Now there’s a question.
It sounds about as difficult as finding the answer to the perfect house but there’s one big difference here – they say it’s all about location, but a boat moves, so we have that one bettered already. And that’s the biggest difference, regardless of what size your chosen boat is, you can change location, change the scenery and how you might use the boat.
I would boldly say, there is no single correct answer, experience has proven this point to me. To make your first stab at the answer, you have to consider what the owner is after from their acquisition. I have often said ‘no one needs a luxury powerboat’ and that is a sweeping statement. There are businesses that need a boat for their commercial trade but let’s narrow this down to buyers looking for leisure activity.
So what style of boat, how long should it be, what engines and drivetrain are the best and the biggy, what is your budget? In the main, the most common purchase of a motorboat in the leisure sector will be for a family looking to enjoy some escapism; released from the confines of home and office, setting out for the freedom of a weekend break or discovering new parts of the planet’s shoreline. There’s quite a range of motorboats out there, from day-fishing boats to elegant motoryachts where crew are best qualified to tend to your needs. If we are to keep the budget under £1m, we have pretty much ruled out the chance of buying anything new above 50ft long. This sits us in the most competitive sector out there, boats from 35-45ft. On ruling out your desire to enter the Round Britain Offshore Race, the new craft is not going to be a single-minded projectile with a few massive engines slapped on the transom. You are going to want some comfort, some ease of handling, safety for the family and common-sense practicalities to go along with the ‘now, that’s good looking!’ exclamations the yacht designers hope you’ll not be able to contain. If we were to compare any analogies with the automotive world, we are also going to be concerned about the brand values of perceived quality and heritage. The Germans have had a good run with their reputation for engineering fine vehicles, arguably followed closely by the Japanese but it is not the same in the boat world. Sure, there are some German boat builders [but no widely known Japanese suppliers into Europe] but it is the British, French and Italian yards that have enjoyed the sunshine on this topic. It might also be noted that many of the US or Scandinavian options are no longer entirely homegrown, with many being built in Poland and its neighbourhood. Like the car world, it is the Italians who take the credit for design and kerb [or jetty] appeal and often an Italian designer develops the British or French models. There is always a strong sense of style, it’s a national pastime and if the boat world had catwalks, it would be no different.
We are left with brochures and websites to find the right balance of boat layout with a general arrangement plan that works for you. At this length, the majority of offerings will have 1 or 2 sleeping cabins offering berths for owner and children/guests. There should definitely be a heads compartment, we are not savages after all, but the compromise will be about how good the shower compartment is. A shower curtain is just not acceptable these days. You then might consider how much importance is put on a galley and the capacity to store provisions [and their preparation]. Do you see yourself wanting a Sunday roast whilst basking in the Mediterranean sun or will just filtering a morning coffee suffice whilst you check out a restaurant to visit this evening? This will surely depend on your environment; will you be in an isolated cove cooking to survive or will you be in a bustling harbour with dining options aplenty? There will no doubt be provision for audio visual entertainment, for some ventilation and/or heating as any new owner will soon realise that condensation is going to share your space with you.
Designers will aim for an interior ambience brought on by luxurious quality materials and enhanced by lovely touchpoints and variable lighting. Typically the target is the look and feel of a nice boutique hotel, where the quirkiness that is inevitably given by odd room layouts and irregular floor shapes, seems to be part of the character – and often seen as a clever merging of function. It’s another one of my sayings, ‘it’s a hotel room that does 40 knots’: that’s quite a challenge to mix the dynamic and static in such a way.
Moving out on to the deck, we get to the most apparent styling exercise. This is where the mix of artistic statement and practicality have to be balanced to give you what you are looking for. Protection at sea is vital with an ergonomic sheltered helm and safe, dry seating for your fellow travellers. We also need comfort whether negotiating an uneven sea or deciding to sleep off a picnic lunch under the shade of awnings or hardtops. There are many ways of arranging your deck space outside of the nautical hardware checklist – stemhead for anchoring, cleats for mooring, ladders for boarding and knowing the cockpit bar can fit your beverage of choice. But look for clever ways that the designers have created multi-functionality; areas that give more deck space than meets the eye. You will see this in convertible seating areas with tables that drop to provide sunpads, folding or moving backrests to allow you to change the seating layout, to see out aft and enjoy the biggest view of that bay. There has been a recent trend to bring you closer to the water [a point only of interest when stationary!] by easing your way into the sea to swim or to give you an open aspect, less penned in by the sides of the boat. As much as the boat’s sides, or coamings, are vital to give security when under way, they can now be lowered as waterside terraces. This typically adds another 4 or 5ft to your cockpit width and, given the right weather, truly expands your enjoyment and connection to the sea. Then look for a moving platform or powered sea-stairs to gracefully slip in and out of the water. And here you have another key point over the constraint of your house and garden: your floating residence can take you from a south coast estuary to a Balearic cala and your view becomes as changeable as your motive power can provide.
It is not always about big horsepower and top speed, as the inevitably considerable fuel bill is going to be part of your cost-of-living expenditure on land or at sea. In my experience, versatility is a key word in deciding your engine spec. There may be times when you need to get a wiggle on and cover the miles quickly to get back to harbour but there are also times when you wish to cruise upriver in as quiet a fashion as you can achieve. But you have to have the engine power to yield this versatility and it has to be matched to a hull with known design integrity. And I would reckon that this versatility will give you the best retained value when it comes time to trade up. It always makes sense to specify a good engine package and the optional extras that will be on the salesman’s list; these will be the features that will catch the eye of the next owner, and their lacking will be the reason for buyers to move away. Brand quality and heritage will always sell well and these are important things to weigh up when choosing your next boat, they are considerations that impart value. Choose a boat that can demonstrate the heritage and pedigree necessary to protect your family and your investment. It is a lovely position to be in, to search for your perfect boat. In truth, as your circumstances change [where and with whom you want to go boating], so will your idea of what makes the perfect boat. Just be warned, no matter where you see your sunsets, there will always be that oh-so-perfect yacht just sailing into view….
