3 days looking at boats, think we've nailed it down

[PaulGooch]

Good luck Paul.

The P32 is a big step up from the very capable 925.

Can't remember the exact numbers, but the Prestige is a fair bit longer.
Think the 925 has an loa of 9.76m and the 32 has an loa of 9.9 for the older version and 10.54 for the extended platform version (+/- 2005).

Both are very good boats, but the Prestige is in a different league.
Not all had trim tabs, make sure yours has. The one downside to the big beam is that she can be fairly harsh (not slamming, just very firm) in a head sea unless you trim down a little.

Also, I know you mainly fish at anchor, but if drift fishing, the 925 will just have the edge as the baby skeg on the 925 will grab the tide better than the full planing profile of the 32.

Tom

Thanks Tom. We were really surprised how much bigger the P32 is, doesn't look it in the pics, the measurements don't entirely give it away and even looking at one from the outside doesn't. The one we looked at Sunday was on the hard, beside an 805 and didn't look huge by comparison, but it did from inside. Bit of a tardis.

Most seem to have trim tabs, but if we get one without we'll def' add them. A couple of people said they could slam a bit, but the 805 will if you let it. The wide beam should be nice at anchor, shouldn't roll about to much, which has always been a nice feature with the 805, good beam to length ratio.

 

[jimmy_the_builder]

Exciting times, thanks for the write-up. Will be interested to hear how you get on as the search progresses. Apols if I've missed this, but have you got your 805 away?

Cheers
Jimmy

 

[PaulGooch]

IMVHO....may be best avoid the to Thames when buying a boat,be it private or brokerage,unless you are looking for a particular boat unavailable anywhere else but be prepared to pay top money for it.
Boats on the Thames appear to command a price premium of between 5-10% compared to elsewhere and if you are under any impression that perhaps they may be better maintained being more lightly used and therefore in better overall condition,you may well be disappointed.
It is very expensive to keep a boat on the Thames and boat asking prices reflect this.

The 925 was definitely more money. It was £10-£15k more than similar year boats elsewhere in the Country and was the lowest spec boat i've ever seen. It didn't have a single extra or option fitted to it. To have competed with other boats in the market, i reckon the £70k ticket wanted to be £50k, tops.

 

[PaulGooch]

Have they made single engined P32s? With tight engine access I'd much rather have a single than twins.

No single engined option, they are all twins.

 

[PaulGooch]

Exciting times, thanks for the write-up. Will be interested to hear how you get on as the search progresses. Apols if I've missed this, but have you got your 805 away?

Cheers
Jimmy

Still have the 805 to sell Jimmy. We'd narrowed the list of next boats down as much as possible without going to see a few. Had almost decided on the 925 until we looked at one against the P32. At least we now know for sure what we want. Just need to sell the current one and save some ore money up, the P32 is a bit over what we've budgeted for.

 

[Ripster]

Great choice - though as an ex owner I am biased. Just be aware that they were popular charter boats, so check any French based ones carefully (I know, I know - but I had to say!)

Anyway, have fun. What put you off going Sailing in the end??

 

[PaulGooch]

Great choice - though as an ex owner I am biased. Just be aware that they were popular charter boats, so check any French based ones carefully (I know, I know - but I had to say!)

Anyway, have fun. What put you off going Sailing in the end??

Wasn't aware of the charter boat bit, so will definitely watch that, thanks.

SWMBO was never keen on the sail boat idea for one thing. I decided that i didn't think i could live with 7 knots max and i was placing running costs too high on the list. The 805 was always cheap enough to take out whenever the weather was good enough and the P32 shouldn't be an arm and a leg more. Looks acceptable from your figures, which compare precisely with the KAMD300 figures we had for an 805.

 

[oldgit]

" It didn't have a single extra or option fitted to it."

Very common on boats first used on inland waterways more likely to be used merely as day boat,so no need for sophisticated nav and radar systems,electric windlass or even an eberspacher in some cases.
A good set of fenders and thats it really !

 

[PaulGooch]

" It didn't have a single extra or option fitted to it."

Very common on boats first used on inland waterways more likely to be used merely as day boat,so no need for sophisticated nav and radar systems,electric windlass or even an eberspacher in some cases.
A good set of fenders and thats it really !

Yup, that's all it had, a set of fenders. Not even the eber or screen demisters. Oh, it did have a paper charts of the Thames lol

 

[The Dogs Pollacks Brother]

Just think of all the time and fun you will have Paul fitting the 1-2-B switches and VSR's to your new craft......bet you can't wait mate

 

[alt]

One thing that used to peeve me off about the Leader 805's (when I wanted one) was the lack of practical equipment...

No hot water from the engine (come on, that'd cost buttons to fit)
No ebby
Had to lift the engine bay cover to turn on the 230v immersion
No dedicated 12v circuit breaker panel (fuses thrown in behind the helm which required the removal of a penal in the heads to access)

But then again, some of the big Sealines are fitted with the nasty hand-pump toilets grrrrrr. Try explaining that one to first-time guests on the boat

 

[Nautibusiness]

One thing that used to peeve me off about the Leader 805's (when I wanted one) was the lack of practical equipment...

No hot water from the engine (come on, that'd cost buttons to fit)
No ebby
Had to lift the engine bay cover to turn on the 230v immersion
No dedicated 12v circuit breaker panel (fuses thrown in behind the helm which required the removal of a penal in the heads to access)

But then again, some of the big Sealines are fitted with the nasty hand-pump toilets grrrrrr. Try explaining that one to first-time guests on the boat

Some of that remained true, but I suspect you were looking at early examples as the Hot water part certainly became the main stay some time around 2005.

 

[alt]

Some of that remained true, but I suspect you were looking at early examples as the Hot water part certainly became the main stay some time around 2005.

Yes I was looking at 2003 era boats, KAD43's. I just couldn't get over why Jeanneau wouldn't fit it, the costs were minimal when you think of the cost of a new boat.

Has anything changed with the 230v switches in the engine bay? Or the 12v panel?

I hope they've copped onto this as otherwise the Leader 805 is a cracking boat

 

[PaulGooch]

Yes I was looking at 2003 era boats, KAD43's. I just couldn't get over why Jeanneau wouldn't fit it, the costs were minimal when you think of the cost of a new boat.

Has anything changed with the 230v switches in the engine bay? Or the 12v panel?

I hope they've copped onto this as otherwise the Leader 805 is a cracking boat

No 230v switches in the engine bay on my 805, but the fuses are in the heads, behind a panel held in with four screws, they did fit nice little resettable 12v trips that fit into the blade fuse holder though. The bilge pump filter needs the lazarette half emptying and a 2 screw panel removing to unblock it, nice when you're taking water on i bet. I made several small mods to the 805, like fitting an easily accessible bilge pump filter in the lazarette and i'll no doubt be doing the same with the next boat.

The 925 had a few similar silly ideas, like the batteries and calorifier being located in the lazarette. Bags of room in the engine compartment and that's where the battery wiring ends up (mostly) and where the hot water pipes need to be. But it's a production boat and i guess they are there because they can't go in the engine bay with a twin engine installation.

I'm sure i'll find some daft ideas on the P32, like the oil and fuel filters not being handed on the engines, the port fuel filter and stb oil filter look fun to change Will be looking into moving the port engine fuel filter to the stb side of the engine if it's at all practical. I'm sure i'll find some other interesting design ideas.

 

[PaulGooch]

Just think of all the time and fun you will have Paul fitting the 1-2-B switches and VSR's to your new craft......bet you can't wait mate

lol Jeanneau actually fit a sensible system, two separate circuits and split charging via a diode. On the 805 i fitted the Blue Sea dual circuit plus isolator, but will probably just and a separate "combine" switch to the next one, in place of the negative isolator i think.

 

[Ripster]

Wasn't aware of the charter boat bit, so will definitely watch that, thanks.

SWMBO was never keen on the sail boat idea for one thing. I decided that i didn't think i could live with 7 knots max and i was placing running costs too high on the list. The 805 was always cheap enough to take out whenever the weather was good enough and the P32 shouldn't be an arm and a leg more. Looks acceptable from your figures, which compare precisely with the KAMD300 figures we had for an 805.

Ah right. Yes, fuel consumption alone is not enough reason to change to sail IMO and if SWMBO doesnt fancy it either then I understand. BTW - 7 knots is good going, its normally 4-6!

Thing is you can always bimble in the P32 at about 7-8kn anyway at about 12-1300rpm and this uses very little fuel (comparatively) and is a good disp speed. I think Hurricane did a long trip at disp speed and had some comparison (vs planing speed) fuel use figures which might be of interest. If you get one with an AP - ours did have - you can put this on and just enjoy the view lounging about on the FB. My SWMBO really used to enjoy this and we have done it many times. She used to say it was a pity we had two diesel engines droning in the background. Trouble was I could never solve that one on the P32. Had to sell her and get a submarine like thing with a long stick poking out the top with bits of cloth hanging on it.

Though I would'nt go back now, going from 570 to 30hp (and this is an upgraded engine ) was a bit of a shock at first. Its also amazed me how excited I can get over half a knot extra speed. I saw 8.1 on the GPS the other day (for 10 seconds)

 

[ricky_s]

Thanks Mike, had seen that one, but we're definitely decided on the P32.

Good, leaves the spare 925s one less person going for the same boats as me!

 

[PaulGooch]

Good, leaves the spare 925s one less person going for the same boats as me!

lol, i think i know where most of them are. From my research, i'd say go for one with the KAMD300, unless you're going post 2007, then look into the Nanni 320hp. Some cheap looking ones if France and some sub 60k ones here in the UK. Good luck with the search.

 

[PaulGooch]

Ah right. Yes, fuel consumption alone is not enough reason to change to sail IMO and if SWMBO doesnt fancy it either then I understand. BTW - 7 knots is good going, its normally 4-6!

Thing is you can always bimble in the P32 at about 7-8kn anyway at about 12-1300rpm and this uses very little fuel (comparatively) and is a good disp speed. I think Hurricane did a long trip at disp speed and had some comparison (vs planing speed) fuel use figures which might be of interest. If you get one with an AP - ours did have - you can put this on and just enjoy the view lounging about on the FB. My SWMBO really used to enjoy this and we have done it many times. She used to say it was a pity we had two diesel engines droning in the background. Trouble was I could never solve that one on the P32. Had to sell her and get a submarine like thing with a long stick poking out the top with bits of cloth hanging on it.

Though I would'nt go back now, going from 570 to 30hp (and this is an upgraded engine ) was a bit of a shock at first. Its also amazed me how excited I can get over half a knot extra speed. I saw 8.1 on the GPS the other day (for 10 seconds)

Yes, i think we got a bit carried away with fuel consumption considerations. At the end of the day, we realised we'd be better off doing less miles on a boat we really wanted than we would be compromising the choice for the sake of less than 1ltr a mile.

We also said exactly what you said above, if we're going to the next port, 45 miles away, why rush there at 25 knots. If economy really is an issue, spend an hour or so on a journey lounging around at displacement speed. Will definitely be having an AP, am going for twin Garmin 10" plotters downstairs, 8" or 10" on the fly, with Garmin radar, black box VHF/AIS, black box fishfinder and AP.

 

[Nautibusiness]

No 230v switches in the engine bay on my 805, but the fuses are in the heads, .

Paul, Alt is referring to the Leader 805.
As it happens, hot water was always an option, but one that was rarely taken up until it made it onto the Leader 805's "Comfort Pack" and offered at special prices during boat shows etc. At that point it as taken by almost every customer.

Breakers were, however, in the lazarette which was a bit of a pain as it needed some cushions to be moved to get into.