Cruising Yachts Can be Exciting
Greig Ebeling is an accomplished racing sailor.
In his youth he raced skiffs and then went on to win the the Elliot 7 nationals seven times.
He's also done heaps of blue water racing including one Hobart, a number of Coffs races and lots of general off shore sailing.
As Greig puts it... 'I've sailed on some pretty hot boats.'
So when Greig looked at cruising yachts he wasn't prepared to compromise on performance.
'I need a yacht that's exciting. Yes I want to cruise with my family... but I also need to have fun!!
When you're a racing sailor and you get into a cruising yacht it must feel exciting.
The Hanse 375 does this for me.'
I asked Greig what he loves most about his Hanse yacht.
'When you compare new yachts for sale, for me, the Hanse 375 is the best cruising yacht of its size...
... yet it's also great harbour racer.
On paper it has a better ratio of sail area to draft than other yachts I looked at - and this means it performs really well agains it's competitors.
And I love the fact that it is so easy to change from being a harbour racer to a boat you can cruise with the family.
Just by changing the headsail to the self-tacker I have a cruising sailboat I can handle single handed.
For me right now I'm loving time with my kids - but I race when I can.
We've been to Port Stephens twice and backwards and forwards between Pittwater and Sydney Harbour.
My 11 year old loves to come cruising with me - he brings a mate and the 3 of us sail together.
The Hanse is a breeze to sail short handed.'
I asked Greig why he chose the 375 above other cruiser yachts
'We'd been talking about buying a yacht for a while.
And one day we got fed up of just talking about it...
... and we decided to do it!
Seize the Day became our motto hence Carpe Diem is the name of our yacht.
We use the boat heaps - its dual nature is perfect for us.
In fact it's worked out better than I imagined - the time I spend on the water with my family is so relaxing.
Hanses's don't pretend to be offshore racers - but I've been on these boats - and for me the Hanse is still enormous fun.'
