Best ever bargain Centaur? Or is there something wrong?

Doesn't seem unduly cheap. This is my old Sabre, I advertised her for £7.5k and took £6.5k off a mate. Re-engined (Lombardini) about 15 years ago but 10 years on the hard so low hours. New headlining, rudder rebuilt, keel bolts changed, decent plotter, new sails in 2014, standing rigging in 2013, decent winches and all controls led back, good canvas, cruising chute and carbon bowsprit...all in a slightly bigger boat than a Centaur and with a fin keel too. Dinghy, outboard, and everything to literally step aboard and sail off.

Small old boats aren't worth much...they offer fantastic value for money and are extremely capable, but everyone wants spacious 32' + AWBs now (even me)

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RichardS said:
You're going to be really pee'd off when you take the time and trouble to go and see it and find that the places not shown in the photos have been used for storing the owners collection of vintage dog shit. :encouragement:

Richard
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Do you seriously expect someone selling a boat to publish picture s of the vintage dog shit storage areas , or the pile of rust, that stated life as chain in the chain locker or the 40 years worth of grease. crud and dead rats in the bilge, the mouldering pile of state food in the food storage locker, the almost unrecognisable object that was once a marine toilet etc etc.

They will want to encourage interest by showing things like a shiny new engine or the smart new headlining not discourage any interest
 
VicS said:
Do you seriously expect someone selling a boat to publish picture s of the vintage dog shit storage areas , or the pile of rust, that stated life as chain in the chain locker or the 40 years worth of grease. crud and dead rats in the bilge, the mouldering pile of state food in the food storage locker, the almost unrecognisable object that was once a marine toilet etc etc.

They will want to encourage interest by showing things like a shiny new engine or the smart new headlining not discourage any interest
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Ah, so you agree with me that having just 4 photos is deeply suspicious. ;)

Richard
 
Seajet said:
Or experienced sailors who know what they're talking about not trendy nonsense; what exactly would you suggest to do the same versatile, seaworthy job as a Centaur ?

?
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Seaworthy with bilge keels falling off. Built like a brick shithouse etc etc. And sails like one. There's a common misconception that unless it's a Westerly it's not seaworthyy. Builders tend to not build boats that aren't seaworthy.
 
Spyro, you seem to be as anti-Westerly as some owners are pro. :biggrin-new: It's hard to take anyone seriously who is so vehement.

Iain C said:
Doesn't seem unduly cheap...Small old boats aren't worth much...they offer fantastic value for money...
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Agreed, fine value, at the point of purchase. I can't work out if that cheapness is made more, or rather less dazzling, if berthing her costs as much again.

The notable point about this example surely, is that the average Centaur, advertised (if not sold) for £5,000, may easily be overdue for that much expenditure again by the 'lucky' new owner. This example appears (at first glance) to have included most of that impending cost in her opening price.

If this example isn't outstandingly cheap, what does it say about the many other £5,000+ Centaurs being offered, whose troubled engines await replacement?

Not to mention a few very clean ones that an East Coast brokerage is offering for £10,000+.

Thanks, to VicS and others who have pointed helpfully to Centaur weaknesses worthy of investigation when viewing one. :encouragement:
 
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Not necessarily so cheap. I gave away my GK24 last year after 3 years of refurbing sails, new boom cover, rewired inside, deck repainted (that was a big job to do right), fixed headlining, new seacocks, new loo, repainted and prepped inside, a really good general clean up and most of all, a brand new Yanmar.

But given away because the marina fee of 2.5k was due and I just wasn't sailing it nearly enough as I have another boat, alas a flight away so I kept the local one. I had put it on the market for £5k then 3k a few years before when it was clean but not refurbished and got nowhere so when two keen young colleagues of my brother fancied a boat I said take it rather than pay the marina and then maybe clear a thousand or two if, big if, it sold before it all started looking tired again.
 
There are many price points for most things, here is a £1000 Westerly Centaur:

https://www.preloved.co.uk/adverts/...-ono.html?link=/search?keyword=yacht+westerly

So you can spend £1000 or £5000 or £10,000, happy days.

We can all moan that 10 grand is too much; whatever is the old fart thinking, just because it is well kept and perfectly equipped.

Everyone can gripe that the cheap one is too cheap; new sails 3k, new engine 5k, Seatalk system 3k new underwater lights 2.5k.

And we can all agree that the 5k one is probably not worth much and has hidden defects waiting to bankrupt you before the Cheltenham Festival.
 
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dancrane said:
Spyro, you seem to be as anti-Westerly as some owners are pro. :biggrin-new: It's hard to take anyone seriously who is so vehement.


Agreed, fine value, at the point of purchase. I can't work out if that cheapness is made more, or rather less dazzling, if berthing her costs as much again.

The notable point about this example surely, is that the average Centaur, advertised (if not sold) for £5,000, may easily be overdue for that much expenditure again by the 'lucky' new owner. This example appears (at first glance) to have included most of that impending cost in her opening price.

If this example isn't outstandingly cheap, what does it say about the many other £5,000+ Centaurs being offered, whose troubled engines await replacement?

Not to mention a few very clean ones that an East Coast brokerage is offering for £10,000+.

Thanks, to VicS and others who have pointed helpfully to Centaur weaknesses worthy of investigation when viewing one. :encouragement:
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I'm not anti Westerly I just don't get this love for old Centaurs and people thinking they are worth a lot more than they are. Yes they were probably brilliant boats 50 years ago but we've moved on a bit since then. I would never describe my boat as Trendy or modern but it's a completely different boat from a Centaur.
 
The days of a centaur going for £10k are long gone and £5k feels like the going rate for a decent one. A "project" centaur will be effectively worthless and best shot would be to find a new / naive person eager to get afloat on pocket money. At £10k you can get good Berwick / Pentland / Renown /the other version which offers far more space and only marginally higher running costs.
 
RichardS said:
You're going to be really pee'd off when you take the time and trouble to go and see it and find that the places not shown in the photos have been used for storing the owners collection of vintage dog shit. :encouragement:

Richard
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Anyone serious should phone the broker and demand more photos.
Whatever photos are in the advert, it doesn't stop some part of the boat having a serious problem.
I once drove to the East Coast to view a boat which looked nice in the advert, but when I got there, the keel was half off and the interior was full of ground GRP dust. To be fair to the broker, he was cross as well.

You buy a £5k boat, it might not need any work done this winter, but it will at some time.
At this level, you have to look at a few boats, be prepared to sort the odd problem, have a budget beond the purchase price and be prepared to trust to your luck and judgement.

If I was selling a boat like this, I might prefer to meet one serious buyer and take the asking, rather than spend the whole winter being beaten down from £9k by a stream of bargain hunters with a lot of hassle arranging surveys etc.
If you want to be afloat at Easter, you typically needed to have your offer accepted last month in my view.
 
dancrane said:
Agreed, fine value, at the point of purchase. I can't work out if that cheapness is made more, or rather less dazzling, if berthing her costs as much again.

The notable point about this example surely, is that the average Centaur, advertised (if not sold) for £5,000, may easily be overdue for that much expenditure again by the 'lucky' new owner. This example appears (at first glance) to have included most of that impending cost in her opening price.
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Everything costs money - the annual parking and ongoing maintenance on my Centaur were probably close to the nominal value of the boat. Does that matter or is it even relevant? To me, not really - I liked the boat, wanted to keep her in good nick and enjoyed the convenience of a marina berth.

Her new owner may prefer cheaper moorings, or not. Doesn't really matter
 
obmij said:
Everything costs money - the annual parking and ongoing maintenance on my Centaur were probably close to the nominal value of the boat. Does that matter or is it even relevant? To me, not really - I liked the boat, wanted to keep her in good nick and enjoyed the convenience of a marina berth.

Her new owner may prefer cheaper moorings, or not. Doesn't really matter
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+1 although not a Westerly owner.
When I bought my current boat 14 years ago I kept a spreadsheet of costs. Long since gave that up, I love my boat and if it needs something, generally it gets it and bugger the cost...
 
If it's all done as advertised, I think 5k is a good price for it and it will sell at that price. I also don't think such well sorted ones will come up at a realistic price and well fettled very often at all. It will take you all sorts of interesting places, and look after you, as long as it doesn't have a keel issue.

Big difference to buying a cheap little trailer sailer though.
 
I you want a Centaur then the price is very good for the advertised spec. You with struggle to find that spec for that price. Just phone the broker for more photos and to check it does not have lots of dirty things, very unlikely in my opinion.

If you do not want a Centaur dont bother but why look in the first place?
 
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