Plastic classics?

[mrming]

I love a wooden boat, and you might rightly say nothing comes close in terms of character, however I think it’s fair to say that grp boats like the Contessa 26 and 32 are now considered to be classics.

I walked past a nice Holman & Pye Hustler 30 earlier and thought “definitely a classic yacht”.

I’ve can see a tidy Contessa 33 berthed opposite me right now, and although it’s from a more recent era, I’m pretty sure it’s a future classic.

Obviously with such a huge range of grp boats produced, and a limited market for them, they can’t all achieve classic status.

Are there any particular fibreglass yachts you think will be respected or sought after in years to come?

 

[wombat88]

Sadler 25 springs to mind

 

[AntarcticPilot]

I'd vote for Moodys, especially Moody 31s, but Mandy Rice-Davies Applies! (Well, he would say that, wouldn't he?)

 

[Tranona]

There is no definitive definition of "classic" in respect of boats - if you think a boat is a "classic" then call it that - but be prepared for an army of people who will disagree!

A boat is a boat and different boats appeal to different people and the appeal may vary depending on whether they want to look at it or own it. If it makes you feel good to call a specific model "classic" then carry on.
However taking your specific examples if you are judging them by desirability among boat buyers as expressed through market prices, then all of them have dropped substantially in value over the last few years as the reality of owning and using an old boat, whatever its method of construction has come home. It may well be true that some boats still command prices higher than similar boats from the same era, but that only means that the premium has perhaps been maintained, not that they have increased in value.

Good news for those who fancy that type of boat, but bad for owners who thought their boats would hold value because of their perceived "classic" status.

Just to give you an example, I looked this week at a boat that was for years regarded as highly desirable as a "classic" and commended a premium price. It was last valued in 2013 at (an optimistic) £30k. It is till essentially in the same or even better condition than it was then having been well maintained - asking price £7.5k, afloat and ready to sail away.

 

[Homer J]

I’m more of a sailing man but Fairey huntsman / swordsman? Were they plastic though?

 

[Tranona]

Mostly wood but later GRP.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

.deleted.

 

[mrming]

@Tranona you’re absolutely right and it will never be like classic cars, but I guess for every type and era of grp boat there may be a few that rise to the top in terms of being considered to be great boats for their intended purpose. Doesn’t mean they will have any value of course.

I have a soft spot for the Albin Scampi, for example. The design was considered mildly revolutionary at the time, and it did very well racing. Realistically, however, they sold loads of them, and even an immaculately maintained example is worth very little.

So the classic attribute might not necessarily relate to value, but perhaps that the particular boat excelled at it’s intended usage and / or had particularly attractive lines for it’s style / period. Or it’s just cool - like the Aphrodite 101 for example. There’s no good reason to own one of those, but I just love to see a well maintained one being used. ?

 

[Tranona]

That is the whole point about boats and how they are viewed. Certain boats capture the moment, whether it be because of their success in racing, their radical design or their attraction to the buyers at the time. However this is often ephemeral (or just fashion!). The boat I mentioned was and still is an enormously capable cruising boat and in its heyday had a waiting list running into years - then demand just stopped as the pent up demand eased and other newer designs came on. Now it is in banger territory.

Other designs hold the imagination for longer and even (like cars) make comebacks, but unlike cars where there are thousands of buyers willing to pay to recapture their youth (have you seen the price of MGBs recently) few people are willing to own old boats as second toys. So few sprightly 75 year olds looking to buy CO32s just to relive their class racing days of 40 years ago. They probably own something like an XBoat or an Arcona these days!

As I suggested, good times for those few who are willing to take on one of the fine boats from the past - never been cheaper (at least to buy) and it does give the admirers something to admire.

 

[AntarcticPilot]

That is the whole point about boats and how they are viewed. Certain boats capture the moment, whether it be because of their success in racing, their radical design or their attraction to the buyers at the time. However this is often ephemeral (or just fashion!). The boat I mentioned was and still is an enormously capable cruising boat and in its heyday had a waiting list running into years - then demand just stopped as the pent up demand eased and other newer designs came on. Now it is in banger territory.

Other designs hold the imagination for longer and even (like cars) make comebacks, but unlike cars where there are thousands of buyers willing to pay to recapture their youth (have you seen the price of MGBs recently) few people are willing to own old boats as second toys. So few sprightly 75 year olds looking to buy CO32s just to relive their class racing days of 40 years ago. They probably own something like an XBoat or an Arcona these days!

As I suggested, good times for those few who are willing to take on one of the fine boats from the past - never been cheaper (at least to buy) and it does give the admirers something to admire.

And there are those that would have been regarded as trailblazers but were before their time. I doubt if anyone has heard of the Cowal, built by one of the yards on the Holy Loch (I forget which) in the 1960s. It wouldn't look out of place in a collection of smaller yachts of a much later date; flush decked, high sided with only a small cabin roof. Headroom (limited!) achieved by the deck arching upward towards the centerline. But it failed to gain traction, and I think very few were built; perhaps only the prototype. I only know about it because we were in the habit of having caravanning holidays at Easter and Autumn, and happened to visit the yard. But I always remember it as an example of an interesting design that could have set trends, but was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

 

[LittleSister]

I'm very grateful to those who sail and maintain CO32s, Shes, Twisters, Hustlers, Nicholsons, various gaffers, et al (yea even unto Anderson 22s!). They improve the scenery no end when I'm sailing, or just wandering around the boatyard. Perhaps they should get an Arts Council grant for doing so?

I'm sure Moodys and Sadlers are also great boats to be looking out from, and would love to have one, but they don't quite cut the mustard for me in aesthetic terms. (Neither does my own boat, though it does have its charms!)

 

[burgundyben]

I’m more of a sailing man but Fairey huntsman / swordsman? Were they plastic though?

Huntress, Huntsman, Swordsman 33 all wood.

Spear, Spearfish, Fantome, Swordfish and Sworsdam 37 and 40 all grp.

Atalanta, Titania, Fulmar, Dinky, Duckling and all the sailing dinghies are wood.

 

[Gary Fox]

There's a Facebook group started by Nick Vass, 'Glassic Plastic' or somesuch name for these boats.

 

[steve yates]

Twister probably.

 

[wombat88]

and the Corribee

 

[syvictoria]

I have to.... Victoria and Frances !

 

[Black Diamond]

I was just thinking the same, syvictoria!

 

[jamie N]

A wooden Folkboat is a classic (of course), but should a GRP Folkboat, such as a Marieholm qualify also?
The Contessa 26 hull was moulded from a Folkboat, and I'd agree that it's a classic, but the Marieholm too?

 

[Shuggy]

Never pass up an opportunity to post a pic of your own boat...

Nicholson 43 (1971).

 

[Shuggy]

I started something similar about 10 years ago... Best looking GRP boats ever - there were some cracking boats in there.