TOP 10 BOATS AROUND 30FT

ZINNIA

The ultimate gaffer

LOA 30ft (9.15m)

DRAUGHT 5ft 6in (1.7m)

DISP 7.9 tonnes

RIG Gaff cutter

BUILD Strip plank

PRICE £300-400,000

DESIGNER Ed Burnett (edburnettyachts.co.uk) & Nigel Irens (nigelirens.com)

BUILDER Elephant Boatyard (elephantboatyard.co.uk)

A finely-tuned gaffer from two top Designers

A friend once told me that everyone has their ideal size of boat – his happened to be 45ft (13.7m) pilot cutters while mine were slightly smaller sailing yachts around the 30ft (9.1m) mark. Most of the boats I’ve owned have been in that range – partly because that’s all I could afford but also because it’s simply the perfect size: big enough to sail pretty much anywhere in the world but small enough not to break the bank doing so. Just look at the mast of a 30-footer compared to a 40-footer and you get an idea of the difference in scale – and therefore the maintenance bills. And, it turns out, there are plenty of new classic 30-footers to choose from.

At the traditional, designed by the late Ed Burnett in collaboration with Nigel Irens. Built in 1998, this is the boat that launched Ed’s career, and the principles she embodies were repeated in several bigger sizes. There are shades of Harrison Butler and Laurent Giles in her design – or you could just say she’s the ultimate development of a traditional (ie long-keel) gaff cutter built in modern materials. With her relatively high-aspect rig and well-balanced hull, she’s deceptively fast – as you might expect with that design pedigree – and will sail rings around most old gaffers. Several boats have been built to the design around the world, and any prospective owner will have no trouble finding a yard more than happy to build a Zinnia for them – not least Elephant Boatyard in Hampshire and MB Yachts in Dorset.