One week until new boat :)

5teve

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Getting quite excited now..

only one week until we take the keys to a new to us boat.. Just hoping the weather is good enough to move it to her potential new home (debate as to whether it will fit the pen)

Its a 1997 locally built boat (pretty basic compared to the likes of Riviera and international boats) but built heavy and strong and designed for the Western Australian coast - large rear cockpit (as most Aussie boats do to take advantage of the weather :) covered flybridge because of the weather!

Made by a company called Leeder - 1997 built - 40ft (although registered at 11.6m) twin cummins 6bta 330hp and 6kva genset

Few pictures from the sea trial day (well.. river trial!) More will come :)

Here she is in a 65t lifter for the pre purchase hull inspection

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Rear end view - be interesting to see the reaction from the italian on here :)

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Front quarter - striping needs re-adding as look a bit plain! West auusie sun destroys them

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Saloon - Carpets were up.. for the engine inspection.

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And Galley - at lower level to saloon and higher than bedrooms

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benchmark

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Congratulations, i know the feeling. The wait can be very unbearable.

Pity we can not see the pics you tried to upload , i would have loved to see your new boat.
 

benchmark

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Pictures now viewable, she looks a charm. Worth note that you have tons of space and the interior seems well preserved and can be easily modernized with little effort.
Any pics of the engine bay?
 

5teve

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Not bad actually the soundproofing works pretty well �� good job really.

I'd be guessing most people would be up on the fly bridge as it holds 10+

Steve
 

5teve

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Pick it up in a few hours time. Been waiting for weather to clear as we have had an amazing winter so far boating wise.. but of course as soon as I need to move the boat, the weather went bad! 4 differing forecasts from 4 websites for today, but we are going to move it.. should be sub 10knot winds and the swell should fall below 3m otherwise it could be interesting with waves predicted to be 2+m too..

Will update later ..

Steve
 

Tickleman

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G'day Steve, I know this is a bit of an old post now, but looking at a Leeder Australis to buy at the moment and wanted to know if you've got any thoughts / comments since you've owned yours? Anything i particular need to keep my eye out for, how they handle the ocean etc. Doesn't seem to be many people with much knowledge on these boats. Thanks
 

5teve

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Hi Tickleman

Where are you based? And which version is it? Most were made up internally as they went rather than made to a specific design..

Can you link to the one you are looking at? That way I can see the specs etc.. I avoided Volvo engines and only considered Cummins and Iveco, but I think the australis only came with petrol or Cummins diesel.. lots to look for but not a lot that is manufacturer issue in my opinion..

Let me know what you can about it and I'll give a more in depth reply.. if you are in Perth you can have a crawl over ours too if it helps!

Steve
 

5teve

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Also to note the website is still up and running - No idea who is maintaining it or paying for it.. its not good and is very clunky with wrong links here and there but it has some info!

Cruisermaster

Leeder moulds were bought by Denton Marine and he still produces the smaller ones - the larger moulds he thinks went over east but they havent been seen since.

The one that your looking at isnt in Hillarys by any chance is it?

Steve
 

Tickleman

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Thanks Steve,

Link to the one I'm look at;

Leeder 40 Flybridge Cruiser (australis): Power Boats | Boats Online for Sale | Fibreglass/grp | Western Australia (WA) - Perth WA

I know what you're saying about Cummins. It would've been my preference. But a couple of mates of mine have these Volvo's in their Riv 40's and have said they've been trouble free (if such a thing exists), but noted they do get smokey as they get older. However, my last boat was petrol sterndrives,, so surely it couldn't be anything worse?

Yes, I'm in Perth. Looks like (from the photos) you're based at CYC? Thank you very much for the offer to catch it. I'd really appreciate it if you have the time.

My mechanic put me onto the former production manager at Leeder (Will), but he finished up in 2002, so this boat was after his time, so he didn't really have anything to tell me.

Seems to be a lot of the WA moulds went 'over east' and then never heard of again.
 

5teve

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Unfortunately as you are a newbie here.. I cant PM you.. as it may be easier to chat to you on the phone.. keep posting any details / specs etc to get your post count up and then I should be able to PM you..

It looks ok as they all do on the pictures.. ours is at hillaries too.. its a nicer finish than ours and must be one of the last made. Ours is a 1997 and has almost been loved to death. Gel coat is very thin.. where its been compounded weekly and the fitout was ok for its time.. but the later ones were better from the point that Thomascraft, riviera etc were producing some lovely internals.

Ours has the teak rear deck which badly needs some work - the GRP on the one you are looking at is clean and gives you an open slate. You also have the original fridge, which ours did have until it stopped working and the owner ripped it out rather than repair the compressor!

Ours has been extended too.. so not sure from the pictures if it has the short rear deck or not.. ours is actually about 44ft all up but registered at 38.

Its a private sale?

Steve
 

Tickleman

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Thanks Steve,

Yeah, I thought something might be up when i was replying and it was taking awhile to go through moderators before it was posting.

This one is called Billy M and is up on D jetty in the DoT pens (you can pretty mush see it from the car park).

Yes, its a private sale. I've spoken to the owner and he's waiting on a turbo to be replaced, so all the flooring is up at the moment, so he didn't want me to view it until it was all back together
 

AndieMac

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Seems to be a lot of the WA moulds went 'over east' and then never heard of again.
They went east and were re-branded no doubt.

In the late 80’s and early 90’s the Leeder 28 was a popular option with the superior accomodation and cockpit hardtop, compared to the more basic Bertram 28.
The Randell’s were also a popular WA brand in the eastern states.

The biggest complaint with the Volvo’s is the cost and difficulty of sourcing parts, more than operational issues.
Good luck with the purchase process
 

5teve

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Thanks Steve,

Yeah, I thought something might be up when i was replying and it was taking awhile to go through moderators before it was posting.

This one is called Billy M and is up on D jetty in the DoT pens (you can pretty mush see it from the car park).

Yes, its a private sale. I've spoken to the owner and he's waiting on a turbo to be replaced, so all the flooring is up at the moment, so he didn't want me to view it until it was all back together

Yeah it takes a while but we'll get there.. i'll pm you as soon as its possible. I'm on Q jetty on the club side.. Pens are getting a bit steep price wise in Hillarys now. Hopefully they will realise they are killing the industry and reverse some of the fees!

The turbo things doesnt surprise me - if yours is the same underneath as mine the exhaust leaves a lot to be desired. Reading on here no one ever seems concerned about replacing a turbo.. especially volvo ones.. but generally its because its eaten and eating saltwater through the exhaust design.. the risers have to be done correctly (i'm still waiting for time to make mine) so that water cant get to the turbo. When done right the turbo should outlast the engine.. either way at least he is getting it fixed. I had to recon both of mine within a year as they had been patched up and the tachos had been played with to hide the issue.

Floorings up on mine too but still happy to let you risk your neck walking all over the tools - i'm just redoing all the fuel piping and filtration..


I think all the larger Leeders (1200 series, 40 Australis etc) were just an extension of the original 38

Possibly base on the same mould or plug but the 40ft is significantly different on the top side and rear to the 38.. as mentioned ours is longer by about 3-4ft than the standard 40 (have you seen the one called tsalta? we went past it a month or 2 ago and it was definitly shorter which surprised me.)

Issue is with ours it the sides of the swim platform now cop all the soot.. so blacken really easy.. another think on my list of things to resolve / redesign..

They went east and were re-branded no doubt.

In the late 80’s and early 90’s the Leeder 28 was a popular option with the superior accomodation and cockpit hardtop, compared to the more basic Bertram 28.
The Randell’s were also a popular WA brand in the eastern states.

The biggest complaint with the Volvo’s is the cost and difficulty of sourcing parts, more than operational issues.
Good luck with the purchase process

Not sure on the rebrand AndieMac - i think they are probably rotting in a field! I'd be interested to find out... The 28 is still very popular here and denton marine make a few of the 240 tomcats etc.. Randells were not Randells - they were designed by Len Randell but made by various places like precision marine, international marine etc. Having met him he is very specific about being a designer not a builder :) Great hulls for over here though and very very popular as an older boat purchase, mind you so are the bertrams!

Volvo parts I recon are easier than Cummins and possibly cheaper now (unless from the states) but it was just a decision that I made.

Steve
 

Tickleman

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Thanks Steve and Andie.

Steve: yep, I was moored up next to Tsalta in Geordie Bay over the March long weekend, plus, the original sales video for Tsalta is still on YouTube;


Plus, the original review from the late David Lockwood

Leeder 38

Andie: the only one's I know that went east and was rebranded;

- Precision 17 mould, which is now with Steber
- Fury 32 - now Matilda Bay 32
- Randell - the 26 / 27 mould were destroyed in a fire, then replaced with the 28. The 32 mould is still in WA, but the rest were shipped overseas and never heard of again
- Fraser - had a bit of a resurgence at Commodore Marine, but apparently packed up and sent somewhere in Asia after Commodore Marine collapsed
- Thomascraft moulds are all still in WA (I notice on Gumtree there's someone with building the original 35 again, plus a new 35 was just launched at my YC about a month ago with twin outboards)
 
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