Sarum 28

No but someone I knew had one when they were new, we sailed in company from Lymington to Dartmouth.

Seemed a good cruiser, fast but not mindblowing, seaworthy enough and tough.

I recall it as not being that roomy for a 28,( friends at the time had a Seal 28 so I was used to a very roomy boat for that length ) but not too bad.

I have seen several in more recent times which seemed to be suffering corrosion along the deck edges, possibly disimilar metal on the stanchion bases, it looked something on those lines; have to say I'd want some very serious convincing to even consider buying one now.
 
macberran,

that's a tricky one as it was at least 2-3 seasons ago, but I remember wondering how my acquaintance's boat ' Dolly Gray ' had fared over the years.

It will have been in the Solent, and Cowes or eastwards as far as Chichester as sadly that's the furthest I've been for 2-3 seasons.

Quite possibly Hayling Yacht Co in Chichester Harbour, they have a wide variety of boats either berthed or for sale and I had a good look around there when visiting Dylan's boat - I kept a boat there for a summer & winter in the late 80's and it's an interesting yard, as Dylan mentioned on one of his films.

Sorry I can't be more specific, if I remember more I'll mention here.

If you're interested in such a boat at this distance, unless there's some way of their absolutely convincing you it's even worth the cost of coming for an essential look, I would strongly suggest walking on by; lots of good grp boats available for low prices at the moment, and they will still be around in 10-20-100 years time !
 
Hello macberran
Pleased to say I do and there is a small group of sarum28 on sailing networks
Good strong boat,not the fastest but low maintance costs .
Stripped mine to bare hull and only corrosion was under winch pads not bad for a 1977 boat
Any quires PM me
Regards
Bacus
 
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Hello everyone,

I just bought an aluminium Sarum 28.

I can't find any 'owners association' online and this thread is over 6 years old.

Is there anyone on this forum that currently sails, owns or previously owned one?

I know that around 30 boats were built. There is not a lot of info anywhere about these boats.

It looks like aluminium hulls for sailboats are not a very popular choice in the UK.

Any info will be greatly appreciated.
 
I had one for 5 years, a twin-keeled version. She was the 5th boat built and was BACO's demonstrator originally called Sarum Intrepid. When I sold her in 2009 the next owner called her Sarum Star. I sailed her all over the Irish Sea. She was a strong, seaworthy boat though not very fast, I think she was a bit under-canvassed and the beamy multi-chined hull had a lot of wetted area. She made a roomy and comfortable cruising home though.
 
Hi Jim, my own is also a twin keeled version, number 28 .

When you said "not very fast", could you remember the max. speed ?

The Sarums have 3 different plan designs, one of them being for racing. I bought all 3 plans from the designer, just to find out my one does not fit any of the original sail plans... it does not really matter as my rigging and sails are quite old and replacement is required anyway. I may re-configure back to an original plan.

Could you remember any specific weakness or isueses (other than the anodes) on these boats?

Thank you.
 
I based my passage planning on 5 knots and in about F4 or more she would maintain this, any less and I would often have to motor sail as Irish Sea harbours typically have short access periods around HW and you have to get there, you can"t mess about. I don't think I ever saw more than six knots under sail and about the same under engine which was a 20hp Bukh. She was rather noisy under power but no doubt this could have been moderated with some insulation.

I cannot remember any weak points or problems with the aluminium structure, in fact we were so enamoured of aluminium boats that when we sold her we wanted an Ovni but couldn't afford one.

I've worked all my life in the aircraft industry (Avro - Hawker Siddeley - British Aerospace - Airbus) so being surrounded by aluminium was my natural environment.
 
That is not that slow then. Pretty average for a 28 foot. I wonder if with some type of hydrofoil configuration a Sarum could fly.

An Atalantas 26, (that cannot go any more than 6 kts) was reconfigured to replace both lifting keels with hydrofoils, and she literally took off at more than 20 kts.
 
That is not that slow then. Pretty average for a 28 foot. I wonder if with some type of hydrofoil configuration a Sarum could fly.

An Atalantas 26, (that cannot go any more than 6 kts) was reconfigured to replace both lifting keels with hydrofoils, and she literally took off at more than 20 kts.
OK, I'll bite having considered buying one a long time ago. Searching for info on the foiling Atalanta I found a rather tongue in cheek mention on the Owner's website and a picture that has Photoshop written all over it. So unless anyone knows differently, I suggest this is a spoof.
Nice idea though, I'm sure Uffa Fox would have appreciated it
 
We had one in our club that was sold within the last 3 years, I think it was called Sarum Volante. Seemed ok and was a twin keeled version. Apparently they don’t balance very well when they dry out and tend to sit back on the rudder or so I was told.
 
Years ago a little-used Sarum 28 was moored in Ravenglass estuary. A red hull and I think she was called "Can-Can" although that's stretching the memory-bank.
Add. she seemed to dry out well enough.
 
She was still there about 5 years ago, on the saltings above the railway bridge. I was there this year and she appears to have gone.
 
Being spoof or the truth, I am convinced that hydrofoils are the future for sailing boats.

I did not get the Sarum to get into hydrofoils but because I thought that it would be a sturdy boat and quite stable with both twin keels suitable for sailing with the family on the east coast. I am not a very experienced sailor so 5-6 knots is good enough for me.
In the future I think that natural progression would be to own an OVNI, (I agree 100% with Jim C) but the Alubats are different kind of beasts.

In any case, I am over the moon with my little Sarum. I am a bit surprised that owners are scattered all over the place with no association of their own.

But if that is the destiny of Sarum owners, let it be that way. I am quite happy being a maverick sailor anyway

Thank you all for your comments.
 
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