A fiberglass shell with an outboard is like a Costco chef’s knife, it does the job and you basically just need to clean it and whet it to keep it at around 90% performance, with very occasional sharpening. Cutting tomatoes kinda sucks.

A sailboat is like owning a single-faced Japanese watered steel knife. You better clean that thing and dry it and oil it every time. You have to either learn a very very delicate time consuming process to keep it in shape that you do every month, or you have to take it to a specialist who will charge you your hat and ass. It’s far harder to correctly operate if you want to get the results you see on tv.

And, if you try it once and you know you’ve fallen in love with sailing for the rest of your life, go volunteer at a local sailing club. Maybe get a small fiberglass catamaran with a sail.

Under no circumstances should you get a wooden sailboat unless you are floor-ckreakingly rich, or it is your lifestyle.