We’re still looking for our sailboat. Selecting a sailboat for this course is rendered extremely difficult due to our limited budget. For the sake of the proverbial stake in the ground, let’s state our budget to be around $150,000 for a 3 years campaign. Note that the boat may suffer major damage, so we have to assume that it will be a loss for the sake of planning. In other words, we cannot plan to recover some of our costs by selling the boat after crossing the finish line.
Many books, many blog posts have been written about the important characteristics of a sailboat for circumnavigating. The focus is often cruising, not so much racing, which is closer to what I will be doing. Looking at boats that have raced singlehanded around Earth is a good way to identify possible candidates, as race committees usually define very strong safety requirements for the participating vessels. But those vessels are often supported by sponsors, which we’re not (yet?).
It is of course of primary importance that the vessel is safe. We would also like the boat to be fast and comfortable, at least to a spartan level.
Where we’re looking
So we’ve been browsing a few web sites: local craigslist, yachtworld.com, class40.com, Owen Clarke Design. But with no luck so far, so we’re still looking for our sailboat; it appears that we will need to find another 100k, or go slower than we want. A decision will have to be made: fast or slow.
When I looked for my first sailboat I received help from the SSS. It took a while but someone informed me of Double Espresso, which was really a perfect fit at the time, as proven by my results with that boat.
