Sabre vs. Windy vs. Hardy vs. Nimbus vs. Marex

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jamesjw

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Hello,
Total newbie here so please bear with...

Was hoping someone could help me out with trying to understand where these brands (and any others for consideration) sit in terms of price and quality.

I'm not looking at specific boats yet - I just want a steer on which brands lead the market. Which would be the Man City and Chelseas and which would be the Burnley and the Brentfords?

Thanks!
 
I would put Windy consistently qualifying in the Champions league above the others .

The others I suspect are not in the same leagues as each other .
Really need to visit boat shows , tap , touch , feel , eyeball inc opening cupboards and engine room hatches etc etc to get a feel .
The EU shows are better Genoa / Cannes as you can rummage about without the H+S excuse U.K. shows use to restrict access .
I mean who would pull the trigger on a £1M upwards ( or any price ) boat if the ER is taped off ??

Timex and Pakek Philipe question really .It depends on your taste and attitude to stuff( boats inc ) assuming you have a choices cash wise ?
We are all different.They both tell the time .No real winner .
 
Windy make a very different style of boat (mainly sportboat style) compared to the others in your list (less sporty looking, more practicality) , marex (and possibly nimbus with some of their centre console range) I guess straddle the style between windy and the others in your list.

Cant comment on quality of the other brands as I have never looked at them because the style of boat they make is not what I would want , but have owned two windys and can say that their build quality is high, but so is their price.
 
James, I am presuming you are new to boating. You also haven't specified what type of boat you are looking for or your budget. I would start of by asking yourself what do you want from a boat before looking at brands. If you are looking at plodding along at 8, 10 , knots then you would be looking at displacement boats brands, but if you are looking at getting somewhere fast then planning or semi displacement. Do you want petrol or do you want diesel. Will it be a day boat, speed boat, or something you want to stay on for three or four nights. What is your budget, how old are you prepared to go?

So in a nutshell, what you want the boat to specifically do for you and then look at brands.
 
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Thanks for the responses. Yes - very new. Not sure what the budget would be. Only considering it now due to a friend having recently bought a Seaward. He was close to buying a Dale. I've looked at those brands. Would rather buy something British built if poss.

Maybe something like this: DALE Classic 37 | Dale Nelson

Anyone got any experience of Dale / Seaward? Thanks!
 
Lucky you having the funding for one of those. Both Dale and Seaward are great sea boats having TT derived hulls.
 
Okay, fair enough. Let me ask the question this way.

If any of you were in the market for a boat, and wanted something vaguely like the Dale Classic 37, and had £250-300k to spend, which brands would you start looking at?
 
jamesjw said:
Hello,
Total newbie here so please bear with...

Was hoping someone could help me out with trying to understand where these brands (and any others for consideration) sit in terms of price and quality.

I'm not looking at specific boats yet - I just want a steer on which brands lead the market. Which would be the Man City and Chelseas and which would be the Burnley and the Brentfords?

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Depends what yu mean by leads the market - are you talking volume, price or quality and what country - I bet the Med has a different mix to the Solent
Very rough answer and all of course just my opinion. I've owned 2 Hardys. Hardy - very seaworthy - unless a completely new one, very old fashioned interior designs. Mostly semi displacement. Marex - top quality scandinavian with some very clever designs and an unusually wide mix of shaft/v drive/outdrive choices - I think they are full planing - if I was going back to motor and had the money I would go here (I would be in the 32-36 foot bracket)
Nimbus - I reckon about the same quality as Hardy - perhaps slightly more modern internally but we didnt like the very "upand down" nature of the interiors - again mostly semi displacement
Dont know anything about Sabre
Windy as has been said - much more your full planing sports boats but again good scandinavian quality, main dealer round the Solent is Berthons
I would add Beneteau Swift trawler into your thoughts - simply to add a mainstream volume manufacturer to the list - I have always seen their trawler yachts as a more affordable Hardy style vessel.
I dont think your football alanogy has much value in making comparisons - it depends what you want and what you will use it for
 
stuartwineberg said:
Depends what yu mean by leads the market - are you talking volume, price or quality and what country - I bet the Med has a different mix to the Solent
Very rough answer and all of course just my opinion. I've owned 2 Hardys. Hardy - very seaworthy - unless a completely new one, very old fashioned interior designs. Mostly semi displacement. Marex - top quality scandinavian with some very clever designs and an unusually wide mix of shaft/v drive/outdrive choices - I think they are full planing - if I was going back to motor and had the money I would go here (I would be in the 32-36 foot bracket)
Nimbus - I reckon about the same quality as Hardy - perhaps slightly more modern internally but we didnt like the very "upand down" nature of the interiors - again mostly semi displacement
Dont know anything about Sabre
Windy as has been said - much more your full planing sports boats but again good scandinavian quality, main dealer round the Solent is Berthons
I would add Beneteau Swift trawler into your thoughts - simply to add a mainstream volume manufacturer to the list - I have always seen their trawler yachts as a more affordable Hardy style vessel.
I dont think your football alanogy has much value in making comparisons - it depends what you want and what you will use it for
Click to expand...

Thanks very much. Very useful!
 
Think the windy is a very different boat from the rest perhaps. Depends on what you want and budget for sure. If you want fast…windy…out of the rest…I’d be nimbus hands down. Such amazing boats, I think. Well thought out too. The heater vents for the windscreen speaks volumes about what these things are all about.
 
If you want a beautifully built boat with exquisite woodwork that will shrug off any seas then go for the Dale.
Two things...
1. Strictly speaking it's built in Wales
2. Personally, if I had the money, I prefer the aft cabin 38.
 
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I had been at Neyland a few weeks ago. A brand new looking Dale 37 moored outside the factory oozed quality. The price unfortunately is way over my pay grade.
 
I don't know the if above selection makes any sense.

A Windy against a Sabre, is like wanting a Penthouse and a Villa. Two really different boats.

Sabre is a down East boat, very well engineered and you can put it against the like of PalmBeach, Grand Banks Eastbay.
About five-ten years ago if you are buying new I could have also put another five makes from Italy, but most of them have switched away from this style.
There is a bit of a hybrid from Austin Parker the 46 Mahon, which has lines calling a Down East boat with European ammenities.
Another similar offer would be the Tiara C Coupe series.

Windy currently have two lines, the traditional Sporty line, and a new CC line which has taken over.

Marex can be considered as an alternative to a Sabre in some areas, but since most of them are single engine then you should consider the sister company Back Cove.
 
Dale is beautiful, but 300k would get you a pretty late model 330 or 360 CC Marex they are lovely and very practical boats, that would be my choice.
 
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