I'm glad that the people who paid "£150,000 for their dream boat" wont feel the pinch too much, but my dream boat happens to be a tatty 24ft yacht, in a bad state after an accident, which still cost me every spare penny I had. Or rather, every spare penny I'll earn for the forseeable future.

An extra £200 might only be a night out on expenses for city dwelling bonus collectors, but to a lot of us it's a shit load of wod.

Hi Nathan, I sympathise entirely. The vast majority of boat owners are not city-dwelling bonus collectors, and most of us spend every spare penny on our boats. (We have a smart boat but a "tatty" car as a result!) I think the point Ancasta was trying to make is that the additional cost of unsubsidised fuel is proprtionate to whatever boat you own.
When we had our original 25 footer with 6 hp engine, we only bought two (small) tanks of fuel a year, one before we went on holiday, and one when we laid up, so doubling the fuel bill would have amounted to an awful lot less than £200. Probably less than £20, even at today's prices.
I am sure your 24 ft dream boat has a similarly frugal diesel habit, and the additional cost of fuel (which won't come in overnight anyway) therefore won't hit too hard, especially if, as I imagine, you are one of those admirable purists who sail whenever they possibly can and only use the engine as a last resort.
Have a great season - and fair winds - in 2007
Cathy

Hi Cathy,

Thanks for your fire blanket of a reply. I was perhaps a bit too heated with my original comment. :)

I realise that not all boat owners are 'bonus collectors' as I put it, and I was perhaps slightly hypocritical since my little boat was partly funded by a bonus - albeit a rather miniscule one.

However, the fact remains that to a lot of people, not least me, £200 is a lot of money to spend and see absolutely nothing in return for it (although I suppose these civil servants do need to get their payrise from somewhere!), and although you're right about me proabably not using quite that much fuel, it wont be far off since I'm at the bottom of a very thin straight river that points right into the prevailing wind making sailing out tedious at best.. and my inboard is an old inefficient 14hp lister.

Oh well. Spilt milk and all that.

Perhaps I could fit some rowlocks? :)