I have enjoyed sailing yachts since my twenties, and progressed over the years sailing on many different types and following the RYA syllabus up to RYA Yachtmaster (Ocean), culminating in being the mate on a Challenge 67 yacht on passage from Rio de Janeiro to Cape Town, calling in at Tristan da Cunha.  I bought my first yacht in 2007, a Moody 33 Mk II called Kianga.  I enjoyed many thousands of miles sailing in her as my family grew up.  We ranged along the UK coast from Southwold in Suffolk to Scilly, and across the Channel we ranged from Ouistreham in Normandy to Piriac-sur-Mer in Southern Brittany, and many points in between.  She was a wonderful, sturdy yacht which looked after us in challenging conditions.  She gave us some excellent shared experiences but by 2016, with my sons aged 13 and 15, we had grown out of her size-wise and I reluctantly sold her.

The search for a replacement began straight away although I did not let on!  I knew I wanted a cruiser, rather than a racer, and wanted a larger yacht which would be capable of taking me across oceans while being small enough to cruise home and European waters.  By March 2017 I had settled on a Hallberg Rassy 40, in large part for their build quality, seaworthiness and accommodation. There were few on the market but I eventually settled on Spellbinder, which was for sale through Transworld Yachts in Hamble Point.  She had been bought new in 2006 by Henry Buchanan, who sailed her in the Baltic and undertook and Atlantic circuit before cruising the Mediterranean for a few years. A Royal Cruising Club member, he is the author of the Atlantic Spain and Portugal Pilot published by Imray under the auspices of the Royal Cruising Club Pilotage Foundation (RCCPF).

Here is the Transworld video of her:

I agreed a price with Henry and Spellbinder became mine on 4th May 2017.