Are there any boats that are unsinkable?

Thistle said:
None guaranteed if jousting with Solent ferries. ;) :)
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Sadler 34, just about. Not a Solent ferry, but a coaster off IOW, many years ago. The Sadler 29 and 26 float progressively higher and the 26 can supposedly sail when fully swamped.
Floater.jpg
 
Boomshanka said:
Etap (no longer made but awaiting news from new owner)
Some of the Sadlers
Sure there are others... some folk don't buy the concept though (or rate the importance)
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Cant talk about the others but I have a Sadler 34, hull no 69, which was one of the "test boats" - 7½ cube of foam bouyancy on a 5½ ton boat - she floated (and sailed) even when full of water. I do admit I have not tried opening all the sea cocks myself yet but i am confident she will float even when swamped and full of water.

sadlerhole.jpg

Just a wee hole in the hull.........

Etaps supposed to be the same.........
 
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I'm pretty confident of ETAP since it's a heading on their website and I think the legal eagles would murder them if it were untrue.

Regarding the Fire thing, surely in this day and age, Fire resistant foam must exist. I'm sure all boats don't need to go up like a 1970's sofa.
 
Although I once owned a Sadler 29 I never really bought into the unsinkability thing, though I suppose there was some reassurance to be had. However, a friend of ours sails with a wife who is understandably nervous of sailing, having survived a serious near-drowning experience as a teenager. They sail an Etap for this reason, within sight of land and I am very happy that they can at least get some pleasure from sailing, even if their assessment is technicall a little unsound.
 
jhr said:
I'm fairly sure that YM borrowed an Etap a few years back, opened all the seacocks and then sailed across to France and back in it. :)
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Which is a silly idea. Cause we all know within a a few years the seacocks will all be jammed solid and they'll never be able to get enough water into it. haha
 
I never bought any of our Etaps solely on the unsinkable credential. All that foam though also gives you good thermal and sound insulation. But the main reason is the solid build quality and in the case of our current Etap and the previous one, a 28i, it has been their speed. There has been many a larger boat we have outsailed, why, I even once passed a 45ftr as we both left Chi harbour, he only just caught up with us and managed to get in front after I over compensated for tidal drift as we approached Cherbourg, he just got in a few hundred metres in front of us at the Eastern entrance, and that's after 60 odd miles!
 
A further thought

Ian: Have you considered some kind of RIB arrangement? If you add a mast and sails, the deep V hull should give you enough grip to prevent lateral drift, many of them have a chamber in the bilges (a la MacGregor) which fills with water at low speeds to keep them stable, and they're difficult to sink. However, the main consideration from your POV is that the Wightlink Ferries will just bounce off you.

Sounds perfect to me.
 
galadriel said:
I never bought any of our Etaps solely on the unsinkable credential. All that foam though also gives you good thermal and sound insulation. But the main reason is the solid build quality and in the case of our current Etap and the previous one, a 28i, it has been their speed. There has been many a larger boat we have outsailed, why, I even once passed a 45ftr as we both left Chi harbour, he only just caught up with us and managed to get in front after I over compensated for tidal drift as we approached Cherbourg, he just got in a few hundred metres in front of us at the Eastern entrance, and that's after 60 odd miles!
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Well the folks at Tollesbury have been selling them for some time and from the ones I looked at they seemed nicely finished and well designed boats. I was quite impressed.
 
I think Ian really needs to think out the box here ... why does'nt he get his retaqliation in first by running a MTB?
 
Our yacht club used to have a clinker boat as a mooring barge, the planks eventually sprang and it had grass and larger weeds growing on top of it but it didn't sink even years after it had been replaced - it had been totally filled with cavity wall foam insulation -hence its nickname "Foambelly"
 
The original publicity around Etaps claimed that, even if the boat were cut in two, both halves would float because of the sealed buoyancy. In France which initiated the unsinkable title, Etaps were originally exempted from carrying liferafts. This I believe has now changed because of fire risks.

A problem with the Etap is that if the outer skin leaks, the foam buoyancy can become waterlogged and the boat heavy. A careful survey is called for.

Several other French boats have officially the unsinkable tab and the Amels claim unsinkability because of their watertight bulkheads.

John
 
A friend has just bought a new Amel, and I looked at the watertight bulkheads. BUT I also looked at the price...
The build quality is impressive and most important things are in house ( masts from basic sections, bits welded on, then coated.) The company is a co-op, original owner gave it to his workers and shares are time-served related.They have a 'swimming pool' at the factory, where all boats are given a week long systems check before delivery. Most buyers are trading up from on older model.
A
 
A fellow I vaguely know had a Sadler 26.... coming back from france to Lyme Regis were he had his mooring he lost the Rudder... and ended up pinned to the cob......

I dont think the boat sank... but it did get turned into matchsticks.

(I gather he also lost most of his "Cargo" of wine as well.....)
 
The makers of the McGregor 26 say its unsinkable. By the way, is it a power boat or a sail boat? I can never make my mind up when I see one! Never sailed or powered on one. Never sunk one myself either!
 
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