Ged, I won’t debate that the smaller the boat the greater the challenge for a similar passage, but we can make that right by going further in more demanding conditions as the boat gets bigger. No end of challenges. The sea is so large…….
Absolutely.
I seriously considered a bigger boat last year, as fitting two large blokes with enough kit to survive a week camping wild in Scotland, into my Storm 17 requires quite spartan levels of comfort.
But I had two experiences last year that dissuaded me. The first was a seemingly simple sail in my boat from Tighnabruaich to Lochranza on the Isle of Arran to get a bottle of whisky. What looked like a straightforward 24 mile return trip across open water turned into a 10 hour battle against contrary winds and tides... it was an amazing day of wildness and challenge... one of my best sailing days ever.
Later in the year I crossed the channel in a friend's 36 foot yacht from Lymington to Cherbourg... apart from being spectacularly seasick on the way out, we spent most of the weekend motoring or motorsailing only to arrive in an average French towns to eat in an average French restaurants and spend the night in a not very attractive marinas. Not exciting, challenging or wild at all.
So I decided that (for the moment at least) the further I go from dinghy to yacht the less enjoyment I am likely to get from it. I like the freedom to pull up on deserted beaches, the ability to row rather than motor and the sense of adventure that comes from sailing a small open boat.
My friends loved the trip to France... there's boating available for everyone.