Old vs Newish quality

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Dutch01527

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I recently had the opportunity to sail with a mate on his shared ownership 2008 Dufour 455 Grand Large.

Lots of space on the Dufour but the general overall quality was disappointing. Little things like saloon cushions saggy, hard and slipping (poor velcro), storage door locks not locking, internal wood peeling, clutches slipping, sloppy steering ect ect. Value of boat c. £100k

My 1984 28 foot Dehler feels much tighter. Not a completely valid comparison because of boat size and my boat is valued at only c.£15k at a push. However, quality is evident despite size.

I would not want to own the 2008 boat. Modern Wimpey 6 bed “Luxury” home vs Victorian Semi?
 
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That's an interesting observation. A number of the quality marques (think Najad, Moody, Westerly, Dehler, Southerly etc.) have gone out of business (in some cases more than once). It seems that there is a limited market for high quality vessels (although Discovery and HR are still going, so they must be doing something right).

It would seem that most AWBs have the charter market as a target audience and this market is clearly quite demanding on the boats. This may explain some of the issues you saw on an 11 year old boat. I should also note that I've had three boats from the late nineties and all of them needed considerable expense to get them to a standard that I am happy with.
 
You need to consider both build quality and usage. Over Easter I listened to an experienced sailing friend who has had a small 25 year old Dehler for the past two years. His lengthy list of quite serious problems that have needed rectification was disappointing. Culminated in a rudder that now needs new bearings as well as re-skinning.
My own boat dates from 2004, so close to the age of your mate's Dufour; our saloon cushions are still near as-new, none of the storage door catches has ever gone wrong, no laminate wood peeling, all clutches have always worked 100% (some still with original halyards), steering still crisp (although we do service the linkages every two or three years). But we have never chartered the boat out, so usage has always been careful and limited to my holiday time.
There are plenty of ten year old AWBs out there that combine great capacity with good sailing characteristics, many of which are still in excellent condition.
There are also some dogs.....
 
Dutch01527 said:
I would not want to own the 2008 boat. Modern Wimpey 6 bed “Luxury” home vs Victorian Semi?
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I would far rather own the modern Wimpey 6-bed detached home rather than the Victorian semi, a million times over. In fact, I have made this choice several times over the last 20 years with my own money and always, without a moment's hesitation, gone straight for the brand new modern detached.

But so what? :confused:

Richard
 
RichardS said:
I would far rather own the modern Wimpey 6-bed detached home rather than the Victorian semi, a million times over. In fact, I have made this choice several times over the last 20 years with my own money and always, without a moment's hesitation, gone straight for the brand new modern detached.

But so what? :confused:

Richard
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Great, at last a new metaphor.

I think shoes would be a good one.
The Westerly range could be a pair of stout brogues, heavy reliable, easy to repair - some cynics might say you will have to.
AWB's could be a pair of trainers, cheap, roomy, up for it - just don't get them wet.
French alloy boats are your pair of wellies, rufty tufty, take all the weather you can throw at them - but not much to look at.

Hours of fun :-)
 
RichardS said:
I would far rather own the modern Wimpey 6-bed detached home rather than the Victorian semi, a million times over. In fact, I have made this choice several times over the last 20 years with my own money and always, without a moment's hesitation, gone straight for the brand new modern detached.
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If you are only keeping houses for a few years you might be OK. However

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It depends on what you mean by quality. Hulls since the 2000s are probably better than those of forty years ago and some of the interiors may have been cut down, but the OP isn't really comparing like with like. Dehler were always a bit up the quality scale and price. I don't know the 28 but the 34s were neatly but simply fitted out. This didn't prevent them having failures due to cutting weight and I believe the use of cast fittings in some places. I also think that the big builders tend to go through good and bad phases.
 
JumbleDuck said:
Could you pop up to Scotland and have a look at the oil warning light on my car?
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I'm currently working on three warning lights on my Son's Disco. You know that you are really into classic Land Rover incompetent engineering territory when you discover that these three lights are known colloquially by everyone in the trade as "The Three Amigos" because they always accompany each other and because they are never far away. :ambivalence:

Richard
 
Dutch01527 said:
I recently had the opportunity to sail with a mate on his shared ownership 2008 Dufour 455 Grand Large.

Modern Wimpey 6 bed “Luxury” home vs Victorian Semi?
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This appeals to me :) I wouldn't piss on a newbuild home if it was on fire, I would only buy old ones, and expect some updating. Mebbe thats why I like mabs :) I was geneuinely shocked by the quality of the finish and the boats at last years boat show when looking at the bav's etc, especially compared to the quality of the motor boats, which just seemed to far superior interior design and finish.

I just wouldn't buy one, period, I would see i as a waste of money. I know I've never sailed on one, and am not very experienced, but there you are.

And that wasn't prejudice, it was a judgement I made. More to the point, my wife came to the same conclusion, and she is all for bright shiny modern awb style boats and a gin palace lifestyle :)
 
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It can be very hard to keep warm in an old house. When we moved to a 15yr old house some years ago it was the first time I had ever lived in a house less than 100 years old, other than a few months rental. Effective draught-proofing and heating s a great improvement even if it doesn't meet my exacting standards. It's the same with boats, and cars. If you want something classic you have to be prepared to be uncomfortable or inconvenienced.
 
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