Refit older boat or spend money on newer one?

pcatterall said:
If you like the model of boat you have stick with it!
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That is good advice in my opinion, possibly because it resonates with what my wife and I have done. We bought an old Oyster 35 about 13 years ago in good condition, spent a good few £££££ getting it ready for long distance cruising and lived aboard for a while. We obviously know the boat pretty well now and it is currently getting it's second refit ready to go off again in a years time. It is now an old hull, built in 1980, but with just about everything else renewed in the last 5 years. It would probably have been cheaper to buy a newer boat, but having already owned this one for many years we know it's strengths and weaknesses very well. It is the right size for two people to sail long distances and it is very comfortable to live on in harbour. I suspect that to get a similar quality boat new boat would have cost a great deal of money, I have no idea what a new Oyster 35 would sell for today.

I guess that if we had not liked the boat so much we would have gone down a different route and would now have a very different perspective.
 
I bought new when I retired 11 years ago, with the idea that all the kit on board was also new, and so I'd have a relatively maintenance few years [didn't work out quite like that, but that was due to the builder's incompetence]. Now I'm having to replace or upgrade bits and pieces, but I can do it one at a time, as one bit or another needs work.
 
Joker said:
I bought new when I retired 11 years ago, with the idea that all the kit on board was also new, and so I'd have a relatively maintenance few years [didn't work out quite like that, but that was due to the builder's incompetence]. Now I'm having to replace or upgrade bits and pieces, but I can do it one at a time, as one bit or another needs work.
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I know what you mean, it seems the first year I spend more time argue with the dealer what was a under warranty,
until I passed it all on to my solicitor and all the sudden, every thing that needed doing was done,
Luckily I am in the position to be about to do that, other may not.
Anyone that Think buying new is maintenance free could be in for a surprise,
So I under stand dealer get X amount to put things right, the more they can get away with the more in their pocket.
 
Joker said:
I bought new when I retired 11 years ago, with the idea that all the kit on board was also new, and so I'd have a relatively maintenance few years [didn't work out quite like that, but that was due to the builder's incompetence]. Now I'm having to replace or upgrade bits and pieces, but I can do it one at a time, as one bit or another needs work.
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That is about par for the course. The problem with many owners of 10 year old boats is that they let replacements slip and suddenly 3 or 4 years later the boat feels old and uncared for. My last boat was like that. Up to 10 years it all felt good, but for various reasons I let things slide. Sold it at 13 years and new owner spent £10k bringing it up to scratch.

Now have another new boat (virtually trouble free after 2 full seasons) and hopefully if i keep it long enough I won't fall into the same trap.
 
Tranona said:
That is about par for the course. The problem with many owners of 10 year old boats is that they let replacements slip and suddenly 3 or 4 years later the boat feels old and uncared for. My last boat was like that. Up to 10 years it all felt good, but for various reasons I let things slide. Sold it at 13 years and new owner spent £10k bringing it up to scratch.

Now have another new boat (virtually trouble free after 2 full seasons) and hopefully if i keep it long enough I won't fall into the same trap.
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It's really hard though to spend money on something you will soon be selling or to invest the time and care.
 
RupertW said:
It's really hard though to spend money on something you will soon be selling or to invest the time and care.
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Yes, but partly explains the constant gripes here about the poor state of boats for sale and the unrealistic price expectations of some sellers.

It is instructive to have an independent person look at the boat before you sell. owners, particularly longer term like I was get used to the boat and don't notice the general decline.
 
I'm an owner 4 - which means that the boat was cheap but needed a fair amount doing to it. In many ways this suited me, I could buy the sails I wanted rather than living with the choice (possibly cheap dacron) of the previous owner. I could spec the standing rigging to my standard (and have the rigger I trusted do the rigging). I could choose the instruments I wanted and could learn how they worked by fitting them myself (admittedly, SeaTalk is not the most complex of instrument systems). Intention is to keep the boat for at least 7 years, so I've done the upgrades early on to get the benefit of them.
 
I put a bit of thought to this a couple of years ago. My boat was 12, but with a lot of milage and use.

We are planning to go off cruising in a couple of years, so should we spend money on a new engine, sails, standing rigging, etc., or sell it and buy something about 2 or 3 years old instead.

We chose the former, for the following reasons:-

1./ We like our boat. It does everything we want, is easy to sail, comfortable to live on, and we know it well.

2./ Money. Engine, sails, running and standingrigging will cost £30k. However, it'll cost me about £5k in brokerage fees to sell, and an additional £100k (or more) to get an equivilent 2 year old boat, and then I'd probably end-up spending another £10k to get it as I want it.

So, a no-brainer really.
 
For me, I'd keep the boat that you like, and understand. There's nothing worse than a 'surprise!' on a boat I reckon. I'm in a slightly different situation however, with a wooden boat, and time on my hands, that the boat is my hobby, which includes the sailing, and all other aspects of it, today converting from raw water cooling to heat exchanger. However, I've bought wholly into the exercise, and am that 'sort of person' anyway, which is slightly 'On the Spectrum' I'm professionally advised!
 
eddystone said:
Faced with likelihood of replacing engine on 1986 Sadler 32 plus other necessary things over next few years I think it's worth at least considering selling and combining proceeds with refit budget to get a newer boat - I'm sure others have had the same thought. However my research into the used market isn't very encouraging. Since my current boat meets my needs it would only be worthwhile if a newer boat had a significant advantage in terms of condition and less need for replacement. To achieve that I believe you need something 10years old or less, whereas I would be looking at boats more like 20 years old on which one would need to spend a fair bit to bring to a comparable spec. Of course if your current boat doesn't meet your needs then the equation is different.
Interested to hear if others had come to different conclusion and why.
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I take from this that you are happy with the Sadler 32 and only want a newer boat to address the age of components?
Not because you want a new design with more speed, more modern accommodation, more modern rig etc?
You are not minded to get a bigger boat for long trips or a smaller boat for weekending in local shallows?
Or something for the local racing?

In my view, even a ten year old boat is no guarantee that you will have no issues in the next 5 to 10 years.
 
I guess I am an Owner 5... Wasn't really looking for another boat as I was happy racing/sailing the old 3/4 tonner that I had and getting results with it but knew that she probably wasn't a long term proposition... Then the current boat was brought to my attention - the then owner had spent £50K on it over the previous 3 years, mostly on making it sail faster and better and after the deal was done, he ended up selling it for the same money that he bought it and didn't get a penny of the £50K back. The big difference was that it was much more comfortable with more cruising capability. A winner all round. Haven't regretted it for moment.

The previous owner had paid a lot of attention to the interior and I think that put other buyers off which left it for me to buy! Been working steadily through those issues.

The other comment is that the engine was original - a 1988 Yanmar 3GM30. Last year I replaced it with a 2008 3YM30 and sold the old one - net cost < £1000.

For me it was the right time to change the boat and the fact that I got a good deal allowed me to sell the old boat cheaply and quickly (3 hours through a classified ad on eBay...). I think the OP is in a different position if he likes the Sadler 32 but there are good deals out there...
 
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