to Galapagos I had to motor as there was insufficient wind to push a Bruce Roberts 54 ketch faster than 2kts max but after that it was F5-F7 all the way to the Torres Strait.
I think the 'poor sailing' refers to upwind performance as motorsailers tend to have long keels.. a trait shared by pure sailers of the same configuration.
Carry a furling asymmetric spinnaker to help in light airs.. otherwise I see no reason she can't make Hull speeds.

https://www.udkik.dk/pl/review.jsp?i...&jsp=showowner

[EtienneFlavigny]

Originally Posted by boatman61

There's one for sale in Denmark on Scanboats with a Perkins 55hp that looks very nice.
Unless your planning on sailing the E route around the world I reckon it would do nicely for your purposes.
Crossing the Atlantic is running before F5+, same from Caribe to Panama.. Panama to Galapagos I had to motor as there was insufficient wind to push a Bruce Roberts 54 ketch faster than 2kts max but after that it was F5-F7 all the way to the Torres Strait.
I think the 'poor sailing' refers to upwind performance as motorsailers tend to have long keels.. a trait shared by pure sailers of the same configuration.
Carry a furling asymmetric spinnaker to help in light airs.. otherwise I see no reason she can't make Hull speeds.

https://www.udkik.dk/pl/review.jsp?i...&jsp=showowner

I'm also in touch with this seller, she's very nice and provided me with more pictures. If the first one isn't enough I'll talk with my surveyor about going to see that one.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by EtienneFlavigny

I'm also in touch with this seller, she's very nice and provided me with more pictures. If the first one isn't enough I'll talk with my surveyor about going to see that one.

The bow thruster would be a definite advantage in close quarter manouveres.

[Fore and Aft]

Etienne, Boatman61 is an old sea dog with plenty of miles under his belt and I would say his words carry a lot of weight. Just don't ask him for fashion or health advice!
Cheers

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by Fore and Aft

Etienne, Boatman61 is an old sea dog with plenty of miles under his belt and I would say his words carry a lot of weight. Just don't ask him for fashion or health advice!
Cheers

I resemble that..

Another plus is the tiller steering..

[Hugh McCormack]

Take a look at the fleet of the current GGR. A sleek low profile and a deep full keel will likely get you the headroom you desire. Here's a good website for blue water vessels. > https://bit.ly/41ITfWO (the site is not being actively maintained - I just gave $10 to the 'way back' machine to keep it going). Lots of good vessels to train your eye, and move away from the high freeboard (too much cabin-trunk) of your current choice. Patience and training your eye before you leap will be rewarded in the end.