Solid GRP and encapsulated lead ballast

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baff

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Hallo Boat Owners!

I am interested in buying a Sailing Boat next year. I am looking for something between 30 and 32 feet, with solid GRP hull, deck and superstructrue and and encapsulated lead ballast.

So if you have such a boat or know of one, I would like to make a list of the designs here:

I start with the designs I know of:
Contessa 26
Great Dane 28
Freeman Deep Seadog 30
Hurley 9.5
Elizabethan 31
Contessa 32
Nicholson 32
Rival 32
Rival 34
Nicholson 35

any other designs?
 
Been through this exercise myself over the years:

Contessa 26 - Quite small by modern standards for 26ft, impeccable sailing credentials.

Great Dane 28 - nice looking, but know no more.

Freeman Deep Seadog 30 - Bullet proof, hardly good looking.

Hurley 9.5 - pass

Elizabethan 31 - If you like the look OK, but Nic 32 preferable.

Contessa 32 - Very slim, so limited room down below. Most have been raced, so sails probably shot.

Nicholson 32 - Owned one for 20 years. Reckon preferable to the Contessa, and faster than many suspect (check the elapsed times on the RTI). A Mk 10 at 33ft is significantly bigger.

Rival 32 - Slightly more modern version the Nic 32. Some were home finished, so variable build quality.

Rival 34 - see above.

Nicholson 35 - Go anywhere, check the engine - standard fitment was a hunk of Perkins iron with hydraulic drive.

Bear in mind that all these will now be elderly; a well maintained one will get you sailing without breaking the budget. Badly maintained - walk away.
 
Three more:

The Twister's big sister, the Rustler 31. She is the GRP version of the North Sea 24 (24ft LWL was the RORC minimum size) but is much like a big Twister. A really excellent boat. And the very beautiful but rare Northney 34 - same boat with a counter, or you could call her the GRP Shaker (Kim's own boat) (moulds were destroyed in a fire).

The Nicholson 31. Said to sail and handle better than the 32, but let's not go there...There are no bad Nicholsons designed by Ray Wall... (biassed... moi??)

(Edited to remove two silly mistakes - which I did know but had forgotten).
 
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Vancouver 27, 28,32 and 34 although I think the 27, 28 and 32 were encapsulated cast iron and the first 34s were also the later ones were lead. I have never heard of any structural problems with the internal cast iron keels although the first 34s were slightly stern heavy and dragged the stern noticeably under power that was corrected by a lead keel and the ability to move the ballast forwards slightly.
 
Daydream believer said:
Shame, because they would be much better for bashing sandbanks around the Thames estuary than a GRP encapsulated one.
Click to expand...

I must confess that when I bought her, the ability to be able to bash sandbanks around the Thames estuary with impunity was an attribute that did not cross my mind. I have never sailed her around the Thames estuary but I have collided with a few sandbanks of the French variety and she seems to have survived the experience. :o
 
Marieholm 32. Though I am sure she had some wood within the deck.

In fact, do your research carefully, a good number of the boats mentioned had some form of stiffening on deck or coachroof. In the early days this might have been sheet material that was, for all practical purposes, fastened to a solid deckhead using GRP as an adhesive. This is fairly easy to live with and in the unlikely case of it becoming damaged can be repaired without too much grief. True cored decks are potentially far more sinister.

It should also be borne in mind that not many of those boats had lead ballast. In my view it is one of the touchstones of the designer's intentions.
 
Minn said:
Three more:

The Twister's big sister, the Rustler 31. She really is just a big Twister. A really excellent boat. And the very beautiful but rare Northshore 34 - same boat with a counter, or you could call her the GRP Shaker (Kim's own boat) (moulds were destroyed in a fire).

The Nicholson 31. Said to sail and handle better than the 32, but let's not go there...There are no bad Nicholsons designed by Ray Wall... (biassed... moi??)
Click to expand...

Small correction. Rustler 31 was from the North Sea 24. Very similar to Twister but longer LWL.
But All great boats and I agree with your assessment of the Northney 34. I think Shaker is for sale right now.
 
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Poignard said:
baff, you have forgotten to include the beautiful, strong and capable Twister in your list.
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No I did not forget it :) The Twister 28 is one of the best boats ever designed in my humble opinion. But I did not list it because I thought it has a sandwich superstructure and deck?
 
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