Could a Cornish Crabber 32 be ideal for me

[Seajet]

As I see it the original builders hit a slightly surprising but undeniable success with the Shrimper 19.

For old retired blokes to potter around harbours with while ' looking the part ', at least from a distance.

Ever since the Cornish Crabber lot seem to have been trying to extrapolate the already outrageous price of the Shrimper into bigger things and exponential profits.

Snag is at the bigger sizes and even sillier prices they run into knowledgable still active sailors who are a bit more demanding than ' looks quite jaunty if I never go outside Chichester Harbour '.

 

[sailorman]

As I see it the original builders hit a slightly surprising but undeniable success with the Shrimper 19.

For old retired blokes to potter around harbours with while ' looking the part ', at least from a distance.

Ever since the Cornish Crabber lot seem to have been trying to extrapolate the already outrageous price of the Shrimper into bigger things and exponential profits.

Snag is at the bigger sizes and even sillier prices they run into knowledgable still active sailors who are a bit more demanding than ' looks quite jaunty if I never go outside Chichester Harbour '.

There is a 22 footer in our marina sales & over £60 ks, for that money one can buy a good sea going yacht, with some creature comforts

 

[Seajet]

There is a 22 footer in our marina sales & over £60 ks, for that money one can buy a good sea going yacht, with some creature comforts

Exactly, for that dosh one could have a Contessa 32, fit a new rig, new sails, new engine, and still have change for a few years marina berthing !!!

 

[doug748]

Exactly, for that dosh one could have a Contessa 32, fit a new rig, new sails, new engine, and still have change for a few years marina berthing !!!

But the OP shows every sign of wanting a newish, shallow draught boat with a gaff rig on top. Which is not so unreasonable.


That's me finished, going out. Happy Christmas to you all

 

[Seajet]

Then buy a Shrimper; if and when they learn, they can buy a proper boat not something which ought to be radio contolled on the local duck pond !

 

[dunedin]

PRV is right. At a guess the price will be somewhere between 140k and 170k

There is a price quoted on the website link - go to the configurator ("specify"). And spot on - £140k before extras

 

[Seajet]

Considering one could get a remarkably good Halberg Rassey - which has actually been screwed together properly and is a real sailor's boat to go anywhere, with a far better interior - for a fraction of that price, it would say a lot about potential purchasers of the CC job; just pose in a Shrimper if you must, then go to a nice inshore hotel !

 

[JumbleDuck]

The other mistake was making it rounded, on a simulated-clinker boat whose antecedents would have had a more boxy wooden cabin.

Agreed. It's very like the Hunter Minstrel coachroof ... which, it has just occurred to me, was also by David Thomas. Works well on the Hunter, less so on the Crabber.

I went round a CC26 at Southampton (I think, may have been London) shortly after they came out. It was OK, and pleasantly solid on deck, but the cabin was a great disappointment. It felt very flimsy and insubstantial - all fake tongue and groove and pastel colours. Designed as a floating beach hit for the "Coast" magazine demographic, I think ... it certainly didn't feel like a serious yacht inside. And the cost, as others have said, is just eye watering. In real terms it's twice what a Victoria 26 cost new and three times what a Centaur cost.

Forget varnish, it's the Devil's brew. Woodskin seems to be the way to go, presently lasting years with no sign of deterioration. Easy to apply and no rubbing down between coats. At least that's what my man tells me

Hah. My spring job is removing my 2014 Woodskin application from all the outside woodwork. About 1/3 of it has flaked off, 1/3 of it is still properly attached and 1/3 has let go just enough to allow water to get below and discolour the teak. It looks bloody terrible.

 

[Seajet]

When we were planning - seriously and with money behind us - to put modified Anderson 22's back into production, I went on a recce around Excel to see the possible competition, in that case the Cornish Crabber 22.

In the interior I found ghastly flimsy wooden strips and a whole ' tacked on ' feel, while the rig was a plasticky joke and guardrails an extra; one look would tell anyone any decent sailing boat would run rings round it.

The salesman looked at me a bit oddly as I was thinking of the price and actually laughing as I stepped off.

Shrimpers have their place among retired pipe puffing gentlefolk, and I learned from the best to promote ' UK Ltd ' but I'm afraid my wedge would go straight to a Victoria 26 or 30 if I wanted something a touch traditional that can actually do the job of travelling efficiently on sometimes hostile seas...

 

[Tam Lin]

Doesn't a Shrimper sail faster than an Anderson 22?

Happy Christmas!

 

[William_H]

Well almost all has been said. A second hand boat is far better value given that GRP does not really deteriorate over time though equipment does. Indeed a new boat will have that polyester smell for a long time making old even better. So I think you would only buy new because you were obsessed with buying new. You would only buy this style (CC) if you loved the old look of cabin shape etc. Again you would only buy a gaff rigged boat if you wanted to make a statement about old is good.
Inevitably more modern design in second hand gives best value for any job. It is like wanting to drive around in an old TF MG sports car when you can have a near new modern car. You only do it cos you want to make a statement. good luck olewill

 

[Twister_Ken]

With attitudes like those displayed here, it's no wonder that UK boatbuilding is moribund. Someone wants to buy a new UK-built boat that'll help keep a good few skilled people in employment in Cornwall, and most of you are telling him not to do it.

 

[Tranona]

With attitudes like those displayed here, it's no wonder that UK boatbuilding is moribund. Someone wants to buy a new UK-built boat that'll help keep a good few skilled people in employment in Cornwall, and most of you are telling him not to do it.

Well, he might have thought it a nice idea until he found out how much it would cost!

Big gamble for CC as doubt buyers will get any change out of £200k, so really niche market to justify investment in tooling. Others have tried that size/type boat in the past and never made any impression on the market.

 

[Seajet]

Doesn't a Shrimper sail faster than an Anderson 22?

Happy Christmas!

Maybe in a mirror flat sea in a force 1-2 it might drift past...I'd show more respect for designs like E-Boats which are properly fast in light winds, as long as one doesn't mind the inconveniences of capsizing and / or sinking if the wind blows up.

Slower than an A22 in a decent breeze and seas.

Twister Ken,

I am all for ' UK Ltd ' but with designs, prices and fit out like that CC are just taking the pee.

 

[Daydream believer]

If they could produce them at a profitable price, the same as, or near to, an AWB they would leave the factory in droves. However, do not pay a deposit because the tooling costs coupled with lack of idiots willing to pay the price will have put them out of business before yours arrived.
They are not sailing boats they are quirky gimmicks

To the forumite who mentioned Morgans -I cried when I sold my Morgan !!!!
So perhaps a quirky gimmick is what the market wants. Let's wish them luck. They do not actually look that bad on paper from the outside.

 

[Daydream believer]

I fancy doing a Round Britain. But I fancy doing it slowly. Work does not fancy this at all! So I'd be doing it in lots of short legs - weekends and weeks at a time. Parking up the boat in harbours for perhaps up to a month at a time to return do a long weekend 3-4 days of sailing, park at a new harbour and get bus/train back to start point and drive home.

I

Having done the trip twice SH, I would not think that your idea is a good way to go round UK . The logistics alone would kill it. The boat would be dumped in a far off place making maintenance difficult. For instance it would need antifouling twice, along with the liftout etc. The problem of actually getting a berth at each stop would be difficult. On a trip like this one should never have strict timetables which would be necessary to ensure getting to the pre planned stop off in time to go back to work. The east coast would be particularly awkward for that idea due to the poor marinas which are not particularly inviting.

I am not sure where you are based, but you would be better off in a home port doing short trips regularly along with a few X channel crossings etc for the holidays. A new boat would quickly deteriorate if left for long periods without use & constant care - simple things like cleaning it every week.

The best way to circumnavigate UK is with the summer free so you can enjoy the experience. It took me 12 weeks both times & I really had to get moving between bad weather stops.

If you do consider travelling too & fro then look at car hire. Enterprise - as an example- hire cheaply for one way trips right from home to destination (They will deliver & collect the car at each end) & you can get all the crew plus gear , food etc in the car, rather than lugging on trains or buses

 

[Strolls]

As I see it the original builders hit a slightly surprising but undeniable success with the Shrimper 19.

Ever since the Cornish Crabber lot seem to have been trying to extrapolate the already outrageous price of the Shrimper into bigger things and exponential profits.

Shocking behaviour! Not the way we'd expect a British business to behave.

 

[jwilson]

Well I wasn't sure they had announced a price. So I was working on a crazy assumption that if a 21ft Shrimper costs £36k plus options a 21ft would maybe cost in the region of 50% more. The £40-50k mark is probably more than I'd expect to spend on a boat but I'd be guessing after 8 years (child will be 16 and inevitably wont want to be anywhere near me!) I'd get a bit of that back... However it seems its a different market! The Pilot 30 and the 31 will set you back something around the £140k mark!


Thats a good point. I had wooden spars on a dinghy and replaced with aluminium for just that reason. If you were specifying new, presumably you can specify 2-part and reduce the repainting frequency as a result?

2-pack varnish on wooden gaffer spars is a terrible idea, very difficult to get off when you need t0 revarnish, as you will quite often anyway due to inevitable friction of gear. Alloy both looks weird and also does not work that well with a gaff rig.

If CC do build a 32 I'd be surprised if it got on the water with all kit at that much under £200K. Look at http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/boats/w17914/w17914.htm for a proper plastic gaffer.

 

[doug748]

There is a price quoted on the website link - go to the configurator ("specify"). And spot on - £140k before extras

I really warm to Cornish Crabbers for printing their prices, for that reason alone I wish them well.
I'm thinking the 140k is for the Pilot Cutter 30, I doubt if you would get much change out of 190 for the projected, 32 - maybe enough to buy a bottle or two to christen the boat.

However the OP should be allowed to want what he wants. He may well re-evaluate his ideas in the light of cold figures but some of the dafter alternatives, we have seen suggested, are unlikely to assist him much.

PS
Sorry I did not clock the second part of jwilson's post, fully agree with it!

 

[Birdseye]

There is a 22 footer in our marina sales & over £60 ks, for that money one can buy a good sea going yacht, with some creature comforts

But as Seajet suggested in his patronising comment above, not everyone wants "seagoing". Not everyone wants "big". In my dotage I am contemplating swapping my current seagoing 36 footer for something small to potter around the estuary in.