Hinckley boats: why isn't anything this lovely built in Europe?

Keen_Ed said:
Ask them when they actually last built one.
Click to expand...
Probably today, with another tomorrow, etc. Within 100 miles of where I am berthed, traditional boats are being built by people who care about beauty and craftsmanship. For example:

http://www.capegeorgecutters.com/36/
http://devlinboat.com/
http://www.pocketyachters.com/Port_Townsend_Pocket_Yachters/Photos.html
http://www.perryboat.com/largeview/crhper-kbpic-nlobster-slge.jpg?30-6+Lobster

And if you like, also within 100 miles, you can learn how to build and design classic boats

http://nwboatschool.org/programs/
http://woodenboat.org/

And don't get me started on Downeast boats from Maine, RI, CT, etc.

I was recently in Newport RI, and for a collection of some of the most beautiful traditional yachts in the world I should think Newport would be hard to beat. Rich people's boats for sure, but some people are willing to spend their $ on traditional arts, and in the U.S. there is no shortage of builders catering to that market.
 
dancrane said:
Okay, their designs are distinctly retro (have a look, you won't be sorry)...

http://www.hinckleyyachts.com/Sailboats/sw51/sw51.php

Isn't it odd that America can successfully build and sell boats with decidedly traditional lines and styling, while in Europe, where I reckon many of us like that style, nobody seems to be building them?

Is it just a matter of price?
Click to expand...

Pacific Seacraft are bust, Island Packet are now a hobby business hardly selling anything. I am sure there are plenty of other US casualties.
Hinkley and Morris are the only 2 that compare to Spirit or Rustler.
 
doris said:
Pacific Seacraft are bust, Island Packet are now a hobby business hardly selling anything. I am sure there are plenty of other US casualties.
Hinkley and Morris are the only 2 that compare to Spirit or Rustler.
Click to expand...
While the trend towards manufacture of soul less plastic lumps has continued apace in the States as it has in Europe, there are still a great many builders constructing fantastic looking vessels. You're confusing high quality and classic production yachts (an oxymoron) to high quality classic yachts. We have a market for these vessels, so they're built. Hinckley is one of the largest and most visible, but there are others. Cherubini comes to mind.

But the true craftsmanship is being done one at a time for people who want the best of the type and have the money to pay for it.

There will never be a mass market for exceptional boats because for the most part the masses will settle for butt ugly if it saves them a few bucks.

Case in point: http://www.legendaryyachts.com/Projects.htm
 
Last edited:
Delfin said:
There will never be a mass market for exceptional boats because for the most part the masses will settle for butt ugly if it saves them a few bucks.
Click to expand...

How sad. And it's depressingly convincing. On the other hand, it places the exceptions on a level that no-one could fail to recognise - like a Mk2 Jag amongst Mitsubishis.

Salty John said:
View attachment 33492
Click to expand...

She justified your lust! Another great looker, whatever she's made from. I certainly prefer the appearance of wood, but I doubt I'd ever seek a wooden hull...

...I like wooden facings in the car, but I wouldn't want a chassis made from the stuff! Asking for trouble. (Sorry Tranona! How much of a Morgan is wood? ;))

I think Keen_Ed has it exactly: the enduring beauty of yachts with tapered rear-ends, is bad for their space & cost-efficiency...and maybe not the last word in seaworthiness...

...but however uncommon they are and for whatever reasons, I feel greater liking for their style than for any other. Ketches & yawls too, even if the mizzen's ornamental.

Is it verboten to admit that I don't admire Oysters very much? I don't doubt their quality or abilities, but visually, if that's the state of the art, long live aging IOR designs!
 
Last edited:
Thanks Ed...it's not the answer I'd hoped for or expected, but it does settle the question...there's not much available, as lovely as Hinckley's yachts, even in the States. :(
 
18 Morris's built between 2000 and 2012 are for sale. M36 and M42. So more around than Hinckleys.
Big daysailers. Far more people in the States have a weekend "cottage (*)" with a mooring/dock.

(* Bearing in mind that this was called a "cottage"...)
800px-Rough_Point%2C_Newport_RI.jpg
 
Duncrane,

I have to smile at you. Its taken you many years and about 3000 posts beforeyou would invest in a secondhand dinghy and here you are lamenting that hand crafted wooden boats costing £1m are not build in the UK any more!
 
Heavens, Sailfree...how many (or how few) posts would there be here each year, if one could only express a view on items one could afford to buy? :eek: ;)
 
Blueboatman said:
Ha, you have a Morgan car and a 'value engineered' yacht, yes?
Perhaps those who put their money into the boat they really want have made other sacrifices?

Speaking personally, I have an older v nice midrange boat and ride a bicycle. Go figure. To me cars are a complete waste of money, ha!

When I once did buy once an AWB ( ok it had SnS pedigree and sailed like a wee witch, eventually) I cut off the back and rebuilt it-longer, better, faster, lighter too- as it was just plain f'ugly and didn't need to be, with just a few weeks work thrown at it...raced it too.

I think 'anachronism' misses the whole point and is vaguely perjorative. These sort of boats are aesthetic delights and reflect very personal choices, in a we-all-live-in-identikit-houses sort of world.
Click to expand...

You might take it that way, but was not intended. I would love a Hinckley (or a Truly Classic) but given that i only have meagre resources I chose a boat that was best suited to the intended use - which was drifting around the Eastern Med. A boat such as being discussed here would be completely wasted. Very good rational consumer decision.

I used the word anachronism deliberately because such boats only ever had a limited appeal, mainly because of price but also because they are only suitable for a limited range of uses (ie not mass market) - which does not mean that they are not beautiful boats but that few people can afford such things. Rich people now seem to want to spend their money on different kinds of boats, reflecting the changes in design, materials, fashions etc over the last 50 years or so. As has been pointed out, Hinckleys do not actually build any boats now, their business is in buying and selling existing boats and doing refits and repairs. It suits their business to keep the boat in the public eye.

I have a Morgan (another anachronism) because, apart from the huge pleasure it gives, it is the only sensible fun car you can own and run on a wage slave's pension. Two weeks time is the 10th anniversary of collecting new from the dealer and I could sell it for what I paid for it.
 
Tranona said:
I have a Morgan (another anachronism) because, apart from the huge pleasure it gives, it is the only sensible fun car you can own and run on a wage slave's pension. Two weeks time is the 10th anniversary of collecting new from the dealer and I could sell it for what I paid for it.
Click to expand...

Congrats on a decade's enjoyment of the car...

...if memory serves, all Morgan customers had to expect a 312-week waiting period...you must have ordered yours just before Princess Diana met her end!
 
Cousins had a nice Hinkley 40. Used it rarely and finaly sold it on. Question is? The same as often discussed on here. What gets the market? Loverly classic types or modern high volume AWBs suitable for the charter field. No.s count.
 
Tranona said:
You might take it that way, but was not intended. I would love a Hinckley (or a Truly Classic) but given that i only have meagre resources I chose a boat that was best suited to the intended use - which was drifting around the Eastern Med. A boat such as being discussed here would be completely wasted. Very good rational consumer decision.

I used the word anachronism deliberately because such boats only ever had a limited appeal, mainly because of price but also because they are only suitable for a limited range of uses (ie not mass market) - which does not mean that they are not beautiful boats but that few people can afford such things. Rich people now seem to want to spend their money on different kinds of boats, reflecting the changes in design, materials, fashions etc over the last 50 years or so. As has been pointed out, Hinckleys do not actually build any boats now, their business is in buying and selling existing boats and doing refits and repairs. It suits their business to keep the boat in the public eye.

I have a Morgan (another anachronism) because, apart from the huge pleasure it gives, it is the only sensible fun car you can own and run on a wage slave's pension. Two weeks time is the 10th anniversary of collecting new from the dealer and I could sell it for what I paid for it.
Click to expand...

All fair enough, eminently sensible choice.
To run a motor car without depreciation, excellent ( this week fantastic?)

The wage slave 'dilemma' is a good one, just what does one have to 'do' to lock a cool million or two away in a summer toy I wonder? There are only so many CEOs and startup innovators.
I could only justify having a boat in this country ( to myself) by really using it a lot, building it up( or down hoho) with my hands, and avoiding the depreciation trap as much as one can sensibly hope to..

I have been lucky enough to wander around the Hinckley sheds in southwest harbour, Maine. They reminded me of the timeless grandeur of , say, Berthon 40 years ago. Big beautiful boats well spaced and quiet intent working..

I popped in to Rustler yacht a couple of years ago, ostensibly to see the new day boat being built but actually to 'clock' a lot more( and I too have worked in a boatyard for my sins)... Impressed, quiet studious hands-on diligence and immaculate work areas, great joinery set up..
Sadly all rarer and rarer..
 
dancrane said:
Okay, their designs are distinctly retro (have a look, you won't be sorry)...

http://www.hinckleyyachts.com/Sailboats/sw51/sw51.php

...but considering the mixed reception given to avant garde European designs, plus our dozens of AWB manufacturers who just fill marinas and boatshows with similarly bland white plastic (however solidly built & efficient they may be), isn't it odd that America can successfully build and sell boats with decidedly traditional lines and styling, while in Europe, where I reckon many of us like that style, nobody seems to be building them?

Is it just a matter of price?

PS, this isn't meant to be a rant. Just a moment of sincere appreciation of a company's products, and a sad reflection that they don't seem to be built & bought here. Given a free choice, I easily prefer these, to our much more extremely-styled Spirit designs.
Click to expand...

I crossed the Atlantic on the Hinckley 76 :-))) Carbon in mast furlng (couldnt have been cheap in 1993, AND Kevlar Hull construction NICE :-)

This one to be precise http://www.wellingtonyachts.com/yachts/hinckley-yachts-custom-76-for-sale-freesia
 
Last edited:
dancrane said:
Congrats on a decade's enjoyment of the car...

...if memory serves, all Morgan customers had to expect a 312-week waiting period...you must have ordered yours just before Princess Diana met her end!
Click to expand...
No. Myth - which I discovered as soon as I had the money to buy one and found it was not the case. I saw mine as a demonstrator in the dealer, hired it for a weekend to see if I liked it and it would fit in my garage. Weather was just like it is now. Took it back on the Monday and did the deal!

Just to put things into perspective. Pre the infamous Harvey Jones TV programme they did indeed control production and had a waiting list. However, very few people actually took up their slot when it came up so dealers created a market to sell slots at a premium. Morgan then decided to allow dealers to order for stock, although there was, and still is a wait if you want your car in your unique colour, spec, interior etc. When I was in New Zealand last winter I met somebody who did just that. Visited the factory, specced up his car, took 6 months for a slot then had it shipped to Christchurch.

So, when you decide Ospreys are not for you and you want a Morgan instead I can give you the lowdown on how to get one the very next day! You won't regret it.
 
Tranona said:
So, when you decide Ospreys are not for you and you want a Morgan instead I can give you the lowdown on how to get one the very next day! You won't regret it.
Click to expand...

Thanks for that, Mr T...although, Morgan will have to build a sailing amphibious version, à la James May's Herald, before I'll trade the Osprey in!

If I had to pick between a boat laden with old-fashioned character (be that good or a nuisance), or a car likewise from a less convenient era, I'm sure I'd choose the yacht.

No mistake, I love the Morgan's style - there's one near me and I always stop and stare for a minute to really take it in - but whereas (for me) a car is usually a thing I need, use & abuse, I'll always regard a boat as something I chose purely because I coveted it beyond any practical reasoning - whether or not it really suits my use.

(I may take a minute to edit this in ten years, when I'm filling osmosis holes in the underside of a big, ugly, off-white, forty-year-old Prout). :rolleyes:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top