Am looking for a fast monohull around 32-35 ft for singlehanded
cruising. Know about J-Boats already, but wonder about all the
Jeanneaus and Hanse-boats and the million others to pick from. Price
is no great concern. Prefer some nice accomodations below, with wood,
and headroom for someone 6'1".

Appreciate any thoughtful response.

In article ,
(Kelly Wright) wrote:

Am looking for a fast monohull around 32-35 ft for singlehanded
cruising. Know about J-Boats already, but wonder about all the
Jeanneaus and Hanse-boats and the million others to pick from. Price
is no great concern. Prefer some nice accomodations below, with wood,
and headroom for someone 6'1".

Appreciate any thoughtful response.

A little more info is needed. For instance, where are you going to
cruise? How long? (days, weeks, or months.) How civilized do you want?
Do you normally have someone else onboard? (I singlehand Xan all the
time, but Pat's along almost always.) Do you want KISS, or lots of
systems to maintain? New? Old? Classic?

Personally, we decide what our immediate needs/wants are, then walk the
docks and try boats on for size -- literally. The second thing we do is
jump in the "V" and imagine using it overnight and on rainy weekends.
After that are "her" concerns: galley & head. After that, I get to
choose the undercarriage and sails.

The difference between a fast and slow cruising boat aren't that great.
Generally, the slow boats are arriving as the fast boats get their
anchor down.

Personally, we found a single Hunter in that size range that was
wonderful -- but it didn't hold up and needed significant work after
only 10-15 years. A couple of Beneteaus interested us precisely because
they're built for the charter trade: Simple, yet tough enough to take
charterers' misuse. (Owners' version, of course.)

But your mileage will undoubtedly vary. What's important to us may not
be to you.

--
Jere Lull
Xan-a-Deux ('73 Tanzer 28 #4 out of Tolchester, MD)
Xan's Pages: http://members.dca.net/jerelull/X-Main.html
Our BVI FAQs (290+ pics) http://homepage.mac.com/jerelull/BVI/

If you want just 'fast', check out http://www.phrfne.org/page/567 and
look for low ratings numbers. Just remember that FAST (by the
numbers) doesnt mean the same thing when fully loaded with cruising
gear and the boat sits in the water well below her sailing lines; nor,
does it mean that a fast boat will be a 'dream' when sailing in very
rough weather, especiallly single handed. Fast, these days, means
relatively light weight, knuckle bow, flat bilges, fast/quick roll
period, etc. which 'pounds' to weather in heavy going, easily tires you
out and leaves you exhausted -- you may get there 'fast' but may take
several days to 'recover'.
;-)



In article , Jere Lull
wrote:

In article ,
(Kelly Wright) wrote:

Am looking for a fast monohull around 32-35 ft for singlehanded
cruising. Know about J-Boats already, but wonder about all the
Jeanneaus and Hanse-boats and the million others to pick from. Price
is no great concern. Prefer some nice accomodations below, with wood,
and headroom for someone 6'1".

Appreciate any thoughtful response.

A little more info is needed. For instance, where are you going to
cruise? How long? (days, weeks, or months.) How civilized do you want?
Do you normally have someone else onboard? (I singlehand Xan all the
time, but Pat's along almost always.) Do you want KISS, or lots of
systems to maintain? New? Old? Classic?

Personally, we decide what our immediate needs/wants are, then walk the
docks and try boats on for size -- literally. The second thing we do is
jump in the "V" and imagine using it overnight and on rainy weekends.
After that are "her" concerns: galley & head. After that, I get to
choose the undercarriage and sails.

The difference between a fast and slow cruising boat aren't that great.
Generally, the slow boats are arriving as the fast boats get their
anchor down.

Personally, we found a single Hunter in that size range that was
wonderful -- but it didn't hold up and needed significant work after
only 10-15 years. A couple of Beneteaus interested us precisely because
they're built for the charter trade: Simple, yet tough enough to take
charterers' misuse. (Owners' version, of course.)

But your mileage will undoubtedly vary. What's important to us may not
be to you.

Kelly Wright wrote:
Am looking for a fast monohull around 32-35 ft for singlehanded
cruising. Know about J-Boats already, but wonder about all the
Jeanneaus and Hanse-boats and the million others to pick from. Price
is no great concern. Prefer some nice accomodations below, with wood,
and headroom for someone 6'1".

Appreciate any thoughtful response.

Well, how fast do you want? An OD-35 or a Mumm 36 will smoke any
production "racer/cruiser" so badly you'll the other guys are going
backwards. OTOH it probably wouldn't be so much fun to sail without a
razor-sharp crew backing you up and it sure wouldn't be too comfortable
at that sunset anchorage.

Jeanneaus are, on average, a bit faster than most other mass-produced
racer/cruisers of comparable size... be sure to compare displacement as
well as (or instead of) length. The Kirie Elite and Beneteau First
series are also quick for their size & amenities.

Mathematically, an average PHRF rating for boats 34 ~ 36' LOA is around
140... that includes full keelers and rockets, but is obviously biased
towards boat that are raced. If you look at those with moderate D/L
ratios to get rid of the slugs and the skimming dishes, it drops to
around 120. Then the issue is picking one that won't be seriously
degraded by loading it for cruising... IMHO one with a high
ballast/displacement ratio will help a lot.

Some of the faster cruisable boats in that size range:
Thomas 35
Santana 35
New York 36
C&C 34X or 34+
Dehler DB2
Baltic 35
Jeaneau 35
Morgan N-M 36
Olson 34
Express 34
Express 35 (built by two different companies)
Sweden 340
Tartan 3500
Ericson 36

It may help to make a list of boats and go check them out, but you're
not ever going to find "the perfect boat" on paper. Get out there and
root around!

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

We're currently cruising in Australia but were in New Zealand three months
ago.

The quality and quantity of yachts there is truly amazing, and they seem
to be about 5 to 10 years ahead of US and Europe design wise. Productuion
quality is much better than the mass produced Beneteaus, Bavarias,
Hunters, etc and prices are very competitive aided by the currently
favourable exchange rate.

One series of cruising designs that appealed were by Greg Elliot, but
there are many other designers.

Google on NZ yacht designers and builders and see what comes up.

Then you have the added benefit of sailing home.

Fair Winds

Graeme
sv Leonidas

Try an Abbot 36


"Kelly Wright" wrote in message
om...
Am looking for a fast monohull around 32-35 ft for singlehanded
cruising. Know about J-Boats already, but wonder about all the
Jeanneaus and Hanse-boats and the million others to pick from. Price
is no great concern. Prefer some nice accomodations below, with wood,
and headroom for someone 6'1".

Appreciate any thoughtful response.

On 18 Oct 2004 20:31:15 -0700, (Kelly Wright)
wrote:
Am looking for a fast monohull around 32-35 ft for singlehanded
cruising. Know about J-Boats already, but wonder about all the
Jeanneaus and Hanse-boats and the million others to pick from. Price
is no great concern. Prefer some nice accomodations below, with wood,
and headroom for someone 6'1".
==================================

There are other considerations that you need to account for:

Offshore or protected water?

Duration of cruise? 2 days, 2 weeks, 2 months, 2 years?

Number of crew and experience?

Most of the truly fast boats in that size range are light weight and
need to stay that way to maintain their speed advantage. They also
depend on flying a spinnaker for off wind speed, and crew weight on
the rail for upwind performance.

I'd be inclined to recommend an older, medium displacement boat such
as the Pearson 10M or C&C 35 Mk 2. Both of these boats have decent
performance and accomodations, and can also be sailed well with 2
people.

If ya got the money ....... C&C 99.
S/V Express 30 "Ringmaster"
"Trains are a winter sport"