Buying A Boat – Student Experiences

Did you take our advice for 2015 and decide to buy a boat? Do it! You’ll never look back we promise!

If you are now in the process of buying a boat, our students who took the plunge in 2014 have happily imparted their precious wisdom just for you.

Q – What gave you the inspiration to buy your own boat?

A – James

I wanted to be the helm and didn’t see that I’d have a chance as it’s always – in my experience – the owner of the boat who helms. I also liked the idea of putting together a racing team from scratch, bringing them up to speed, learning to race and to win together. I think it will be a fun and rewarding project. It also felt like a good time do it as I don’t really have any commitments, and who knows what the future holds.

A – Lisa

I wanted to have my own boat since I was young, I guess because I love being at the beach and the sea so much and my parents introduced me boating when I was little. We went from one island to another island on weekends. Then I found out that my Dad was a sailor too!! Before he got married to my Mom he went cruising up to Suez Canal!

Q – Was the process of deciding upon and buying a boat easy?

A – Jon

1. The essential first step in buying your own boat is to first gain experience on different types, sizes and aged boats; to sail them in various sailing conditions to see how they perform; and in different parts of the world to understand what type of sailing you really enjoy the most.

2. In my case, I was very fortunate because, during this time I sailed on a friends new boat, and I fell in love with both the boat and the type of sailing. I realized that I was a Cruiser: I wanted plenty of space on board, but still wanted a reasonable turn of speed.

3. I wanted to be certain that I was making the right decision concerning the make and model so I researched the market for similar sized cruisers, visited boat shows, compared every detail of the competing models, asked sailing friends  (who owned their own boats) about the merits or drawbacks of the models and makes I was considering before making a final decision.

4. Specifying exactly what you want is a time consuming, exhausting and iterative process. Yachts have almost endless lists of options. The detailed specification for my boat ran to 4 pages of small print. In some cases, I had no idea what the parts or extras actually were, and sometimes neither did my very knowledgeable, experienced sailing friends. Obviously, before committing to the final purchase, I knew exactly what everything was, and how each boat compared at every level.

5. I spent a lot of time which each sales team questioning them on the merits of their boats, and challenging them on why another make wasn’t a better option for me. I was surprised at how they couldn’t always come up with convincing arguments in favour of their model.

6. At a certain level the modern sailing cruisers are very similar. So, in the end it comes down very much to a few small difference and gut feel. I considered second hand boats and new. I bought a new boat because I wanted to buy into the latest technology and design, and have a long warranty period. I am not someone who likes to “get under the bonnet”, so peace of mind with a good manufacturer’s warranty was essential for me.

7. The boat I chose was a new Beneteau Oceanis 45. Why? For me, the size was perfect: large enough to be stable in pretty rough seas, yet small enough to get into most harbours and marinas in my preferred sailing area. She was Boat of the Year in Cruising in 2012, deservedly so in my view. She is very spacious both above and below deck, and I am very happy to make my home on board for months on end. She is also pretty quick.  She is a lovely boat to sail, and very easy to sail single handedly if required. I love her lines. I have not been disappointed.

A – James

Fairly. It took a bit of time to pin down exactly the sort of boat that I wanted in terms of race performance and cost. It also took some time to bite the bullet and actually decide to do so. But once I had done so I went to the class association website and got in touch with a number of people who were selling their boats, went to have a look at the most promising one, and put in an offer for a Hunter 707 – that was accepted – a few days later.

A – Lisa

I always know what I want, so for me to choose the style of the boat is not difficult. First, I picked 3 boat makers (according to my budget of course). Then from those 3 styles, I fell in love with the Beneteau Oceanis 45 and named her MIMPI (in our Indonesian language it means DREAM) because my dream come true!
First up, I chose the colour – I didn’t want to have a white boat! Then the kind of sail – for me in mast furling is the easiest since I’m not that tall. Third, I wanted to have my Mimpi with a bit of luxury so I chose the elegance package. Fourth, I didn’t want Mimpi to look like a caravan so I asked them to put teak on the slate catwalk. Fifth, for the interior, I wanted to have an ‘L’ shape kitchen so I asked them to put 3 cabins and only 2 heads. Sixth, I thought it’s going to be hot in the summer time sailing around the Med, so I decided to put in air conditioning. The last thing I wanted to have was a microwave on Mimpi, but in the end I don’t use it that often! It’s a girls boat so the rest e.g. bow thruster, folding propeller, additional water tank, electric flushes, holding tanks, etc. the yacht management helped me to decide.

Q – What were your first adventures since buying the boat?

A – Jon

Dream Chaser’s maiden voyage lasted 6 months. I collected her in the South of France. Two experienced sailing buddies accompanied me to help commission her. Once again, the list of things that needed to be purchased before we could set sail seemed endless. I became quite good friends of the Chandlers as we visited him every day to buy loads of kit. Again, having boat-owning friends to help was essential.

Finally, on 17^th May 2014 we set sail from Canet in the South of France. 24 weeks and 3,720 nms later, and after having 28 friends (and 27 are still friends!) on board to enjoy sailing her, Dream Chaser arrived in Orhaniye Turkey for the winter. This was her maiden voyage!

During this time, she sailed in the Balearics (all 4 islands), along Spain and France’s southern coast, visited Corsica, Sardinia, Elba, Ponza, Ischia, Capri, Amalfi, sailed along the coast of south west Italy, visited the Aeolian Island, around Sicily, across the Ionian, through the Corinth Canal, then visited the Greek islands of Aegina, Hydra, Kythnos, Paros, Naxos, Kos and Symi, finally arriving in Turkey on 27^th October where she stays for the winter.

It goes without saying that we sailed in all conditions and sea states. Dream Chaser handled it all magnificently. It was an amazing adventure for a Cruiser.

What did I learn? Lots – another endless list! Most important: be prepared for every eventuality; have the essential spares to “get you home”.

Q – What kind of fun do you plan to have with the boat in 2015?

A – Lisa

I sail with Mimpi almost 10 weeks a season, I wish I could sail with her longer but I live in Jakarta, Indonesia and Mimpi is in Turkey! The sailing season period in the Med is from mid April until beginning of November only. I have many favourite places to cruise in the Med. There are also beautiful bays along the Turkish coast. My favourite places, I guess, are: Dirsek Buku, Paradise Bay, Ekincek, Serce Limani, Turkbuku, Terzane, Kapi Creek and sail around most of the 12 islands in Gocek bay – Turkey.  Symi, Patmos, Astipalea, Mikonos, Poros, Kefalonia, Anti Paxi – Greece.

A – James

Hopefully I’ll get the boat in the water by March/April. The plan is to spend some time getting to grips with it. Some of the crew have never used a spinnaker before, and that is the most complex but also most crucial sail for the boat I’ve got. Perhaps we’ll enter a race or two in 2015 towards the autumn. But this year will mainly be about getting up to speed, with a hope to be competitive in 2016. Inbetween times hopefully we can do a bit of cruising. But it’s a racing yacht so not very comfortable – and the Thames where she will be moored is not particularly scenic (certainly not like the Grenadines). So mainly the plan is to race, race, race!

A – Jon

In 2015 life will be slightly less hectic. I want to spend the summer enjoying leisurely cruising around Turkey and the Greek Islands. After that, who knows? That’s the fun of owning a yacht: I can go anywhere, anytime, and my home comes with me.

A big thank you to our three students – Lisa, Jon, and James – for sharing their experiences and advice. We hope you all have wonderful adventures on your beautiful boats. And for those of you who are buying a boat in 2015, we wish you all the best!

Let the adventures begin…