Formosa 41

[castaway]

Has anyone any experience of the William Gardiner designed Formasa 41 ? Very woody interiors and nice lines, but do they have wooden decks / superstructures ? Looking at interior 'sales shots' they all appear to have deck beams ?

Many thanks Nick..

 

[Salty John]

Hull is GRP; solid, heavy, long keel, encapsulated ballast.
They have a teak deck screwed down onto the cored GRP deck so they leak like sieves.
The superstructure is wood and the quality of the plywood used is dodgy. Cabin tops and bulkheads are likely to be rotten if original.
Spars are wood. Stainless steel fittings - pulpits, rails, chainplates etc - are somewhat lower quality than US or European boats, but servicable.
Teak work, inside and out, is brilliant.
Concept is great for a cruising boat; layout, load carrying ability, tankage, all good. Sails better than you might expect for a heavy displacement boat.
This boat appears in many guises - Formosa 41, CT 41, Mariner 41, Yankee Clipper 41 and more - there are slight differences between them. They are collectively, and unkindly, known as Taiwan Turkeys. The CT 41 is probably the best quality. They were built by several associated yards in Taiwan to a design allegedly by William Garden - but disowned by him.
These boats can be the basis of a terrific cruising boat if the obvious faults are rectified - teak deck removed and deck repaired, top repaired or rebuilt (I've seen one with a new fibreglass superstructure, but a good quality ply replacement will last a lifetime), spars thoroughly checked and repaired or replaced with aluminium, etc.

 

[castaway]

Thanks for that John...I had an idea that might be the case !!

All best Nick

 

[TQA]

This one is in Florida and has had most of the problems sorted.

http://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1973/Formosa-Custom-Refit-41-2003732/Stuart/FL/United-States

Read what the seller has to say on the work done.

I can't remember if there were new tanks though if not they are due to be replaced as they were "black iron" not stainless or plastic.

 

[Bajansailor]

I used to go sailing on a CT 41 called Maratima here in Barbados, and she was gorgeous then, but this was 30 years ago!

Here is one for sale in the BVI's - she has the same layout as Maratima :
http://www.yachtworld.com/core/list...rl=&hosturl=bviyachtsales&&ywo=bviyachtsales&

Although they claim that much work has been done on her, I would still think that there could (should) be room for a fair bit of negotiation on the asking price. Especially as the yacht mentioned in the post above this is almost half the asking price of this one!
I have also heard these types of vessels referred to as 'Teaky Leakies', while the boats built by Cheoy Lee are often called Chooey Looeys........

 

[Blueboatman]

Taiwan takeaways

Slight thread drift but the bigger Formosa 51 was the centrepoint to the movie 'Captain Ron'-Great fun to watch if you aren't too critical of the continuity between ailing shots..

Mate of mine had a 41 with all the sated problems but, if you want a beautiful hull and interior and have the time to put a ply/epoxy deck on.. and on and on..Definitely avoid anything with original wooden box masts..

 

[castaway]

Many thanks to all for replies on this one. The answers pretty much confirm what I suspected and have subsequently 'dug up'. Shame really as they are interesting and many are pretty reasonably priced....., I now see for possibly good reasons!

Regards Nick