Lifespan of grp boats

[coopec]

Or even years.

How long did it take you to build your yacht? What design???

 

[pvb]

How long did it take you to build your yacht? What design???

Ha! Why would I spend my time building a boat from scratch when there are so many wonderful production boats to choose from?

 

[Stemar]

Dumb question: In practice, how big a difference in cost is there between a home brew and an equivalent production boat?

I'm guessing the deck and hull mouldings would be significantly cheaper for the production boat, likewise engine, electronics and rig, because of trade discounts. Even the fit out wouldn't necessarily be a lot different once the professional has bought 500 sheets of ply against the home builder's five, and set up CNC machines. OK, you've got the maker's profit and the distributor's cut, but...

 

[pvb]

Dumb question: In practice, how big a difference in cost is there between a home brew and an equivalent production boat?

I'm guessing the deck and hull mouldings would be significantly cheaper for the production boat, likewise engine, electronics and rig, because of trade discounts. Even the fit out wouldn't necessarily be a lot different once the professional has bought 500 sheets of ply against the home builder's five, and set up CNC machines. OK, you've got the maker's profit and the distributor's cut, but...

The actual cost of building a production boat is probably less than the cost of an equivalent home-made boat. But, in most cases, the finished quality of the production boat will be streets ahead of the self-built boat. And, of course, there's a ready market for secondhand production boats, whereas the self-built boats can be hard to sell on.

 

[Stemar]

That's what I was thinking. ISTM that the only advantage of a home brew these days is that you spend the money a bit at a time. The disadvantage of building in the back garden is that there are an awful lot of bits at a time. Then there's the risk of divorce...

A project boat seems to have all the disadvantages of the home brew, when compared with spending a bit more for something a few years old but ready to go.

 

[coopec]

The actual cost of building a production boat is probably less than the cost of an equivalent home-made boat. But, in most cases, the finished quality of the production boat will be streets ahead of the self-built boat. And, of course, there's a ready market for secondhand production boats, whereas the self-built boats can be hard to sell on.

How did you go with the boat you built? What size was it?

Did you sell it or do you still have it?

One thing I found about the prices of new production yachts is that the price is for a very basic setup ; one bilge pump, no rope clutches, min size winches. But I have no problem with that because a buyer would want specify the gear he wants anyway.

 

[coopec]

Ha! Why would I spend my time building a boat from scratch when there are so many wonderful production boats to choose from?

But you told us you built a boat.

Are you now saying you didn't build a yacht? Maybe it was just a typo. (My keyboard plays up sometimes too)

 

[pvb]

But you told us you built a boat.

Are you now saying you didn't build a yacht? Maybe it was just a typo. (My keyboard plays up sometimes too)

I didn't post that, as you well know.

 

[duncan99210]

I’ve got a 51 year old Hurley 18, which I picked up for next to nothing, spent several hundred quid and a lot of time on and I still have a boat that I’d have trouble giving away let alone selling. I keep it because it’s in UK (my Bavaria is in Greece) so I’ve got something to sail until I can get to Greece. However, if someone appeared tomorrow and asked me to sell it, it’d be gone.
Why? Well, it‘s tiny, no real facilities on board and will never be much good for anything other than the Admiral and I to potter about on (add one more adult and it gets crowded). I’ve been on other boats of a similar vintage albeit larger (say up to about 25 ft) and they suffer from much the same sort of problems: no pumped hot and cold, lack of space and so on. Most families aren’t interested in small boats which don’t offer mod cons so forget much below about 30 ft, as you can’t cram in the tankage and battery banks you need to support them.
There’s a reason why the major builders don’t make a sub 30 ft boat: not enough people want them! Trying to refurbish a 40 year old boat to modern standards so it could compete in the market with similarly sized AWB is a none starter. Before you take anything else into consideration, the older boat hull lacks the internal volume available to the AWB’s beamier hull form. Then why would anyone want an ancient hull with new kit inside it, outside of a vanishingly small niche market? I seem to recall someone refurbishing one of the classic older boats for clients who really wanted one: the prices were eye watering and the time taken from start to finish was in the order of a year. Fine for a dedicated few but the idea that you could churn out larger numbers in a short time doesn’t really bear examination.

 

[coopec]

I didn't post that, as you well know.

It’s not the lie that bothers me. It’s the insult to my intelligence I find offensive.

 

[pvb]

It’s not the lie that bothers me. It’s the insult to my intelligence I find offensive.

You should be bothered that you're posting lies. It's contrary to the forum's T&Cs.

 

[UK-WOOZY]

[Why should a refurb boat be "obviously reconditioned"? These boats were so simple in finish they could be stripped back to a bare hull in a day. I know because I have owned a few and had the "pleasure" of working on them myself. All faults in the fibreglass could be fixed like new very quickly and the whole hull refinished to look new in no time with the correct tools, processes and number of people. Then pop in the new interior bits & bobs including maybe an electric motor instead of a diesel. Replace any wood with new bits, quickly made in the hi-tech wood cutting and finishing systems and all screws/glued on tot he hull. Job done - a few days. ]

I Worked at Thames Marine building Mirage 28's & a few of the last Snapdragons, then at Jaguar yachts building Jag 24's. Spent most of my life repairing & building boats of all sorts.
A standard theme on 99% of production boats of the 70's was the practice of Gelling over nuts or slapping fibreglass over them.
This means taking anything apart becomes a nightmare. Bolts are seized & corroded. Alloy fittings have their bolts corroded in solid.
They were never intended to be taken apart. Once all the ancillaries wear out it takes a lot of time to bring them back.
Doing it down in a day? is wildly optimistic.
If it was viable it would have been done, hell i would have done it!
But by the time you renew everything from the engine, stern gear, seacocks windows, headlinings, the wiring, intruments, sails & spars who is going to buy it at a commercialy viable cost? The answer is Nobody.

cool history. do you remember David Johnson who is now with Wessex resins (West System), he was at Jaguar yachts. He recently did a great repair and barrier coated my 1988 Jeanneau

 

[dgadee]

"However, many are also disposed of at sea, usually by simply drilling a hole in the hull and leaving it to sink someplace offshore. "
Well that would be a lot of hard work. Most would cut the pipes from a hull fitting and leave it to flood. For a senior lecturer in marine biology at Brighton University to make a comment like this shows very little knowledge of boats despite using them for some of her studies. Her blinkered vision is solely about marine life and her opinion shows little thought for other sources of the chemicals like TBT used on ship's or rubbish that has entered the marine environment. You can hardly believe this is The Guardian not the Daily Mail publishing this.

The Guardian has never - in the decades I have read it - been favourable to boat owners or yachting. Now they prefer to encourage their readership to get a dog. Less socially objectionable to get a boat, I think.