Linssen Boats - good or bad?

[SimonX]

Surely ,if you like a boat put deposit down subject to sea trial . If no good get deposit back ,if all good smiling faces all around. Also if you are bringing to the uk by sea , you would need to be very confident.

Not bringing to UK. I’d have to pay VAT. It’s going to remain based in EU.
We did briefly think of buying a UK boat and just paying the tax as there is a much better selection here ( particularly at Brundall) but there are also certification issues.
It looks like this one in Zeeland is going to be it though. My in-laws are having lunch with the seller tomorrow and having a look over the boat and, if it’s as good as he says, make some arrangements

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Exciting times, do let us know how this progresses, and when the time is right, it will be great to see some photos too. Best of luck!

 

[SimonX]

Exciting times, do let us know how this progresses, and when the time is right, it will be great to see some photos too. Best of luck!

Not counting our chickens just yet. Many a slip twixt cup and lip as they say.
The aim of tomorrow is the in-laws to see the boat with us remotely and to see if we can come up with some Heads of Agreement leading to a sale in around 2 months which is when he will have money available for his new boat. From what he has told BiL so far, he's not fixated on the Linssen which was at the broker we saw and anticipates others being available. He even mentioned the possibility of a brand new one at 650,000 Euro but I have no idea what the lead time on that is.
Thankfully BiL has a friend who is a commercial lawyer although he is more used to multimillion Euro construction contracts that this sort of thing

 

[SimonX]

Not counting our chickens just yet. Many a slip twixt cup and lip as they say.
The aim of tomorrow is the in-laws to see the boat with us remotely and to see if we can come up with some Heads of Agreement leading to a sale in around 2 months which is when he will have money available for his new boat. From what he has told BiL so far, he's not fixated on the Linssen which was at the broker we saw and anticipates others being available. He even mentioned the possibility of a brand new one at 650,000 Euro but I have no idea what the lead time on that is.
Thankfully BiL has a friend who is a commercial lawyer although he is more used to multimillion Euro construction contracts that this sort of thing

Good news and meh news from Holland.
The boat is pretty good. Doesn't have the "good as new" air that the Linssens did but those were newer and had been prepped for sale whereas this is in use. Hull (blue) needs polished and some of the leather (real) in the saloon is quite worn at edges but the ladies, who are both used to dealing with upholstery, think specific panels could be replaced and the rest of the leather treated to blend rather than doing it all.
Otherwise it has a great spec.
The not so good is that that owner wont commit to a specific timescale to sell, it might be two months, it might be six or more depending on what boat he buys. So we have said we will stay in touch but keep looking elsewhere. The is another Linssen 45 come on the market which is more affordable than the 2021 one and a few other options of other Dutch steel boat like https://www.rightboat.com/boats-for-sale/vischer-yachting/custom-125ac/rb572501

 

[Greg2]

The boat on the link looks very nice and is well equipped.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

The boat on the link looks very nice and is well equipped.

True, but resale would be my concern with that one.

 

[Greg2]

True, but resale would be my concern with that one.

Yes, I understand what you are saying but the market in the Netherlands is quite different to here and steel boats are predominant so perhaps might be okay?

We spent time looking at boats over there and some of their brokerages are spectacular - large covered sheds with pontoons and lots of boats and some of the steel boats really are very well put together.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Yes, I understand what you are saying but the market in the Netherlands is quite different to here and steel boats are predominant so perhaps might be okay?

We spent time looking at boats over there and some of their brokerages are spectacular - large covered sheds with pontoons and lots of boats and some of the steel boats really are very well put together.

That’s a very fair point. I follow De Valk brokers and peruse the listings from time to time; the usual suspects seem to sell reasonably quickly but oddballs take longer. That example might be in the latter category…?

 

[SimonX]

That’s a very fair point. I follow De Valk brokers and peruse the listings from time to time; the usual suspects seem to sell reasonably quickly but oddballs take longer. That example might be in the latter category…?

De Valk have been very helpful and responsive. They do have a very high sell rate.

 

[SimonX]

De Valk have been very helpful and responsive. They do have a very high sell rate.

Although, after tonight, where we have had a lovely meal, with stunning scenery and two bottles of Gavi, we thought, "f*ck having a boat in northern Europe, lets buy an apartment here instead” and then I looked at prices. One on the hill just across from the restaurant we ate in in Positano - 1.3m Euro

 

[Greg2]

De Valk do appear to be a good outfit and were very accommodating when we traveled to Hinderloopen to look at a motor sailer they had listed several years ago. That said, it was imported from Canada by the owner and the engine wasn’t CE compliant and their advice on the matter didn’t concur with my own due diligence but to be fair perhaps their view was based upon it remaining in the Netherlands whereas we intended to bring it to the UK.

On buying in Holland generally, my neighbour got his fingers burned when he tried to pull out of a purchase for legitimate reasons. Turned out that their contracts didn’t deal with things in quite the same way as the UK so he lost his deposit.

Only mention these things to emphasis the importance of due diligence
.

 

[SimonX]

De Valk do appear to be a good outfit and were very accommodating when we traveled to Hinderloopen to look at a motor sailer they had listed several years ago. That said, it was imported from Canada by the owner and the engine wasn’t CE compliant and their advice on the matter didn’t concur with my own due diligence but to be fair perhaps their view was based upon it remaining in the Netherlands whereas we intended to bring it to the UK.

On buying in Holland generally, my neighbour got his fingers burned when he tried to pull out of a purchase for legitimate reasons. Turned out that their contracts didn’t deal with things in quite the same way as the UK so he lost his deposit.

Only mention these things to emphasis the importance of due diligence
.

We are chilling out in Italy this week but BiL has visits to the one above and another Linssen 45 this weekend but it is a big jump in cost
Been thinking again about the idea of hiring a Linssen 40 for a week and seeing how it is in real use. I must admit I really liked it, it was the ladies who weren't that keen on the saloon size.

 

[Sticky Fingers]

…visits to the one above and another Linssen 45 this weekend but it is a big jump in cost…

If it’s the one you really wanted all along, then IMHO it’s a lot cheaper to buy the right boat first time, rather than buying the wrong boat, spend money upgrading it, sell it at a loss, and then go through the whole process again with the right boat.

 

[Alicatt]

As regards with steel boats, in our haven there are maybe 2 fibreglass boats from more than 20 boats, ours being one of them, the other one I can think of is a Birchwood 360, it is the other boat in our haven with twin engines, a pair of VP 300hp on outdrives, and it just trundles up to the end of the canal and back.

I was kind of taken aback when the skipper said it was twin 300hp Volvo Penta in his boat as he is quite a distance from anywhere he can open her up, it's bad enough with ours having the twin 145hp Perkins at a sub optimal speed on our section of canal

 

[SimonX]

If it’s the one you really wanted all along, then IMHO it’s a lot cheaper to buy the right boat first time, rather than buying the wrong boat, spend money upgrading it, sell it at a loss, and then go through the whole process again with the right boat.

Hence the idea of trying the 40 before buying. The 45 is very nice but it’s big and more than 150k Euro more.

 

[SimonX]

As regards with steel boats, in our haven there are maybe 2 fibreglass boats from more than 20 boats, ours being one of them, the other one I can think of is a Birchwood 360, it is the other boat in our haven with twin engines, a pair of VP 300hp on outdrives, and it just trundles up to the end of the canal and back.

I was kind of taken aback when the skipper said it was twin 300hp Volvo Penta in his boat as he is quite a distance from anywhere he can open her up, it's bad enough with ours having the twin 145hp Perkins at a sub optimal speed on our section of canal

Yeah, the Brooms we have been looking at typically have two 300hp+ engines, the specific one we were most interested in recently 2x 370hp VP D6 and I have had concerns about running them at low speeds but the owner ( for all of its 20 years) says he has never had any issues and was made even easier 5 years ago with a Yachmaster remote.
The Linssens are much lower power ( D3 with either 110hp or 170hp single in the 40, twin 110 in the 45), also much heavier boats.

 

[Whopper]

I suspect those d3 engines linssen will suffer higher depreciation than the later ones. The d3 don’t have a great rep. Linssen moved on to mercury and then quickly on to Yanmar more recently

 

[SimonX]

I suspect those d3 engines linssen will suffer higher depreciation than the later ones. The d3 don’t have a great rep. Linssen moved on to mercury and then quickly on to Yanmar more recently

The issue is with the pre-2010 "Mk1" D3, I have yet to find any issues with the 2010-2021 ones on the owners groups. The Yanmar equipped ones are too new for our budget. Linssen also use them in their lowest form of tune (110HP) although some have had the software rev limit removed to take them to 170Hp

 

[SimonX]

If it’s the one you really wanted all along, then IMHO it’s a lot cheaper to buy the right boat first time, rather than buying the wrong boat, spend money upgrading it, sell it at a loss, and then go through the whole process again with the right boat.

BiL has just linked me the spec on the 45. I think its a bit overkill for cruising canals and rivers: https://www.rightboat.com/boats-for...f4c2629b-9676-4554-bdc7-eecc877e5d65/rb671748

 

[Alicatt]

Boy that is a lot of wood!
Nice looking boat, at 14m it is a typical size for most in our club too, at 11m our boat is at the smaller end of the size with most being over 12m, and 18m the largest in the club
For the Netherlands/Belgium DSC VHF is fine for the sea, for inland it needs to be able to be switched to ATIS, spec looks fine for inland, AIS is starting to become mandatory in some areas and from July it will be the preferred method for going through locks as they start to roll out remote control in more areas.
The stabilisers are a bit over kill for inland unless you are thinking of going places like the Ijsselmeer or other open water areas.
We don't have any bow or stern thrusters but they would come in handy at times, and I have seen some boats that have to use them extensively in the locks, especially some of the larger steel boats.
We do not have a TV system on board, not seen the need, plus there is no "over the air" TV broadcast in Belgium since quite a few years.