Letters
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The unmissable Feeling 286!
As always when I read PBO my first stop is Peter Poland’s round up of second-hand boats. My enthusiasm heightened when he turned his attention to real world boats, those under or close to 30ft (PBO, Summer 2022).
I was particularly interested as I own a ‘French Blob’ in this category – but it was completely missed, probably due to space considerations. The boat in question is the Feeling 286, a sister design to the Kelt 850/Feeling 29, designed by Giles Vaton. The boat shares the bulbous nose design and a more modern styled look below, still with U-shaped seating and a Breton berth forward. These boats were very popular on the European charter market, with twin double cabins aft, but the owner’s version has a huge cabin aft and massive cockpit locker. Unlike The Kelt 850/Feeling 29, these had a fixed fin, either 5ft draught or a shoal wing keel of 3ft 9in draught. They are fast cruisers, but are quite lightly built. The engine is sited below the table in the saloon.
Laurie Milton, via email
Peter Poland responds: Thank you for your kind comments Laurie. And apologies for overlooking the fixed fin keel Feeling 286. I must admit to not having been fully aware of this exclusively fixed keel version of the Feeling 29 and Kelt 850.
The hull design is indeed exceptional and has a
