Boats for coastal cruising

Duncan Kent chooses a selection of the best sail and motor boats under 40ft most suitable for adventurous cruising along the coast

- Duncan Kent

One of the delights of coastal cruising is discovering and exploring new anchorages, harbours, beaches, towns and villages. A long passage at sea is fine if you're voyaging from country to country, but you can't beat sailing within eyeball distance of the coast, where the gulls and cormorants swoop and dive while seals lollop about on headland rocks or hidden beaches.

Cruising under sail can be exhilarating, demanding, and even a tad frightening occasionally, but ultimately it's thoroughly fulfilling. While it sounds easy to the uninitiated, sailing along coastal waters is often more challenging than a simple A-to-B offshore passage where your main concern is wind and tide, not scary-looking rocks, sand bars, daunting harbour entrances and rocky anchorages.

However, with careful planning and a sound boat, the fun factor will undoubtedly overcome the fear factor and make the whole thing thoroughly worthwhile.

Fun close to shore

Day cruising in a small boat can be fantastic fun provided you have a good plan and fallback for the nights. Some anchorages can be idyllic in the daytime but distinctly uncomfortable at 0400 when the wind turns about and your insubstantial ground tackle starts to drag. Hobby horsing at anchor in a 20ft boat in the pitch dark is not quite as enticing as gently rocking in a 40-footer either, but that doesn't mean you have to own a big boat to feel secure. I firmly believe as much, if not more, fun can be had sailing close inshore and finding a safe spot for the night in the smallest of boats, provided they're seaworthy and adequately equipped.