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Yacht to circumnavigate in comfort, for £250k. We take a look at a Rustler 42, a Hallberg-rassy and an Allures
After a worrying medical scare Graham, 54, and his wife of 30 years, Dilly, have decided it’s time to pass on their dentistry business to their son and make the most of their time together. Neither want to sit at home getting bored and fat, and both love being on the water, preferably somewhere warmer and bluer than the English Channel. Although they have chartered before in the Caribbean, they’ve never ventured further afield and long to head to the Southern Hemisphere, South Pacific and Australia.
They currently sail their ageing Moody 38 out of Gosport, regularly visiting the south-west coast, Channel Islands and northern France, but are now looking for something much newer, around the 40ft mark, with a seakindly hull and comfortable interior for themselves and the occasional guest couple, plus a cabin for their son, Andrew, who plans to join them for the occasional week or two. Graham’s main concern is that she should be capable of being sailed easily singlehanded, and although Dilly is an experienced sailor, she is quite petite so would prefer something that doesn’t require a gorilla to trim the headsail. He also thinks a cutter rig would be a bonus, to facilitate sail handling and to give them more sail choice in heavy weather.
Ex-dinghy racer Dilly doesn’t want a ‘slug’, she says. ‘There’s no fun in not being able to sail in light airs or average at least 6 knots on a passage.’