Advice needed on Sealine F33 Flybridge - welcome any views please.

[DTC21]

Hi All,

New to this forum and I currently own a Falcon F27 which I love but am now looking to upgrade to a Sealine F33 Flybridge.

Can anyone share their views on this boat please - any issues, things to watch out for? I 've seen one that is a 1998 model - views on whether this would be a good first flybridge to buy? If anyone has one of these, what's the handling like for you?

Many thanks,

Dave

 

[rafiki_]

Dave,

A very warm welcome to the forum. The F27 is a lovely boat, but I can understand your wanting the additional space the F33 brings.

I am not an owner of the Sealine, but I looked into buying one a few years ago. They have fantastic use of space, saloon and cabins are brilliant. The fly is OK, but a bit small. The engines are on outdrives, so you will be used to these on your Falcon, but some on here think outdrives are the work of the devil. I had them for years, and with appropriate maintenance, never had a problem.

However, on the F33, you have a lot of windage, so would definitely look for a boat with a good bow thruster for mooring.

F33's were mainly supplied with the KAD32 Volvo's, a really good engine for this boat. There were 1 or 2 Merc diesels too, but these fetch less than the Volvo engines, so be aware in your purchase.

Good luck, and keep us posted.

 

[sharpness]

Can't offer much more than what Rafiki said . Not sure if you've seen it, but below is the vid clip of Nicks review of the F33 from MBM.

 

[Nigelpickin]

Saw this come up the other day, (i subscribe to his youtube channel), looks neat and a bit younger than the 1998 model....
I think that they are great looking boats and when we had a 27' cruiser it was the F33 parked next door that prompted us to upgrade, (although we didn't go down the sealine route).
http://www.jamesdickensmarine.com/Brokerage/Powerboats/SealineF33.htm

 

[solitaire11]

My next door neighbour has one of the last ones which i use quite regular.. cracking little boat with the kad 32. Not the quickest boat but very good use of space for a 10 metre. Ive been down the channel with it in alsorts of conditions and she seems to handle everything thrown at it... i'd say for the money they seem good value and still very pleasing on the eye. Imo. I'd steer clear of the 150 hp ones thou.. as when loaded with fuel/water and gear you'd be ringin it's neck most the time.. handling wise i think it really is childs play, never been an issue

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

Our first flybridge boat was a Sealine 305 which was the forerunner of the F33. As rafiki says, they have a huge amount of accommodation for their size but the price for that is sterndrive power. Put sterndrive power with a lot of windage due to the flybridge and not a lot of hull in the water, and you get a boat which is blown about quite easily at slow speeds which means that marina handling can be fraught. Our boat didn't have a bowthruster but I definitely recommend that you find one that has a thruster fitted. I don't know whether this is a characteristic of the F33 but one characteristic that our 305 exhibited was that it was very sensitive to trim; having 2-3 people sitting on one side of the flybridge would necessitate copious amounts of trim tab to correct the lean at speed. Our boat also porpoised a bit at speeds above 25kts or so but this wasn't a big factor.
I know that the 305/310/F33 is an attractive boat because of the amount of accommodation you get for the money but speaking entirely personally and knowing what I know now, I would try to spend a bit more money on a slightly larger shaftdrive flybridge boat even if that means going older but as I say, thats a personal opinion and others might disagree

 

[oldgit]

Check those outdrives within an inch of their lives.
Aquaintance recently bought a F33 with duo props.Seller was convinced that he had faithfully followed the regular servicing during the decades he had owned the boat and was convinced when he sold the boat to a friend that everything was OK.
A bow thruster was installed within weeks and two replacement outdrive legs were found to be needed shortly afterwards.
Was asked my opinion and did mention def needed bowthruster and outdrive problems ,but it was all in vain as his good lady had fallen in love with the interior.
Just hope the boat itsself does not disappoint when they finally get to use it next season.
Their previous boat did not have acres of shiney cherry but it did have an Olinski hull.

 

[madabouttheboat]

Check those outdrives within an inch of their lives.
Aquaintance recently bought a F33 with duo props.Seller was convinced that he had faithfully followed the regular servicing during the decades he had owned the boat and was convinced when he sold the boat to a friend that everything was OK.
A bow thruster was installed within weeks and two replacement outdrive legs were found to be needed shortly afterwards.
Was asked my opinion and did mention def needed bowthruster and outdrive problems ,but it was all in vain as his good lady had fallen in love with the interior.
Just hope the boat itsself does not disappoint when they finally get to use it next season.
Their previous boat did not have acres of shiney cherry but it did have an Olinski hull.

I am curious to know what exactly was wrong with both outdrives that: a) wasn't obvious to the seller and buyer at time of sale b) didn't show up on a survey c) couldn't be fixed without complete replacement

This must be a case of someone missing/overlooking something very obvious, or Oldgits rather tainted view on outdrives causing a bit of exaggeration.

The F33 was launched in 1998 so not sure how many decades worth of maintenance he could have done. Does one and half count as a plural

 

[oldgit]

I am curious to know what exactly was wrong with both outdrives that: a) wasn't obvious to the seller and buyer at time of sale b) didn't show up on a survey c) couldn't be fixed without complete replacement

This must be a case of someone missing/overlooking something very obvious, or Oldgits rather tainted view on outdrives causing a bit of exaggeration.

The F33 was launched in 1998 so not sure how many decades worth of maintenance he could have done. Does one and half count as a plural

H,mm think the 330 aka the F33 appeared in 1996,with added decals Innit,there are a couple of brokers adverts out there with dubious use of model designations.

Seller owned the F33 from new.
When boat was hauled out for new bowthruster in order to make the boat easier to manage in confined spaces ie.where the bloke at the wheel wanted the boat to go , outdrives were booked to be serviced by Tollesbury Volvo agent at same time..
On closer inspection both legs considered beyond economical repair due to corrosion , so pair of refurbished units was suggested as most economical way of getting boat back on water.

Merely saying that the seller was convinced the drives were in serviceable condition due to the amount of money he spent on them over the years.
What chance does any buyer stand of getting a decent pair, knowing the numbers of poorly serviced ones out there being sold simply because they require a shed full of money being spent and the owner has had enough..
We probably all started out with the things hanging off the back of the boat, some of us even repeated the mistake three times.
Then slowly slowly the light seeps in the brain,rather than water into the bearings.
Caveat Emptor.

 

[halcyon]

Our first flybridge boat was a Sealine 305 which was the forerunner of the F33. As rafiki says, they have a huge amount of accommodation for their size but the price for that is sterndrive power. Put sterndrive power with a lot of windage due to the flybridge and not a lot of hull in the water, and you get a boat which is blown about quite easily at slow speeds which means that marina handling can be fraught.

The 330 and thus F33 have a modified stern, moving the engines further apart to improve handling.


Brian

 

[Greg2]

Hi All,

New to this forum and I currently own a Falcon F27 which I love but am now looking to upgrade to a Sealine F33 Flybridge.

Can anyone share their views on this boat please - any issues, things to watch out for? I 've seen one that is a 1998 model - views on whether this would be a good first flybridge to buy? If anyone has one of these, what's the handling like for you?

Many thanks,

Dave

Some good advice already on here, which is pretty much all that I could have said from general knowledge as opposed to having owned one. Probably worth joining/posting on the Sealine Forum, which is fairly active with several F33 owners regularly contributing.