Fairline Corniche A good buy?

Sneds

Sneds

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Egged on by SWMBO who wants a bit more space and comfort, I am very tempted to put BushBaby, our beloved Mustang 2800 twin diesel sports cruiser, up for sale.
This act of posible madness is as a result of looking at various Fairline Corniches on the web at well under £50K and being amazed that so much boat is available at that sort of money.
I would welcome any input expressing any opinion about these aparantly "bargain boats" or any alternative model that would offer us the same ie proper bed, galley etc.
 
Hi- We did a similar thing last year, went from a 25 foot cruiser (Sealine S23) to an older but much more spacious Corniche.

There are a number of pros and cons but from my experience here are the main ones:
-I have to set my expectations on just how perfect everything on the boat is- she is alot older and I have apply the adage if it isn't broke don't fix it otherwise you will never stop
-I love have storage space, this was always a problem before
-Accept you will go a bit slower, and even if you don't go slower then it will feel slower and turn more lazily
-Now we have a Corniche I have been impressed how many comments I get about how good a boat they are
-Find out a bit about the things to look out for (i.e. go for TAMD41B engines, Ensure the mild steel tanks fitted to earlier boats have been replaced, good service history, shafts rather than outdrives, etc).
-Running costs might not be much more than your current twin engine boat but it will use more fuel (1.5 mpg or so)
-If you do get one put aside money for a 2 or 3 year maintenance plan as there will always be something that needs doing from upholstery to covers to engine injectors etc.
-Sit back and know you have one of the classic boats of the period that will not depreciate
 
Sneds said:
Egged on by SWMBO who wants a bit more space and comfort, I am very tempted to put BushBaby, our beloved Mustang 2800 twin diesel sports cruiser, up for sale.
This act of posible madness is as a result of looking at various Fairline Corniches on the web at well under £50K and being amazed that so much boat is available at that sort of money.
I would welcome any input expressing any opinion about these aparantly "bargain boats" or any alternative model that would offer us the same ie proper bed, galley etc.
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Fairline corniche are great boats , we had one for several years and covered a lot of miles.

Can slap a little in a F5 head sea but still give a great ride for the size.

Outdrives give very sharp performance and ADAQ41 are 15% more economical, but comes at the cost of wild bow if attempting to stern to in a side wind.

If you lift out for 2-3 months of the winter and can keep your drives in fine fettle then the outdrive model is worth consideration and about £8-£10k cheaper.
 
There a Fairline Corniche kept further along from us at Mercury and its immaculate, I am not a massive fan of that sort of boat, but I do think it looks a really nice small FB. For the age it must be it does not look dated and IMO just looks rather superior to more modern similar size craft...

sorry, not that helpful, but just an opinion I though for some reason I would share :confused:
 
A friend of ours has a Corniche currently for sale and its a stunner. It really is in immaculate condition for its age, a real eye catcher. Unfortunately its a twin petrol on stern drives hence the price, but at £35k its a lot of boat for the money.
 
Definately food for thought there, got the Boatshed bloke coming to look at our current boat this Friday!
Still not 100%, will be so sorry to say goodbye to BushBaby.
I guess I'm a bit worried about changing from an uptogether 100% reliable economical trusted and pretty boat and stepping in to the unkown and buying a dog!
 
Ive had 2 over the years, both shaft and tamd41 200hp, dont go for anything smaller as that hull takes some pushing on the plane, and dont go sterndrive either.

Great value boat a future classic im sure, watch out for rusty tanks, poor maintainance and gearboxes that dont engage straight away.

If I had another id go for the twincab version, great bedroom and heads.

My last one ended up in Finland on its own bottom from Ramsgate!
 
carlton said:
Why not Paul?
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Too much weight aft, just rides with the bow in the air especially as the fuel is burned off, and of course the maintainance of old drives, which by now will be well on the way for new shields and the rest.

The shaft version gives good mpg I loved both of mine, sterndrive flybridges can be a handfull in a cross wind without a thruster.
 
Thanks. I was considering one on drives for the economy. Now you've said that I s'pose shafts would be better despite the fuel premium. Just gotta check those fuel tanks have been changed though...
 
"Thanks. considering one on drives for the economy. "

Given the choice I would always go for shafts,but if your budget will only run to a sterndrive,then thats it.....Any sterndrive Corniche "should" be considerably cheaper than its shaft twin.,however when we looked at buying one the the asking prices were optimistic to say the least especially considering these boats are 30 years old,the state of the market and there are loads for sale.
Remember looking at one in Conyer Marina with a top end price tag.A not very close inspection revealed the boat had been T boned midships and the resulting gelcoat cracks covered most of the hull.It was on outdrives.:(
 
volvopaul said:
Too much weight aft, just rides with the bow in the air especially as the fuel is burned off,

correct with the smaller engines but not so with the 200hp, Mine gave a near perfect ride, the power to weight ratio sorts the ride out no problem, cruised @24 knots log no tabs no trim, on a really calm day lifting the legs would increase cruise speed to 25.5 knots log
@24 returned 1.6 mpg



and of course the maintainance of old drives, which by now will be well on the way for new shields and the rest.

Agreed, anyone keeping submerged year round in salt is asking for trouble, the op is from Bristol area I think ???? if storing dry for the worst of the winter then the fuel saving will far out weigh the leg maintenance.

The shaft version gives good mpg I loved both of mine,

What was your cruise speed and MPG @ cruise speed

sterndrive flybridges can be a handfull in a cross wind without a thruster.

100% agreed, stern too in a side wind in stressfull
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Your arguments are in the main correct (except the ride on the 200hp version) and are significant but the 200hp outdrive versions are still a better boat for anyone able to dry berth for 3 months of the winter especially if usually along side/swinging mooring.
 
DAKA said:
Your arguments are in the main correct (except the ride on the 200hp version) and are significant but the 200hp outdrive versions are still a better boat for anyone able to dry berth for 3 months of the winter especially if usually along side/swinging mooring.
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Peter, as ever your posts straight to the point.

Both boats gave around 1.6 to 1.7, always ran at 3100 rpm which gave 20 to 22 knots over ground, any slower and it blacked the stern, both did a good 31 knots at 3800 rpm.
 
Shaft version is a clear winner then.
:)

My experience was based on a twin 165 on shafts, we cruised together to the farne islands , it was almost 10 knts slower and used significantly more fuel.
 
Sneds said:
Egged on by SWMBO who wants a bit more space and comfort, I am very tempted to put BushBaby, our beloved Mustang 2800 twin diesel sports cruiser, up for sale.
This act of posible madness is as a result of looking at various Fairline Corniches on the web at well under £50K and being amazed that so much boat is available at that sort of money.
I would welcome any input expressing any opinion about these aparantly "bargain boats" or any alternative model that would offer us the same ie proper bed, galley etc.
Click to expand...

Just buy a P35 a dream machine, OK I'm predigest, but you wont get better, Bedroom gally Lounge and a Dining room, or eat alfresco. Or a better boat. It can eat F 7's for breafast, but still keep you in comfort..

She's better than all the rest but just a few grand cheaper.
 
Thats it, BushBaby will be on the market tomorrow :-(

And now hlb throws a Princess into the equation!

Aargh! this is supposed to be fun :-) !!!

Many thanks to all for your input.

Cheers
 
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