What would you look for first if you were buying a new boat? Setting aside the price, might it be stowage or engine, ease of reefing, ballast ratio, length of the bunks, sloop or cutter? The list goes on.
Strangely, from our very earliest days of boat owning, none of these things were at the top of our list. Of course, we read all the details, and gave them some attention, but rarely did we spot anything which we didn’t expect to be on the list in the first place. Some were hilarious. One optimistic broker noted, ‘the vendor is prepared to include in the purchase the newly-fitted scatter cushions.’ It doesn’t come much more persuasive than that.
‘A boat that is built with grace and presence will take you…
