Birchwood 330 Challenger, any good?

ian38_39

ian38_39

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Have been looking for options with a boat change.

Unfortunately down to my better half suffering mobility issues varying from wheelchair to hardly noticeable, our next boat choice is somewhat limited.

The spec is,
Must have a flybridge, silly I know but we like it.
Must have stair access rather than ladder to the top floor.
Two sleeping cabins.
Transom gate access
Bathing Platform, accessible from side.
Be in the 80k or under budget.

Our cruising grounds are the Norfolk Broads and the North Sea in about a 50/50 split with sea work growing.


Spotted a Birchwood 330 Challenger the weekend that ticked the boxes, before this we were resigned to a Sealine 330.

What are the thoughts on these two boats?
 
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This is a 2000 vintage boat but from what I can find out it appears they made them from 1993 to 2001.

I guess it shows why Birchwood went bust if nobody on this forum has heard anything about the 330 Challenger after 8 years in build?

this particular one has V drives but they also made them with stern drives.

Any information would be appreciated.
 
We were in a fairly similar position when we were deciding on our current boat as my SWMBO has a mobility issue, which restricts her ability to jump off boats etc.... Our top "must haves" were a bathing platform where we could walk on/off when berthed alongside or stern too, plus stairs to the FB. Those two things ruled out almost everything in our budget range. So we found that the choice is very limited.

We went for a Sealine which we are happy with - ticks all the boxes for us. I am not sure why exactly, but people seem to say on this forum that Birchwood have a history of quality problems. Maybe they have, but as far as I can tell in my 25 years of boating, all the ones that I see are in no worse condition than anything else of the same age, with the same owner history i.e. they look after it or otherwise.

Best of luck in finding a suitable boat.

Although I can't be certain with this view, but it seems to me that some boat brands attract constant negetivity for no obvious reason - at least to me. It has to be said though that this does affect the secondhand prices.
 
Birchwood 330

we tried one of these when they were relatively new,firstly i have to say that the ride/seakeeping was very poor indeed,you felt every ripple in the water & this was only southampton water,secondly every hatch & locker rattled like bug....ry,needless to say we did not buy one, i know i sound like a broken rocord but surely a targa type boat would suit you better,regards mm1.
 
Hi asteven221,

We currently have a Sealine 310 so the 330 was the obvious choice for us at least that we could afford.

Being a Sealine owner I am used to negative comments but I have to say this is our second Sealine and we have been very happy with both of them.

Think Birchwood had a bit of a sticky time in the last 5-10 years before they went bust with lots of owners and variable build quality, for that reason I have never really looked at the Birchwood range other than the TS37 which a couple of friends have. The TS seems solid and a good sea boat if a little slow and dated.

It was only while looking round a boat sales at the weekend with friends that, Jealous of the speed of the Sealine, were looking to change my mind that I came across the Birchwood 330.

Have to say that access is absolutely top draw, it is 12'3 wide so stable at rest and the flybridge is IMHO dramatically better than the Sealines, proper seating for 5, seating is convertible to facing with a table between for social use and still the option of the big sunpad.

If Sealine had had the same boat size to work with I am sure there would have been a much better design overall and far more storage but I guess that is the problem with being a Sealine owner, whichever boat brand you visit you always expect to walk into a tardis, sadly that is not often the case.

My worry is two fold. 1: I can't find out anything about them and 2: one of resale, if no one bought them when they were new then who is going to buy them when they are 15 years old?

Looks like it might be Sealine again just purely on the fact that the 330/F33 has got to be one of the easiest boats to sell there is.
 
There a f/b boat for sale in Brighton that's in pefectly good order for it's age but is a slightly unusual US make, has no interior helm and unusual diesel engines. I looked at it the last time I was shopping for a new boat back in July 2006... It's still up for sale today. Buying mainstream is always a much safer place to put your money.
 
Hi,

Birchwood of course has been around a lot longer than Sealine. I find it rather amusing that it is being said that Birchwood have quality issues when Sealine has in the past had dreadful quality problems! When I was cruising in France a few years ago I met a guy who had a large lump of his hull just fall out and the boat sank! it was later discovered framework was resting on the bilges had been banging on the hull until the thin hull just gave way!

But to get back to Birchwoods, I have had 3 and I currently own a Birchwood 37. It is a very well built boat and at the age of 25 is still in great condition, no cracking of the gel and no crazing around stantions rails etc. Hull is still very good. Having said that there were some quality issues on some of the boats post 2000. If you like the boat as with any boat have it surveyed and make sure you are at the survey and watch the surveyor and look for yourself at anything he suggests is a problem! when it is written down it looks so much worse on paper than if you actually observe what he is talking about.

Don't give up on the Birchwood just because there are a few people on this forum that have only been boating a few years and think Sealine are the bees knees!

All the best and good luck.
 
Medskipper said:
Hi,

Birchwood of course has been around a lot longer than Sealine. I find it rather amusing that it is being said that Birchwood have quality issues when Sealine has in the past had dreadful quality problems! When I was cruising in France a few years ago I met a guy who had a large lump of his hull just fall out and the boat sank! it was later discovered framework was resting on the bilges had been banging on the hull until the thin hull just gave way!

But to get back to Birchwoods, I have had 3 and I currently own a Birchwood 37. It is a very well built boat and at the age of 25 is still in great condition, no cracking of the gel and no crazing around stantions rails etc. Hull is still very good. Having said that there were some quality issues on some of the boats post 2000. If you like the boat as with any boat have it surveyed and make sure you are at the survey and watch the surveyor and look for yourself at anything he suggests is a problem! when it is written down it looks so much worse on paper than if you actually observe what he is talking about.

Don't give up on the Birchwood just because there are a few people on this forum that have only been boating a few years and think Sealine are the bees knees!

All the best and good luck.
Click to expand...

I have to agree about the sealine hull problems as they do seam to crack very easily. having said that if you need to get out of a boat quick then a 33/330 will sell fast with plenty of people in a mid life crisis waiting to buy lol.
I would say the birchwood 330's sea handling on what I have seen is very good if it is the same hull as the birchwood 37 commando
 
Not sea trialled one yet, it could be that once tried it will be an absolute no no given it will be used on the North Sea so thanks for the tip off, the boat does look very well put together though so surprised by the rattles.

Have had 2 Sealines with no issues whatsoever so do not subscribe to the Sealines are rubbish School of thought but have to say, comparing the Sealine 330 and the Birchwood 330 the Birchwood definitely appears the better boat in many ways.

Yes the Sports Cruiser option does make sense but we have been there and don't want to go back to living in a cave and struggling with canvas, plus 40% of the time we are on the Norfolk Broads and a Sports Cruiser has no view over the reeds.

Can you really refer to Birchwood as some obscure brand plus the layout is conventional and the engines are Yanmars and acknowledged to be very good

Big issue I have is resale so I suppose it depends if the owner is prepared to be sensible on price, If he is prepared to come to a price I am happy to pay then it would mean that I can sell it on at the same price, realistically that is going to have to be in the region of 25-30% less than the equivalent Sealine, after all everything is only worth what someone will pay for it.
 
Hi Ian - thought I would reply on here as done a little research - the 330 hull isnt the same as mine - it was based on their Birchwood 34 hull which has been re-designed many times andfitted into many vessels throughout the range, The commando however was an entirely newly designed Wolstenome hull - hence why it seemed so familiar to me when I took it to see. I would hunt around for a deal as I heard a whisper that Tony was looking at around the 70 mark for the boat.

See you soon
 
I bought a 330 challenger last year and it has been excellent. It has twin mercruiser and having only done 100 hours when we bought it (sat on Loch Lomond all its life) we thought it was ideal and at the right money.
I have to say we have had a couple of problems but these were due to the fact that it hadnt been used rather than things breaking or wearing out.

It handles well in all conditions and we have been caught out with it but always managed to get through it. Its ideal for us having a 9 year old daughter and the steps up to the flybridge are much easier an all than ladders. The flybridge has plenty of room and the boat is really easy to handle for us. It is our first boat and berthing isnt a problem , even in crosswinds , you get used to it. There are no build quality issues that we have come across and it is really well finished inside.

With regards to price , ours was "reduced" to £93k I think from memory but I made a daft offer of nearly half that and got it . Its a buyers market.


Hope this helps
 
Hi Gav,

Don't think it is the 34 hull as that is 11'5 wide and the 330 is 12'4.

Even at 70k the boat would still be considerably over price from what I have been able to gleen.

Anything is only worth what people are prepared to pay for it, boats are no exception and issues that Birchwood suffered have devalued the range. In order to have a market for the boat, rather than a buyer that comes along once in a blue moon, the boat needs to be in the 55k bracket and even then it is not the one to have due to engine height and V drives.

Yours is the ideal set up with stern drives but this is less desirable with a flybridge.

Will be putting offers in on a 360 and a 330, both with drives. not optimistic on them being accepted but they will be where I am told they should be. At the right money you would be getting a lot of boat for your buck.
 
Birchwood 330,

Thank you very much for your input, sorry I did not reply but for some reason your post managed to slot in above my last one long after I had posted.

Can you tell me what engine set up you have in yours?

From the sound of it you paid just about exactly what I have been told they will fetch so why are brokers still putting these up at 80 -100k?
 
It must be very hard for the owner to accept that the boat they bought has fallen so much in price but surely it is in the brokers interest to advise something like real market values. It can't be good for their image to have boats sitting for years on their sales pitch.

I suppose there is an element of get the boat in and then pursuade the owner to drop the price but telling them later that they need to almost half the price can't be right.

Then again every now and again someone will buy one at the inflated price but when it comes to time to sell they are not going to be happy.

Can't help thinking that the lack of new boats and a dealer network offering inflated PX values on trade up is one of the main reasons for Birchwoods price crash.
 
I guess that confirms the bit about Birchwood owners not being active amongst boating forums, especially as the Birchwood owners forum has tumble weed rolling all over it.

Have located a couple of 330's and 360's with all offers being dismissed out of hand by brokers that are certain that they will achieve the prices the boats are up for. Will be interesting to see how long they sit for and would be even more interesting to find what price they eventually make.
 
Aye , apologies for late reply. Not one here too often at the minute.

Mine has the Mercruiser 3.6d and I have now managed to source all the belts , filters etc and much cheaper than genuine prices ! Got it out to service everthing and new antifoul and anodes etc.

Trim guages arent working so once I have sorted this out , it will be going back in the water.
 
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