Broom 33 with Mercruisers. Bray.

[oldgit]

Chum is seriously looking to downsize his 1991 Turbo 36 for something a bit smaller.
He has spotted a 1993 Broom 33 but it has Italian VM Mercruisers aboard. The boat has already priced 15K under an older Broom 33 at Brundell with a couple of Volvos.
He has already been to view the boat "Nimbus".
Anybody got any scuttlebutt on this boat. Seem to recall VM overheating problems and a very limited dealer network for spares. ?
PM no problem.

 

[Chris_d]

I don't know anything about that particular boat, but have seen it on the river many times.
The VM diesels were originaly sold and badged BMW's back in the 80's and the BMW version did suffer some overheating issues, however all sorted when the engine was taken over by Mercruiser. Most of the earlier BMW engines were updated with the later Mercruiser bits and were ok there on.
Not sure where you get spares (Barrus?) and obviously not as well supported as older Volvos, so Mercruiser boats always worth less, but could still be a good buy at the right price, although personely I would look for a Volvo engined version.

 

[oldgit]

The chap concerned has been to look at both the boats in Bray and Brundall and is inclined towards the boat with the Volvos despite the price difference. £15k buys a lot of spares.
Suspect the final choice of boat will be down to how much his Turbo 36 achieves.
Thanks for the reply.
OG

 

[miket]

I owned a Broom 33 for about 4 years in the late 1990’s.
Lovely engines. Quiet, smooth and problem free.
We used her mainly on the Upper Thames, but latterly in Southampton, where we cruised Normandy, CI’s etc.
At 180 hp they were on the edge of being under powered. I spent some considerable time on propellers and ended with a serious cruising speed (4 adults on board for cruising holidays) around 14 knots and a max’ about 18 knots.
Fantastic boat! Previous boat was Fairline 36 (300 hp Cummins) and subsequent boat was Broom 37 (VP 306 hp).
Bottom line, is it depends for what you want to use the boat.

 

[oldgit]

Boat will mostly be used for local trips up the Thames/Medway/East coast but with the occasional trip to Ramsgate and over to France ie.Dunkerque.
The skipper is not under any circumstances a speed freak and (like me ) regards anything over tickover as a wicked and profligate waste of fuel.
Asking price of the Thames boat is very attractive to start with, broker has given him a suggestion of what the boat could be actually be bought for. One buyers offer has a been rejected. Web pictures of the engines appear to look very clean and tidy.
Now needs some interest in his own boat, there does seem to be rather a lot of Turbos up fopr sale at the moment.

 

[oldgit]

The chap has now bought the boat and its on its way by truck due to the Red Boards all along the Thames.
Now two boats for sale at the club.
1 x Turbo 36
1 x Princess 330.

 

[oldgit]

Up date.
This particular Broom 33 is now out of the water and the owner is trying to find out as to if the top speed can be improved.
New fuel / air filters and a clean bum.
2 x 180 HP Mercruisers and pair of perfect 4 blade 19 x 23.5 " props.
Nearly full fuel but no water.
Managed to achieve 12/13 knots with the tide !
Engines rev to 3100 and 3200.
They are supposed to go to 3800.
No obvious smoke.
These boats have reputation for not being quick.
Repitch will cost around £300.
Is it worth faffing about or just put up with it. ?
Comments welcome.

 

[Chris_d]

TBH even if you can make it do maybe 18knts it will be really uneconomical, so likely going to go everywhere at 7/8knots anyway, if he wants to go fast get a proper planning cruiser.

 

[Big John]

Up date.
This particular Broom 33 is now out of the water and the owner is trying to find out as to if the top speed can be improved.
New fuel / air filters and a clean bum.
2 x 180 HP Mercruisers and pair of perfect 4 blade 19 x 23.5 " props.
Nearly full fuel but no water.
Managed to achieve 12/13 knots with the tide !
Engines rev to 3100 and 3200.
They are supposed to go to 3800.
No obvious smoke.
These boats have reputation for not being quick.
Repitch will cost around £300.
Is it worth faffing about or just put up with it. ?
Comments welcome.

Your earlier comments stated "The skipper is not under any circumstances a speed freak and (like me ) regards anything over tick over as a wicked and profligate waste of fuel. " So why is he now spending a lot of money to increase his speed and fuel consumption?

 

[oldgit]

Your earlier comments stated "The skipper is not under any circumstances a speed freak and (like me ) regards anything over tick over as a wicked and profligate waste of fuel. " So why is he now spending a lot of money to increase his speed and fuel consumption?

"
Bit of long story. His previous boat was a Turbo 36 and was a bit on the big side, also a real pain to maintain, ie get round the engines and oily bits.Access to stern glands is legendary requiring holes cut in cupboards and shower trays.
He wanted something a bit smaller especially for use on the non tidal Medway and Thames, airdraft etc.
The Broom should have been the perfect replacement with its ""22" knots top speed compared to the real world top end of the Turbo about 24/25 knots.
Frequently goes on club cruises over to the other sideof Le Manche.
Somebody in the sales dept at Broom was being a bit free in the actualité department
Quite a bit on the internet about the boat not having sufficent water line lenght, this was rectified by the later Broom 36.
He would be very happy to see 15-16 knots.

 

[miket]

See my post further up.
speak to the propellor companies regards pitch and diameter.
all the speed comes in at the top end of the rpm range, so not surprised you are not getting best speed with loss of so much on rpm.
As the power is a bit marginal, any fouling will have an impact.
my figures in original posting were with full fuel and 1/4 water.
Lovely smooth, quiet and smoke free engines.

 

[oldgit]

See my post further up.
speak to the propellor companies regards pitch and diameter.
all the speed comes in at the top end of the rpm range, so not surprised you are not getting best speed with loss of so much on rpm.
As the power is a bit marginal, any fouling will have an impact.
my figures in original posting were with full fuel and 1/4 water.
Lovely smooth, quiet and smoke free engines.

As quiet as a mouse compared to my unsilenced VP 41B in the Princess.

 

[oldgit]

Update.
Broom is now back in the water with a new pitch of 21 inches.
Now waiting for the opportunity to find out if anything has changed.