Here's a yacht that caught my attention a month ago.

[Fr J Hackett]

It was very quickly taken off the market, I guess the sudden realisation that getting it CE / RCD compliant ( engine and generator replacement as a minimum) 25% import duty then VAT on top just made it ridiculously expensive and overpriced. A great pity as it's a beautiful yacht.

 

[Wansworth]

Is that a CQR

 

[Tranona]

I think you will find the 25% duty no longer applies - it was part of the EU/US spat over govt subsidies for aircraft which has now been sort of resolved and the EU has also removed the duty. The other issues still remain.

If you want to fill your boots with this type of boat then this is where to go.youtube.com/c/CaptainQYachtHunter

Not too active now as I think the good captain might be poorly but plenty to feast your eyes on over the last 3 years or so.

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I think you will find the 25% duty no longer applies - it was part of the EU/US spat over govt subsidies for aircraft which has now been sort of resolved and the EU has also removed the duty. The other issues still remain.

If you want to fill your boots with this type of boat then this is where to go.youtube.com/c/CaptainQYachtHunter

Not too active now as I think the good captain might be poorly but plenty to feast your eyes on over the last 3 years or so.

It wouldn't for me but it would for the UK as they haven't resolved their trade issues yet so it still remains.

Yes I make no bones about liking American yacht designer and builders products Perry, Harris, Creelock and Paine amongst others produced some fabulous boats far better than most European offerings imo.

 

[Motor_Sailor]

When we sailed into Southwest Harbor, Maine, we tied up to a mooring buoy at Hinkley's building yard. As we rowed ashore a man walked down and met us on the dock. We expected to be greeted with a "Get orff our land", but instead we were offered a tour of the boatyard. We said we were hardly in a position to be a customer, but he simply said that they played the long game, and from the look of our current boat, we could well be a customer one day!

A wonderfully traditional yard, but with the imagination to launch a range of fast, waterjet powered 'Picnic Boats' to a customer base of conservative, old money New Englanders, who bought them by the dozen.

 

[Tranona]

It wouldn't for me but it would for the UK as they haven't resolved their trade issues yet so it still remains.

Yes I make no bones about liking American yacht designer and builders products Perry, Harris, Creelock and Paine amongst others produced some fabulous boats far better than most European offerings imo.

I lust after an Alden designed boat and if I were 10 years younger I would buy either this woodenships.co.uk/sailing-yacht/john-alden-challenger-yawl/ or this woodenships.co.uk/sailing-yacht/john-alden-malabar-sloop/
Would be a difficult choice - a bit like deciding which of the puppies to have out of a litter of labradors. First time the choice was by numbers on the list and fortunately there were eight and I was number 8 so got the runt. Second was first dibs and we chose the one that settled on my daughter's lap and latest was out of 2 with my other daughter having first choice, Fortunately like with an Alden designed boat you can't go wrong.

Got very close to buying another Challenger 3 years ago, but needed too much work for the asking price. The Hong Kong built boats are works of art but need a lot of attention to keep up to standard. Maurice Griffiths who designed 2 of the boats out of the 5 that I have owned was heavily influenced by the pre war NE US designs, particularly the Alden boats so I like to think that my rather plain Jane Golden Hind has some connection!

 

[Fr J Hackett]

I lust after an Alden designed boat and if I were 10 years younger I would buy either this woodenships.co.uk/sailing-yacht/john-alden-challenger-yawl/ or this woodenships.co.uk/sailing-yacht/john-alden-malabar-sloop/
Would be a difficult choice - a bit like deciding which of the puppies to have out of a litter of labradors. First time the choice was by numbers on the list and fortunately there were eight and I was number 8 so got the runt. Second was first dibs and we chose the one that settled on my daughter's lap and latest was out of 2 with my other daughter having first choice, Fortunately like with an Alden designed boat you can't go wrong.

Got very close to buying another Challenger 3 years ago, but needed too much work for the asking price. The Hong Kong built boats are works of art but need a lot of attention to keep up to standard. Maurice Griffiths who designed 2 of the boats out of the 5 that I have owned was heavily influenced by the pre war NE US designs, particularly the Alden boats so I like to think that my rather plain Jane Golden Hind has some connection!

As beautiful as they are all that wood is very frightening

 

[Tranona]

It is with the Malabar, but the Challenger is GRP hull and deck with wooden cabin that if maintained properly does not give problems - although if let go can be a bit of a nightmare. That was one of the reasons I did not buy but this one is in a different league and should be relatively trouble free

 

[Buck Turgidson]

It is with the Malabar, but the Challenger is GRP hull and deck with wooden cabin that if maintained properly does not give problems - although if let go can be a bit of a nightmare. That was one of the reasons I did not buy but this one is in a different league and should be relatively trouble free

He had a Hong Kong built Malabar on there some years ago that was the most beautiful thing I'd seen in years! This one is not quite the same standard but once the ridiculous stern arch is removed it will look lovely.
There are quite a few lovely classics on the market at the moment which are spoiled by unsympathetic modifications/modernisations. Another of my favourites is the Holman Rummer Yawl one of which sports a 12in chart plotter cut into the cockpit bulkhead. It's just horrid. But I guess we don't all have the same taste and I couldn't afford the upkeep of any of the yachts I lust after.

edit: It was on Sandeman not wooden ships : John Alden Malabar Snr 34 ft Sloop 1960

 

[Motor_Sailor]

Got very close to buying another Challenger 3 years ago, but needed too much work for the asking price . . .

I think I looked at the same boat. A strong price for a boat that still had a long way to go in its restoration.

 

[Tranona]

He had a Hong Kong built Malabar on there some years ago that was the most beautiful thing I'd seen in years! This one is not quite the same standard but once the ridiculous stern arch is removed it will look lovely.
There are quite a few lovely classics on the market at the moment which are spoiled by unsympathetic modifications/modernisations. Another of my favourites is the Holman Rummer Yawl one of which sports a 12in chart plotter cut into the cockpit bulkhead. It's just horrid. But I guess we don't all have the same taste and I couldn't afford the upkeep of any of the yachts I lust after.

edit: It was on Sandeman not wooden ships : John Alden Malabar Snr 34 ft Sloop 1960

Yes, that one had a much simpler more purist fitout. I saw it briefly when it was in Poole where the photos were taken.

You are right about unsympathetic mods. Nearly all the Golden Hinds I looked at had been "improved" (messed about with). The one I bought was almost original, Not that it was all good, but at least my changes are I hope in keeping with the original as they reflect some of the others built at the same time or just after.

 

[Tranona]

I think I looked at the same boat. A strong price for a boat that still had a long way to go in its restoration.

It turned up a bit later in Southampton after a bit of fettling and a season's use at an asking price much lower than that my rejected offer, so I guess either there was something about it that was worse than I saw on my inspection. the one with Woodenships seems to have had all the hard work done and money spent. Only question is the teak decks - and it does not have the lovely real fireplace that the Dutch and Danish built ones have.