Suggestions for a new (to me) 40 footer

So I am just now finding myself in the market for a boat a little larger, and a little more comfortable than what I have now. I have been out kicking the tires on a number of boats, and have a few thoughts on what might work, but thought I would post the selection criteria here and see if I might have missed some.

1) $75-100,000 purchase price. Not a hard number, but in this range
2) 36-42 foot (any larger and it has restricted use by the family)
3) Cockpit sutable for 8 adults
4) Acommodations for two couples for a weekend
5) Sails reasonably well in 5-10kn true wind speed
6) The boat will never/rarely see open water, so seaworthyness while nice is not critical

I am not opposed to any design though I do have prefrences of course. But instead of limiting suggestions I would rather have any ideas tossed out.

 

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Does it have to be a monohull? Seems that for weekend use by a family the attributes of speed and sailing level might make more people "happy".
Good Luck!

 

It likely does, but not necessarily. I have a slip width problem, but I might be able to shuffle some boats around to fix it.

 

I can't believe I'm suggesting these, but, a tall-rig Hunter, Catalina, or Beneteau. I don't think that you'd find a decent performance cat in that price range.

 

Welder,

I don't have a problem with any of those. Perhaps if I were going offshore, but this is going to be a lake boat.

 

There is a lot of info here that might help you: http://www.f-boat.com/pages/trimarans/F-22.html Not just about the F22 but about the F 24. They can be moved around on the water folded and left tied up folded.*
Are you interested in buying new? Or could a bit of work be ok? Is building from scratch out of the question?

* I'm not sure how that works out in fouling environments like we have down here.

 

Can you handle a 10" beam??

 

Doug,

The F boats don't have the accommodations I am looking for but I do like them. I don't have any problem buying new, but I don't really prefer it either. But I won't build, I would like to have something on the water this year no later than next spring.

Ras,

The narrowest boat currently on theist is 13' beam, so no 10 foot isn't a problem.

 

That's what I was going on in your description. They all seem to be pretty good in light air & can carry & berth several. Recently, I saw a Hunter of about the size you're looking for that had a wet-bar in the cockpit, transom stairs; a real floating Winnebago!

 

How deep is the lake? you know what I mean- whats the draft requirement for slip or haulout?

Do you plan to keep all eight busy sailing her or riding a rail; or are six of them there just to hand out the beer they brought along?

How much work/attention do you want to pay to keeping the thing in gear. I've got a decent old Catalina that I'm fond of, but she doesn't tolerate an inattentive helmsmen very well. Sheer joy to sail if you're free from other distractions.

Do you have a taste for lightweights, middleweights, or heavy ones?

Is the vessel's age of any importance to you, or just its condition?

Big lake? Or tacking every 30 min.?

One other thing. I have no trouble at all sailing my boat by myself; but I'd not want to be the only capable sailor among eight. For that, I'd want a very different boat.

The eight-man cockpit does seem to favor a cat.

 

Phil,

The lake is about 700 sq miles, but shallow. Average depth is around 12 feet, but anything more than a 7 foot draft can be problematic in the harbor. In this size range pretty much everything is on the table but there are some limitations.

By preference I would like something that can be single handed. The people that will be using the boat are decent sailors, but the people they take out may not be. The spec for 8 is for parties not sailing, anything that can't be sailed by two people is excluded, but I duel handed an Irwin 54 after rigging it properly, heck I fly a chute on the Olson 30 solo as well.

 

Sounds like it might be a partnership? If it is, worry about the partnership, not the boat. If you're more worried about the boat than the partnership, you'll probably end up with the boat and without the partnership and that sucks.

I have a stereotype of attorneys liking newish and somewhat elegant stuff. You would need a professional cleaning person for this boat if you want to maintain a turnkey presentation with so-so control of who's been on the boat. Multiple users seem to each cause about the same amount of wear and tear as a single user would for the same total hours. Seems to apply to anything with moving parts. I'd tend to go with the lowest common denominator boat and keep it spiffy.

 

Phil,

The boat is intended as a boat that is more accessible than my current race boat for the family. I guess my partner is my Dad, sister, brother, uncle and cousin who will all use the boat. Right now we have the same arrangement on our other boats, but due to size issues the powerboat is too much to handle for a small group (two people), the racing sailboat is to technical for non-racing. This boat is really intended to be small enough to be daysailed, but large enough to take out for a weekend of gunkholeing.

I have do have a Captain to help with the maintenance, but Phil I worked in a boat yard for years to pay for college, then as a commercial captain to pay for law school. I do most of my critical maintenance, and everyone does their own cleaning, or they loose boating privileges (including myself).

 

Your background wasn't the odds on bet for an attorney buying a fortyfooter!

Have you considered a Nonsuch 36? One string to pull. You can get under way and put them to bed in a hurry. I used to take my Cal 28' out for an hour before dinner, but I can't do that with my 38'.

 

That's a thought! Very roomy interiors & cockpit, no issue with draught/draft, a jump-on-&-sail kind of boat.