Owner's Comments

I was looking to sail across the Atlantic to spend time cruising in the Caribbean. My requirements were for a boat that would do that job safely, in comfort and with some style and finesse. When I found the Xc 45 I quickly realised that it was the boat for the job. She’s a high-performance cruising yacht which offered the balance that I was after.

In 2021, we initially headed down to the West Country and the Scillies – one of my fondest memories aboard Ghost was those Isles and from there across the Bay of Biscay to Northern Spain. This was Covid time and it wasn’t entirely clear if we would be welcome or not with travel restrictions in constant flux. There were no issues and cruising along the North Coast of Spain was a real treat and the seafood and the wine the best. Asturias in particular a remarkable landscape and one I won’t soon forget.

From there we visited Portugal before making the crossing to Lanzarote in The Canaries where there are excellent marinas and facilities. We spent some time there prepping the boat for the Atlantic crossing. I was fortunate to have my elder brother Johnnie with me who is a yachting professional and had worked in the industry for many years to prepare Ghost for the crossing.

We left Lanzarote early January 2022 bound for Barbados with six on board and 16 pre-cooked meals in the freezer. Five days out we experienced a nasty gale and headwinds for about two days, 37 knots and big seas. The photos never show how big the waves really were but the boat handled it all in fine style, three reefs and the storm jib worked just fine. Thereafter things returned to more pleasant downwind sailing, which is what we had all signed up for and plentiful opportunities for line fishing off the stern.
We arrived in Barbados in a time of 18 days, crossing the Atlantic had been a wonderful experience.

Thereafter we slowly worked our way north enjoying the champagne sailing and the rum.

Great sailing in generally brisk conditions, but 25 knots in the Caribbean is so much better than 25 knots in the Solent. The anchorages over there are numerous and beautiful. I was particularly in awe of the French Carribbean Islands, and of the chain that we visited, Guadelope was a really stand out. When running ashore, it was always a pleasure to look out at all the boats at anchor and see that yours was the best looking one there.

I left the boat in Jolly Harbour, Antigua during the Hurricane season, June-November (2022). The UK insurers wouldn’t offer cover but we were happy with the facilities there - proper cradles strapped down to screws fixed into concrete and bought insurance locally.

This year we sailed up as far as Puerto Rico and then back to Antigua where we shipped the boat back to Southampton. I feel very sad to be selling her, we’ve had some great adventures together but I’ve done what I wanted to do and its time to move on.

She is a fine boat for any adventure – far or wide as she excels at both ocean yachting and comfortable day sailing – she is as happy in the mid-Atlantic as nestled in Lulworth Cove with family and friends aboard – I wish you fair weather and fine times aboard.

Details

Additional Information

• X-Yachts (GB) Ltd. offers the details of this vessel in good faith but cannot guarantee or warrant the accuracy of this information nor warrant the condition of the vessel. A buyer should instruct his surveyor to investigate such details. This vessel is offered subject to prior sale, price change, or withdrawal without notice.