Blue View – Choosing the Right Rig

Blue View – Choosing the Right Rig

To continue my thoughts on what's important in a cruising boat, I'll talk about rig options – sloop vs. cutter vs. ketch – all of which we've had at least a little experience with. I won't talk much about schooner, yawl, junk, gaff or catboat rigs; while they have their own loyal followers and offer their own unique advantages and disadvantages, I have no first hand knowledge, and can only repeat what I've read or been told about them.

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Blue View – Choosing the Right Boat

Blue View – Choosing the Right Boat

To state the obvious, choosing the right boat depends on the kind of sailing you plan to do. The right boat for weekend races at the yacht club won't necessarily be the best for the weekend gunk-holer, nor the coastal sailor and certainly won't be the preferred boat for a world girdling ocean sailor. What I plan to do is compile some thoughts to consider when searching for a cruising boat, whether the plan is to explore the Bahamas for a year or two or sail off around the world. The first part will be some of the technical considerations – how big, how wide, how heavy is the ideal boat. In the second part, I'll talk about systems to consider like tankage, engine, stoves, etc. Then I'll talk about the things that you may want to add – solar, diesel generators, wind generators, etc.

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