boats that rarely get discussed on here

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When I went to view Warlock, she was laid up next to a beautiful Vancouver 28 which was being anti-fouled. I'd not seen one up close and out of the water before, but if anything it impressed me even more than the thirtywhateveritwas which was at the Southampton Boat Show last year.

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That would be because the 28 is an adaption of the original Robert Harris designed 27 as indeed is the 34. At a guess I would suggest that the boat at the show was the 38 or new 36, neither of which were designed by Robert Harris but by Tony Taylor ex Camper & Nicholson. A different underwater profile entirely. /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
On a different thought

Now if I was going to part company with RS it would be one of those new Bristol pilot cutters that are now being produced to order. They come in at 45-50 foot, with gaff rig, wooden blocks and looks to die for.

Pure wood, pure delight, pure impracticality. £250k gets you one. Mrs_E has suggested selling house and buying one when we retire, now there's a thought to hold to!
 
Sailed a bit on a Vancouver 38 Pilot. Its definitely a "go anywhere " boat and no one can beat Northshore when it comes to the quality of woodwork, not even the Swedes.

But would I have one? No has to be the answer. Its heavy to handle, narrow beam limits internal space and therefore the accessibility of some fittings (sea cocks, genny, plumbing) is poor, the cutter rig makes for hard work and the size makes for parking difficulties in the UK.

But above all there is a cost issue. Not so much the cost of the boat, but when you add up the interest forgone, the marina fees, the depreciation (over 25 % from new on this boat so say £50k) and the insurance you have to ask yourself whether you get that much more fun than you would in an AWB at half the price. If you're going blue water then yes. But for the majority of us whse real world chance of blue water is nil then the answer in my view is "no". So buy an AWB, and a Porsche instead?

So do we discuss boats that are realistic for us or do we daydream?
 
I take your point. It is a little like the difference in fun between SWMBO's Euno Roadster (Mazda MX5 import) or a soft top DB7. It would only be say about 10% more fun but twenty times the cost.

I still want one though.
 
Grand Soleil 39 built 1986:
Beautiful and easy to sail (very well balanced), nice deep forefoot so no slamming, moderate beam so no fighting the helm whilst heeled yet enough beam aft to sail well downwind. Looks good too........perhaps I'm biased!
 
How does your 1986 shape differ from a 2006 40' one. What I have never got my head round is why so many feel the older shapes are better. Surely the manufacturers are after improving their boats?
 
We enjoyed a Grand Soleil 42 for four years

The medium aged models with Freres design input are I think some of the best boats around.
Great sail boats especially if they have the bigger 'race' rig.
We found ours very very fast either cracked off the breeze or dead downwind - in Rally Portugal 2004 we trucked alongside (and sometimes in front) of similarly sailed Farr 54.

Not quite so fast to windward as an equivilant sized Swan - but to my mind better looking down below and usualy better value.

We only sold ours as we wanted more storage space for cruising and were very taken by the design we now have.

But 'do the GS's sail well?' Yup - can testify they certainly do.

Cheers
JOHN
 
Arcona .... 40DS

Yes - I agree and I think the boat you refer to is the one I had dinner on recently.

Very nice ..... impressed.
 
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There are really 2 Gibseas the early solidly built boats of which many went out to charter and lasted very well.
As I have a Gib'sea I am interested as to what you call the older ones?
 
The ones (I think up to about 1998) had designations like 412 etc. These were solidly build ,narrower in beam for a given length. They stood up very well to the charter market.

My understanding is that about then they got taken over by Dufour and the new boats were aimed to specifically compete at the economy end of the market with Bavs etc. The Gibseas models were then called Gibsea 36 etc as the Dufour range. Dufour then started becoming more performance orientated boats with a tie up with Grand Soleil.

I have had a Dufour 36 & a 38 of the older type and am still impressed with the overall package of the 38. I always looked closely at all the AWB's at the boat shows trying to find the compromise of what I would like to sail and own and what would charter well. At that time both Dufour and Gibsea had the same distributor in Portway. I was not so keen on the internal finish of the newer Gibseas but they were a good value package. Conversely the newer Grand Soleil's lost out when I priced them up to the same specification.

Every boat is a compromise and thats why eveyone can make a different but correct choice for themselves!
 
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