Buying a used boat

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popeye1810

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Hello all,
I'm new to sailing and I'm thinking of buying a second hand yacht for cruising around the UK and possibly the med, for extended periods of upto 6 months. My budget is around £8000 I will be sailing single handed. I'm not too interested in speed but more reliability, safety and comfort. I know I can't get much for £8000. I was considering a "Hurley 22". What is the general opinion of this yacht and are there any others that would be just as good if not better.
Cheers Frank.
 
I don't know much about it but have done alot of reading and have found the WEsterley's a good bet (especially the Pageants at that price). Safe and secure. And possible (just about!) to live aboard!
Selina
 
You can get a lot of boat for £8000 if you're not expecting boat show levels of polish and starship enterprise levels of electronic navigation aids. I didn't have anyone to advise me when I was looking for my first boat, but I got out and looked at as many as fell within my price range and that gave me a good feel for what to expect for my money.
The Hurley has a good reputation. Starting with where you sail from and the mooring you can afford, I would stand by the advice to get the biggest boat you can handle, and afford to moor.
I would (and have done) happily single-hand my own boat, 29' and 3.5 tons but would get more wary of anything significantly larger, as you'd be relying on equipment such as anchor winches and roller reefing not to let you down. Ellen MacArthur, on the other hand, seems ok with a 70' space-age trimaran so anything is possible, given the will to do it.
 
Hi, I'd ensure that at LEAST 25% of your budget is kept in reserve for bits and bobs after you've acquired the boat.
 
£8000 will get you a decent boat. If you can travel to look at it you should scout far and wide as local pricing can reflect local pockets and enthusiasm. Might try looking all the way up the east coast.
If you're handy and not in a hurry to go you could do a restoration of something bigger for less intial outlay.
 
Good sort of boat.

The best advice I can offer is that you can either spend time, or spend money.

If you have time in hand, use it to full advantage.

Try to look at at least twenty boats, thirty of possible, before you make up your mind. There is a huge economy in a boat that will take the ground on a drying mooring, ie. a bilge keeler or a centreboarder.

Keep plenty in reserve for fitting out - and try to spend it very slowly. The list of things that you need to buy to go to sea sensibly can be very long, so there is a benefit in buying a boat from someone elderly and experienced who is giving up sailing, rather than from someone "trading up" who will rob the boat of most of its gear.

Use boat jumbles, buy secondhand sails, use the public library, talk to people.

Remember that you will need a dinghy and if you are going any distance you won't want to tow one - it is quite easy to pick up an old Avon inflatable on Ebay, likewise a British Seagull outboard.

You budget should be quite adequate.
 
I agree the East coast seems to be the place where the older boats go, is this because they are not allowed next to new shiny ones in the Solent marinas?
Sorry, I looked along the East coast a few years back and there did seem to be some bargains up there. You may find a project boat that someone has given up on, for next to no money but you will have to check it out thoroughly and with a surveyor!
There are some on this LINK
Good luck
 
I think you would get something a bit bigger than a Hurley 22 for £8000. You will be surprised how much more room you get for an extra 3 of 4 feet especially useful if you intend to go extended cruising. Look in PBO at the section at the back for boats under 10K.
I would suggest a Trapper300 but I have a biased opinion
 
I notice that some Westerly Centuar's are now advertised for little more than this price, therefore surely sell for about this- but may need to do a fair bit of work, therefore pushing the price up.
The key thing with small sailing yacht is teh age and quality of the engine ! If you hav eto shell out for a new engine then think £5k fitted - in other words 75% of the value of the boat.
 
I had a Hurley 22 for a few years - wonderful boat and I learned to sail with her. Always safe and very seaworthy. A decent one will cost under £6000 and probably date from pre 1980. If you are lucky, you will get one with an inboard diesel - usually a Petter Mini 6. Spares are still available for this engine. BUT she is quite small for extended stays aboard and if you can afford it, a 24 or 25 footer will just give you so much more space.

Personally, if you plan long distance cruising, I would go for a fin keel all the time - not bilge keels, but then I sail in the west of Scotland where generally we don't do mud!

Spend a lot of time looking around and remember there is never any need to buy a grotty boat - there are lots of nice ones for sale!
 
I agree with everything above, having had a good look around for my new boat, there are certainly some bargains to be had if you look. Fin keeled versions of a type of boat do tend to be cheaper, but, more expensive to keep. but as I said, there are plenty of bargains to be had. three years ago my brother in law got a cobra 750, with a beautiful teak interior and all the kit off an elderly gentleman for 8k, and i recently saw two a sadler 25's for less than 8K. hard to beat at that price.
 
I used to have a Hurley 22 as well. You don't say how old you are but living on one is only for broke students and people who have read too many books about other people doing it.

This would be a better proposition. Standing headroom, two separate cabins ie "bedroom" and "living room", and an inboard:

http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/boats/c20106/c20106.htm

Quite good looking as well which is important. Westerly Pageant indeed...
 
HI Frank, before I chose a boat I was advised to go to the library and read about 'how to choose a boat'. There are a whole host of things to consider before making a final selection which to the novice are not so obviouse. Apart from this all the other replies also have some good points, good luck with your first boat
 
8K is a lof of bread for a H22 ......

There are Snapdragon 24, 26's even a tired 27 for that sort of money .... Westerly Pageants ..... even if you look hard a "tired" centaur ....

My 25ft Motor Sailer is around that figure and is built for seagoing .... heavy build and big engine etc.

One comment ... a 22ft boat for cruising UK and Med .... will need careful planning and good weather .... it's a bit on the small side for this sort of job ... even I would baulk at doing it in my 25 .....
 
Lots of good advice.. A very good source of info on boats for sale is this web site On the opening page above FORUMS is BOATS FOR SALE. Click on that and go to the YBW boats for sale enter used and sail then just the price range 5000 - 8000 and £ & Uk and there are hundreds in that price range

Michael
 
I sail a Hurley 22 and they are great little boats. Note the word "little" - they are very restricted down below. However, if you were disciplined with your stowage I think it would be possible to live on one. Others have said get larger, but it is a case of "pays your money...". A good Hurley could be got for under 5k leaving quite a bit in reserve for the inevitable extras you will need. If you spend 8k on a larger, but tired boat, you will have nothing for extras and nothing in reserve for tidying up the boat. For example, you may well find the boat needs rerigging, etc. Would you prefer a small boat and equipment that you have absolute confidence in or a larger one with equipment that might need updating?

The Hurley is also a very seaworthy yacht (has crossed Atlantic), will look after you and sails beautifully. The Hurley Owners Group on Yahoo (web page) has members who can answer your questions.

Whatever you decide - Good Luck!

Mark
 
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