Falmouth Gypsy Buying Advice

[rundlefish]

I am a 54 year old father of four, and I am finally getting back afloat after about 25 years on shore! I used to be a Dinghy Senior Instructor, Day Skipper and 2nd Mate with the Ocean Youth Club. I have never owned a yacht.

I am looking at buying a 24' Falmouth Gypsy Mk 2, built in 1972 - GRP hull and a mix of ply and GRP topsides.

It has been on the hard in Totnes for 4 years, unused. The hull looks sound, all the woodwork that has been covered by the boat cover is good, with just the rubbing strips needing sanding and varnishing. Below deck there was no smell of damp or mould and everything seemed sound when I crawled around knocking.

However I know nothing about diesel engines. It has a Sabb 10 hp diesel which is probably as old as the boat, and has apparently had the cylinder relined 11 years ago, and the impeller replaced with a diaphragm. I don't really want to buy it without an inspection of the engine, but it may not be easy to have someone with Sabb experience come to the boatyard to check it over. Advice?

If the diesel engine is an unknown quantity, could I just rely on buying an outboard if necessary?

The propellor housing also looks like like it needs attention, but I don't know how much. I will attach pics if I can work out how.

Advice please? Many thanks!

Advice?

 

[Tranona]

My first reaction would be to run away as fast as you can. I had some involvement when they were being built - and they are not built very well, particularly the deck and coachroof. Even though it is covered you will undoubtedly find rot where freshwater has got in joints between the deck and hull, deck and coachroof and around the cockpit. From memory the skeg that holds the stern tube is bolted to the hull and it looks like the fairing piece on the starboard side is missing. The Sabb engine is as simple as you can get but an acquired taste. It was originally a Scandinavian fishing boat engine with no electrics so hand start after pre-heating the combustion chamber with hot tube that took a cigar shaped wad of combustible material. Once started it would run all day long, rattling your bones and teeth fillings. It was popular in the west country when the Gypsy was built, partly because you could get it with a variable pitch FNR transmission, although this one seems to have a normal FNR gearbox with a fixed pitch prop. I expect this one has an electric start. The UK distributor was based in Plymouth at the time and you see them in many small open fishing and workboats. They were premium products and better than the alternatives such as Stuart Turner, Volvo and Albin petrol engines at the time. You can still get spares if you need them Some people love them and I have a friend who has one in a 1968 Golden Hind which he has owned for getting on for 20 years. You are in the right place to find somebody who knows about the engine - if there are any still alive! An outboard would not be effective on this type of boat. You would need a 10hp and hanging it off the stern would make it difficult to control.

I have a soft spot for the Gypsy (and the Sabb) having owned an Eventide and now a GH since 1980 (similar boats - but much better built) having contemplated buying one in 1979 before the Eventide but glad I did not go ahead.

You don't say what your budget is, but guess it is modest maybe well under £10k. In which case there is a huge choice of much better boats, although many are past it. However if you look hard enough you should be able to find a similar size or a bit bigger all GRP boat with a modern engine and decent sails. The biggest costs of owning an older boat are the running costs - mooring storage and basic maintenance and replacements. Better to pay more for a boat that is up and running so that you can get out sailing and deal with the improvements as you go along.

 

[jwilson]

The Sabb will probably be fine, once you have learnt it's quirks. I think there is a Sabb specialist in Teignmouth. I'm not a fan of the Falmouth Gypsy though, much like Tranona. That also goes for any boat with a ply deck and coachroof unless in perfect condition to start with.....

 

[AntarcticPilot]

The Sabb is an excellent engine - if it runs, it will go on running. VERY slow revving engine - you can easily count the power strokes at tickover. @Tranona describes it well, but from a negative viewpoint. On the plus side, it is simple and reliable, and some people find the "donk-donk-donk" noise reassuring.

I tend to think of them as the inboard equivalent of the Seagull outboard - and therefore like Marmite, you love them or hate them!

However, I also agree with @Tranona that the mixture of plywood and GRP in the topsides is a recipe for trouble.

 

[srm]

I had a boat with the single cylinder Saab engine, either hand or dynastart, with the variable pitch transmission. A great little engine and totally reliable - until I came to sell the boat. There is an oil cup on the top that drip lubricates the valves. Don't know if this was partly the cause but the exhaust valve was loosing compression. Took the head off and reground the valve and the new owner happily motored away. I saw her advertised for sale many years later. Initially she was advertised with the original Saab, but a couple of years after was advertised again with a new engine.
Edit: By adjusting the prop pitch to keep near max revs we were able to tow a large cruising yacht through the Caledonian Canal.

Sorry, no experience of the Falmouth Gypsy but having owned a plywood cruising boat, plus a dinghy and given the boat's age I would support @Tranona initial reaction and advice to look for an all GRP boat.

 

[Plum]

I am a 54 year old father of four, and I am finally getting back afloat after about 25 years on shore! I used to be a Dinghy Senior Instructor, Day Skipper and 2nd Mate with the Ocean Youth Club. I have never owned a yacht.

I am looking at buying a 24' Falmouth Gypsy Mk 2, built in 1972 - GRP hull and a mix of ply and GRP topsides.

It has been on the hard in Totnes for 4 years, unused. The hull looks sound, all the woodwork that has been covered by the boat cover is good, with just the rubbing strips needing sanding and varnishing. Below deck there was no smell of damp or mould and everything seemed sound when I crawled around knocking.

However I know nothing about diesel engines. It has a Sabb 10 hp diesel which is probably as old as the boat, and has apparently had the cylinder relined 11 years ago, and the impeller replaced with a diaphragm. I don't really want to buy it without an inspection of the engine, but it may not be easy to have someone with Sabb experience come to the boatyard to check it over. Advice?

If the diesel engine is an unknown quantity, could I just rely on buying an outboard if necessary?

The propellor housing also looks like like it needs attention, but I don't know how much. I will attach pics if I can work out how.

Advice please? Many thanks!

AdView attachment 175006View attachment 175007vice?

Suggest you contact the class association Falmouth Gypsy Class Association

 

[Misterbreeze]

I inherited my father's Gypsy, only fair since most of the wood was mine anyway after 2 rebuilds of the coachroof & decking 10 years apart. Don't be fooled by sheathed cockpit, decks & cabin roof. Poke it all hard underneath as the sheathing hides horrors. Cabin sides are the worst, windows leak and the ply rots as does the timber element of the transom. That said, I was very fond of the boat and had some good times on her with my kids. Heavy & slow but very predictable & safe. The Sabb just kept going despite my efforts to kill it and just sipped diesel. Price? £4k ought to get a top end boat, and probably much less.

 

[doug748]

Welcome rundlefish. As the others have said, plywood decks and cabin tops are a bit of a menace, almost anything in GRP might be a better bet, unless you are 100% sure.

On another tack, the Gypsy is a very steady sailing boat, often described as a motor sailer, I'm not sure it would best suit you with your dinghy experience.

.

 

[38mess]

My friend used to let me use his gypsy over 20 years ago but from what I can remember was it was very cramped below, two berths and a weird forepeak.
The sabb was perfect and it was the only thing I came to love about the boat.
I can remember as others have said that the top sides were as rotten as a pear and my friend was in a losing battle trying to sort it out.
I was glad I didn't own it. He gave it away in the end.

 

[Gypsy_Tinkerer]

Did you buy it in the end?

I had a Gypsy with the old Sabb engine. Never had any trouble with the engine for the whole 15 years. Must have had good compression because it could rev at real low speeds. Almost nothing to maintain on it.
The boat was great to sail and a great size boat to start sailing on. Big enough to deal with waves but not so big that everything was under strain. I really loved the big long sliding roof hatches in the summer - it was like having an open-top sports car.
The painted wooden topsides eventually failed just like other owners have warned about. Someone had already sheathed the deck with a layer of fibreglass and that held up, but the gully between the roof sliders held water that eventually got into the roof when the old paint failed. I’d advise any owner to keep the drain holes clear, and clean it, dry it and tip a pot of paint down into that space.
It could have been terminal, but I replaced the rotten wood, sheathed her with fibreglass and painted with 2 pack plastic paint and she looked better than new.
Got many more good years out of her until I bought a bigger boat.

 

[Babylon]

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[Dellquay13]

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