advice on buying beneteau / jeanneau

[photodog]

thanks so much for your opinions , not sure a dufour 40 7 years old at 108k is value , my options after much research are

2006 jeanneau 39i

2008 beneteau 37

2007 beneteau 40

all well within the 100k budget

opinions welcome

Well, none of those are gonna be in your budget..... and you need to check the loa to get inside 12 meters...I dont think that either of the Bene's are under 12meters...

If you want to stay within 100k you are gonna have to go for a older boat. I would say the SO40.3 is a good bet.... very nice better sailor than the 39i....

And you probably should reappraise what you consider good value... all of the three you are looking at will have a bit of depreciation left in them... dont make the mistake of thinking newer equals better value...

With all three of those boats you will need to be two up most of the time just to handle the boat upwind.... as the mainsheet is on the coachroof.... if you are gonna short hand you should give a bit of thought to the layout of the deck gear..

The Dufour is a better boat in my opinion! And better value, as it has probably bottomed out on its depreciation....

 

[cloud7]

Well, none of those are gonna be in your budget..... and you need to check the loa to get inside 12 meters...I dont think that either of the Bene's are under 12meters...

If you want to stay within 100k you are gonna have to go for a older boat. I would say the SO40.3 is a good bet.... very nice better sailor than the 39i....



The Dufour is a better boat in my opinion! And better value, as it has probably bottomed out on its depreciation....

interesting comments , first 3 all under 12m, beneteau 40 with ss anchor rest is 11,90m,
all 4 yachts available for 100k or less , does that change your advice , thks

 

[PEEJAYSEA]

Ex Charter Boats

To repeat advice I always give. The charter market uses boats more extensively than individuals so ask a charter company for what they have on their fleet and steer the conversation to your likely candidates and see what their comments are. I was put off a couple of boat makes after learning of charter companies experiences repairing them and not from impact just heavy use!

Without trying to change the thread.....

I picked up on your comemnt of charter companies and repair experiences. Could you perhaps elaborate a little more on this please?

I am considering a "first boat" purchase (2005 ish and 60 k sterling) and am trying to be sensible about the whole thing. I want to put her into a Yacht Management Scheme (and they seem happy to accept an ex charter boat (with tidying up / coding etc). I like the looks of the Bavaria but it has been suggested that build quality is not good? Most are advertised in the Med region ex charter.

That said I see Sunsail are selling off Sun Fast 37's in Port Solent that will require refurb etc.

I would appreciate your thoughts
cheers
Paul

 

[Marsupial]

Without trying to change the thread.....

I picked up on your comemnt of charter companies and repair experiences. Could you perhaps elaborate a little more on this please?

I am considering a "first boat" purchase (2005 ish and 60 k sterling) and am trying to be sensible about the whole thing. I want to put her into a Yacht Management Scheme (and they seem happy to accept an ex charter boat (with tidying up / coding etc). I like the looks of the Bavaria but it has been suggested that build quality is not good? Most are advertised in the Med region ex charter.

That said I see Sunsail are selling off Sun Fast 37's in Port Solent that will require refurb etc.

I would appreciate your thoughts
cheers
Paul

The way to run a successful charter operation is to ensure all your boats are fully operational all the time. As most of the output from BEN/JEN/BAV goes into charter and being modern companies they have listened to their biggest market.

The result is a product that is strong where it needs to be, easy to clean, and easy to maintain. There are very few things that take more than a hour to repair on my Jen because everything is accessable. Standardisation throughout the range also helps when deciding what spares to carry, all the hinges are the same, door catches are the same, trims are . . . you get the idea.

The result is a boat that if bought as the owners version (there are significant differences) will be easy to live with, with all the servicability beneifts the charter operators demanded.

 

[Norman_E]

Re. brands, I can only comment as an outsider but my hunch is that Jeanneau lost its special premium mass market builder status around the time they started fitting wobbly glass splash screens between the galley and saloon seating.

My view is that Jeanneau lost its status when the brand was bought by Beneteau and the latter decided to use it as their secondary brand. My own Jeanneau dates from 1998, and is very well built with an excellent grid of thick plywood stringers bonded to the hull and covered with a GRP layup. The interior woodwork has stood the test of hard charter use very well, because it is all hardwood faced marine ply, with good section hardwood cappings. Some of the post Beneteau take over boats have nothing but a printed woodgrain foil instead of the hardwood faced ply. A year or so ago I met the owner of newish 49 footer, which had damaged foil facings when little over a year old. He was livid about it because the foils are impossible to re-finish, and should have no place on an expensive boat.

I frankly do not understand what Beneteau are doing, by firstly cheapening the Jeanneau brand, and then cheapening their own brand image by introducing their charter market Cyclades range under their own name, but that is their affair.

My own advice is that the original poster should look at some of the earlier Jeanneau boats, as they seem better built than the more recent ones. A lot of details are better too. One example is the companionway, where older Jeanneaus have well designed and made curved steps, giving a level tread at any angle of heel, some later boats have flat treads, or ugly (but cheaper) steps with a flat tread and two sharply angled sides.

 

[cloud7]

jeanneau / beneteau

thks again for all your opinions , one yacht which has been offered to me is an 2004
Jeanneau 37 SO , owners version , 40 hp engine , in mast and bit spec , the quality of
finished woodwork is certainly more appealing than the current jeanneau , its an old model
but does not look MFI kichen range if you take the point , we think the beneteau is much
brighter and modern , which is important when sailing with the wife as crew , ie keeping
everyone happy.

 

[Sailfree]

Without trying to change the thread.....

I picked up on your comemnt of charter companies and repair experiences. Could you perhaps elaborate a little more on this please?

I am considering a "first boat" purchase (2005 ish and 60 k sterling) and am trying to be sensible about the whole thing. I want to put her into a Yacht Management Scheme (and they seem happy to accept an ex charter boat (with tidying up / coding etc). I like the looks of the Bavaria but it has been suggested that build quality is not good? Most are advertised in the Med region ex charter.

That said I see Sunsail are selling off Sun Fast 37's in Port Solent that will require refurb etc.

I would appreciate your thoughts
cheers
Paul

I started by chartering our boat through Hamble School of Yachting 12yrs ago. It was a Dufour 36 classic. At that time they were late on payments (they later went bust and are now under new management) so after a 1yr I asked Hamble Point Yacht Charters (HPYC) if I could transfer my boat to them. They refused as they stated that they doubted the boat would be of the quality they require having been heavily used by a sailing school. The boat is still with Hamble school and going strong and is 12 yrs old now! We happened to berth near it recently so I went and had a good look at it and it has worn well especially with continuous use with a sailing school. 9yrs ago I bought a Dufour 38 Classic and put it with HPYC. I sold that 5 yrs ago but the new owner kept it with HPYC and its still going strong. So certainly I can vouch for the older Dufours. At HPYC they have a number of Bavarias and they don't sail as well as the Dufour but are perfectly adequate and last OK on the charter market.

Certainly the manufacturers consider charter market needs but I doubt whether the statement "most are sold to the charter market is correct" I would think 40% to charter is probable more realistic.

Some boats are more reliable than others often in minor ways. HPYC go on the last days of any boat show and open every hatch on boats that they are considering taking on. They comment on a few makes that can't survive 2 weeks of tyre kickers opening doors/hatches etc without hinges or locks failing!

Most people sell boats at the end of their charter life and if they were properly maintained while on charter and are cosmetically refurbished they are fine for private owners, the reasons they are sold is that charters usually want the newest toys. I am therefore surprised that someone is happy to start chartering a refurbished ex-charter boat that others have decided is at the useful end of its charter life. As my experience of the 2 Dufours 12yrs and 9yrs respectively its not reliability that is the problem (although repair bills do increase with age and rigging checks etc) just that most people want to hire the equivalent of a new Mondeo not an old Cortina if you see my point!

Older boats are more substantial in build as price is driving everything to the minimum size possible. Look at the cleat size ofan Elan 40 compared to the later designed Elan 43!

I am aware of some boats that do not fare well in the robustness stakes on the charter market but am only repeating others statements so would not do it publically. Phone charter companies and find out the makes they have and ask them what they think. Its also not just production boats that are chartered as there have been some Halberg Rassy's and even a Najad on our fleet at times.

I get the impression you are new to to boat ownership so I suggest you look at a few secondhand private boats of the type you are interested in and compare these tothe ex-charter boats so that you can establish and cost the extent of any refurbishment necessary but most of all make sure it is thoroughly surveyed and be aware of the coding costs and the recoding check costs (after 5yrs from original purchase).

For 36' I always put £20k on the list price of a new boat to cover radar/chartplotter and coding items. You don'tneed to have radar etc for coding but if you havn't and others have what ones do you think the charterers will choose.

 

[BoyBlue49]

Don't do it !!

Forget the Jenny, leave Bennys alone, go for a Bavaria 39, a much better boat in construction, sailing ability and comfort in hot climates.

You will find many sailing schools and charter companies use them and reorder them, they are as tough as old boots and most important sea kindly when off shore.

The spec of Bavarias is superior to their French equivalent and the build quality of the hull, the bits you can't see, is stronger.

Would you buy a Citroen or a VW ? Go for German build every time. German technology is far advanced and enables a less expensive purchase for a similar size boat.

 

[PEEJAYSEA]

Ex Charter

I get the impression you are new to to boat ownership so I suggest you look at a few secondhand private boats of the type you are interested in and compare these tothe ex-charter boats so that you can establish and cost the extent of any refurbishment necessary but most of all make sure it is thoroughly surveyed and be aware of the coding costs and the recoding check costs (after 5yrs from original purchase).

For 36' I always put £20k on the list price of a new boat to cover radar/chartplotter and coding items. You don'tneed to have radar etc for coding but if you havn't and others have what ones do you think the charterers will choose.

I am indeed new to this - Comp Crew recently but keen to progress and gaing further experience / RYA Quals. We as a family are considering a YMS v outright ownership due to being "newbies" and are of the opinion it might help with the learnign curve?

I have been looking mostly at the 2005 Bav / Jen range to be honest. There is little in the way (that I can find) of like for like price ex charter or "private" but erhaps I am looking in thw rong places?

I have been advised that I would need to add approx 15 grand to the purchase price to bring her up to standard / code etc.

 

[Bajansailor]

A pal bought a Jeanneau SO 40 through BVI Yacht Sales a couple of years ago - lovely boats, and they have one on their books at the moment - http://www.bviyachtsales.com/core/l...er&&hosturl=bviyachtsales&&ywo=bviyachtsales&
Only trouble is, she is on the opposite side of the Atlantic to you......
Have a look also for general reference at the Beneteaus et al for sale.

 

[247sailing]

hi all
we are looking at a 1991 jenneau 51 and would dearly really love some feedback to this yacht its construction and ocean ability as we are planning to complete our circumnavigation