penberth3
Well-Known Member
Yes, the link to apolloduck is in the first post.
Best ever bargain Centaur? Or is there something wrong?
- Thread starter Greenheart
- Start date
Yes, the link to apolloduck is in the first post.
pvb
Well-Known Member
They didn't make an excellent job of it on the brand new Westerly I bought in 1978 - the headlining lasted about a year before it fell off!
RichardS
N/A
Spyro
Well-Known Member
I know but there's some talking about contacting the broker and demanding more pictures that's why I said that. Not many brokers will handle something of that value.
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
That's what I was thinking when I started the thread. Actually I just took another look, and here's another Centaur in the same list...
And, the price for this very similar-looking example, with a nine year-old Bukh engine? £11,995. :biggrin-new: :biggrin-new:
So, yes, I reckon the other one is a bargain - unless she's quietly rotting, underneath. Even then, you could put her nice new engine in a better Centaur hull, whose demised Volvo had made it worthless, and still end up happy. But not for me...I've had a think.
I was never much attracted by the Centaur's looks or reputed performance, or the way the seatbacks are pressed against a vertical bulkhead so you can't easily recline; and I really don't like that white plastic galley unit dominating the front end of the saloon...it may be easy to clean, but it's damned ugly. I know the C-layout had the galley aft, unfortunately the C-layout is the rarest...
...but...few smaller yachts have a separate loo, forecabin and proper headroom. Those are the attractions, to me - the caravan-comfort. I reckon most people are happy spending longer on board, if they aren't obliged to kneel indoors and crap in the open cabin.
All the same, this thread has reminded me that it's largely for reasons unrelated to sailing, that the Centaur has lately attracted me.
Seajet
...
Dan,
in the hands of someone who knows how to trim sails the Centaur performs quite well; they formed a poor reputation in early days for two reasons -
As such a good package they attracted a lot of novices,
also because of the big engine for those days old hands thought she must be a motor-sailer ( in fact it was just Volvo made an offer Weterlys couldn't refuse )
The original Volvo is a vibrating thumper compared to the turbine-smooth 3 cylinder Nanni a chum had in his late Centaur.
Snags;
the tiller sweeps the cockpit, even two-up the crew has to pull legs up or jump on the cockpit seats for tacking or gybing
the sprayhood was just the wrong height for me at 5'9", had to stoop and look through the dodgy windows or more likely stand on seat and look over it
the boat sails quite well but there is zero feel or feedback on the helm; may as well stay on autopilot all the time.
Re the grp galley, my dad quickly clad the moulding in teak faced ply as soon as he bought his example, # 2187 quite a late one with the modern looking hatches.
in the hands of someone who knows how to trim sails the Centaur performs quite well; they formed a poor reputation in early days for two reasons -
As such a good package they attracted a lot of novices,
also because of the big engine for those days old hands thought she must be a motor-sailer ( in fact it was just Volvo made an offer Weterlys couldn't refuse )
The original Volvo is a vibrating thumper compared to the turbine-smooth 3 cylinder Nanni a chum had in his late Centaur.
Snags;
the tiller sweeps the cockpit, even two-up the crew has to pull legs up or jump on the cockpit seats for tacking or gybing
the sprayhood was just the wrong height for me at 5'9", had to stoop and look through the dodgy windows or more likely stand on seat and look over it
the boat sails quite well but there is zero feel or feedback on the helm; may as well stay on autopilot all the time.
Re the grp galley, my dad quickly clad the moulding in teak faced ply as soon as he bought his example, # 2187 quite a late one with the modern looking hatches.
scruff
Well-Known Member
I'll agree with seajet above sailed right, the centaur can sail well. There was a gent at my last club who could clean up the regatta.
For what you get in 26' it's a hard to beat package. Rewinding 7 years I bought a folksong - pretty much a plastic Nordic folkboat. Knowing what I do now, buying a centaur would of been a better bet....
For what you get in 26' it's a hard to beat package. Rewinding 7 years I bought a folksong - pretty much a plastic Nordic folkboat. Knowing what I do now, buying a centaur would of been a better bet....
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
Nice idea about the ply Andy, I wonder why no-one else does that.
But, if I really had £5,000, I wouldn't be talking Centaurs, I'd be aboard Lucette.
Still, I do think the Centaur's changing valuations, dips and (possibly) revivals are interesting.
I daresay we'll eventually reach a point, no time soon, when a large proportion of them won't be worth mooring or insuring, while a handful will continue to gleam and become a real pampered rarity, like a once-commonplace, still-pristine, fifty-year-old Ford saloon.
obmij
Well-Known Member
The concept of 'worth' when it comes to sailing boats is an interesting one. What are you actually paying for?
There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to maintain a yacht, other than the pleasure of doing so. When it comes to older boats, the capital cost is pretty much a joining fee, the real cost is the mooring, upkeep and so on.
New vessel, depreciation or if you are very lucky loss of opportunity on capital - plus maintenance & mooring
Classics, very high maintenance plus the above
But all are worth it - because this is what we like to do
There is absolutely no reason whatsoever to maintain a yacht, other than the pleasure of doing so. When it comes to older boats, the capital cost is pretty much a joining fee, the real cost is the mooring, upkeep and so on.
New vessel, depreciation or if you are very lucky loss of opportunity on capital - plus maintenance & mooring
Classics, very high maintenance plus the above
But all are worth it - because this is what we like to do
wombat88
Well-Known Member
I walked past that dark blue one the other day, it was sufficiently 'good looking' to stop and take a look. Didn't know the price at that time...
Iain C
Well-Known Member
Yikes...£12 for that blue one? Dream on!
I still think the Sabre 27 is the prettier, faster, better thought out alternative. OK I am biased but from some angles the Sabre really is a very well proportioned, pretty boat with very pleasing lines...I'm afraid in my eyes the Centaur just isn't. The Sabre was available with bilge or fin keels...a well sailed fin keeler is surprisingly swift at times, and you don't hear about all this keel splaying malarky. I guess the only thing a Sabre lacks as standard is a babystay, but if you want to rig one up you can. Saying that, my old boat is nearly 50 years old now and the mast hasn't fallen down yet! The only other downside of the Sabre is a lot were home finished with all kinds of dodgy ideas on stowage/galleys and sometimes some questionable skills executing on them!
I still think the Sabre 27 is the prettier, faster, better thought out alternative. OK I am biased but from some angles the Sabre really is a very well proportioned, pretty boat with very pleasing lines...I'm afraid in my eyes the Centaur just isn't. The Sabre was available with bilge or fin keels...a well sailed fin keeler is surprisingly swift at times, and you don't hear about all this keel splaying malarky. I guess the only thing a Sabre lacks as standard is a babystay, but if you want to rig one up you can. Saying that, my old boat is nearly 50 years old now and the mast hasn't fallen down yet! The only other downside of the Sabre is a lot were home finished with all kinds of dodgy ideas on stowage/galleys and sometimes some questionable skills executing on them!
lw395
Well-Known Member
If you bought a very good Centaur for say £7k, you could still easily spend £5k on it getting it just as you want it.
Old boats have got cheaper, components and labour have not.
£12k for anything bigger than a dinghy, that looks immaculate, is not a big budget.
Somebody told me that with motorbikes, the advantages of buying the best one you can find last a lot longer than the savings of buying a cheap one. I think that goes for boats too.
Bilgediver
Well-Known Member
Wonder why the fuel tank isn't listed as replaced. They have a tendency to rust at the bottom. Pity if an opportunity was missed at re engining .
Rudder seems to have been dealt with as we're keel stubs.
Rudder seems to have been dealt with as we're keel stubs.
ianc1200
Well-Known Member
I must of walked past it a dozen times yesterday (I've taken on one of the containers in the background) but I hadn't seen this thread so took no notice. Just to say Titchmarsh Marina (Essex BTW, not Suffolk) refurbish Centaurs - essentially there's a lot of them having repairs then put up for sale, but from the advert this looks like one based there, but not recently refurbished by them.
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
A glance at AppDuck today shows 24 Centaurs for sale, as opposed to 30, a week ago.
So I was confident the five-grand re-engined super-saver would have gone already...
...but she's still available, even though six seemingly less cost-effective Centaurs have been snapped up.
Could it be, that bargain price has made a careful market too suspicious to go for such a great deal?
So I was confident the five-grand re-engined super-saver would have gone already...
...but she's still available, even though six seemingly less cost-effective Centaurs have been snapped up.
Could it be, that bargain price has made a careful market too suspicious to go for such a great deal?
JumbleDuck
Well-Known Member
Or just that nobody nearby wanted one this week.
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
...
"...nearby..."
I guess that's the thing. We might go further to find something rarer if it seemed to be a bargain.
The Centaur's ubiquity makes it harder to justify going far to find one - or harder to sell, far from a core market.
A man might make a few quid by buying this one, sailing it to the Solent and offering it for sale here, in April.
"...nearby..."
I guess that's the thing. We might go further to find something rarer if it seemed to be a bargain.
The Centaur's ubiquity makes it harder to justify going far to find one - or harder to sell, far from a core market.
A man might make a few quid by buying this one, sailing it to the Solent and offering it for sale here, in April.
Tam Lin
Well-Known Member
Greenheart
Well-Known Member
That's an appalling admission, Mr Lin!
Could it also be why I'd like a re-engined Centaur?
I must stop thinking like that. Shouldn't be hard, I've always been rather good at not thinking.
Could it also be why I'd like a re-engined Centaur?
I must stop thinking like that. Shouldn't be hard, I've always been rather good at not thinking.
obmij
Well-Known Member
...
"...
A man might make a few quid by buying this one, sailing it to the Solent and offering it for sale here, in April.
Better sailing one from the Solent, to almost anywhere else in the country.
If you want one, buy one, and a good one - unless the faffing around is what actually appeals