Hi Mark,
Obviously your mileage would vary.
But... I just went through that process last year. As someone mentioned, the
most important is to decide what kind of sailing you are going to do (or should
I say, "what you are going to use your bout for" (you might want to use it for
not sailing)).
Things to keep in mind:
- often times bigger boats have much bigger cabins, but they don't grow much
in terms of the cockpit space; if you like to sail with a bunch of guests
(especially some who don't know much about sailing), you may want to look at
boats with larger cockpit.
- tiller steering is considered better (it is simpler, you have better feel of
the boat, allows for immediate reaction), but the tiller takes a lot of space
from the cockpit (you may end up hitting your guests knees all the time). Wheel
steering is more complex (all the mechanical parts that require maintenance),
but the amount of space needed does not change.
- outboard motor is more noisy, often more smelly, often does not have big
enough alternator to charge batteries properly, but it is substantially simpler
in maintenance (if nothing else you can take it with you to a local mechanic);
an inboard is a completely different ball game - you have to maintain it
on-site, you have to winterise it properly and, what is the biggest difference
- it includes a shaft seal that needs to be maintained (after all, it is a hole
in the hull that you cannot completely seal).
- a bigger boat will have (more than likely) the proper head, the pressurised
water system, potentially a water heater, proper stove, more instruments (read:
more through hulls), more complex rigging etc. The complexity grows
substantially (exponentially), especially compared to your current Mirage 24
(my old boat was a C&C 24, quite similar boat in design). I am confident that
after a season or two, that complexity would matter that much, but it can be
quite overwhelming, initially.
- the complexity of a bigger boat mean that it will cost you more to maintain,
at least until you bring it to the standard that you are comfortable with
- before you buy a boat consider where you are going to sail it. I have a
friend who bought a Hunter 34 with 5.5 ft of draft and who cannot leave the
harbour for half of the sailing season, because we often drop below 5 ft. He
has one of the the biggest boats around, but for good portion of the summer he
enjoys it at the dock.
Good luck with your search
Marek
in Ottawa
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