buying a boat advice

H

history38

Member
Joined
22 Jun 2013
Messages
29
Visit site
new on here,so hello to everyone. Iam after some advice regarding buying a boat.
Am after a bilge keeler two that come to mind in my price range are a centaur and leisure 27. Does anybody no off any other boats i should perhaps think about looking at. My price range is up to £15000,
What are peoples views on buying centaur with original engine, it sounds fine no logged hours.
Think i have posted this twice. not much of a computer wiz sorry
 
£15k is an ample budget for the sort of boat you are considering. You could probably buy a Centaur and a L27 for that money :D
 
Seawolf 26 but I'm biased. The (British) Hunters are good bilge keelers. If £15000 is your max there will be plenty of choice but you would be wise to keep a few thousand back for unexpected expenses or improvements. A pre-purchase survey would be a good idea.
 
I had a Hunter Horizon 23 as my first stayaboard boat. I found it ideal - bilge keels, self tacking jib. Good accom for its size, outboard motor in a well that allows O/B to be raised. Centaurs are solidly built but all the examples I looked at were a bit tatty. My advice is to keep an open mind and buy a boat that has a reputation but has been looked after.
 
history38 said:
new on here,so hello to everyone. Iam after some advice regarding buying a boat.
Am after a bilge keeler two that come to mind in my price range are a centaur and leisure 27. Does anybody no off any other boats i should perhaps think about looking at. My price range is up to £15000,
What are peoples views on buying centaur with original engine, it sounds fine no logged hours.
Think i have posted this twice. not much of a computer wiz sorry
Click to expand...

Long, long list of boats that meet that requirement. Your budget will get a much newer boat such as Griffon or Merlin, Moody 27, Sadler 26 just a few. Such boats were the mainstay of the UK market in the 70's into 90's. Put your parameters into advanced search of www.yachtworld.com to get an idea. Of course finding a boat of this age/type in good condition close to where you want to keep it (to avoid transport costs) is the biggest challenge. PBO did a review of used boats of this type only a couple on months ago.

An old Centaur with original engine should be half your budget. OK if running but always a risk it will fail and be uneconomic to repair. Be wary of re-engine jobs - check it has been done properly and all other running parts replaced.

Welcome to the forum - the delay in your post is because you are new and your early posts need approval.
 
Welcome to the forum. Remember its a buyer's market, so if you have £15k, then I would look around £20-25k, you will be surprised what people will accept.

Sabre 27' another for your list and with plenty of change.

I found the Centaur a bit plain & plastic.

Don't be put off by a bit of osmosis, use it to advantage when negotiating.
 
You do not mention whether you are an experienced sailor or a novice looking for your first boat as I was a few years ago. My advice as to which boat to recommend depends entirely on what sort of sailing you are hoping to do. I'm sure I'll get lots of rebuttals for my suggestion that a Centaur is a very solid well built cruiser but is more akin to a floating caravan than a race boat. If you are looking for a bilge keeler because of mooring depth restrictions but want something a bit faster I would broaden your search to include lifting keel boats such as Delta 25, Evolution 26 or Superseal 26. These boats will let you show a respectable finish if you want to do a bit of club racing but in even if you just want to cruise you can make your destinations for a weekend sail a bit further afield if you are able to do more knots.
 
At £15k I'd be looking for the best Centaur in the land with a new engine, bow thruster, reconditioned hull, new sails, new interior etc, etc. you can buy a Centaur from around £5k ...and a good one for around £8/9/10k.
 
Further instalment in this months PBO covering 1990's boats. So last 3 issues of PBO will give you just about all the twin keel yachts on the market since the 1960's.
 
You will find that a leisure 27 sails better than a centaur and the interior layout is more modern. I have a leisure 27 fin keel for sale if you change your mind about bilge keels.
 
I would add go & see as many as you can, most boats of a certain age will need a bit of something doing so factor in cost of anything that does. Be prepared to be disappointed with a lot of what you see, there are a lot of tired boats out there. The trick is finding a good one & you'll stand more chance of doing that if you don't fixate on a particular make/model. Good luck & welcome to the forum...:)
 
V1701 said:
I would add go & see as many as you can, most boats of a certain age will need a bit of something doing so factor in cost of anything that does. Be prepared to be disappointed with a lot of what you see, there are a lot of tired boats out there. The trick is finding a good one & you'll stand more chance of doing that if you don't fixate on a particular make/model. Good luck & welcome to the forum...:)
Click to expand...

Agree entirely. 15K seems to be a bit of a tipping point budget wise, we get people on here wanting a bluewater cruiser for that money as well as folks just looking for a budget bilge keeler for coastal cruising. I agree with others who say this is decent money for the OP's expressed ends, so he should have plenty of choice, the trick is to find a decent boat for its purchase price and leave something in the kitty for safety gear and the inevitable betterment.

Cheers
 
|I'm not going to offer you any useful advice on what to buy but having recently bought a boat on about the same budget my advice would be to get the one with the least potential for big extra costs in the first year or two. For me that was driven by not wanting any unforeseen suprises and wanting the cost of ownership to be easy to tot up. The big ticket items I was looking very closely at were the engine, sails, standing and running rigging and electronics. But I'm sure it's quite personal regarding where things go into your lists of essentail kit, nice to have, or not worth anything extra. (Was very pleased when I persuaded the long haired general that a fridge was entirely unnecessary!)

Also worth being aware that there are an astonishing array of little things which all cost a few quid and it adds up fast. Even with a very well thought through and priced list of all the extras I'd have to buy, I still spent an extra £1000 or so on unanticipated small stuff. (You may be more experienced or more fortunate but I bought thinking my budget was very pragmatic and only now do I realise how much optimism bias I had!)

If you are going into it with some trepedition (as I expect most new buyers are) then it makes sense to do everything possible to reduce the risk of nasty suprises!

http://zappa-ourjourney.blogspot.co.uk
 
Hello History38, Welcome to the forum. I bought a boat this year and I found that you can never do enough research in to the boats you fancy. I did enough to steer myself away from my earliest thoughts as the build up of potential problems in certain types of boat soon became apparent in what others had said and found. Also I would advise you to be picky. That way you are more likely to get the right boat, in the right condition at the right price. Other posters on this thread are right to advise keeping some money back for the gear you didn't think you would need and to replace those bits that were alright when you bought the boat but wore out or broke in the first few months. The other tip I can offer is to buy in the winter when it is more of a buyers market, haggling on a freezing cold pontoon may get a reduction in price just so that the other party can get in out of the cold! As for the kit and caboodle that goes with a boat whatever you need, shop around. There are amazing savings to be had. Mr. Google is your friend. I hope you find the boat of your dreams, happy sailing...
 
Welcome, I was planning on getting a bilger but opted for a swing keel Beneteau with legs instead and glad I did. Only draws 0.7 with the keel up, sits very well even on a sloping bottom as you can adjust the legs to suit. It will also out perform a bilge keeler any day of the week.. Just something you may consider.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top