Should I have a good Feeling

Sneaky Pete

Sneaky Pete

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Lots of questions here. It’s a bit difficult to find information on FEELING yachts there are some reviews here and there. I believe there were some comments a few years ago on this forum about them. I am particularly interested in comments about the FEELING 1040 built by Kirie has anyone owned or sailed or been around this yacht what are your views on them as a cruising yacht and a first purchase boat. How do they compare to a Gib Sea of similar length, if you had a choice which of the two would you buy.
 
You had better define whether you mean to compare with the earlier Gibsea built boats or the post Dufour takeover built Gibseas with the dolphin bow. The latter are quite different and IMHO not in the same class as boats like my friend's Gibsea 454.
 
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I owned a 10.40 in 1987.The designer was P Harlé she was a good boat ,but the building quality was not very good and the boat was send back to Kirié after the first season to correct the defectives chainplates.After 3 years i sold her and bought a Westerly Storm 33 which was much better built.
 
In our club two people have 1040s. They are both very enthusiastic.
I have no personal experience of the 1040 however have sailed quite a lot on a bigger 416 and rate it highly as a fast cruiser. It does well in our local racing too.
 
I must add that after the first year and all the problems resolved she was ok.If you want to buy choose one with the deep keel and have a meticulous survey
 
Can tell you about the 346 if thats any use

I have owned a fixed keel Feeling (1989) 346 for 8 years. She was our first sailing boat and I would recommend the model as a first boat. The 1040 is similar length and era but I cant remember which came first.
Our 346 is not a racer by any means but has a fairly large sail area and is consequently quite fast. Although used as a cruising boat its difficult to resist the urge to compare your speed with others around you and we dont often find oursleves "out of the medals".

Provided you remember the purpose of reefing she is well behaved.
We have sailed her in a variety of conditions and she feels capable and reliable even when the conditions get a little lively.

Construction is very solid and we havent had to deal with any major issues on the boat despite being over 30 years old. I had keel bolts checked and new sails fitted before sailing her 3000 miles to Greece a few years ago and since then weve only need to do minor seasonal maintenance.

We particulary like the layout below which is slightly unconventional for a boat of this size. If youve looked at some you know that the saloon is bright and airy with nicely finished light wood interior and if Im honest, the main reason, we chose the boat in the first place.

PM if you want any further info
BTW - Mines for sale ;)
 
Yes the 1040 is pre Dufour take over boat but was around at the same time as the 346, from what I know so far 1040 were built 1985-1987 and the 346 were 1987-1998. I believe they are fairly fast cruisers and the fact they are quite beamy gives the impression of space inside. I have read no horror stories but I am trying to discover if there are any disadvantages or surprises in owning a 1040.
 
Feeling 1090

We are in our second season with our Feeling 1090, we chose her for the combination of good build quality and equipment spec, if somewhat lightweight with a bright and airy well lit cabin. There is power in the rig and combined with lighter displacement gives her a good turn of speed. Now over 20 years old the hull is showing no signs of depreciation and recorded very good moisture readings when surveyed prior to the purchase. We have replaced the the standing rigging last winter and intend replacing the forestay and roller reefing this winter, apart from that all is sound. This is our first yacht and as yet not crossed the channel with her, planning on this early next year. We have sailed in South West waters through most conditions with no problems, sails well in lighter airs and predictable on heavier weather, but is prone to some slamming when beating to windward in heavy weather. The engine is a VP 2003 and predictably requires TLC and regular servicing to keep it at its most efficient. Overall we are very pleased and look forward to a few more years of pleasurable sailing.

www.signsexpress.co.uk
 
Sneaky Pete said:
Lots of questions here. It’s a bit difficult to find information on FEELING yachts there are some reviews here and there. I believe there were some comments a few years ago on this forum about them. I am particularly interested in comments about the FEELING 1040 built by Kirie has anyone owned or sailed or been around this yacht what are your views on them as a cruising yacht and a first purchase boat. How do they compare to a Gib Sea of similar length, if you had a choice which of the two would you buy.
Click to expand...

Good basic boats with probably some cosmetic issues now. Much better finished than GibSea. Look out though for leaking windows.

When they originally came-out there was publicity around a professional yacht deliverer who came through a tropical hurricane unscathed in one.

I have had a 9m20 for over 20 years and love sailing her.
 
In the early - mid 1990s I worked for a charter company that had a 1090 and a 960 on their books; - I spent my summers doing maintenance on them and turning them around between charters. We also had a Gibsea 96 and a 126. All four boats were heavily used. Based upon my experiences at that time:

The Feelings were attractive and stylish boats, very much 'on trend' at the time. They sailed well in light to moderate breezes, but needed reefing comparatively early compared to similar French boats of that era. - The 1090 in particular was tender and had a tendency to slam in anything more than a slight chop. - It could be blisteringly fast off the wind in a breeze (although on the edge of control), 2 of my friends managed a passage in the 1090 from Falmouth to Plymouth in under 4 hours. Upwind it was poorly balanced and tended to sail better if you kept the genoa up and reefed the main (eventually dropping it altogether).

Feeling / Kirie build quality was not great, leaky windows, self detaching headlinings, poor quality wiring and plumbing. Equipment installations (water pumps, etc) tended to be hard to access and fiddly to get at, the quality of the equipment fitted by the yard (and how they fitted it) was also iffy, although I suspect any boat from that era will have had these items replaced once or twice by now. I'd also check the keel carefully, I know there were issues but can't remember the details. The feeling interior finish was superficially a bit smarter and they did their interiors in elm, which was something of a (very attractive) novelty at a time when hardly anyone did interiors in lighter woods.

The Gibseas were in my experience at least slightly better on all fronts, apart from the 'pose' factor, - they were less fashionably styled, but have probably aged better as a result. My experience was they were better built, sailed better when the breeze got up, and simpler and easier to maintain (things installed properly, in places you could get to with being a contortionist/remove half the interior).

In short, if it's a toss up between a Gibsea and a Feeling, I'd go for the Gibsea every time.
 
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That's interesting, especially as someone with that background would know exactly all the little nuances.
We have recently bought (3rd season) a 286 (subsequently had a significant re fit) with a very specific brief to fill, but the boat has proved a very pleasant surprise, it does benefit from prompt reefing, but is certainly stiffer than I anticipated. Potentially very quick, but superbly comfortable, light and roomy below. The one thing that really hits me (in comparison to my otherwise my loved Jag 27) was precisely how accessible systems stuff was?!! It benefits from having the engine in the saloon under the table, which helps!

In a short chop to windward, such as the shallow east coast throws up, yes she can slam.....
 
I think the 286/346/416 etc was the generation of boats that immediately followed the 1040 / 1090; so I guess they'd learnt their lesson in terms of systems installation. I have to say that Feelings were by no means the worst offenders in terms of systems installations (although me and my fellow BCs thought they were a PITA), - there were some British built boats from the 1970s in particular that were just diabolical (never worked on a Jaguar so can't say).
 
Below decks, you wouldn't want to! Access to engine required squirming up a 1/4 berth and or climbing out and then climbing into a cockpit locker...having emptied it.
has a full interior moulded liner below too.........but she did sail so well..............
Seacocks were squeezed into dark and remote corners that benefitted from reverse hinging elbows.......lol!
 
I've not owned a Feeling myself but my father had one back in the 80's, it was well made and had a feel of quality, certainly no issues duing his time with the boat. When I was looking to buy a boat 14 years ago I liked the look of the Feelings but there were not many about. A broker told me they were well respected boats and did not hang about long on the market when up for sale. We eneded up with a Gibsea and we are very pleased. It has had some hard sailing and has shown to be a tough act, this included a couple of serious broaches/knock-downs when running down-wind with a big spinnaker! In fact we have kept our boat all time mainly because we haven't seen anything better.
 
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