The best yachts to sail around the world are alloy

My Yacht TinTin a heavily built 44 foot Koopmans Ketch, 50 years old, TinTin cuts through the green like an axe

What do I like about sailing an Alloy yacht? 

They are Tough: yachts built in Alloy are very strong, they can still be damaged, but it takes a real beating to put a hole in an alloy yacht. Every yacht can be damaged and sunk.  The only exception, some yachts provide you with more protection than others.

A friend who was racing a 36 foot Bavaria monohull hit another yacht,  they were racing off the coast of Perth, Western Australia. His Yacht caused significant damage to the other vessel, his bow hit midships on the other vessel, and under full sail. He put a hole in the other boat, but he also received a fist-sized hole in his bow, what was worse, it was below the waterline. 

He nearly lost his boat trying to stop the leak and return the yacht to port for a haul-out, an emergency haul-out. He was only about 2nm off the coast and 30 minutes from the marina.

He had 2 feet of water inside the yacht, and even with all his pumps going, he lost his lithium batteries and also did significant damage to his engine, this required rebuilding. Not to mention all the electronics that required replacing.

Alloy yacht are stiff: I hate the sound that fiberglass yachts make in big seas, the creak and they groan and move. Alloy yachts are Stiff, even when I'm sailing hard on the wind and smashing into big water, my yacht never makes a sound, maybe the occasional floorboard that needs some oil but that's about it. It feels like I'm driving a 50-year-old axe through big green waves. I like that my old alloy yacht is tough, stiff, and quiet when I'm sailing.

There are many other things I love, but those two aspects make for a safe cruising yacht that still sails very well for its age. 

Garcia Expedition 52

I recently went to the 2024 Boat Show in Germany, I was keen to understand electric drives, and check out new equipment but ultimately I wanted to inspect the Expedition 52 Alloy monohull centerboard from Garciayachts.

This is an impressive vessel, I looked in and crawled through all the confined spaces the Garciayachts engineer would allow, I wanted to know if a modern alloy yacht was built as well as my old Dutch alloy ketch. My vessel is built by Koopmans in Holland a company that has been building Alloy vessels for over 50 years.

I was not disappointed it is really well-built and has loads of thoughtful features. The Expedition 52 had loads of space, it was finished to a very high standard, also insulated, has the lifting keel that I am so envious of, and it also has two thrusters. Bow and stern. 

The layout is great, it also has a lot more space than my current yacht, for me too much space, it would go to waste, it would be a great family cruiser for remote and dangerous locations, The lifting keel opens up so many opportunities to explore places now only open to catamarans and trimarans. It's also $1.3 million Euro in small change. Add another $50K for stuff and you have a very capable cruiser.

This 52-foot yacht could be solo sailed and moored with ease, as somebody who solo sails a 44 foot yacht with no bow or stern thrusters. Thrusters do make a difference when trying to moor your vessel solo and may also stop a lot of fights between couples. Mooring solo is a pain in the ass, it is also challenging for couples in strong winds, often a small frame woman is challenged to get heavy lines on.

This yacht made me appreciate TinTin more, I will keep looking and may even consider a major refit of TinTin. The one thing I cannot change is the 2m keel. Its great in heavy seas and beating to weather but limits where I can explore.

I will keep looking and reviewing other Alloy yachts and manufacturers, TinTin 2.0 might be out there, but so far TinTin my Koopman 44 Ketch has proven itself in some terrible conditions, I have been hove-to for nearly a week in the Southern Ocean in up to 90knots with sustained winds of 70 knots for days, the seas were just silly and not so friendly, TinTin has taken a beating many times, I do hope to stop that, but it's good to know your yacht is tough.  I'm not sure I would feel so comfortable in a plastic fantastic.

Sailing into Freedom - Catamaran build

I've been following Peter from the Sailing into Freedom YouTube channel as he builds his new alloy catamaran.

I found Peters Channel years ago when I was sailing Perth to the Whitsundays Islands in Queensland, I was researching places to go that were off the beaten track. Peter was in a fiberglass catamaran with two hot Italian chicks, I kept watching Peters's channel because these two chicks were hilarious, and Fedra had the best-looking ass on YouTube, not that Peter (AKA Plukky) ever got her in the shot, nice filming Plukky. If you want to see some nice Islands check out his early videos. 

I kept following Plukky as he and an assortment of sexy butts would sail to some really interesting places. Then Peter and Margarida hit a reef and Peter lost his vessel in the remote crocodile-infested waters of the Kimberly, Having been shipwrecked before I really felt for his loss, and to his credit he purchased another vessel, this time a mono in the USA, and continued sailing in South America.

His latest adventure is building an alloy catamaran to compete in the Elcarno challenge, the build is going great, the yacht looks outstanding, and if I ever decide I need a catamaran to continue my sailing adventure the Odisea 48 is a great-looking vessel.

The Odisea 48

It has a great-looking stern, just like the Italian Girls

So why build and sail an alloy yacht or catamaran? Quite simply, survivability. I survived being crushed in Antarctic pack ice when sailing an alloy 60 foot Monohull, it took a lot of punishment and we still sailed 1600nm home to Australia with 5 holes, no rudders or prop. You can read more about that epic trip Here

It's one of the reasons my yacht TinTin is an alloy vessel, they are tough and can take a beating. 

Sinking, getting ready to abandon ship and knowing if your yacht was fibreglass you would be dead already

Fiberglass catamaran hits reef and sinks

I was recently sailing in Fiji, Fiji is a beautiful part of the world, and in the course of one sailing season, I know of five yachts that hit reefs including me. My touchup resulted in some deep scratches to the keel, but this is not the first time TinTin has hit reefs or Rocks. There is big dent in the hull from a previous owner. 

One of those yachts was a big new beautiful fiberglass catamaran, it was torn to pieces and sunk. When you sail around Fiji and other islands they are littered with wrecks of once beautiful vessels. Many of these vessels simply hit a reef, in many cases the weather was OK, and the conditions were favorable.

 Yacht hits Reef under Full Sail

I talked with the owner of a Hanse 50-footer, this guy had sailed from the US, he also had plenty of sea miles and was not a novice sailer, his mistake trusting his electronic charts and sailing through reefs at night. It's easy to get complacent when electronic charts appear so accurate. They are not.

He hit a reef under full sail, which resulted in plenty of damage. Lots of damage to his bow and keel, lost his forward sonar and depth gauge. Thankfully he only had a small leak and deep cosmetic damage that could be repaired. He was very lucky. He hit an isolated reef in deep water, again very lucky he and his wife could sit at the bar and talk about it. 

Catamaran hits Reef snaps both Rudders

I met another bloke on a $1.5 million 55 foot fast carbon catamaran, one morning he sailed out of Savusavu and within an hour had sailed over a reef and ripped off both rudders. Again this bloke was a crusty old bugger who had sailed a lot, I asked him what happened. His answer I Fxxxked up, relied on my electronic chart, and didn't select a conservative route. Try getting two carbon rudders made in Fiji, he was in port for some time waiting on a new rudder from the US, another 10cm could have resulted in a complete loss of his vessel.

Yacht drags anchor onto Reef

One boat dragged anchor and got pushed up against a reef resulting in very deep gouges in the fiberglass, again very lucky to have other cruisers come to their rescue in tenders and help get them off the reef before the hull was breached. Learn how to anchor correctly

In all cases these yachts needed to be hauled out of the water and repaired, some people still had to sail several days to Vuda before they could be lifted from the water and then wait for repairs.

My incident with a reef resulted in deep scratches, but 6 mm alloy plate is tough, I did check my bilges and I also needed to move the yacht to find clear water so I could dive on the hull. It was ok. I sailed onto the Yasawas and then sailed another 1200nm back to New Zealand before I got lifted out of the water and repainted the exposed metal that was damaged.

Something to consider if you thinking of building a new yacht.

Safe Sailing and see you out there.

Regards Trev

If you are looking to build a new Alloy Cat 

or want to sail around the world  with Plukky, this might be for you