How To Select The Right Sailboat For You: A Buyer's Guide

#boatbuying #howtobuyaboat #sailboats #sailing

How To Select The Right Sailboat For You has the tools to help you winnow down the myriad boats out there for sale and help you select the right boat for you and your needs. In Episode 12, Don't Make These 3 Costly Boat Buying Mistakes, we talked about the three questions you must answer BEFORE you buy a boat. Those three questions are: Where will you moor it? Where will you store it? And how will you move it (when not in the water)?

The answers to these will greatly impact what you buy and your budget. Once these questions are answered it's time to start looking at used boats. In this episode we'll go over a selection process which can be duplicated with any boats you might be looking at. In this video, we have a hypothetical budget of $25 - $30k and will look at 6 boats and talk about the TWO MOST IMPORTANT WORDS in your boat selection process: Intended Use. What are you going to use the boat for? In our hypothetical scenario, we have a family of 4 - a spouse and 2 children, so we need something big enough to hold us all, and something fun enough to keep us interested in sailing even more. So, come along as we go through the motions and, at the end, I narrow the selection down to 2 boats and I want you all to tell me which one you would buy! Happy hunting!

[neilmartin]

No other channel does this level of analysis. you will never find this in the mags as they are on comission great show again!

[kenolena]

Morgan, all day long. Great channell

[nodogrunner]

Love the comments. What I am hearing is, do your home work, find what fits your budget and make some memories. No boat is perfect but there is one that is right for me and hopefully I will get my wife on board. God willing.

[gerryconnolly]

Saber 34... has an excellent build reputation, is good looking and we know it's a good sailor.

[jackchamberlain]

Great episode and a nice scheme for judging sailboats. I also have found reading reviews especially those in Practical Sailor very useful. It is not surprising that you favored the Morgan 382, that is truly a great boat. Matter of fact, watching the video of your 382 under sail on your business trip was awesome. I am definitely interested in the Morgan 382, matter of fact, if you were to make some fanboy videos of your 382 when you are running thin on listings, I would definitely be watching and liking.

[pg]

I have sometimes found myself forgetting to give a thumbs up on various info videos that truly deserve it. Your info video is so good that it is impossible to forget to give it a thumbs up.

[valerieb.]

My father had the 1st. Morgan, Hobie Cats, and another brand. We had a Morgan 24, then the 27, and then the 38 (our last boat was a Bristol 41.1). I am going with the Morgan.

[Al-Storm]

Great video, you earned another sub. I'm down in Boston and in this phase of looking.

[QuickChip-vw]

Thank you very much for your analysis! I've been dreaming of buying & sailing large sailboats during my entire life, but have only owned small craft as I was forced to live inland, and the logistics of maintaining a sailboat from a distance was just too much to manage. I've been seriously sailboat shopping for 3 years and am getting closer to putting in offers.

[robertscholz]

Great episode!! For me I would have to go with the Morgan. The extra length with the extra beam will be noticeable, I would prefer an encapsulated ballast, the greater displacement obviously helps with the comfort ratio (where it wins again), the cost of brand new sails can be covered by the price differential between the two boats (the Saber needs a stove --add to the purchase cost for that as well). Now take into account "intended Use" as you said ... which better suits the uses that were mentioned? Light racing on occasion -- the Morgan is the faster of the two, day trips and maybe some coastal cruising -- the Morgan will have more living space, taking the family along -- the Morgan is the more sea kindly of the two. Personally I did not like the looks of the Westerbeke Diesel, the engine beds, or the cabin sole in the Saber. As for the Morgan, I like the skeg hung rudder set up, and you can't go wrong two settees, quarter berth, Pilot berth, and V-berth (looks like a party to me!!!). On a side note ... I would really be interested if you would expound upon moorings (where to look for available ones, who to speak to for information, etc) as a follow up to this episode. I live about 50 miles from NYC, and am considering buying next year and will likely have to keep the boat up on the Hudson River -- the pricing that I have seen for a slip at the marinas are down right frightening the closer to the city that I look.

[patrickfalter]

Great episode, loved your rant. When I read Cruising magazine, all the editors own classic plastic, then they boat review very high priced, what do you call them? Ikea boats ? Theirs a real disconnect going on. Anyway I'm new to sailing. I've learned quite a bit in a small dinghy. Just bought a Seafarer 26 on a trailer. Nice little pocket cruiser, great numbers other than a little light on comfort ratio, all for $3300. The owner started a t 5000 but couldn't sell. My plan is to cruise the great lakes, and then move up to say a Sabre, not sure. I love the fact that there's affordable, and with a little elbow grease, great boats out there. Thanks for the channel, no disconnect here :)

[Dryer_Safe]

Nice analysis. If space is of no or little concern, I would not be too quick to dismiss the Cape Dory. Though maybe one in better shape?
Otherwise it's clearly the Morgan.

[beorbeorian]

I would consider resell value as part of the equation also.

[pfeif]

Brilliant commentary on sailing Magazine. Editors seem to think speed and ultimate luxury is what the majority of sailors want- clearly they are wrong. We have 41 year old Bristol, regularly sail at 6-7.2 knots in awesome comfort at 15-20 KNt

[matatooie]

Also, you should try to insure each vessel before you make an offer. They are older boats and insurance is getting harder to find for the older boats

[nodogrunner]

Hey, what boat stat tells you how close a boat will point into the wind?

[johnrobson]

Could you give details on calculating the Comfort Ratio

[nodogrunner]

If I were to plan to buy either of these boats how would I get insurance? How hard is it to get, and can I always just get liability?

[joegarrick]

Performance might be the same, but the space isn't close. Four extra feet of length and two of beam. No contest there for me.

[christophmahler]

Unless one has 50k 'laying around', not invested into dividends, it is really hard to make an informed decision without having sailed on any of these boats before - as such it boils down to oogling stats which says little of assembly quality and potential design shortcomings (the same as browsing apartment advertisement).

Probably, anything with a standing galley and wet head will be comfortable below sea state 6... and these interior features require a certain beam width and cabin height (recently seen on a production 21 feet boat).
Some say, today there is little difference in handling a 50 feet and 20 feet when shorthanded, arguing for 'growing' into the size (e.g. docking maneuvers) - but then there is also dock fees and regular maintenance if not draft, making as small as tolerable less of a catastrophe if a disaster strikes (and opening up exploration of river systems - which matters in the Old World).

Maybe it's a complete non-issue to simply ask a yard for help (if one means to cruise along the coast, seriously one better gets used to such crucial infrastructure), but e.g. being able to single-handedly erect the mast seems practical - at least in my mind, considering cruising.