A call for knowledge !

[New Boater]

Hi all,

Brand new boater here looking for advice. I am currently looking to buy a family boat and have fallen into the trap of only looking at Main Brands of boat (Sealine, Fairline, Princess etc)

What I am after is finding out what other brands are out there and recommended and which are not.

I seem to have formed my own view that if is not one of the above then it is “no good” which has to be wrong.

We are a family of four with a couple of dogs.

There will be very occasional trips (if any to be honest) with all coming along as the two boys are growing up fast. The likelihood is that it will be me and the two boys hacking along for a weekend or me and the wife plus hounds for a weekend trip.

Don’t need “fast” (30knots+) as diesel costs sky rocket and the idea of a longer range pootle is is more inviting so max 20knots will do I guess.

I know this is an age old question and debated forever but I just need to broaden my search.

Semi D will be fine but I think full D hull might be too slow. Full planing whilst fun and closer to my speed freak nature I don’t think works out for passengers too well.

30ft max at the minute as I don’t know what I am doing.

What can you suggest. Anything I can google will help open up the search.

Also if anyone knows of anyone selling anything that might work I would be happy to have a look.

Budget is low so but am not afraid of older boats.

Fairline riviera 286 for example. Seem to be £25k

Max £35/40k

Thanks all for anything in advance.

 

[New Boater]

Hi all,

Brand new boater here looking for advice. I am currently looking to buy a family boat and have fallen into the trap of only looking at Main Brands of boat (Sealine, Fairline, Princess etc)

What I am after is finding out what other brands are out there and recommended and which are not.

I seem to have formed my own view that if is not one of the above then it is “no good” which has to be wrong.

We are a family of four with a couple of dogs.

There will be very occasional trips (if any to be honest) with all coming along as the two boys are growing up fast. The likelihood is that it will be me and the two boys hacking along for a weekend or me and the wife plus hounds for a weekend trip.

Don’t need “fast” (30knots+) as diesel costs sky rocket and the idea of a longer range pootle is is more inviting so max 20knots will do I guess.

I know this is an age old question and debated forever but I just need to broaden my search.

Semi D will be fine but I think full D hull might be too slow. Full planing whilst fun and closer to my speed freak nature I don’t think works out for passengers too well.

30ft max at the minute as I don’t know what I am doing.

What can you suggest. Anything I can google will help open up the search.

Also if anyone knows of anyone selling anything that might work I would be happy to have a look.

Budget is low so but am not afraid of older boats.

Fairline riviera 286 for example. Seem to be £25k

Max £35/40k

Thanks all for anything in advance

Forgot to say would love a hardtop cabin.

 

[GGC]

You can't go wrong with a Westerly. Yes they are older but great build quality. Fin Keel faster than bilge keel, but bilge keel can take the ground. A good option if you are going places with kids where you need to anchor close to shore/beach areas and they want to paddle board or kayak off the boat. Also good when looking for cheaper moorings in tidal areas like the Solent. Where do you sail or plan to sail? that makes a difference too. Westerly Centaur 30ft you can pick up a good one with lots of kit and well looked after for 4 - 6K some go cheaper some cost more. Good family boat. My Westerly Warwick is smaller, so not big enough for a young family but 4 berth, separate heads and an inbuilt engine. Good sturdy, safe boat.

 

[lydiamight]

I think that "New Boater" is looking for a Motor Boat. He mentions "20 knots would be fine" and I don't think you are going to get that sort of speed out of a Westerly

 

[GGC]

A Sadler 29, 32, 34 all great boats too

I think that "New Boater" is looking for a Motor Boat. He mentions "20 knots would be fine" and I don't think you are going to get that sort of speed out of a Westerly

mmmm yes on reflection I guess he is looking for a motor boat ! Do you have any knowledge of Cobra DCS Radio's ? Mine is picking up channels but NO sound!

 

[jakew009]

Hi all,

Brand new boater here looking for advice. I am currently looking to buy a family boat and have fallen into the trap of only looking at Main Brands of boat (Sealine, Fairline, Princess etc)

What I am after is finding out what other brands are out there and recommended and which are not.

I seem to have formed my own view that if is not one of the above then it is “no good” which has to be wrong.

We are a family of four with a couple of dogs.

There will be very occasional trips (if any to be honest) with all coming along as the two boys are growing up fast. The likelihood is that it will be me and the two boys hacking along for a weekend or me and the wife plus hounds for a weekend trip.

Don’t need “fast” (30knots+) as diesel costs sky rocket and the idea of a longer range pootle is is more inviting so max 20knots will do I guess.

I know this is an age old question and debated forever but I just need to broaden my search.

Semi D will be fine but I think full D hull might be too slow. Full planing whilst fun and closer to my speed freak nature I don’t think works out for passengers too well.

30ft max at the minute as I don’t know what I am doing.

What can you suggest. Anything I can google will help open up the search.

Also if anyone knows of anyone selling anything that might work I would be happy to have a look.

Budget is low so but am not afraid of older boats.

Fairline riviera 286 for example. Seem to be £25k

Max £35/40k

Thanks all for anything in advance.

What about a Merry Fisher?

695 / 755 around that sort of money with an outboard so cheap and easy to maintain. Or lots of inboard options of similar ilk.

Where do you intend to keep it?

 

[New Boater]

Hi all,

Great input thanks and already some manufacturers I have never heard of. Keep them coming.

She will be kept in Dover Marina (10 minutes from home) and is fast becoming a lovely place to be.

Aware that we will need to motor along for at least a day east to get to nicer places and beyond but we are quite intrepid and will spend a week or more on a 30 footer easily.

Motorboat yes. Hadn't even considered an outboard (or having now looked at a merry fisher) 2 outboards.

This is great.

 

[roa312]

Since you're open to considering older boats, I recommend taking a look at Nimbus, a Swedish brand. You might also find some older Marex boats within your price range.

There's a whole bunch of other Nordic brands which could potentially fit you but these are from the 80's and onwards, so really depends on how well they are maintained and how open you are to the older generation of boats. For instance, you could have a look at Coronet, Storebro, Apollo and Jupiter. Although, I'm not sure about the availability of these boats in the UK.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Add Aquador, Beneteau and Bavaria to the list.

 

[AllanG]

Add Aquador, Beneteau and Bavaria to the list.

I don’t think you’d find many of the above brand boats, suitable for the Op’s requirements, for his budget of Max £35/40k!

 

[Sticky Fingers]

I don’t think you’d find many of the above brand boats, suitable for the Op’s requirements, for his budget of Max £35/40k!

A simple search on Yacht market found several boats of those brands meeting the OPs requirements.

 

[AllanG]

A simple search on Yacht market found several boats of those brands meeting the OPs requirements.

….just had a look, and certainly not many in the UK though!

 

[Boathook]

A lot of new boats of 30 foot or less are now powered by outboards, so don't write of outboard powered boats.

 

[kashurst]

have a look at Birchwoods.

 

[Montemar]

Have a look at Brooms but forget high speed!

 

[jbweston]

I'd recommned not starting with brand (for which in boats many people use the word 'builder' rather than 'brand'), but with functional requirements and characteristics - budget, petrol or diesel, balance between covered accommodation and open cockpit, speed and range, the type of waters you'll be using the boat in, etc. Then have a look at one or two and you'll work out if some builders have the same ideas as you.

Sometimes a shortcut is to look at the type of boats that seem popular in boat clubs where you'll be based. But beware they might not be what you want if they're popular for a purpose that isn't yours.

Imagine you were advising someone who'd driven few types of car and never owned one. Unless his requirements pointed strongly towards a Bugatti Veyron or an antique Fegusson tractor, you'd encourage him not to limit his investigations to just one of VW, Toyota, or Ford.

 

[EugeneR]

Bayliner 245 265 or even 285 (2 cabin, heads with shower etc). All circa 2000 to 2007.

Less solid wood and more plastic, but it will survive kids, dogs and crayons,, easily repairable, easily resold.

245 can go on trailer, even.

 

[Sandy]

Pilothouse Cabin range | Orkney Boats

 

[DavidJ]

Full planing whilst fun and closer to my speed freak nature I don’t think works out for passengers too well.

Two boys……are you sure they won’t follow your speed freak nature?
If you are looking old then I think you will find Sealine boats look more modern than counterparts of the same age.
Sealine have always had the edge on interior space, always feels like you are on the next size up.
You will probably have seen my bias by now as a multiple Sealine owner.

Thinking ahead of resale, stick with the main brands, I sold my last Sealine in three weeks

 

[PlanB]

When we started out, we spent weekends wandering around marinas and boatyards looking at all sorts, till we were able to narrow our search down. I assume brokers are still happy to show you a number of boats. We were astonished at the number of places who just gave us the keys and left us alone.