We have been chatting with several of our owners about their experiences on Broadblue catamarans and they have kindly allowed us to share their stories and tips with our future owners.

This is the fifth in this short series and today we speak to Daniel (and Kate) Taylor, the current owners of Dream On, a Rapier 400.

“I (Daniel) grew up around boats and water sport. From the age of 10 I helped my dad and uncle to restore a Catamaran and it was this that really consolidated my love of the water and sailing.  During my 20’s, and despite living about as far away from the sea as is possible in the UK, I continued to sail a couple of Beneteau monohulls around North Wales.  Kate and I started sailing together in about 2010 and we set out our 10-year plan to buy our own boat, which we did in 2022 (we’re not counting Covid years!). It was at almost exactly the same time as getting married. She was quite the wedding present!!

During the years of planning, we worked out what we wanted our boat to be, concluding that we were looking for a boat with excellent build quality and design, and by that we mean we thought over component placement rather than the number of berths, as well as the ability to sail long distance, quickly, safely and comfortably.

When we came across the Rapier, we realised you actually get all of that plus a sailing space that gives the Skipper the ability to sail unhindered whilst also being able to partake in the social aspect of sailing. The layout is fantastic for sailing with family and friends, we can be together during the day but retire to our own space at night. It’s an environment that feels safe, especially for non-sailors, and gives everyone the opportunity to be as involved in sailing as they want to be. And we’ve found she’s a vessel that performs well in pretty much any conditions.

Having only owned Dream On for 12 months, and really only having her in her new home in mid-Wales for 6 of those, we are really in the process of getting to know her and her quirks! Learning all the systems and working out what improvements we might want to make. We have already had keel shoes fitted which suits the area where we are based, we are also working on ideas such as how to change the saloon table so it can convert to a day bed, and adding a camera to the mast to help with docking. We are sure that there will be other things over time, but right now the day to day ‘to-do’ list is keeping us busy, while the weather keeps us in the marina.

When we were able to get out for some sailing, we have been exploring Cardigan Bay and particularly enjoying how much the dolphins like to swim with us. Longer term plans take us much further afield, but in the next 12 months or so we are hoping to get up to Scotland and around to Norway to do some exploring in those areas.

Dream On, is literally a lifelong dream come true and we hope to have many years creating memories. But in the short time we have owned her our highlights have included: watching her being prepared for sail, Kate doing a headstand to fit a new toilet and then spending a pleasant few hours tucked up in the locker fitting a new shunt for the batteries, the winter nights tucked up cozily inside whilst it was freezing outside, the genuinely pleasant buying experience (and the ongoing aftersales support that we get from Broadblue), getting to know Mark and sharing our relocation trip with him and having the privilege to sail whenever we want.

 Finally, tips… for us the best tips have been to take our time to learn our boat, despite how much we want to get out there to explore.  We respect the fact that she is way more capable than we are and she is not going anywhere, so we don’t need to rush.

Also, always seek advice and listen to others experience and get to know your marina neighbours, they may have cake!”