Hello .. Forum newbie here. Antares purchase on my mind

[Philiz]

Hi Tony

First I've seen of this post. We had a Series 9 for 2 years, ours had the Volvo KAMD43P single engine. Very good sea boat for it's size, most are flybridge, however this has limited use as you don't really want to be up there in a bit of chop. Economy wise , ours used 4-5 GPH at 15-18 knts. we used ours as a caravan too, you have to be pretty well organised as there's not a great lot of space, it's do-able though. Seating is okay but not for a relaxing evening with your feet up. Coincidentally we also do our boating around North Wales/Anglesey, they're well suited to the conditions in the area. Single engine never bothered us, look after it well and there's no problem.

 

[Philiz]

Ok folks. Well, we looked at the Antares Series 9 and we were somewhat underwhelmed. Back to the drawing board with a revised budget (upwards)...

As previously suggested, the MF925 is more suitable and your budget will get you one

 

[tonyh1]

View an Antares 10.80 if you can. It's different from the 9 in more ways than the length alone indicates and will add to your knowledge base, as you go on

An engineer recommending one make over another just goes to show that engineers doesn't agreee either. I'm afraid it is not so simple as one manufacturer might shine above the competition in one segment, where another is better in a different segment. Not all make engines in all segments either. If you concentrate on previous use, maintenance history, service & parts availability and add shared knowledge from fellow boaters (filtered by common sense), you get closer to making up your mind. IMO.

Thank you for your thoughts. If I was to go twin engined our thoughts would be to up the ante quite considerably.

 

[tonyh1]

As previously suggested, the MF925 is more suitable and your budget will get you one

Merry Fisher 925?

I thought about that and the single engine option looks good on the bigger boat but in all honest, the accommodation does not really look (in pictures) to be that much more spacious? Would love to be proved wrong and we will go and look at one.

The guys at Conwy showed us a Prestige 350 to give us an idea what the extra size offered and as a result I started to look at similar sized boats accepting that the budget would have to rise. I have seen a couple of nice Sealine F34's but I am just not sure about the direct fuel costs.

I am now looking at/exploring older, classic trawler yachts which will offer us the living space and hopefully economy instead of performance.

I suppose this is all part of our exploratory journey...

 

[Nautibusiness]

Merry Fisher 925?

I thought about that and the single engine option looks good on the bigger boat but in all honest, the accommodation does not really look (in pictures) to be that much more spacious? Would love to be proved wrong and we will go and look at one.

The guys at Conwy showed us a Prestige 350 to give us an idea what the extra size offered and as a result I started to look at similar sized boats accepting that the budget would have to rise. I have seen a couple of nice Sealine F34's but I am just not sure about the direct fuel costs.

I am now looking at/exploring older, classic trawler yachts which will offer us the living space and hopefully economy instead of performance.

I suppose this is all part of our exploratory journey...

Hi Tonyh1

Just speed read throughb the thread and see that the Antares didn't do it for you, but an older trawler style might.
I've probably missed it, but what sort of budget have you set yourself?

What was it that turned you off the Antares? Explain more about what you hope to see, what level of fit out, comfort, space?
Sounds daft, but what plans do you have for the new boat? Will she be for mainly day use with the odd overnight or will you be cruising extensively? If cruising, how far and for how long at a time?

Sorry for all the questions, but with some of those answers we may be able to come up with some really good suggestions.

Tom

 

[tonyh1]

Hi Tom,

Wife and I both work from home and so we have thought for some years about a holiday home - we have looked in Spain, France, Croatia, Lakes, N Wales and Anglesey but really nothing quite hit the spot in terms of it exciting us. Last two halidays we have day rented boats and my wife has really taken to it. I used to have a SeaRay 230 weekender when I lived in the Canaries 20 years ago and I started to think of getting something a bit bigger and mooring in north wales. Something that we could use as a weekend holiday home and use for its real purpose as well. We are not planning major expeditions but from a base in north wales I would like to think that Ireland, Anglesey and IOM could be reasonable destinations.

The Antares 9 seemed a reasonable choice as speed was not that important and the single engine suggested economy when we did venture out. The reality is that the Antares 9 is maybe an occasional sleep over possibility but not really a weekender where we can chill and relax in comfort. I think that we would want to go there at least two weekends a month and stay two or three nights even if the weather was pants and we did not venture out to sea. The change of scenery from our home/work place is very important. We want to be able to arrive and feel relaxed, we don't want to cramped and compromised. I think that the comfort factor is probably a higher priority than a boat that is going to zip us across the Irish sea in a couple of hours (and cost us £ hundreds)

The budget started at £50,000 but I think we are probably looking to double that now as we don't want to buy a particularly old boat and lumber ourselves with age related maintenance. Having said that, there are some good looking Trader 41's around from the mid 80's that "appear" immaculate but they too appear to pretty big engined. I like the look of the Sealine F34 / F36 but 70 litres an hour at cruise?? Perhaps this is why there are so many low hours boats around!

Something comfortable to temporarily live on for two or three days at a time, single engined and capable of 8 - 12 knots and use in coastal waters would be perfect. I am not particularly close to finding it yet though!

 

[Nautibusiness]

I don't have an immediate magic answer Tony.
But... 70 litres per hour at cruise is just under 8 gph per engine.
You should find that the likes of a Volvo KAMD300 will use around that and the newer D4.260 maybe a gph or so less.
BUT, the crusing speed you will get from the boats that these things are fitted to will be 22ish knots on shafts and maybe closer to 25ish knots on drives.
Bring these boats down to 8 knots and you will be looking at a tiny fraction of the fuel. Maybe 3gph to 4gh combined.

Some of these boats won't be designed for the slower speeds, but everything is a compromise.

The F34 is quite stylish, but can be quite skittish at low speeds and rather lively at faster speeds.
It does look smart, but she is quite narrow and not brilliantly balanced (IMHO) and I place this down to her height, beam and being on drives. Perhaps not as smart to look at, but immensley practical in the same size range and very sea worthy for her dimminutive length is the Prestige 32. I sold a lot of these in their day and they were / are really rather good. Make sure you have one with trim tabs as they are a fat girl and in a head sea will benefit from them, but that is the compromise. Good ones are appearing from around mid £70s and newer models from around the £90K mark.
The F33/34 will be cheaper to run as legs are very efficient, but what you save on fuel you will most likely spend at the end of the season on servicing.


Step up to the Sealine F36 and the then competitor from Jeanneau is the Prestige 36. Here both Sealine and Jeanneau are on shafts and so the comparison is much closer. Much of it will be personal taste. Some will argue one is better than the other, but the reality is they will both do a good job.
Both should be available hovering around the £100K mark.

Single engine boats are around, but harder to find something that will be comfortable for stays onboard and a late enough model to be relatively worry free when it comes to maintenance.

I am sure other forum members will be doing the same, but I am trying to rack my brains for something readily available in the UK.
Found extensively in the US are boats like the American Tug and it's remarkably (for good reason) similar counterpart the Nordic Tug. Big volume, single engine displacement boats from 34'. You'll need to hunt, but you may find one in the right price range although I suspect they will be dearer. They will do the job remarkably well though.

 

[Cathy*]

Hi Tony. I posted a similar question in November and had made our purchase before it appeared on the forum so you could be in the same position! We too looked at the 980 in Swanwick, with the 1080 next to it on the yard. It was obvious immediately that the windows on the 1080 are so high and small that when sitting down you can't see out. We looked at the MF 925 and Antares 9 but settled on a 980 then visited every one that was for sale at the time. Our second choice would have been the one in Haslar Marina which is still for sale. We've serviced our new boat, not too difficult, and launched her 2 weeks ago. We've taken her out in some pretty lumpy seas around Plymouth and so far so good. Our Antares 8 was very economical (for sale at South West Yacht brokers Plymouth), it worked out at roughly 1 litre per mile for the speeds we were doing (up to about 13 k) so I'm hoping this one isn't too thirsty although the engines are slightly older Nannis. We had a forward facing crew seat on the Antares 8, which flipped over to be a seat at the table, but never used it so it wasn't something we looked for in the new boat. I'd be interested to know what you decide.

Cathy

 

[Kawasaki]

Something comfortable to temporarily live on for two or three days at a time, single engined and capable of 8 - 12 knots and use in coastal waters would be perfect. I am not particularly close to finding it yet though!

Just something to consider Tony
It's quite handy to have a vessel that will top out easily at 16 kts if you are thinking of North Wales
Semi Displacement will do that obviously
Just that tides/currents run up to 8kts and sometimes more!
Means that you don't have to worry about tidal gates so much and does give you more freedom to leave and return from your berth if you are keeping Her in a marina with a 3 hours plus minus 'window'
There was a thread on here a couple of weeks ago ref the Fairline Turbo 36 range
It was pointed out that one of the last to be made was for sale in
She is in Caernarfon and has the latest larger engines in Her and has had a lot of refurb apparently
She looks well from the outside, I have never been on/in Her but She sounds beautiful!
As Philiz said an Antares 9 with flybridge is great for' parking' but no place to be if it cuts up rough.
35ft plus really before a usable flybridge comes into play imho
hlb of this Parish had a Princess 35 (famously nicknamed 'Mucky Farter' but that's another story!) and we all know He did millions of miles in Her from 'oopp top like'!
Tiss a quandary right enough
I like single engines but then it's a job to get 'Single engine- 16kts - semi displacement-- loads of room, loads of room'!!!
Off to Conwy as soon as this weather sorts itself out by the way
A Gent has bought a 925 from the Guys in Conwy and wants some instruction
So it will be interesting to see how the vessel shapes up, it's one Merry F model I aint helmed
Oh and yes welcome to the Forum and perhaps North Wales
With a bit of bad luck you may bump into me
Metaphorically speaking!

 

[Seastoke]

Boating in the pub does not count

hi tony

first i've seen of this post. We had a series 9 for 2 years, ours had the volvo kamd43p single engine. Very good sea boat for it's size, most are flybridge, however this has limited use as you don't really want to be up there in a bit of chop. Economy wise , ours used 4-5 gph at 15-18 knts. We used ours as a caravan too, you have to be pretty well organised as there's not a great lot of space, it's do-able though. Seating is okay but not for a relaxing evening with your feet up. Coincidentally we also do our boating around north wales/anglesey, they're well suited to the conditions in the area. Single engine never bothered us, look after it well and there's no problem.

 

[Scottydog]

Hi Cathy. We are busy looking for our first boat for the 3 of us ( 2 x adults and a 2 year old). We have recently looked at a Antares 8 down at Plymouth Yacht Haven and a 980 at Swanwick just outside the Ancasta office. I'd be really interested in your views re the 8 and 980. We liked the size of the 8 for our first boat.....but think that we may miss the stage out and go straight for a 980. Any help much appreciated.....including a view of running costs comparison if you have it!
Thanks
Scott