!['SECOND-HAND: THE GOOD, BAD AND THE UGLY'](https://cdn.magzter.com/1387283225/1682510466/articles/b7A8JRUBq1683547195502/SECONDHAND-THE-GOOD-BAD-AND-THE-UGLY.jpg)
For much of the past decade, my wife Sally and I have been dreaming, planning and saving up to sail off on an adventure, together with our friends of the last 25 years, Nigel and Catherine Langhorn. Like many, the long and sometimes painful process of searching for a boat began online, before talking to brokers and finally, going and looking at boats.
We encountered several challenges in the second-hand market, the first among these being availability. Since the UK left the EU, purchasing a boat in Europe whatever your cruising plans) and bringing it back to sail in the UK makes you liable for 20% VAT on the purchase price. Unless you can stretch your budget, that leaves you searching in the UK; a fairly small pool as we were to discover.
The internet is a marvel for yacht research, but still relies on yacht brokers entering the details accurately and keeping them up-to-date. For the last couple of years, the market has been hot:
Good boats come on the market one day and are snapped up the next, sometimes even before listing. We experienced the good, the bad, and the ugly sides of buying a boat over the last year.
THE BAD: BOAT ONE First, we found a great heavy displacement Contest 48 that looked sea-kindly. The boat was ketch-rigged; I saw this as providing some flexibility in sailplan, but you could not argue with the alternative view that there was twice as much rigging to replace when the time came. She was well looked after and upgraded, but had a teak deck in dire need of replacement – a probable deterrent to prospective buyers. We researched the options for repair and offered a price to reflect that.
Denne historien er fra June 2023-utgaven av Yachting Monthly UK.
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Denne historien er fra June 2023-utgaven av Yachting Monthly UK.
Start din 7-dagers gratis prøveperiode på Magzter GOLD for å få tilgang til tusenvis av utvalgte premiumhistorier og 9000+ magasiner og aviser.
Allerede abonnent? Logg på
![Mile-long RNLI flotilla for 200th anniversary](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/-2v5LtgKL1718881145146/MILELONG-RNLI-FLOTILLA-FOR-200TH-ANNIVERSARY.jpg)
Mile-long RNLI flotilla for 200th anniversary
As the RNLI celebrates its 200th anniversary this year, more than 40 rescue vessels formed a flotilla more than a mile long in Poole in May.
![Ella Hibbert to sail to Norway and Russia in Arctic preparation](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/E3G0F2Fs51718881012756/ELLA-HIBBERT-TO-SAIL-TO-NORWAY-AND-RUSSIA-IN-ARCTIC-PREPARATION.jpg)
Ella Hibbert to sail to Norway and Russia in Arctic preparation
Intrepid 27-year-old sailor Ella Hibbert has made the difficult decision to delay her departure to sail solo around the Arctic circle until next year, but will instead depart this summer on a training expedition to Norway and Russia in preparation.
![Orcas sink a yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/rLxDtZ4Hk1718880901966/ORCAS-SINK-A-YACHT-IN-THE-STRAIT-OF-GIBRALTAR.jpg)
Orcas sink a yacht in the Strait of Gibraltar
A pod of orcas attacked and sank a 15m yacht in Moroccan waters in the Strait of Gibraltar in May, the latest in a series of encounters in the area that have sunk five yachts in the past four years, the Spanish maritime authorities reported.
![Why Pip Hare needs you now](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/cnT7bg6Jj1718880702586/WHY-PIP-HARE-NEEDS-YOU-NOW.jpg)
Why Pip Hare needs you now
Sailing with Pip Hare last week reminded me of my father’s sailing mantra: ‘It’s all about drag.’
![ADVENTURE THE CALL OF THE SOUTH SEAS](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/zlhV7hPak1718879999815/ADVENTURE-THE-CALL-OF-THE-SOUTH-SEAS.jpg)
ADVENTURE THE CALL OF THE SOUTH SEAS
What is the call of the South Seas? The Hoiland family were curious to find out, so they set off west to explore. This is the story of their year sailing through the islands and atolls of French Polynesia
![HOW TO DODGE GALES IN THE ISLES OF SCILLY](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/3rzhbFBv01718877876066/HOW-TO-DODGE-GALES-IN-THE-ISLES-OF-SCILLY.jpg)
HOW TO DODGE GALES IN THE ISLES OF SCILLY
Ken Endean tries a two-anchorage strategy
![Picking up fore and aft moorings](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/XOgxFzDfe1718877103072/PICKING-UP-FORE-AND-AFT-MOORINGS.jpg)
Picking up fore and aft moorings
Mooring fore and aft can be a fiddly process, never more so than in Cornwall's Polperro. If you can do it here, says Rachael Sprot, then you can do it anywhere
![TECHNICAL PURCHASING POWER](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/qm03c0e5I1718876210132/TECHNICAL-PURCHASING-POWER.jpg)
TECHNICAL PURCHASING POWER
Sam Fortescue explains how to check you have the power needed to handle your running rigging safely - and how to fix it if you don't
![NEW GEAR](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/CBwfsgkkm1718875776429/NEW-GEAR.jpg)
NEW GEAR
Dennis O'Neill reviews the latest products designed to make sailing safer and easier
!['NEVER BEFORE HAVE I SAILED IN SUCH WILD WEATHER'](https://reseuro.magzter.com/100x125/articles/5164/1739376/aU9GDliyz1718875329454/NEVER-BEFORE-HAVE-I-SAILED-IN-SUCH-WILD-WEATHER.jpg)
'NEVER BEFORE HAVE I SAILED IN SUCH WILD WEATHER'
When Jeremy Edwards and his sister were hit by a 'weather bomb' en route to Tonga it gave him a new-found respect for his sister's skippering ability