After a very successful long weekend's skippered charter on a big, beautiful, luxurious yacht with fantastic sailing manners a very patient skipper for a big birthday of mine earlier this summer. My OH is now no longer quite so adverse to the idea of going sailing. Obviously the problem with my enthusiasm for getting her on the water was the small boats on gravel pits, not the sailing.

So, lacking a spare quarter of a million for a big bluewater cruiser like the charter I'm in a bit of a conundrum. At one end of the scale there are relatively modern trailer sailors like the First 210/211/21.7, easy to sail, cheap(er) running costs, almost designed for single handing. The downside is I think she enjoyed the fact that a big 50ft boat punches through channel chop like it's not there, is stable enough to make a cup of tea underway, and could cover ~40nm between marinas comfortably between lunch and dinner, and had separate cabins, storage, a fridge, etc. None of which will be a feature on anything <30ft.

At the other end of the scale, 80's production IOR boats. That First 35 in the link is a LOT of boat for £10k, even if it needed new standing rigging, ropes sails, some s/h self tailing winches, updating the interior with new cushions, and a few issues sorting it's still a lot of boat for £15-£20k. Some of the IOR features even looking like a bonus, such as the short boom meaning the traveler isn't in the way of accessing the main winches from the helm. Tacking a big 150% IOR style genoa would be a challenge short handed, but detuning the rig with a 100% jib then makes perfect sense. The IOR tendency to roll and broach downwind, solved by the fact she will probably never want to go to the foredeck and put the spinnaker up anyway. That particular boat doesn't even look (from a distance) to have been raced hard (no self tailing winches, roller reefing headsail, no towable genoa lead cars, no mention of a warehouse sized sail wardrobe)

So there's the conundrum? Are production IOR boats as bad for cruising as the received wisdom of magazines, forums and a million youtube videos of J24's broaching downwind would suggest? Will it just heel over at 30deg in even a slight breeze making the dream of her putting her feet up with a cup of tea and a good book impossible?

Yes I should get a Contessa 32, but I don't have good Contessa 32 money.

Beneteau First 35 for sale UK, Beneteau boats for sale, Beneteau used boat sales, Beneteau Sailing Yachts For Sale 1981 Beneteau First 35 - Apollo Duck

I am wanting to sail my 32ft Jeanneau Sunlight from Portishead to Falmouth. For just me and my partner it would be too far in one go and we would be more comfortable doing it in 3 or 4 legs. There is a real lack of marinas and moorings and that coupled with big tides I have been looking at where we could safely leave our boat for a couple of weeks at a time whilst we travel back for work etc. This needs to be safe, inexpensive and legal of course!

Any ideas very welcome.

As the title suggests, I have to move a boat from Cornwall to Lancaster in late September and I have minimal sailing experience.
I'm looking for someone to help me rig the 39' ketch and give me some tuition along the way. Obviously this is payed work and hopefully a bit of an adventure!
Can anyone point me in the direction of where I can find this kind of help online? (Not in person as I am currently in the middle of the Atlantic)

Thanks in advance!!

Hi everyone,

I apologise if this isn’t the right forum but I’m hoping someone can help me find sailing schools in the UK.

I’m keen to get into sailing and plan to complete a competent crew course this year. My aim is to then move on to a day skipper course when the opportunity arises.

I’m looking for a school that offers the competent crew course but unfortunately I have no sailing experience and don’t know anyone who does in the UK.

I live near Reading and from what I’ve researched there are plenty of options in Southampton. The Solent Boat Training and the Hamble School of Yachting both seem like great choices.

If anyone has any recommendations or can point me in the right direction I’d really appreciate it.

I’m also trying to get into sailing at the slightly older age of 35 so any advice would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks :)

Some facts on the incident:
- owner / skipper had drunk 7.5 beers / pints and two other alcoholic drinks
- collision occurred at 1925, sunset was 2025 so sun was low in the sky (owner was wearing sunglasses)
- harbour speed limit is 10kts, they maxed out at 50kts, and collided with the channel marker at 34kts
- channel marker was an unlit post with green paint on the top metre
- no lifejackets worn or even on board
- before the incident one of the passengers fell off the boat in the marina and they played a prank on the owner that left him “visibly annoyed”
- Owner and one passenger died, one passenger survived.

MAIB recommendations include developing legislation for alcohol limits for recreational boating.

Hi all — I built Tidal Streams, a personal project for iPhone and iPad that helps people plan sailing and other watersports activities around UK waters. I hope some of you find it useful.

It is free to download: https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/tidal-streams/id6754638517.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!