Cheap boats. The end is nigh, The Cheap Boat Thread

Spyro

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I have a great affection for these, here is a Marieholm IF boat in pretty original condition:

Marieholm - IF Sailboat for sale in Netherlands | Boatshop24

No sight of the engine but it's the best price I have seen for a tidy example.

For the small number of folk who have never seen it, here is a video that always cheers me up. Two lads driving one at over 10 knots:

I thought they were pushing a bit hard :). very lucky to get away with that crash gybe and not break anything
 

Stemar

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I have a great affection for these, here is a Marieholm IF boat in pretty original condition:

Marieholm - IF Sailboat for sale in Netherlands | Boatshop24

No sight of the engine but it's the best price I have seen for a tidy example.

For the small number of folk who have never seen it, here is a video that always cheers me up. Two lads driving one at over 10 knots:

Good job there's a girt great lump of lead holding it down, or it would have taken off!

Great fun when you're young and invincible, but a gybe like that would be grounds, if not for divorce, at the very least, for a lifetime of solo sailing ?
 

doug748

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Here's a Folksong that looks good value @ £3k including a decent trailer, lots of work done/newish bits & bobs. The colour scheme is a bit strange...


Something that can be trailed has a lot of advantages. At the end of the season it can be stored at zero or very cheap rates. If you lay it up, the outgoings can become nothing unlike us mugs with big, heavy boats.

This is very good for a modern boat + galvanised trailer and you could DIY launch if you had a mind. Personally, I would get an inexpensive yard to put it in and bag a cheap drying mooring:

Swift 18 for sale UK, Swift boats for sale, Swift used boat sales, Swift Sailing Yachts For Sale 1983 Swift 18 - Apollo Duck

Spotted by Kingfisher 5 on the PBO thread.

.
 

Capt Popeye

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Well just maybe if the price of Craft is falling, the cheaper mooring berths, often half tidal and remote will become the resting places in future, on the basis that its far cheaper to keep paying, say £50 for a mooring and just not use it, one day itmight break loose from its moorings and flounder, so if Insured maybe they will pay up something, otherwise the owner just says that he sold it, in the pub or facebook, so not his problem, eh ?

In reality we could well do with a downturn with Craft values, those that bought craft / boats /yachts over, say last 25 years or so, most probably have no long association with boating, maybe it was the snob value along with their high earnings or parents legacy that they thought of buying a boat and joining a Yacht Club, then getting a Marina Berth which they could afford, which I must say has encouraged Marinas to raise their prices, as they had a ready market of suckers; We have all heard of that saying - if you have to ask the price then you cannot afford it - or Boating is like throwing money into a pit - there are various other similar sayings, all along the same line.

Perhaps with the reduction of interested affluent Boaters along with Craft becomming cheaper the Marinas will also have to lower their prices, all in all a welcome idea.
 

Buck Turgidson

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I have a great affection for these, here is a Marieholm IF boat in pretty original condition:

Marieholm - IF Sailboat for sale in Netherlands | Boatshop24

No sight of the engine but it's the best price I have seen for a tidy example.

For the small number of folk who have never seen it, here is a video that always cheers me up. Two lads driving one at over 10 knots:

I do like IF's I almost bought one but went for a twister instead. Delighted but still hanker after an IF every now and then. if I was to buy one it would be from Sweden where they are readily available for under £3 grand. For now I can't even get to my twister for the foreseeable :-(
 

NotBirdseye

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I've never been one to follow the logic that if you have to ask the price then you can't afford it... though I have heard the saying many times over the years in particular regards to boating. A bit of a shame as boats are cheaper than some think. I mean they're not an investment for sure, definitely an expense item but that's no excuse not to ask the price, in fact that's just good financial sense at making your money work harder. I think everyone will welcome cheaper marine prices but we have to be careful as I'm not sure that all marinas over charge. I mean some are in high demand so the prices are bumped but others just have high mainetenance costs and could go insolvent if prices drop too much.
 

dgadee

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Bangor marina, NI is run for the council by a commercial firm. Supposedly supported by council financially. Place half empty. Impossible to find out where the money goes - and council don't ask that question (here, politicians are elected for their ability to wave flags). I'd like to see it as more of a community resource and encourage younger owners. Unlikely at present.

I don't moor there. I have a much cheaper option I am happy with.
 

JumbleDuck

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Bangor marina, NI is run for the council by a commercial firm. Supposedly supported by council financially. Place half empty. Impossible to find out where the money goes - and council don't ask that question (here, politicians are elected for their ability to wave flags). I'd like to see it as more of a community resource and encourage younger owners. Unlikely at present.

I don't moor there. I have a much cheaper option I am happy with.
I thought of leavig my boat in Bangor over the winter a few years back and had an astonishingly low quote. If they can offer the same this year I may well do it, since I am only an hour from Cairnryan. I first went in there in the early nineties when, as I recollect, Camper & Nicolson ran it and the place was busting at the seems. Last time I reckoned it was at best half full. Great shame, because it's one of my favourite places to visit, the staff are great and the location is delightful. Also the Aurora swimming pool in Bangor is fantastic and the Heatherlea Bakery does a superb Ulster Fry.
 

Frogmogman

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I've never been one to follow the logic that if you have to ask the price then you can't afford it... though I have heard the saying many times over the years in particular regards to boating.

It is reputedly a remark originally made by JP Morgan in response to a question about the cost of his yacht. It's a humourous way of saying that a particular product is so expensive that only someone with no financial concerns could afford to buy it.

Whilst I agree that it doesn't apply at the everyday end of sailing, it most certainly does apply to the super yacht sector. The sums involved are so completely bonkers that only someone for whom money really is no object could envisage getting involved.
 

dgadee

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I thought of leavig my boat in Bangor over the winter a few years back and had an astonishingly low quote. If they can offer the same this year I may well do it, since I am only an hour from Cairnryan. I first went in there in the early nineties when, as I recollect, Camper & Nicolson ran it and the place was busting at the seems. Last time I reckoned it was at best half full. Great shame, because it's one of my favourite places to visit, the staff are great and the location is delightful. Also the Aurora swimming pool in Bangor is fantastic and the Heatherlea Bakery does a superb Ulster Fry.

Yes, staff good. Aurora good. Bangor like most seaside towns - shops mostly closed. Bangor has not been well served by its council. Since I moved to NI in 1985 they haven't been able to sort out the part of the town overlooking the marina ('the Parade'). 35 years of indecision and 'Ulster Says No' banners.

The shore storage is run by a different firm from the marina and three years ago wanted £2400 for 6 months ashore for my 37 footer. Not very good value.

Copeland's marina (closer to Des Sleightholme's 'third world yachting') is cheaper and my preference.
 

yoda

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Y


I’ll tell you. £387 (but perhaps reduced now with virus) for my 30 footer. £7.50 a week. Isn’t that not much more than cost of a beer in London (when pubs were open).

Why pay that much? I get my tender storage and club fees as well for that much.

Truthfully there are cheap moorings out there but people want convenience. Pay your money - take your choice.

Yoda
 

dgadee

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Why pay that much? I get my tender storage and club fees as well for that much.

Truthfully there are cheap moorings out there but people want convenience. Pay your money - take your choice.

Yoda

My club is £40 a year. That £387 includes tender storage. £40 a lift. Are we competing for a prize?
 

JumbleDuck

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Yes, staff good. Aurora good. Bangor like most seaside towns - shops mostly closed. Bangor has not been well served by its council. Since I moved to NI in 1985 they haven't been able to sort out the part of the town overlooking the marina ('the Parade').

It's very pretty, but as you clearly know you only have to go back one building or one street from the front and the scars are all too clearly visible.

Copeland's marina (closer to Des Sleightholme's 'third world yachting') is cheaper and my preference.

It's on my list, but harder to get to from Scotland by public transport. Bangor is easy.
 
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