Boat Show

Specification to be drawn up before purchase: which boat should you choose?

Create a notification for "Boat Show"

Your boat is in some ways a reflection of your personality, like your house or your car, but much more striking.  Moreover we call cruising families by the name of their boat, not their surname... Ocean cruising boats express an ideal, whether the focus is performance, aesthetics or pragmatism; you must be proud of it and it must bring together all the members of your crew, and unite them around the project. And as each owner is different, the perfect sailing boat (or motor multihull) can take many forms, as the builders have clearly understood. When the time comes to define the main points which will guide your choice, a lot of questions will arise which must absolutely be rationalized and classified in order of importance, so you won’t allow yourself to be influenced and upset by your emotions, torn between the dream of escape, the physical constraints and the budgetary realities.  We have brought together here ten points which it seems essential to have studied carefully before heading for the pontoons and the search for the perfect boat. Even though we are perfectly aware that sometimes – and even often – the heart can often win over the head. So much the better: don’t we choose to cruise for the emotions and pleasure it provides?

 

 

1 – The Sailing Program

Your sailing program’s characteristics count for a lot in the morphology of your future boat. You will be happy with a day boat to enjoy day cruises in a temperate area, whilE your needs for a round the world trip in the tropics will inevitably be quite different. Exploration cruises will require a strong, self-sufficient boat with good stowage space, whilst coastal cruising will lead you to prefer a modular boat. Are you only going to be using it privately, with one hull completely dedicated to your cabin, or do you intend to put it up for charter, or even entrust it to a charter operator, and in this case, will you have to provide a cabin for the skipper? Will you be spending a few days aboard every year, or are you going to live on it for a few years?  Will you be taking part in races on a sporty trimaran, or enjoying sunsets from the flybridge of a family catamaran? Are you planning on long passages, with numerous nights at sea, or do you prefer stopping every evening to spend a comfortable night at anchor? Lots of questions to which answers can be found in the list of boats and the numerous options offered by the builders. Clearly identifying your sailing program allows you to make a first selection among the offering available on the market.

 

 

2 – Your Crew

A boat well-suited to your needs will also be chosen according to the crew with which you will be sailing: family, friends, casual or regular crew, experienced or not.  As a family, with your partner and children in the middle of a teenage crisis who don’t want to touch a line, or a novice crew member, your attention will be drawn to a deck plan designed for a shorthanded crew, with simple control lines. On ...

Log in

Password forgotten ?

Subscribe

Subscribe to Multihulls World and get exclusive benefits.

Subscribe

Share this article