What We Are Looking For

The quest to get the “next boat” has turned out to be slightly more challenging than I thought it would be! Due to the current and absolutely ludicrous demand for boats, the delivery time for new boats can run into years (bye-bye sailing summer 2022!), and the market for used ones, well it is both thinly populated and heftily priced.

So, in between refreshing my searches on Yachtworld, here are a few thoughts about what we are looking for, and why. Please feel free to offer your opinions and set us straight in case you think we are straying!

More Speed

More knots on the boat speed gauge. Or at least as many, and absolutely not less than we had on our previous boat!

With the right kind of wind, we did get very nice speeds with the Hanse 388— especially when flying the code zero. But when getting some, there’s bound to be an appetite for getting some more.

As I mentioned, where the 388 really shined was when sailing with the code zero. Where there could have been some more was:

With light to moderate upwind. In our crisscrossing archipelago filled with rocks and marks, the self-tacking jib was brilliant (SA/D 17.9). On longer upwind legs, however, and especially when sailing into waves, a genoa would have been nice to get some more power (SA/D 19.3).

When going deeper downwind. The code zero (SA/D 26.0) was fantastic, but when the destination was deeper downwind (with little wind), it would have been nice to have a spinnaker or at least a gennaker to make our boat go a bit faster.

So, why not just buy these additional sails (and a genoa track and a spinnaker pole) instead of a new boat?

More Space

The Hanse 388 was a huge sailboat compared to all the other sailboats I’ve owned.

All this (much appreciated!) roominess, however, did not translate into the perfect amount of storage space for all of our equipment and people aboard:

No space for extra sails. The bow locker fitted the windlass with chain, and not much more. The cockpit bench and stern lockers were crammed with fenders, safety gear, and the life raft. Our only extra sail, the code zero, was inside on the floor, on the sofa, in our cabin, in our bed, and frequently also outside on the deck. There was no really good place to store it without it being constantly in the way, or out on the deck, exposed to the elements.

No good place for the life raft. While it did fit inside one of the stern lockers, it was sufficiently difficult to get out of there so that whenever we actually ventured offshore, we had to lift it out beforehand and secure it to the cockpit table.

No good place for the dinghy. This is a problem for much bigger boats as well, of course. I don’t particularly like davits on a monohull, but I don’t like the overturned dinghy on the foredeck either. On the Hanse 388, I always deflated the dinghy, packed it, and stored it on the deck. (It was good exercise, I told myself!)

Still, the Hanse 388 is not a small boat.

With two adults, four children, and a dog, though, there are some challenges. For people with fewer people aboard, the two-cabin version of the Hanse 388 is a great solution. It is a brilliant boat to begin with, and then you also get a huge amount of extra storage space to fill with— for example— the extra sails you need to go faster.

Less Seasickness

This is a tricky one since there aren’t any simple and straightforward solutions to definitively prevent seasickness.

“We should get a catamaran!” O says, whenever this subject comes up.

“Sure! I’d like that as well,” I usually reply.

And I would indeed.

My experience with catamarans is very limited, though, so I don’t really know what to think. After a few brief episodes aboard two different 38 ft Lagoons, I was left with the impression that the sailing part wasn’t very enjoyable. It’s possible that I didn’t really know how to do it, of course, since I’ve only ever owned monohulls myself.

The performance catamarans, on the other hand, like the Outremers, for example, they do look great on paper. Good upwind performance using daggerboards, and out-of-the-monohull-world speeds for all other wind angles. They are expensive, though, and the current crazy demand is driving up the prices as well as the delivery times for new builds. (Hello, summer 2026!)

Staying within the monohull sphere, the shape and size of the hull will obviously also affect the sailing comfort, but so far we’ve been looking mostly at modern beamy and flat-bottomed boats. Occasionally, though, we’ve also glanced at some second-hand Swans, but no inspired moments of love there— yet, at least.

(A Bit) More Separation

Not for Charlotte and me, but for the soon-to-be teenage children, who sometimes felt they were sleeping all over each other in their aft cabin double beds.

Bunk beds would be nice. But if those aren’t available, there are other solutions as well, to make the double beds feel a bit more separated.

Also, continuing on the separation topic— and this is one of Charlotte’s main wishes— a separate shower somewhere, with the complementing dry toilet far and away.

Less Freezing Outside

Monohull sailors come up with a lot of good reasons why it is absolutely necessary to steer the boat (and observe its surroundings) from the outside and not the inside.

I’m sure they are at least partly right, but during every wet and cold night I’ve spent outside myself, I’m even more certain that they are absolutely wrong!

Getting good protection is easier said than done, however, in a monohull. There are a few pilothouse sailboat models around, or you can have quite substantial doghouse constructions to make outside only half-outside, but looking at modern monohulls, it’s not that common.

For catamarans, having an inside space with good visibility comes more naturally. The Outremer 4.zero, for example, has a great forward-facing navigation station, and the (cool!) Windelo 50 has the whole cockpit inside!

This is not the most important feature we’re looking for, but it would be very nice to have. If we find an otherwise terrific boat, I’m sure I will continue to enjoy the outside, and also come up with a few more good reasons why it’s really the best way to do it. Nothing wrong with dreaming, though, right?

More of The Same

Despite having made this wishlist of improvements we’re looking for, I think it’s important to say that we all think that the Hanse 388 was a brilliant boat.

The absolutely best thing about it: from the very first moment we saw one on Hanse’s website and started planning and dreaming about our own version of it (the golden color was there from day one!), we fell in love with it!

So, with a few added features, we’re more than anything else looking for kind of what we already had: a beautiful boat to sweep us off our feet.

This journey is certainly an exciting one as well.