You have decided sailing is for you, you have worked your way through
the many different kinds of dinghies and now know which one you want to
buy. The question is where do I start looking to buy it.
There are many different areas to look.
1. The world wide web.
The obvious place in this day and age as everything you need to find
tends to be on the internet, and more and more of us are shopping on
line. Useful internet sites to look at are
Yachts and Yachting - www.yachtsandyachting.com classified section, Boats and Outboards – www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk,
Dinghy Sailing Magazine – www.dinghysailingmagazine.co.uk and
Apollo duck – www.apolloduck.com to name just a few.
2. Sailing clubs.
Most sailing clubs will have a member’s board where boats are advertised or you can put a wanted sign up.
3. Sailing schools.
Sailing schools will often sell off there old or even their not so old
equipment so that they can keep a good high quality stock of boats.
Although often slightly more used than a boat of similar age from a
private selling they are usually a lot cheaper as the school will often
sell on at a discounted price as they can buy them at trade. They are
still usually well maintained by the centre. This is especially true of
the new rota-moulded plastic boats e.g. RS Vision, Pico, Feva etc. have
a look on there website or just ring them up they won’t mind you
asking.
4. The manufacturers
You can of course buy a brand new boat from the manufacturers. They
usually come with a 1 or 2 year warranty which can sometimes be
beneficial. Manufactures will also usually put on demonstration days so
that out can try the boat out or several boats to decide which one you
prefer.
No matter how good the boat sounds or looks always where possible take
it out on the water especially if you have never sailed it before.
Always get the relevant paperwork from them, e.g. Class measurement
papers if they have any, owner manual (although you can get these from
the web usually) get them to show you how to rig the boat and also
de-rig the boat.
If there is something that doesn’t come with the boat e.g. a launching
trolley or road base, ensure that you find out the relevant costs of
these before closing the deal as they can often be more expensive than
you think and that might make another boat a better deal.
