I have been sailing since 1981 and never regretted picking up the sport, which has grown to be a love affair for 25 years now. All these years it not only gave me the pleasure of feeling the wind blowing in my face, forgetting the hassles and problems at work, but also provided ample opportunities to spent many long hours, particularly during the cold dark Dutch winters, in my little workshop at home. There was a never-ending list of stuff to make or to repair. Of course there were also times that I asked myself why I did it, like during that hailstorm one weekend in spring back in the early nineties. They forecasted such nice weather!! Or during that sudden summer storm with force 8 winds and still some 20 miles to beat the wind and the waves. But no, I never regretted, and the money spent on it was worth it. 

I have owned 5 boats in Netherlands and just bought my second boat in Singapore.  It all started with a small dinghy (a self-build Mirror Dinghy), which I had for some 7 years, sailing it only occasionally during weekends in summer. After two surgeries for knee problems caused by mountain tracking,  I decided it might be better to follow the advice of the surgeon to be easy on my knee joints, and traded my mountain boots for sailing shoes. This resulted in ‘upgrading’ the dinghy to a 17-footer keelboat (a Jouet 17). She had a small cabin that could just sleep two persons and I built in a small galley. The next winter was used to repaint it completely and plans were made to go beyond the small lake where I used to sail. It was not long before I discovered that my little boat could not handle the rigorous demands of sailing longer distances and in much rougher waters.  I lost money when I traded her in for a second hand 22-footer (Neptune 22) with retractable keel. A nice feature of the Neptune was that you could lift the cabin roof (see picture) which created when in the marina or at anchor enough head room to stand in the galley. Another winter filled with paintwork and upgrading. Although the Neptune could handle open waters much better, she was not a good performer. She was unable to point higher than 45 degrees apparent wind and it was quite frustrating to constantly be overtaken by other boats. I wondered why these boats could point so much higher, and that was when I began to study the theory of sailing and characteristics of boats other than just length over all and beam. Not much could be done with the Neptune, and 2 years later I was the proud owner of a 13-year-old 28-foot Etap. She sailed well and could handle wind and waves even in rough conditions, and she crossed the North Sea with me.  After some (minor) engine problems, I realized that a new engine might be due within a few years.  Some quick calculations showed that it was not worthwhile investing some ten thousand guilders in a new engine.  It took a year more and many hours of comparing various boat tests and visiting two boat shows (Düsseldorf and Amsterdam) before I had short listed two boats that could succeed the Etap. The final choice was a Feeling (Kirie) 286, a choice I never regretted. She was well built, stable, sailed well and was fast. In the 5 years I owned her she made some 6000 miles, a high number given the fact that in Netherlands the sailing season was   only 6 months (April to October). I seriously considered having her shipped over to Singapore in 1999 when I moved here (she was CE category B and absolutely not suitable to sail her over), but the high freight charges did not justify that. The boat market in Netherlands was booming and in Singapore it was in a lull. So I sold her for a good price and found an equally old Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 33, named ‘SailinAsia’ in Singapore. She was the fourth boat I looked at in my search and my first thought was as with the other 3: ‘No way’. She was dirty, moldy and smelly, although her layout was pleasing. Before leaving her I opened the engine compartment and what I saw was enough for me to reconsider my initial rejection. The engine looked (as it actually should after 5 years) new and it started immediately. No black smoke, no irregularities while running, also not in the low rpm range. To make a long story short: I bought her after a sea trial and thorough inspection showing that she was free of osmosis.  She was renamed ‘Mei Poh’ (which means ‘beautiful and precious’ in Mandarin), and I started cleaning. One of the unexpected rewards from hauling out the rubbish from the bilge was a bottle of unopened VSOP!   Two months later she was at Raffles Marina, our marina for the first 6 years in Singapore. Over the nearly seven years I owned her, she made some 15000 miles in numerous sails to Tioman, Riau Archipelago, Langkawi and Phuket in addition to weekend sails in Singapore waters or Sebana. Equipped with water maker, wind generator, solar cells and a spare fuel tank (giving her a range under engine of up to 600 miles) she could accommodate us well in relative comfort for up to two weeks, but many times I wished she had a little bit more locker space. I liked her and she did not sail too badly although her pointing ability could be better. I considered sacrificing one of the two aft cabins for more locker space, but hesitated because of structural consequences of such a rebuild. I thought it over many weeks, no months, but finally made the decision to up size a little. Not so much in size, but also in comfort (meaning a more comfortable sail in rough waters) and safety for longer trips that are planned for the next years.

But what boat? In the second market in the region, it is not easy to find exactly what we needed and we were worried about ending up with a disappointing compromise.  So new? I know the pros and con of buying both new or pre-loved boats - I had enough boats for that. When I bought the new Feeling 286 in Netherlands, I had hoped that there would be less maintenance and things to fix (as I was quite busy in my job then and traveled a lot), but I soon discovered that even on an new boat there are always small things than can be improved or some equipment that needs to be installed. On the other hand, a pre-loved boat often comes with (minor) problems and most of the time with overdue maintenance. Things might work initially, just to break down a few weeks later.  From experience, I’ve learnt that it is essential to budget at least 10% of the purchase price for repairs and replacements. So I decided to buy new and the search began again.