carlos
New Member
Hi there ,
Can anyone tell me about this yacht as I am thinking of having a look at one.
Carlos
Can anyone tell me about this yacht as I am thinking of having a look at one.
Carlos
Sadler barracuda 45
- Thread starter carlos
- Start date
Rivers & creeks
Well-Known Member
Some more learned chaps will be along directly but here's a summary - they sail like witches but leak like sieves from hatches, windows and fittings. Sort one out (or buy a sorted out one) and you will be sailing with a big grin on your face.
bobgoode
Well-Known Member
Have a look at old episodes of the TV series "Howards Way" as they were designed for the show.
Quite fast and exciting to sail, so I believe, from talking to an owner.
Quite fast and exciting to sail, so I believe, from talking to an owner.
Quandary
Well-Known Member
Barracuda
If you like this sort of thing can I recommend the X119, cheap but much better built, even better looking and no harder to handle and some have had the torpedo keel modified too already done all its depreciating. Only problem won't work if you have to have shallow draught.
The TV series about Barracuda could be a bit misleading, it did tend to glamourize it a bit.
An old thead on the barracuda revived here recently, worth a search.
Bob Fisher persevered with one and wrote a bit about racing it, I think in Yachting World but I don't think he might be the best to ask about maintenance.
If you like this sort of thing can I recommend the X119, cheap but much better built, even better looking and no harder to handle and some have had the torpedo keel modified too already done all its depreciating. Only problem won't work if you have to have shallow draught.
The TV series about Barracuda could be a bit misleading, it did tend to glamourize it a bit.
An old thead on the barracuda revived here recently, worth a search.
Bob Fisher persevered with one and wrote a bit about racing it, I think in Yachting World but I don't think he might be the best to ask about maintenance.
carlos
New Member
Thanks for the info I sail a Dehler 38 but she draws 7 feet and the inside is a bit cramped as the engine is under the table, the Barracuda appeals to me as a bigger boat with the added bonus of the lifting keel. I do a lot of sailing with just my wife.
Carlos
Tranona
Well-Known Member
Probably not the boat for you. Designed for racing with big crews, although the production boats were heavier and possibly more docile. However as noted lots of problems with the build which requires sorting. Owners often love them, but an acquired taste. If draft is an issue there are more suitable boats such as Feeling, Southerly and Ovni, for example if short handed cruising is the use.
Cantata
Well-Known Member
There is at least one owner on these forums but I've not seen him for a while. He is very enthusiastic about his. There's another well-known one called Moonboots, based on the Crouch, that I often see round this way.
I looked at another one a few years ago in Ramsgate, I totally understand the attraction but IMHO this one was a real basket case for a lot of money.
The one Bob Fisher had was (I think) the prototype and was sunk at least once.
There were fewer than 20 built before Sadler went bankrupt (as a direct result of under-pricing the boat) and at least one came to a bad end, on the rocks by the entrance to Fecamp a few years ago (happily without loss of life).
I looked at another one a few years ago in Ramsgate, I totally understand the attraction but IMHO this one was a real basket case for a lot of money.
The one Bob Fisher had was (I think) the prototype and was sunk at least once.
There were fewer than 20 built before Sadler went bankrupt (as a direct result of under-pricing the boat) and at least one came to a bad end, on the rocks by the entrance to Fecamp a few years ago (happily without loss of life).
Pasarell
Well-Known Member
Barracuda
Bob Fisher had the wooden plug, built by Elephant Boatyard, made into his boat - a very different animal from the GRP production boats built by Sadler.
After Bob's boat was sunk by a delivery crew after running into Bembridge Ledge, then repaired, he famously wrote an article in the Observer the week before the RTI saying how to round the wreck of the Varvassi at the Needles. His comment was something like "only an idiot could hit the Varvassi". Inevitably he hit it the following Saturday and had to be towed in by Yarmouth and Lymington lifeboats, one either side, to stop her from sinking.
I sailed a demo boat a few times 2 or 3 up. Easy to handle and fast in moderate conditions but nothing like the lightweight Bob Fisher had.
Bob Fisher had the wooden plug, built by Elephant Boatyard, made into his boat - a very different animal from the GRP production boats built by Sadler.
After Bob's boat was sunk by a delivery crew after running into Bembridge Ledge, then repaired, he famously wrote an article in the Observer the week before the RTI saying how to round the wreck of the Varvassi at the Needles. His comment was something like "only an idiot could hit the Varvassi". Inevitably he hit it the following Saturday and had to be towed in by Yarmouth and Lymington lifeboats, one either side, to stop her from sinking.
I sailed a demo boat a few times 2 or 3 up. Easy to handle and fast in moderate conditions but nothing like the lightweight Bob Fisher had.
SailingDog
Well-Known Member
Hi If my memory is correct, the Barracuda was designed by Castro, as an ULDB designed to be sailed off the wind and at that outstanding, the inside was basic with very small sinks and wash basins. Crewed on "Brighton Barracuda" quite a number of years ago. The French bought quite a few of them, some had done away with the lifting keel as the rams could be expensive.
Rgds
Rgds
