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miket

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Recently returned to boat in Holland (East of Amsterdam).
Fabulous weather. Rivers a bit full after heavy rain in France/ Germany, but what a wonderful cruising ground.
Meeting the Broom Owners Club, who are coming over from Gt Yarmouth shortly.

Why are these great cruising boats not more sought after. Look good, perform well (20/30 knots), excellent sea boats ...... what's not to like?
 
Until recently built by old people for old people. Chinz everywhere and I'm pretty certain lace curtains and doilies used to be on the option list.

Oh, and did no-one mention an internal helm is a useful addition when you have perfect big windows to look out off if it rains
 
I've been buying MBM for a few years, quite a few, and I've never seen a Broom ever mentioned.

I thought they were boring displacment river boats.

20/30 kts, I'm amazed! Do they still build them?
 
have a look at the latest interiors - you will be surprised. If I cruised around the UK I would definitely consider a broom

forgot to ask - any piccies please
 
Still being built after 115 years of production and sometimes perceived to be a little old fashioned, but certainly no longer.
If you want a weekender then go for a Fairline or Princess, where a 12 metre boat gives you 9 metres of interior accommodation. If you want 11 metres of interior space (1m bathing platform) on a 12 metre boat, then buy an aft cabin Broom.
For the last 20+ years Broom have been building semi-planing (deep V with small keel) boats able to max' up to 30 knots and cruise very comfortably in quite nasty conditions. Very well built with great interiors in the timbers of the time (teak, American Cherry, light oak, etc). Plenty of beam so great interior space. No inside helm needed as the "Command Bridge" is so well protected. Even the old "fuddy duddies" made it plain that the inside helm was no longer required, thereby releasing additional saloon space.
The current range has been modernized externally and internally whilst maintaining an excellent hull and interior. I believe the designer is ex Fairline?!
Having owned Broom 33 (1991), Broom 37 (1990) and currently Broom Ocean 38 (2000), I have no connection with Broom other than satisfied owner.
Not a net curtain in sight!!
 
Our Broom is 20 years old and is often mistaken for a new boat. Indeed, when I showed SWMBO aboard at LIBS 18 months ago (it was on the used pontoon) she asked why we were looking at a new boat as it would be beyond our budget. Not many boats you can say that about!! Overall it is excellent quality, a good sea boat (okay cruising at 18 knots but we felt that the twin 300hp engines were a good compromise for river and sea use with fuel prices climbing) and has bags of space. Handles like a dream in tight marinas and has a planing hull with a small skeg keel. Overall package is hard to beat IMHO and definitely not an old folks boat but judge for yourself here..http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?315169-New-Boat&highlight=
Some of the pictures not great quality but good enough to get a feel for the boat..
 
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Greg2 said:
Our Broom is 20 years old and is often mistaken for a new boat. Indeed, when I showed SWMBO aboard at LIBS 18 months ago (it was on the used pontoon) she asked why we were looking at a new boat as it would be beyond our budget. Not many boats you can say that about!! Overall it is excellent quality, a good sea boat (okay cruising at 18 knots but we felt that the twin 300hp engines were a good compromise for river and sea use with fuel prices climbing) and has bags of space. Handles like a dream in tight marinas and has a planing hull with a small skeg keel. Overall package is hard to beat IMHO and definitely not an old folks boat but judge for yourself here..http://www.ybw.com/forums/showthread.php?315169-New-Boat&highlight=
Some of the pictures not great quality but good enough to get a feel for the boat..
Click to expand...

Looks like a fantastic boat. I'm amazed at the modern interior.

What sort of economy do you get at 7-8 kts, guess:.... 1500 revs?
 
Not sure about low speed economy to be honest......not worked it out yet. Cruising at sea on the plane is around what you would expect i.e. around 1mpg....maybe a little more.
 
Brooms are excellent boats and I'd probably still have one if I hadn't moved to the Med. They're built like brick outhouses, are very practical and the more modern ones are great seaboats too. I had a Broom 37 (forerunner of the 39 and 41) and it would plough through the kind of seas which would have lesser scuttling back to port. The aft cabins are huge and the aft command positions work really well too. Also their relatively low windage make them easy to handle in the marina as well. As miket says, what's not to like? I'm surprised to hear that they are not sought after though. My impression was that they always sold well on the secondhand market
 
Deleted User said:
As miket says, what's not to like? I'm surprised to hear that they are not sought after though. My impression was that they always sold well on the secondhand market
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I wouldn't say that they aren't sought after. Obviously the current market is affecting everything but Brooms sell as well as any other boat and I had no doubt that our money was better spent on our Broom than some other boats we considered.
 
Quite true. An impossible market at the moment and Broom possibly better than many.
Currently moored in Drimmelen (NL) and one entire side of this large marina is lined (double banked) with motor yachts >12 metres, for sale by large broker. I think the 2nd hand yacht market is the same throughout EU.
 
What, priced incorrectly :)


Broom really upped their game a couple of years ago showing a radical improvement in their interiors at Southampton. Out went pink carpets, in came stylish finishes and there is a lot of space to work with.

Aft cabin boats are something of a marmite design. On the one hand you get lots of space and 2 private areas, on the other you lose sleek lines. You also have to clamber off the boat, you don't have a natural flow off it as you do with traditional designs.

Fairline tried it with the 43AC and whilst they did sell some it was eventually dropped, expensive and much smaller take up compared to the 42 flybridge.

The great thing about boating though is the sheer variety of what people use to get out on the water. You see plenary of them out and about on the South coast.

Henry :)
 
henryf said:
Fairline tried it with the 43AC and whilst they did sell some it was eventually dropped, expensive and much smaller take up compared to the 42 flybridge.
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The reasons that the Fairline 43AC failed was it's back of a bus transom styling which was really hideous, the fact that it didn't offer a separate forward dinette like equivalent Brooms and it was vastly overpriced. Nothing really to do with the aft cabin concept. We'd had aft cabin Fairline Turbo 36 and Princess 435 boats and were really looking forward to the introduction of the 43AC but like a lot of potential buyers, we were very underwhelmed when we saw her for the first time at SIBS. The 43AC does have a good reputation as a sea boat though and if you can put up with the styling and layout disadvantages, it would be a good used buy if you can find one. B A Peters couldn't sell their stock 43AC so they started a sea school with it:)
 
I also like Broom, I really hope there styling works out well in the future.

IMO there was a couple of trend setters in the British style aft cabin cruiser in the past decade from Pearl yachts (sadly abandoned with the new 75), and Ferretti with the Altura Range 690 and 840.
Think Zuccon did a fabulous work with the 690, sold in like only 20 units.
I think Broom should have a look at these design and get inspiration from them in new upcoming models.... especially the Ferretti, and may be this kind of style can get a more global appeal.

An observation here is that interestingly Italians also have there version of aft cabin cruisers but mostly they used on open boats like the old Itama 45/46, Rizzardis 50/53, and Alfamarine with Deep Vee inspired from Levis and Hunt shapes. May be the Rizzardi 53 Top Line was one of the closer copies having also a master cabin to aft.
 
PowerYachtBlog said:
and Ferretti with the Altura Range 690 and 840.
Think Zuccon did a fabulous work with the 690, sold in like only 20 units.
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You think so? I have never been on a 690 but the saloon looks quite small and for me, the galley down arrangement is far from ideal. Also the orange hull colour is lets say an acquired taste. Maybe thats why they only sold 20!
 
Deleted User said:
You think so? I have never been on a 690 but the saloon looks quite small and for me, the galley down arrangement is far from ideal. Also the orange hull colour is lets say an acquired taste. Maybe thats why they only sold 20!
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Hull color was option, I saw a dark navy blue and beige light brown one.
Agreed on the galley down, but I think the overall deck exterior arrangement was pretty clever, if you want to cater for markets outside the UK I think many Aft cabin cruisers should have a look.
I am not saying doing the exact thing but some clever ideas on the 690 Altura took place, which can be used on smaller boats.
 
PowerYachtBlog said:
Hull color was option, I saw a dark navy blue and beige light brown one.
Agreed on the galley down, but I think the overall deck exterior arrangement was pretty clever, if you want to cater for markets outside the UK I think many Aft cabin cruisers should have a look.
I am not saying doing the exact thing but some clever ideas on the 690 Altura took place, which can be used on smaller boats.
Click to expand...
If my memory was right, orange was the only colour available to start with and Ferretti only introduced blue and beige colours later after people started complaining. Looking at pics of some older 690s for sale, the orange colour seems to fade which is another minus point. Yes agree that the foredeck design is very clever
Do you have any experience of the 690? Are they good seaboats?
 
680 is better if is that you want to hear ;)
Also the very full bow made it a wet ride in head seas of say 2 meters plus, but I did hear finishing was better to same era 680s.

Anyways the 68 Ferretti was a monster model (ten years plus production run) from them and still today very much appreciated, in Summer 2011 I had like 5 of them in Syracuse with ages coming from 2000 models to more recent 681s with light oak woods.
 
henryf said:
What, priced incorrectly :)


Broom really upped their game a couple of years ago showing a radical improvement in their interiors at Southampton. Out went pink carpets, in came stylish finishes and there is a lot of space to work with.

Aft cabin boats are something of a marmite design. On the one hand you get lots of space and 2 private areas, on the other you lose sleek lines. You also have to clamber off the boat, you don't have a natural flow off it as you do with traditional designs.

Henry :)
Click to expand...

Not sure I agree Henry....not all aft cabin boats lose the lines. Our Broom 41 looks well balanced and relatively sleek (side view) IMHO and an Atlantic 46 we cruised in company with a week or so ago looked very impressive on the water.

It is, of course, all in te eye of the beholder and as you say thank goodness for variety :-)
 
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