A cautionary tale for Christmas

[Joker]

Some of you may be planning to buy a new boat at the Boat Show (don’t put your hands up all at the same time!). I would like to tell you a cautionary tale.

Most boats these days are built abroad, so the builder appoints a British agent to market the boat in the UK. You buy the boat from the agent, not the builder.

Suppose you have a major problem and you go back to the agent (since you have no contract with the builder) under the Sale of Goods Act. Now, the agent may be just a chap operating out of an office somewhere. He may not have a great deal in the way of financial resources. Usually, the builder, mindful of his good name, will step in and put things right.

But this may not always be the case. The builder and agent may have fallen out. The builder may have abandoned the U.K. market. The agent may have gone out of business.

Worst case scenario: agent strings you along for a year or so whilst you rack up legal fees, before you abandon the whole thing as a bad job, and pay for all the repairs yourself.

Reader, it happened to me. Be warned. Find out more here.

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

There is a simple solution to this problem.

Buy a British boat!

It's more fun anyway.

 

[snowleopard]

Ouch! from the core photos it is clear that the vacuum process was not done correctly during construction. I am currently in the process of building my 7th foam-cored hull so I know a bit about the subject. I believe a similar fault caused the problems with Team Philips's bows breaking off.

 

[alant]

Ouch! from the core photos it is clear that the vacuum process was not done correctly during construction. I am currently in the process of building my 7th foam-cored hull so I know a bit about the subject. I believe a similar fault caused the problems with Team Philips's bows breaking off.

Wasn't that something to do with using non-waterproof glue?

 

[Joker]

Buy a British boat!

Unfortunately, your choice is a bit limited these days!

 

[Twister_Ken]

I'm surprised you haven't mentioned that the yacht concerned is a HUZAR from EM YACHTS of Poland, and the UK agent concerned is WITTEY MARINE.

Without those names being mentioned, Google would never index the topic. Once Google has indexed those names it could impact those considering dealing with Huzar/EM Yachts and/or Wittey Marine.

 

[Joker]

The decision not to name was deliberate, since I didn't want to make the issue look too personal. However, I see you have now done so, which saves me the trouble [many thanks!].

 

[Ex-SolentBoy]

Unfortunately, your choice is a bit limited these days!

Limited, but in my opinion not at all limiting.

Bowman
Fisher
Oyster
Mystery
Rustler
Southerly
Vancouver etc.

and that's just a few cruising boats

What more can you ask for?

 

[Joker]

What else could you ask for? Something under £100,000?

Where is the starter boat of yesteryear?

 

[Searush]

What else could you ask for? Something under £100,000?

Where is the starter boat of yesteryear?

A point I have made on these fora several times. I am always told that there are plenty of used boats around for starter boats. Now that suits me as I have only ever bought used boats, but if one wants new . . . .

But there is not enough profit margin on small vessels.

 

[prv]

I am always told that there are plenty of used boats around for starter boats. Now that suits me as I have only ever bought used boats, but if one wants new . . . .

...then one is a very lucky starter-person to be able to afford it

My instinct is to bemoan the disappearance of the kind of small, cheap, perhaps partly-homemade boat that got a lot of people started in the 70s and other far-off times before I was born. But perhaps times have just changed - I guess most people who come to sailing as an adult now do courses and chartering rather than buying a cheap boat and getting stuck in. Perhaps missing out on some formative experiences though?

Pete

 

[dt4134]

Ouch! from the core photos it is clear that the vacuum process was not done correctly during construction. I am currently in the process of building my 7th foam-cored hull so I know a bit about the subject. I believe a similar fault caused the problems with Team Philips's bows breaking off.

Foam-cored hulls are not bleeding edge technology these days so this just looks like it's down to poor construction.

If I remember rightly, EM Yachts are not long established and they were set up to build the Huzar.

It's a shame because they've always looked like nice boats.

PS On the buy British theme, wasn't there a similar problem with the Starlights that brought down Bowman Yachts.

 

[dt4134]

Reader, it happened to me. Be warned. Find out more here.

Good luck in getting your boat fixed and winning your battle with the builder/agent.

 

[fastjedi]

There is a simple solution to this problem.

Buy a British boat!

It's more fun anyway.

EEEEErrrr ..... NOT FUN....... I lost six years of very hard earnt savings by putting my faith in the British boat building Industry two years ago............ NEVER AGAIN

 

[sailorman]

Foam-cored hulls are not bleeding edge technology these days so this just looks like it's down to poor construction.

If I remember rightly, EM Yachts are not long established and they were set up to build the Huzar.

It's a shame because they've always looked like nice boats.

PS On the buy British theme, wasn't there a similar problem with the Starlights that brought down Bowman Yachts.

On the buy British theme, wasn't there a similar problem with the Starlights that brought down Bowman Yachts.
Yes & no
the directors walked away from the problem & left the 10 or so owners to the sort their own boats out @ a cost in the region of £40k per boat

 

[sailorman]

What else could you ask for? Something under £100,000?

Where is the starter boat of yesteryear?

A starter boat these daze is a 40 footer. not the Morror dinghy & Silhouette Mk 2 i started with & both paid for out of savings

 

[davidej]

A colleague used to say " pioneers end up with arrows in their back""

A bit of a warning about being one of the first buyers from an unproven company!

 

[Joker]

One of the more irritating parts to the whole business is that despite the evidence of three surveyors, and pictures like those, both the builders and the agent still insist there was no fault in construction.

 

[sailorman]

One of the more irritating parts to the whole business is that despite the evidence of three surveyors, and pictures like those, both the builders and the agent still insist there was no fault in construction.

Trading Standards

 

[Twister_Ken]

On the buy British theme, wasn't there a similar problem with the Starlights that brought down Bowman Yachts. [/B]

Similar but not the same. The Starlight problem is that a bunch of hulls were contracted out. The firm that built them used the wrong foam to fill the void between inner and outer hulls. The foam they used never completely cured. When the boat was warmed by sunlight, it expanded a volatile constituent in the uncured part of the foam resulting in high pressure which caused bulges in the topsides. When the hull cooled down again the pressure was reduced, which sucked the outer hull back in. The hull, effectively, was panting once a day. When repeated this caused 'hungry horse' syndrome, and cracking around hard points.

At least, that's what was told me by Bowmans in-house surveyor.