Sealine S25 or S23 ?

[beergander]

Hello,

I'm thinking of taking the plunge and buying my first boat and seek a little guidance. I have decided upon a Sealine but am stuck on whether to go for an S25 or save a few quid and go for an S23. I want the KAD engine option either way.

Questions I have are;

What is the fundamental difference between these two boats, other than age?
How important is hours of use on an engine? (Assuming it's been correctly serviced). What would be considered an average usage per year in hours?
What's an approx cost of a general marine survey?
Anything else important to consider?

Thanks

 

[petem]

I always believed these to be exactly the same boat with different badges.

Pete

 

[DavidJ]

I believe S23, S230, S24, S240 to be the same boat but the S25 had a more modern, less blobby shape with also a diesel option.
I had an S24 for years, totally excellent great family boat and towable behind a good 4x4.
I can't think of any particular problems with this model.

 

[petem]

S230, S24, S240 - Are the same boat
S23 and S25 - Both the same but later version.

Pete

 

[Sneds]

I would expect to pay about £350 - £400 for a pre purchase survey.

Please bear in mind that this willnot include a report on the mechanicals - you could allways pay a local marine engineer to have a look at the oiley bits - should charge about £50 an hour.

Take your surveyor on your sea trial, well worth the extra payment.

Above all, after paying for his advice please heed it ie don't let your heart override your head!

BTW I also am off the opion that they are all the same boat - nice boat to boot

Good luck

 

[AdeOlly]

S230, S24, S240 - Are the same boat
S23 and S25 - Both the same but later version.

Pete

Spot on, no difference whatsoever between S23 and S25 except the badge. It was renamed to reflect its LOA rather than LWL. They are considerably different to the S24 et al, which has a very different hull. The S23/25 has a fair bit more interior and cockpit space due to the lack of swim platform (it's a fold down job) and a fuller bow.

 

[beergander]

Many thanks, any advice on the engine hour question???

 

[sterntube]

nice enough boats ,but very floaty ,meaning if you move about, so will the boat ,rather alarming so.

 

[AdeOlly]

Many thanks, any advice on the engine hour question???

Generally most boats run up in the region of 50-100 hrs per year, but unless the boat you're looking at has astronomical hours I wouldn't worry if it were higher. You should have the engine surveyed by a marine engine surveyor regardless of hours. Very low hours is not necessarily better either; long periods where the boat's not been used is not good. Be sure to have the outdrive thoroughly checked over too; any maintenance short cuts that have been made will lead to big bills.

 

[DavidJ]

I believe S23, S230, S24, S240 to be the same boat but the S25 had a more modern, less blobby shape with also a diesel option.

Woops! yes I was wrong the S23 and S25 are the same boat. For information there is a guy , Nick Seabridge, on this forum who knows all the Sealines and can organise any spares you may need. I'm sure he won't mind me giving him a 'plug'

http://www.seabridge-marine.com/

 

[CX54WEK]

We currently have a 2003 S23 with the KAD32. We have owned her for about 18 months now and have had some good fun with her. We didnt see the point in spending the extra money to buy an S25 which is essentially the same boat with a few different trim patterns, in fact we preferred the dashboard of the earlier 23's which is a gloss blue rather than a stippled blue. Looking around a few of our friends S23/25's of the same era, they are all different anyhow.

Ours had around 240 hours on the clock when we bought it and we have now added another 330 to that total. As long as the servicing has been carried out on a regular basis there should be few problems with the engine or outdrive.

The one thing we have found is that when planing she is very flighty. The slightest movement from crew members sends her scooting off in one direction or the other but when you have mastered this you can use it to your advantage.

To sum up, we really enjoy our S23 and plan to keep her for a good few years to come. There is very little we would change about her and i firmly believe you have to go a long way to find a better 25ft sports cruiser.

 

[alt]

I agree with all of the above. I've had a few similar sized sports cruisers and the Sealine ticks all the boxes for me (while staying at 25ft). Only thing is that the cockpit isin't that spacious but it's not a huge issue as I never really have more than 4 people on-board

 

[CX54WEK]

The cockpit isnt huge, but we often have 4 people sat around the table for drinks and dinner in comfort. The cockpit fridge is a massive bonus for this as it means we dont have to keep nipping downstairs for fresh beers, and the plus side of this is that there is a little more storage in the galley with the firdge being outside. The downside of course is having to brave the outside world in PJ's to grab the milk for morning coffee!!!!

They cram an awful lot into these little boats, the heads isnt a massive room, but we have been away for over a week on board and managed to shower in there in comfort. You have to be clever with how you store items away, we are both quite short so have found that we can stash two small suitcases at the bottom of the midships and still sleep in there comfortably.

Another bonus is the gas cooking. A lot of the american cruisers have electric/alcohol stoves. Whilst these are great when hooked up in a marina, cooking whilst not hooked up can be problamatic. We have spent over a week out cruising without the need to plug in, which gives us much more scope to pick moorings in the middle of nowhere safe in the knowledge that our boat can happily sustain itself for a couple of days.

 

[BGW]

we are both quite short so have found that we can stash two small suitcases at the bottom of the midships and still sleep in there comfortably.

Just a thought....
We unpack the contents of the suitcases into the storage of the boat, then put the cases back in the boot of the car until our return.
Unless you need the cases while away, why take them?

 

[CX54WEK]

Just a thought....
We unpack the contents of the suitcases into the storage of the boat, then put the cases back in the boot of the car until our return.
Unless you need the cases while away, why take them?

There isnt really anywhere suitable to store clothing aboard.

The storage beneath the cabin seats we use for tinned/emergency food, soft drinks and other supplies (toilet rolls, kitchen roll, cleaning cloths etc.) The "wardrobe" is so tiny you cant even get full sized cloths hangers in it, so we have resigned to using kiddies coat hangers in there and using it for life jacket storage, there is a shelf in the midships that we stash coats away on but other than that the suitcases is the easiest bet.

 

[BGW]

There isnt really anywhere suitable to store clothing aboard.

The storage beneath the cabin seats we use for tinned/emergency food, soft drinks and other supplies (toilet rolls, kitchen roll, cleaning cloths etc.) The "wardrobe" is so tiny you cant even get full sized cloths hangers in it, so we have resigned to using kiddies coat hangers in there and using it for life jacket storage, there is a shelf in the midships that we stash coats away on but other than that the suitcases is the easiest bet.

Ah - Fair enough....

 

[Nautibusiness]

As said, S23 and S25 are essentially the same boat with the S25 being the later model.

A good first cruiser, but rather tippy to say the least and a habit of falling onto one chine or the other. Not a real problem, but I'd rather not have the issue in my boats.

They do fit a vast amount into the boat which is a credit to Sealine, but this "may" be to the detriment of much actual space to swing the proverbial cat.

An alternative to consider, but possibly fractionaly dearer boat that has vast amounts of space and a very practical layout is the Jeanneau Leader 805 with a Kad43Dp.

Hugely stable (almost zero tippiness) and with plenty of power she'll cruise very comfortably for several days at a time, even short holidays.

She is fractionally longer loa if you go for the standard platform version (7.8m), but a fair bit beamier which is where all the cockpit and saloon space comes in.

She has a slight tendency to lean marginally into the wind, this can be corrected by the use of trim tabs if it bothers you, but it's not a worry to me as she does not ride from one chine to the other and it is just a few degrees.

I did sell them for a number of years and so I am probably a little bias, but as a final thought.... the sales director of Sealine has a Leader 805!

At least do yourself the favour of looking around one, ideally afloat to see it's tremendous stability before you part with cash.

Tom

 

[CX54WEK]

The fit out lets those down though. May i say a little toy town maybe

 

[Nautibusiness]

The fit out lets those down though. May i say a little toy town maybe

Possibly? But I think the layout and available space is amazing in the size of boat.
I understand what you say about the fit out, but I would think it is more down to not trying to get too much into to too small an area.

I do like the S23. I was aboard one last week, but just feel that the 805 is much much more of a boat when it comes to actual usability and comfort afloat.

I certainly agree that there are better boats, but you need to pay a lot more to get an appreciable difference in built and fit out quality.
IMHO!

Tom

PS: I did say I was a little bias, but have tried to also point out that the S23 is adequate too.

 

[CX54WEK]

We are all biased towards the boats we own/love!!!