1991 Fairline Targa 34 advice please

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BongZ

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Today we went out to look at a very reasonably priced 1991 Fairline Targa 34, advertised as being in good condition. Being a novice I spent a lot of time here reading up on what to look out for, and on first glance the boat seems to be in a fairly good condition.
The broker however did warn us that the hull was "damaged", allbeit only of a cosmetic nature. I read about delamination, chalking,... and the cost of a repaint job. The hull showed some dull patches and discoloring in one particular area.
There are a few patches like this, where the fenders are located.
Dull_001.JPG


And this one, it is the only one of that nature.
Damage.jpg


Any advice on these would be most welcome.

Thanks in advance,
BongZ
 
No disrespect but with "being a novice" in the post worries me.
Hull damage may well be cosmetic but can also be catastrophic. Not only to your personal safety but also any possible future resale value.
I would get someone that is more experienced to have a look, and if in any doubt, have a professional survey carried out.
As you say, it is on for a good price so a little outlay on a surveyor to make sure it is a good deal and not a pup should be well worth it.
Best of luck, these are really nice boats.
Cheers
Mike
 
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Welcome to the forum. That looks to me (and I'm no expert) as though it's fully rubbed through the gelcoat. I think it's time to dig a little deeper with a few questions, if that is fender scuffing..... It's going some!!

If everything else appears right with boat, get it surveyed. It will be a few hundred quid well spent, and then you can negotiate the cost of the repairs off the price, so you could still end up with a great buy and if repaired by the experts, in perfect cosmetic condition.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.
 
paultallett said:
Welcome to the forum. That looks to me (and I'm no expert) as though it's fully rubbed through the gelcoat. I think it's time to dig a little deeper with a few questions, if that is fender scuffing..... It's going some!!

If everything else appears right with boat, get it surveyed. It will be a few hundred quid well spent, and then you can negotiate the cost of the repairs off the price, so you could still end up with a great buy and if repaired by the experts, in perfect cosmetic condition.

Good luck and let us know how it goes.
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Does not look to be deep enough to be through the gel, but it does appear to be through the paint and primer.

Paint and primer on a 19 yo fibreglass hull should set the alarm bells ringing.

GET A SURVEYOR or walk away.

Think on that when you come to sell, the prospective purchaser will also be alarmed at the paint.
 
I know that boat!

We fitted two new drives last year!

It's a cheap boat with a few nice options like a new Sidepower bowthruster, recent canopy, Eberspacher heating and new drives, but is has still some work to do.

Foto-K8JSIFXI-G.jpg


Foto-AFDDXHXJ-G.jpg


Foto-OY6NRXSH-G.jpg


Foto-8UUFS6CX-G.jpg
 
That is the boat I was referring to.
Don't really like the term "cheap" boat and prefer reasonably priced though...:)

I should have also mentioned in my initial post that I was planning a full survey, wouldn't have it any other way.

It will all depend on what the survey brings up, there is still some room to negotiate.
I did know about the new drives, and apparently the technical maintenance was on a no expense spared basis.

So she should be ok on that side...

@Tinkicker, you say "Paint and primer on a 19 yo fibreglass hull should set the alarm bells ringing." What exactly do you mean by this? Would this mean that the hull is irreversably damaged, or that a repair would entail a full repaint which would send costs way up? The hull did set off alarm bells in me, but that remark just amplified them to Notre Dame status.

Cheers,
BongZ
 
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BongZ said:
That is the boat I was referring to.
Don't really like the term "cheap" boat and prefer reasonably priced though...:)

I should have also mentioned in my initial post that I was planning a full survey, wouldn't have it any other way.

It will all depend on what the survey brings up, there is still some room to negotiate.
I did know about the new drives, and apparently the technical maintenance was on a no expense spared basis.

So she should be ok on that side...

@Tinkicker, you say "Paint and primer on a 19 yo fibreglass hull should set the alarm bells ringing." What exactly do you mean by this? Would this mean that the hull is irreversably damaged, or that a repair would entail a full repaint which would send costs way up? The hull did set off alarm bells in me, but that remark just amplified them to Notre Dame status.

Cheers,
BongZ
Click to expand...


No I do not mean that the hull is irrevocably damaged. However it may be covering up some nasties or other major repairs that will need an extra poke around and a negotiated discount. :)

Hull damage can be repaired to a very high standard, although the gelcoat may be hard to match up, therefore a quick fix is to paint the hull.

Think that one day you may have it up for sale tho, and I may come along as a prospective purchaser. I would probably not risk my hard earned on surveyors fees for a painted boat.
 
tinkicker0 said:
No I do not mean that the hull is irrevocably damaged. However it may be covering up some nasties or other major repairs that will need an extra poke around and a negotiated discount. :)

Hull damage can be repaired to a very high standard, although the gelcoat may be hard to match up, therefore a quick fix is to paint the hull.

Think that one day you may have it up for sale tho, and I may come along as a prospective purchaser. I would probably not risk my hard earned on surveyors fees for a painted boat.
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All down to price surely, everything has one.
 
Talked to the broker today; if all goes well we're having a full survey next week. I also ordered a separate engine and drive survey, compression test, oil analysis, endoscope on the cylinders,... the works.
Also negotiated some off the initial price which he will take to the seller, and he seemed convinced the seller would agree to this.
This will give me some overhead right now, and if anything nasty shows up it's either renegotiating, or him seeing the back of me, walking away fairly unscathed.

BongZ
 
Update

Warning: long post ahead...
We had the surveys, the hull proved to be in very good nick structurally. She does need a good polishing, but the gelcoat damage is minimal. The worst area is right where the identification and name stickering is supposed to be. So if the gelcoat color matching is not 100%, it will be fairly easy to hide. There's no damage gone through to the grp.
No leaking portholes, bulkheads still sound and no trace of cracks there. Some stresscracks on the guardrail mounts and at the base of the arch. The surveyor stated that she was an old but beautiful lady in need of a loving and caring owner. He did confirm the neglect, and found it a waste as according to him these are great boats...
Inside there were no traces of mould, dampness, and opposed to the outside she appeared to be very well maintained.
Overall, she got a very good report for a 20 year old boat.

The result on the technical side was also good, although at first it seemed that there were a lot of problems.
She wouldn't rev up past 2000rpm and the port engine started overheating fairly quickly. The endoscopy proved no traces of glazing and the engines looked brand new on the inside, compression tests were good, injectors were good...
There was some abuse from the broker to the maintenance company, as at first there appeared to be a faulty installment of the cooling hose in the sterndrive. Many theories were put from sooted up turbos, bad installment of the port drive, and so on. But when I first started her up, she revved freely when out of gear, so that all seemed a bit strange to me. Anyhow, it was not until she came out of the water that I realised she could not go past 2000 rpm. There was so much growth on the hull and props...
But according to the broker and the Volvo tech that was not the cause.
And they did not want to take her for a spin afterwards due to time constrictions.
So I decided to walk.
A week later the broker contacted me with the news that the owner was prepared to renegotiate the price or have everything fixed at his expense.
The owner contacted Novanta, the company that did the maintenance on the engines. They were quite miffed as they had been well told off by the broker before.
So they took her out for a test run, and by that time she had been out of the water and all fouling had been hosed off.
Novanta filmed their test run, and the engines went up to 3800rpm in no time, taking her on the plane with no signs of overheating whatsoever.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ttMQsKI9-KU

Apparently it WAS the growth and a lot of discussion could have been avoided if we had just taken her out for a second test run.
Somewhat later I ran into Ronald from Novanta and he gave me a wealth of info on the boat.
Based on that and the survey reports we decided to buy but only after further renegotiation. At first the broker disagreed, but by that time I just told him off and take my offer to the vendor, who agreed on my proposed price.

Two weeks ago I had both engines serviced, and was present when it took place. I was taken through every step, assisted where I could; it was like a crash course on AD41 maintenance and gave me great insight and understanding on these engines.
Novanta (no affiliation on my part) has been great in helping me, they even took her for a refuel the next day while I was at work.

So finally last week we took her home from her berth in the Netherlands to Belgium. The engines never missed a beat. No excessive smoking, some smoke when cold but after all, these are AD41B's...
The boat handled perfectly, when cruising at some odd 25 knots as when just pottering through a canal.

She will be coming out of the water for the winter, sheltered but not heated.

Greetz
 
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Hi mate,
Fascinating read looks like you got a deal after all. Do you still have the boat ? If so do you have the wall cabinets in the bow cabin ?. If yes to both could you be so kind as to give me full dimensions of them along with photos inside and out please. I have the targa 33 and although almost identical boat to yours mine doesn't come with cabinets in the bow cabin and I would love to have them built in
Here's hoping you can help
Ron
 
Waters reach said:
Hi mate,
Fascinating read looks like you got a deal after all. Do you still have the boat ? If so do you have the wall cabinets in the bow cabin ?. If yes to both could you be so kind as to give me full dimensions of them along with photos inside and out please. I have the targa 33 and although almost identical boat to yours mine doesn't come with cabinets in the bow cabin and I would love to have them built in
Here's hoping you can help
Ron
Click to expand...
The thread is 14 years old so I admire your optimism!
 
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