There are plenty of different articles and eBooks online about how to choose and purchase your first sailboat of your dreams. However, most of these articles drive the reader to “the best boat”. In other words, they write those articles from the perspective of selling a specific product (their dream sailboat).

Their suggestions are not based on the firsthand experience you get from skilled sailors. And, that is why those articles are so varied. They do not tell you about how to choose the right sailboat; they only say why you should choose “this” sail-craft.

In this series of short articles, I’ll try to give the best advice and ideas on how and where to look for your dream sailboat. And so, let’s start right now.

How to Choose Your First Sailboat – Basics

First, you need to find out what exactly you are planning to do with your sailboat. Will you be fishing, or will you be taking family and friends for cruises? Will you be lazing in the local water bodies or do you mean to try adventure sports like water skiing and stuff like that? Or are you someone who wants a little bit of everything? Unless you know what activities you are planning to do with your sailboat, it can be difficult making the right choice.

• The next thing to do would be to choose a hull. There are a few different types of hulls, and choosing one that suits your requirements is important. Some hulls make sailboats go very fast, but also make them difficult to control and perform well in bad conditions. Some hulls may restrict speed, but are very fuel-efficient, making them perfect for people who consider fuel-efficiency very essential.
• The next thing to consider when in the market for a sailboat is its propulsion system. If your boat is underpowered, then your engine is going to work very hard, and that will affect its performance and stability. As such, getting the right engine is extremely important.
• It is common for some people to believe that buying a second-hand sailboat is a bad idea. It is not. If you are careful, then a second-hand deal can fetch great dividends. However, do not buy a second-hand boat without looking at it and studying it. Check the boat to see if all its parts are working in perfect condition before laying down the money.

Before you begin looking for your first sailboat, you should answer the following questions and sub-questions:

• How will you be using your craft?
  1. Will it be a short coastal passage or a day-long trip with family and friends?
  2. Are you dreaming of taking a relaxing week’s cruise through the open sea?
  3. Maybe you are one of those people who is hunting for extra speed under sail?
• Where and on what water will you be sailing? Will the boat be sailing on freshwaters such as a river or lake? Or will she be dealing with rough salt waves?
• Do not forget about how you will transport your boat to the water. A very important question is also where you are going to store her out of the sailing season.

Answering these critical questions will help to identify what category and the characteristics of the sailboat you need to purchase.

Sailboats come in 3 main categories.

1. Day-cruiser Sailboat – is a craft designed for comfortable daily trips near the shore. These boats do not have any under deck cabin. Sailboats of this category are ideal stuff to make you happy on a lake, a river or a closed sea bay on sunny days.
2. Cruiser – This name says of itself; cruisers are medium or large-sized sailing vessels destined for voyages continuing for days, weeks, or even months. Cruisers have everything necessary for comfortable living aboard.
3. Racer – So-called racers are the sailboats that only pursue one goal – SPEED, often to the detriment of comfort. Of course, racers divide into:
   a. The racer-day is a sail-craft for short distance racing around the buoys.
   b. The cruise-racer is a seaworthy yacht for long-distance or even global speed races.

Since you have figured out exactly how and where you will use your boat, let’s clear some things up.

I’m speaking of rigging, sail plan, hull design, and keel type for your dream sailboat. It is impossible to discuss all these points in detail in one article. However, below, my brief review will give you a good concept of that topic.

First of all, a sail plan and a rig go together. Starting our review from an easier rig to more difficult ones:

One-masted vessels.

A cat rigged boat has only a single large mainsail. This is the ideal rig for day sailing near coasts or on a small lake. The cat rig is the easiest to be handled by one person. It takes seconds to set up a sail and go forward. However, the disadvantage of that rig is that you cannot reef the sail in strong wind.

The next in our range is the Bermuda sloop rig (also known as the Marconi rig). This one consists of the big mainsail and the headsail (jib). You can change the size of the head-sail or jib according to the strength of the wind. The Bermuda sloop rig is simple to handle in its basic form. It is maneuverable and fast for upwind sailing.

However, it brings some difficulties with sailing downwind. Also, you can use one additional sail as a spinnaker or gennaker, but these canvases need skilled hands to manage them.

I give my vote for the Bermuda sloop rigging if you are sailing in bays, large lakes or closer to shore. But I wouldn’t bet my money on this rig for long ocean passages.

However, some large racing sailboats with an experienced crew aboard can use the Bermuda rigging successfully.

The cutter rigging is one with three sails – a smaller mainsail than a sloop has and two headsails (jib and staysail). This type of rig provides a much wider spectrum of wind ranges, especially for comfortable sailing of the boat in high wind conditions. The cutter rig is a good idea to be used on the open seas. But for long voyages, 2-masted yawls and ketches have advantages on 1-masted cutters.

Doubled-masted Yawls and Ketches:

They can carry 4-6 sails which give the greatest range of wind rate to happy sailing. The disadvantage of these rigs is that you will have to manage all of these 4-6 sails. And that’s not so easy if you had never been a sailor before. Anyway, if passages through the open ocean sound like your passion, the ketch or yawl rigging is the best choice.

Okay, we have cleared the difference between the most widespread kinds of the rigs which are available these days. Now, let’s go to look at a keel for your dream sailboat.

How Deep and What Type Can it Be?

Racers and open sea cruisers must have the deepest keels for more stability on the rough water into a strong wind, particularly if most of your passages are going to windward. A disadvantage of a deep keel is that they limit the spots you can arrive at without the risk of running aground.

While a shallower keel is what you need if you are sailing offshore or even doing long coastal voyages. An advantage of boats with shallower keels is easy finding safe anchorages and less risk to run aground.

Type of Keel

A sailboat with a full keel keeps her course better and much better on long distances. But, if you do many maneuvers near shore, the full keel is a bad idea. In this case, the fin keel is ideal.

Hull Design

Now consider the hull design. The most important factor, you should take attention to 2 dimensions like; SA/D (sail area to displacement ratio) for overall speed calculation and D/L (displacement to length ratio) for overall stability plus maneuverability.

The most important factor, you should take attention to 2 dimensions like; SA/D (sail area to displacement ratio) for overall speed calculation and D/L (displacement to length ratio) for overall stability plus maneuverability.

However, several measurements and formulas are used to find the optimal balance of the hull stability, speed, and sailing comfort. And that is worthy of a different article.

How to Choose Your First Sailboat – Conclusion

Sailing is a lifestyle rather than an activity. To roam the waters and being in control of your boat is one of the most wonderful feelings in the world. Some people who are new to sailing and sailboats often wonder when the best time to invest is. The truth is that great deals on sailboats are available throughout the year and buying is something that should be done only when one is ready. Buying a sailboat should be a decision reached with the family so that no one is kept out of the loop. Buying used boats can be a great idea as well. I hope that this guide on how to choose your first sailboat helped you to reach an informed decision.