Cost of maintenance of 27ft vs 32ft boat

rsallo

rsallo

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Hi,

I'm currently looking at buying my first sail boat. I've been looking at boats around 27-29 feet, but have found one that would fit the bill quite nicely, "problem" is it's 32ft.

As I have no previous experience, I'm struggling to find out how much more expensive it would be to maintain, compared to a 27ft one. Other than the price of a mooring, I'm looking at just a bit more, or something closer to 2 times the cost?

Any help would be very much appreciated.
 
Other than a slight increase in mooring and insurance costs I think you will find the biggest difference is all down to the condition of the boats concerned. A mint 32 could cost a lot less than a poor 27 footer to maintain. Those extra 5 feet will take you, ooh 10 minutes with a roller to antifoul each year.

Pete
 
I went from a 27' to a 33' - I've found that extra time(and £££££) is needed for antifouling, but apart from that, not a great deal as I have my own mooring. Varnish work is about the same and the only extra expense I forsee will be things like standing rigging renewal. As I do nearly all the work on it myself there is not a lot of difference except more time required but as I'm retired that's not a problem! Interestingly my 27'er had full instrumentation and initially I thought I would miss them but I don't - I just have a basic GPS, log & depth(both some times working....). I also don't miss all the halyards led to the cockpit but again I don't, even though I have to go to the mast to hoist sails and reef.
Also don't forget the cost of upgrades like new sails etc - probably 50% more.
I'm really glad I went for a bigger boat, it has much more room and comfort. Go for it!
 
Not By Much

rsallo said:
Hi,

I'm currently looking at buying my first sail boat. I've been looking at boats around 27-29 feet, but have found one that would fit the bill quite nicely, "problem" is it's 32ft.

As I have no previous experience, I'm struggling to find out how much more expensive it would be to maintain, compared to a 27ft one. Other than the price of a mooring, I'm looking at just a bit more, or something closer to 2 times the cost?

Any help would be very much appreciated.
Click to expand...

It really depends on what type and age of 32' boat you are looking at. Assuming the two sizes of vessels are the same age and type i.e. a mid 80s cruiser / club racer, say Sigma 28 and a Sigma 33, then no, the maintenance costs are not that different and are very close, certainly not anywhere near double.

My experience is that the maintenance costs on boats start to increase exponentially around the 36 foot mark.

However, the costs of maintenance can be very low if you are prepared to do it yourself and especially if you shop around. For example for my own over 40 foot boat, New Masthead Tri-Colour and Anchor light, 24 v cost £210 pounds at local chandlers, £95 at mail order. It gets better. New Lavac toilet seats, lids, hinges and seals £450, shop around for individual parts, £200. Over the phone prices at leading Mail order chandlers can be cheaper than Internet prices on web site.

It pays to plan and then look around for the stuff - the marine leisure industry is rip off city but there is plenty of good value around if you are prepared to look.

Always look on eBay especially the traders with their "buy it now" or "best offer" deals. There is all sorts on eBay under sailing category.

My advice to you is that you can easily offset the costs of a slightly bigger boat just by shopping around.
 
Thanks for the replies so far, the boat at the "lower end" is a Halcyon 27 and at the other end of the scale is a Rival 32.

My budget is around £15K. The Halcyon I've seen is around £10K, structurally perfect, but I'd need to spend another £5K to take it to the level of equipment of the Rival (new standing rig, new sails, etc..), which costs just under £20K but with everything I'd need.

The Rival costs more than I had planned to spend initially, but if the maintenance cost was similar, I'd seriously look at it.

Thanks again.
 
M33 said:
Also don't forget the cost of upgrades like new sails etc - probably 50% more.
Click to expand...

Thanks M33, for the mooring it's easy to calculate as 32 is more/less 20% more than 27, but I don't know about sails and other things I may need to upgrade in the future.
 
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27 vs 32 ft

Often when things get crowded in hot spots like Yarmouth, the under 30 foot boat will find a berth in a corner on the under 30 foot pontoon when something bigger will be turned away.

Also look at the price banding in marinas - that 20% extra length means the per-metre rate increases in many marinas - or the converse, where one of my friends had a 7.3 metre boat in a 10 metre hammerhead berth and got charged for 10 metres.
He thought he had haggled a good deal....


Apart from that make sure your budget is not absolutely stretched to the limit by the purchase of the boat. It can easily cost thousands in replacement kit to fix up niggles - my £6k boat became my £16k boat fairly rapidly (osmosis, sails, engine issues) .

Another £20k went to MDL before I had enough and did the sensible thing and retreated to a £700 pa mooring.

My wife estimated the running cost of the 24 foot boat at about £5k per annum (including holidays taken using the boat) in the early years, or in the region of £5 to £10 per mile....
 
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rsallo said:
My budget is around £15K. The Halcyon I've seen is around £10K, structurally perfect, but I'd need to spend another £5K to take it to the level of equipment of the Rival (new standing rig, new sails, etc..), which costs just under £20K but with everything I'd need.
Click to expand...

If you are happy with the extra mooring costs, the rest is minimal (as others have said).
The choice you have outlined above would not detain me for a moment, all things being equal, the Rival is likely to suit you better for longer. IF you can find the extra quids.
 
Five feet is alot more boat,the five feet are in the middle so a 32 footer is much bigger and will entail greater costs as things will need updating etc and the extra footage is extra displacement which affect sail anchours etc....Beam is a more interesting dimension as it gives more volume for given lenght imho
 
From experience, make sure that you get a good survey done before taking the plunge - I bought a 27ft boat that needed a bit of 'cosmetic' work which turned out to be a major refit. Wish I'd gone for the more expensive (at the time) boats I'd looked at.

32 ft as a 1st boat? so not starting small then! Although I did meet a chap in the lock the other day in a brand spanking new 40ft'r and that was his 1st boat. Maybe I just think too small.;-)

Good luck with making your mind up - in the end you'll have some fun with either boat.

Andy
 
Thanks for all your replies, lots of good advice so thanks again. Rather than answers I've come out with even more questions, which I guess is part of the fun of buying your first boat :) I think I may have to resist the tempation of buying something that would eat up my whole budget and leave very little for unforeseen expenses.

I've been looking for a boat for a few months , do you think the market will slow down now that autum/winter is comming, or rather the opposite?

Thanks again for your time
 
I'd get the 32 if you have the money but when I say have the money, I mean it shouldn't be a problem at all cos these things always cost more than you think and a boat that squeezes you financially will become an albatross around your neck, especially when you realise just how ****e the weather really is in this country.

I have a similar sized boat to the halycon, an Elizabethan 29, almost the same boat apart from a counter stern, and bought it cos I thought it would be cheap sailing. I was right, it is cheap sailing, but it's also quite uncomfortable sailing. Little things like not having a completely separate heads from the forepeak is a pain in the arse, and being in that little main cabin when the weather is bad is not much fun either. The 32 will so much more comfortable, both at sea and in port. It is also over 30 foot which may be of interest if you want to do things like AZAB, OSTAR in the future.

If you intend to take a woman sailing with you then there is only one answer to your question.
Oh and 10k is the absolute max for a less than perfect H27, I'd be looking for at least 1-2k off that.
 
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