Best buy diesel legally trailerable motor boat to buy?

[PowerYachtBlog]

Whitelighter really gave some nice tips and the Salpa would be up top in my choices. There finishing is also very good. Salpa have also a Sonny Levi derived hull so are very seaworth boats. I was very much interested in there 325 but felt only slightly bigger to my previous boat, and the 385 was over budget to really come up with it.

If u where looking new I would also look at this new brand Cutwater but they Fluid Motion have been in buisness for quite a while, what is a very versatile product, single shaft engine with shaft. But this definitly off budget but really an interesting innovative product!
http://www.poweryachtblog.com/2011/01/projects-cutwater-26-cutwater-28.html

 

[frankym3]

Looked up Salpas on YBW sales. Not familiar with this boat, saw 1 boat for sale in category, but twin diesels = heavy I wouldv thought! Be interested to see more photos! Not sure about Italian build quality/ electrics to be honest though.... Alfas look beautiful too after all! haha

To all who gave advice on trailer regs. I would have no desire to break laws unnecessarily and dont intend to, that why I was considering changing tow car. Was more bending the laws, which I now realise on reflection has its unforeseen pitfalls!

To summarise everyone then, length not that important, weight is, all up tow weight (if vehicle is of a type which is approved to do so) is 3,500kg, if I fuel and water her when I arrive (i.e. keep her dry) and trailer is 700kg then I need a boat maximum of 2,800 kg.

To summarise boat choices I would say consensus seems to be Sealine is the best although Doral looks to be nicer finished and more attractive to look at!

Personally my favourites from what I usually see on water around here are Regals and Montereys, but then thats based on appearance rather than test! Do like the look of the Doral.. am a sucker for the Radar band look! Think the Regal looks the most modern but not a lot of diesels available in budget. Four Winns Vista Diesel is another good in budget diesel option, but the interior on '05 boats looks very similar to my '97 boat which is dated plus i'd like a change!

Aww well lot to think about and need to sell my own first so will wait and see, plenty of time to think bout it!

Thanks all again!

 

[GrahamHR]

700kg for a steel (welded box section) trailer is about right; However I've seen some really nice US trailers based on aluminium I beams. They must be a lot lighter. OK, you'd have to ditch the nice , high efficiency low maintenance disc brakes to fit crappy drum brakes to legally use them in the UK and fit a new hitch, but it must be easily possible, allowing a heavier boat to be legally towed.

 

[frankym3]

700kg for a steel (welded box section) trailer is about right; However I've seen some really nice US trailers based on aluminium I beams. They must be a lot lighter. OK, you'd have to ditch the nice , high efficiency low maintenance disc brakes to fit crappy drum brakes to legally use them in the UK and fit a new hitch, but it must be easily possible, allowing a heavier boat to be legally towed.

My Four Winns came with such a trailer, 2 axle, alloy wheels, dosent rust, is incredibly light and even though its probably the same age as the boat pulls and operates better than some 2010 Ifor Williams trailers I also own! I wonder what weight she is? Must be under 500kg I wouldve thought!? That would equal a 3tonne boat dry! From memory the Salpa was 3,000kg, hard to believe it could be with 2 engines in it though!

Anyone have experience of Salpas or pics of inside/ outside? Or should they be avoided!?

 

[Jim@sea]

To summarise everyone then, length not that important, weight is, all up tow weight (if vehicle is of a type which is approved to do so) is 3,500kg, if I fuel and water her when I arrive (i.e. keep her dry) and trailer is 700kg then I need a boat maximum of 2,800 kg.

I had a HGV Operaters Licence and my trucks would be on a weighbridge every day. So when I bought my last boat (in France) I took advice from the boatyard which was selling me the boat and I bought a brand new trailer (Satellite) suggested and supplied by them. When I got the boat home I noticed that the tyres bulged a bit so I took the boat (on trailer obviously) to a weighbridge and found that boatyard had made a mistake in what they had estimated the weight of the boat to be. The gross weight the trailer would carry was 1900 kilos and the boat on the weighbridge (after deducting the weight of the trailer) was 2300 kilos. So it was 400 kilos over.
So after emptying the diesel tanks etc., I got it down to 2100.
But it was still legally overweight, What the boatyard should have done is sell me a bigger trailer but the one they sold me was the biggest one that Satellite listed for my hull shape. What I also should have done is pop back to the UK and buy a real trailer like SBS etc, anyway it only costs around £5 to pop somthing on a weighbridge and once weighed, you know where you are with the what you are towing.