Nicholson 33

If you're extending your search to half tonners the Shamrocks are nice boats. We had the 'Club' variant when I was growing up and it was a great boat - fun to race and we also did many miles cruising.

There's a Golden Shamrock (slightly racier variant) here which looks like it could be a good 'un:

http://yachts.apolloduck.co.uk/display.phtml?aid=220027

Gotta love sentences like these in a boat ad:

just short of £20,000 has been spent during the refit. Everything on this boat works and there is nothing left to replace, I have enjoyed the work more than the sailing and I am looking forward to my next project.
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Allot of good suggestions here, when I bought this boat I was looking originally for a UFO 34. We would of bought one but finding one in good nick was difficult, its now not the boat I would choose although there is nothing wrong with them.

I think first off you need to list what you want form another boat:
1) What do you want to use her for?
2) What are you realistically going to use her for?
3) How long do you plan on keeping her for?
4) You Mention a SWMBO what does she want out of a boat?
5) Accomidation requiments?
Standing headroom?
Double berth?
Cooker with Oven? (was one of my essentials)
Toilet?
Shower?
Holding tank or space to fit one?
No of people max onboard?
Comfort on deck?
6) Required equipment? You can do this yourself but budget for it.
Auto Pilot (if you single hand you will want),
Wind Gear?
Charging? Solar/ Wind?
Sails?
7) Performance requirements?
8) Size,

Do not forget you can get more performance without going to much bigger, the little SJ Shows that.

If you are looking to buy and go with your list of things you want the right boat will soon leap out at you. It will be a compromise but that's boats..
 
Lots to think about chaps.. Many thanks...

Well fortunately most work I can do myself, having done all the work on my current boat, including building an entirely new cockpit floor, well transom etc, though I'm sure there is always plenty to learn on a new (and bigger boat)

I don't have a permanent SWMBO so we can leave that issue out until it arises. It really does all boil down to my own choices at present.
There are a number of half/tonner's that also look very nice and I'm sure would sail well too. Without labouring on the GK29, I've remained a fan for some time.

On berths, my requirement really is a decent size v-twin (with infil) up front or a saloon seat that can be converted into a comfortable double. Not so much for passage-making but there are often days in the summer where it's rubbish sailing weather but great weather for spending a couple of days in 'floating caravan' scenarios.

Performance needs to be impressive. Having done some racing in squibs etc, performance is now a concern. Not necessarily to win any class races, more to have an exhilarating sail at half decent pace. I'm also not looking for a boat that is completely uninvolved. I'm not concerned if the boat likes to move about a little. At my stage of sailing, I do like some excitement in the sail, rather than just efficient passage making.

Size needs to be a max of 33ft ish. Mostly due to limits on my mooring but for a guy who often sails single handed, I think 30-33ft is as much as i'd need at this stage.
Standing headroom definitely-ish. 5'10" is about the minimum I'd want in the saloon.
Definitely a half decent 'heads' though showers on board I'm not desperately concerned about and the cooker would need to have or at least a provision of hobs and grill. Ovens are a nice to have.

The rest of the gear is flexible. Most would be nice to have. Wind gear a bonus but not essential, along with solar etc. All I am happy to develop over time.

Timescale to keep boat, Id say I'd like to keep for at least 5 years+..

That's a rough punt at where I'm at. :)
 
Fire99 said:
Not huge. Looking to pay (rather than advertised price) no more than around £15k....
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Plenty out there, I think your biggest issue is going to be double bed/ caravan and performance.

Take any opportunity to sail any boat you will soon decide what performance you want.
 
onesea said:
Plenty out there, I think your biggest issue is going to be double bed/ caravan and performance.
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Well when I say double bed, I think a little perspective is worthwhile. If the V berth (with infil) is of reasonable size 'up front' then that's sufficient.
I used to 'camp' frequently on a 23ft Shetland MOBO and that was perfectly adequate for two. I'm not looking for anything too vast, just reasonable comfort for when the sun sets.
 
I'm sure you'll get something nice from the 80s for that money.

It's been said above and I'm sure you know this well yourself, but I would strongly advise picking up a suitable boat where an enthusiast has done all the work already, rather than chasing after a specific model.

I found out this the hard way - despite buying a not so old boat (1989) in pretty good nick and with a lot of modern upgrades, I'm still spending many hours / lots of boat tokens bringing her up to the spec that I require. Admittedly I'm racing every weekend, but things like old / unreliable wiring or a lumpy (and thus marine life encouraging) finish on the bottom can take a lot of time to put right.

A boat may look pretty sorted in the yard, but it's only when you sail her for a while that you realise you might like a few things rigged differently etc. Good quality deck hardware for a 32 footer is expensive, so choose wisely and profit from someone else's investment - it's a buyer's market at the moment after all.
 
mrming said:
I'm sure you'll get something nice from the 80s for that money.

It's been said above and I'm sure you know this well yourself, but I would strongly advise picking up a suitable boat where an enthusiast has done all the work already, rather than chasing after a specific model.
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I think that's a good point. I can be a bit tunnel-visioned about 'chosen' boats. A bit like the 'fabled' Westerly GK29. It's easy to overlook lesser known boats of the same class.
The more I look, the more there are boats out there that look very good that I'd never previously considered.
 
I envy you. I think you will have a grand time sorting out a new boat in this buyer's market

Your requirements are reasonable and there are a lot of boats, of the day, that would suit. There is a N33 here:

http://www.quayboats.co.uk/sail71_nicholson33.htm

I always find it useful to look at as many photographs and specs as possible...there is a cheapish GK29 with the same broker but I think it has been unloved for a number of years, worth looking at the snaps though.

On the earlier theme. I have a large genoa rig and find it singlehands ok, there are plus points to the arrangement and roller reefing sorts out most of the downsides. Good Luck.
 
Ahh thanks... Yeah that's a fine looking boat. Not amazingly keen on the bunk / saloon layout but other than that, I think it has nice lines.

There's certainly rather a lot to look at... :)
 
doug748 said:
I envy you. I think you will have a grand time sorting out a new boat in this buyer's market

Your requirements are reasonable and there are a lot of boats, of the day, that would suit. There is a N33 here:

http://www.quayboats.co.uk/sail71_nicholson33.htm

I always find it useful to look at as many photographs and specs as possible...there is a cheapish GK29 with the same broker but I think it has been unloved for a number of years, worth looking at the snaps though.

On the earlier theme. I have a large genoa rig and find it singlehands ok, there are plus points to the arrangement and roller reefing sorts out most of the downsides. Good Luck.
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Was that the boat that ended up on the rocks outside the Yealm a couple of years ago? Remember seeing it being repaired in Southdown a while back
 
"Yacht on the rocks, ain't no big surprise
Just pour me a drink and I'll tell you some lies
I got nothing to lose
So you just sing the blues for a while"
 
Take a look at : www.boatbid.com/‎
Its a branch of the 'Boatshed' group of brokers. Their auction starts on the 17th January. I was already registered with Boatshed anyway.
There is a Westerly Storm there with a starting bid of 15K.
I am looking for a similar sort of boat in the same sort of budget, ie around 15K but I would imagine a Storm will go for a lot more than the starting bid, if indeed it is even the reserve?
 
I am looking at the Gib Sea 284 and the Sun Odyssey 28.1, and also a very cheap looking Moody 27, all of which I had previously considered to be out of my budget
 
bernie_ni said:
I am looking at the Gib Sea 284 and the Sun Odyssey 28.1, and also a very cheap looking Moody 27, all of which I had previously considered to be out of my budget
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Well I'll certainly keep an eye on boatbid and see how things progress. I think there are some 'hidden' gems out there but you do have to keep your eyes open, so it seems
 
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