sadler / bowman starlight 35

wotayottie

wotayottie

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Pondering buying one but I do a bit of casual racing as well as cruising. Is it a cruiser racer or just a cruiser? Does anyone race one and if so whats the PY or IRC no? With wing keel or fin?

Any comments on construction or common faults - would be looking for a mid 90s onwards boat - any quality differences between Sadler boats and Bowman ones?

Incidentally, does anyone with a wing keel dry out and if so any problems with the keel bolts. Any lean on the boat has to put huge leverage on the bolts through the wings of the keel
 
Starlight 35..... on my list as one of the top 3 or so yachts of the 20th century......

Fast, Fun, well screwed together, seakindly, great interior, excellent cockpit.... just a fabulous boat all around.

I would say more cruiser than racer though.....

There was a dodgy batch that had problems with the layup... if I recall a whole bunch needed the entire gel coat stripping and then reapplying at great cost....

I would assume that all of the boats affected would have been sorted by now.....
 
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Wayatottie CORRECTION : there is no such thing as "casual racing".

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Of course there is. We dont have white makeup on our noses, we dont wear sunglasses, we dont have colour co-ordinated oilies. In fact we're entirely casual. /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif
 
If I recall they were late 90's boats...... The company who was building them went bust... so was that Rival Bowman????

I am sure Mike Lucas would know all about this.... maybe have a chat to him??

I am sure someone will recall better than I.....

But I would not hesitate to get one....... In fact, It is my dream boat!
 
If I recall right, the bad ones were right at the end of the production by Bowman, actually built by another company. I came close to buying one of these - the hull had been completely rebuilt at great cost and the result was probably more sound than the original boats were. I don't think you need worry too much - the layup on those that went bad was so disastrous that you could apparently see big undulations in the hull. It would be more than obvious if you encountered one.

Lovely boats. Expensive though.
 
The boats concerned were the last batch of Bowmans built. The entire outer hulls had to be replaced and the work was done by Rustler Yachts in Falmouth. Regarding the main differences between Sadler and Bowman built yachts it's mostly cosmetic changes to the interior. The Bowman built ones have a much more woody interior and a slightly larger chart table. Mike Lucas's web site will tell you all you need to know.
 
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Wayatottie CORRECTION : there is no such thing as "casual racing"

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You never raced with me then!

A friend and I did our club regatta last year. We delayed a tack untill we had finished our present beers, rounded the windward mark, debated wether to bother with the spinaker then upon deciding to maybe have a go, went below to see if it was even on board and then hoisted it to find we hadn't even brought the sheets. Squealed with joy as we overtook a J29 (or something) who was taking it far too seriously and was trying to beat with their enormous spinaker still up meaning that we weren't last. Found we were disqualified as we had been using our autohelm (had no idea that wasn't allowed! )

Great day though

Cameron
 
Brilliant boat! Really more of a fast cruiser but they have done well in long distance races, I think one won the AZAB a few years back. The structural problems were from Hull 99 to 108 and really brought Bowman down. Still regret selling mine. One big buying plus is that they hold their value so well.
No real problems with the rest of the Bowman boats, the MkII is worth the extra if you can find one.
 
We bought a Mk2 Bowman 35 just over a year ago and have been very pleased her. We get a very safe feeling with the boat, points very well, no slamming, strong build with super quality interior. There are bigger volume, lighter 36 footers about with more accomodation but in general they do not appear to be faster. Hull shape is deeper than newer, flater designs and the deep fin lead keel makes the boat fairly stiff.
If you would like more info on the problems of the poor quality batch would be happy to discuss. The solution to the problem resulted in a hull which is considered to be much stronger than those that did not have a problem, and yes the solution was expensive, not just a case of a new gel coat.
 
I am looking at a 1999 starlight 35 with a view to purchasing. The worry i have is that on both side of the deck, roughly in the area of the stanchions are cracks stretching out about 10 inches in half moon circles from the toe rail, also a crack across the deck forward of the forward hatch, is this indicative of the construction problem seen in other Starlights, the build mark suggest hull 87.
 
Unlikely to be THE PROBLEM which was caused by a contractor building hull inner and outer not to spec, and then using a not-to-spec foam (which never cured properly) to join them. Result was that in decent summer temps, the foam gave off gas, then shrank when cooled, and pulled the two hulls together irregularly, giving a very distinctive 'hungry horse' look to the boat. Or so I was told when I spoke to a Bowman's guy from those days.

Semi-circular cracks in the way of the stanchions sound like flexing caused by leverage on the stanchions. Not sure about the forehatch crack.
 
Highly recommend Starlight 35's since buying a late Bowman built one 2 years ago. As others have said they are high quality, quick, sea kindly boats.

Mike Lucas is an authority on them & his forum is a mine of information.

I have a fin keeled boat. I have heard that the wing keel has a very slight performance impact but a beneficial damping effect in rough seas.

I have spotted a Starlight 35 with a wing keel moored on a drying mooring in Jersey's inner harbour so someone is happy to dry out regularly on a wing-keel.
 
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