Gibsea 77 Good/Bad?

[pipthesailorman]

Hi there,

Newbie on the forum, please be gentle! I am considering upgrading from my little Hunter Europa to something a bit more substantial to make family cruising possible. I have come across a Gibsea 77 which is looking promising and I am considering buying.

I have had a good trawl through various websites and I am finding a bit of an information void on this model. This is surprising seeing I understand some 400+ were built. The one I am looking at is one of the latest hulls (circa 1984). I know that Gibsea was eventually purchased by Dufour as their entry level line, but this boat precedes that takeover. From other models, I understand they were relatively well built prior to the takeover.

So does anyone know anything about this model? Is it a good second boat? Or pre-Dufour Gibseas in general, if nothing else, are they any good?

The one I am looking at is the fixed fin keel version. so hopefully the better sailing of the lot. It's currently ashore so I will get a survey and some maintenance bits done anyway for piece of mind before I set off anywhere, but I would like to know before, I invest in the survey, if these are decent boats or a tub that will bore me to death and give me trouble no end.

Any thoughts appreciated! Thank you in advance.

Best winds!

 

[Champagne Murphy]

We had one as our first 'yacht'. Had loads of fun with two adults, three kids and two dogs. Really well set out accommodation. We had a lift keel. Never did huge voyages but great starter boat.

 

[Tomaret]

Re Gibseas generally - I had a Gibsea 92 (1986) for 10 years until December 2016. It was OK in most respects - the interior design stood the test of time, but wasn't the highest build quality,the keel didnt drop off at any point and she sailed reasonably well. The hull was very wet all the time I owned her and her top sides soaked up Portsmouth Harbour scum ( the brown staining above the waterline not the local ne'er do wells) like a sponge. Prices are lower than many boats of a similar size and age, which reflects their overall standing, I'd say. I bought it because it gave me what I wanted for what I wanted to pay. I had a great deal of fun with her and happily day-sailed single handed from Holland to the Solent when we moved back to the UK.

 

[dave_gibsea]

I have owned a Gibsea 76 for 17 years now, bought when she was 10 years old. The 76 is the model which replaced the 77 and has an aft cabin but I understand they are quite similar boats. Ours is a fin-keel version with draft of 1.5 metre / 5 ft

We have been very pleased with the 76, she has proven a relable and I think well built yacht. She has been the fmily boat and our children grew up sailing her. We had a survey done a couple of years ago for insurance purposes which did not uncover any major issues.

The 76 sails very well, she is quite light displacement so is fast in winds up to about 15/16 kts after which you have to reef, she flys down-wind and with a spinnaker is fast and fun. We have crusied across the channel and down to the west county, you just have to pick your weather a bit, having said that we got caught out last year in winds gusting 32 kts off Poole and whilst it was not comfortable in those conditions we had no problems.

Our boat has a Yanmar 1GM10 which gives us 6 kts with a clean prop/hull but is a tad underpowered if plugging into a strong headwind/sea at the end of the season. stahdard deck gear is up the job and the mast/rig is well spec'd for this size of boat.

Dave

 

[Spyro]

If the foam backed headlining has not been replaced it will be done. Foam will have gone to powder and it will be falling down. It's a pig of a job for diy and expensive for a professional job.