Sailing the Seven Seas: Which size of boat?

Are you thinking about long distance offshore sailing (as I do)? Are you asking yourself what would be the best boat to do that (as I did not so long ago)? Are you not that rich that you can afford a newly build, specially equipped vessel (as I can't)? - You wont't find your ideal dream-ship! You'll have to make compromises:

First the size (let's discuss more specific criteria in some later entries): The length of a ship in feet being experienced to be comfortable is told to be the age of its owner in years. That overestimates a bit the needs of sailors beyond the sixties but it fits surprisingly well. On the other hand the costs for investment and maintenance increases faster than the square of the boats length: 12 meters instead of 10 causes costs being 50% higher. (Usually that prevents people from thinking about those nice 65-feet-monsters, only to handle with at least three deck hands).

But what about the other limit - say you are in the mid-twenties? Yes - that may work. In fact there were world wide cruisings done with boats shorter then 8 metres. But: Mostly single handed. (Sailing alone is a topic itself - let's discuss it elsewhere). For simple reasons a certain amount of food, water and equipment is needed for each crew member and has to fit in your boat. If space is not the problem most severe, then it's weight. The sailing performance should not be reduced as severly as it will be if you pack (including yourself) an additional ton into a ship of one and a half. Therefore there is some lower limit for a two-person-crew in the range of 27 feet boat size.

Furthermore: Small boats are especially small with respect to wave size, so their movements in swell are faster and less comfortable, compared to bigger ones. This is not only a question of comfort, but of long term physical crew condition, and therefore of security.
And: Bigger boats are faster for fundamental physical reasons (no, we are not talking about a surfing Laser dinghi) - this again is a criterion according comfort and security.

And there is a third major argument for a solution bigger than the absolute technical minimum: Each crew member essentially needs some private area. That holds even for Just-Married-couples after the third day on sea. This private area may be quite small - at least an individual berth for each crew member, better some separated room to retire - but it is a must. Otherwise aggressions will develop - an ancient instinct to defend some minimal territory.

But: The smaller the boat, the smaller the sails you use, the shorter the mast, the smaller the physical force you need to handle any component - the higher your level of security, since you are able to do the task alone and to do it with your hands. Usually it's the anchor winch that is the first component to be electrically driven (with some good reasons, I admit). That causes the need of an additional weighty battery block and of electrical components suitable for high currents.

In this way some equipment prerequisites other additional parts. Those again have to fit into the system of your ship, hopefully without the need of further add-ons. So if we are not talking about the habours best featured marine technology project but of the aim of secure long term cuising having fun, we have to solve the problem of efficiency - technically and (closely related) with respect to costs. In this sense the most efficient boat is the smallest one that fulfills the demands mentioned above: to give each crew member enough space, to carry all essential supplies, to behave good-natured in the sea (which is not only size dependent).

To give some approximate numbers: You'll end up in the 29 to 32 feet region in case of two adults (as I did, try to estimate my age - correct), three feets ore one meter more if there is an upgrowing child (which in our context is counted as a child only as long as it fits in a shortened berth), you won't be happy with three adults far below 36 feet, and you need two truly separated cabins if there are four adults, which usually is not realized nicely below those 36 feet. Larger permanent crews may fit in ships growing slowlier in length than the number of persons. That's because those ships are usually already fully equipped and available space grows faster than quadratic in length.

Of course you sometimes will find it nice to have for two persons two bathrooms, a gym, a swimming pool and a helicopter landing area aboard - but as mentioned above: We all have to make compromises.

(to be cont.)