Targa 29 - advice re sea keeping please.

breezer5012

breezer5012

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After a week on our S23, unable to go out in anything above a Force 4, moderate, Paul and I have decided to seriously look for a bigger boat. We are looking for twin volvo diesels, good sea keeping in a Force 4 to 5 in a moderate sea and comfy enough to spend a week or two in. The budget is around 50k so we realise that we may have to go old!

Right, that's the spec. Tomorrow we have the chance to look at a Targa 29, (2001). Any thoughts anyone?

Thanks in advance /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
Hi Anne

Targa 29, a friend had one and followed me back from Lowestoft a few years ago in a force 5, it was ok but got knocked about a bit. not a lot of weight in the bows.
Nice boats, the ones with the volvo ad32s 150hp are a little underpowered
I will have a chat with my friend over the weekend he had his for a few years and will know what to look out for

Sound cheap at 50k
regards

ian
 
I would say that a 29 foot is not that big to cope with moderate seas? The best way to cope is slow down and you will still be doing this in a larger boat.
 
Force 4 to 5 in a moderate sea perfectly describes the conditions in my one decent trip in a planing powerboat. Solent-Cherbourg-St. Vaast-Solent and I was impressed. It coped very well despite my incompentent helming though we did have to drop drop back to a bit below 20 knots once. I managed to make it slam a few times as I have no ability to spot holes or patterns at that speed but it just shrugged it off. Sea's were defintely over a metre or so I would say. Have to say I have no real reference compared to other boats but in absolute terms it definitely did what you're asking.

There was more than enough room for a couple of fairly independent blokes so certainly plenty of space for a couple or family with small children. The boat seemed to be very well built as well, with no flimsy points or anything that would tend to age quickly.
 
Im assuming you're talking about a Fairline Targa 29? Sorry if im off track..
Its difficult to say regarding moderate seas and Force 5 etc since i took (not very wisely) a Shetland Black Prince 23 out in a Force 7 with wind against tide and made it. Admittedly pretty slow progress and when we turned to enter the River Blackwater we literally were picked up and surfed in..

But i guess it depends on how fast progress you still want to make..
If you were talking about a Targa 30 which is 'the 4x4 of the sea' then i'd have no concerns.. but thats quite a different boat.

In a fair chop on a 29ft Sports Cruiser i personally would be taking things fairly steady to save the interior being shaken around like a baby's rattle..

Just my opinion of course.
 
I would go slightly older and go for a T31. We have just had 2 weeks holiday on board in comfort and been through some rough stuff which she coped with very well. I would say Bernie Olesinski got his sums right with this one. The T28/29 ( 29 is basically the same but with a bigger swim platform) is a good boat but has not got the weight and does bounce a bit in a chop.
 
Well forget Volvo for a start. There ok but, not the best, just marketing has bunged them in most boats. Cummins much better.Duno if ytou can find a P35 for 50 grand, but it will suite your purpose. It will live with most anything, you might have to slow down. Just buy mine and take it back again!
 
i doubt you'll get a diesel kad32 t29 for for 50k, more like 65k

see keeping wise they are ok, one comment is they can take in water through the air vents, this has happened on more than a few occasions on boats I know

s28 is much the same, better use fo interior space but do get a smaller bathing platform and a level floor cockpit

t31 older but very nice, better handling
but they are 6cylinder volvo's and there really isnt much room in the engine bay to do maintenance

stretch the budget a little and you could get a cranchi zaffiro 34 which would handle better with much longer length etc

hope that helps
 
Depends where the moderate sea is coming from. If you're going into a F4-5 head sea, you're going to be down to displacement speed in a 30 footer unless you want to bash yourselves and the boat to pieces. On the other hand, if you're in a F4-5 following sea, you're going to be able to maintain planing speed in a 30 footer. If you want general good seakeeping in all F4-5 conditions, then IMHO you need to go bigger, at least to 35ft, maybe 40ft
We tend to talk glibly about sea conditions but a F4-5 especially in a wind against tide situation can be very nasty in a small boat. The Targa 29 is a nice boat but it won't give you all weather boating capability. You might get closer to that with a different Targa ie the Botnia Targa but they are a lot more expensive secondhand
 
[ QUOTE ]
i doubt you'll get a diesel kad32 t29 for for 50k, more like 65k

see keeping wise they are ok, one comment is they can take in water through the air vents, this has happened on more than a few occasions on boats I know

s28 is much the same, better use fo interior space but do get a smaller bathing platform and a level floor cockpit

t31 older but very nice, better handling
but they are 6cylinder volvo's and there really isnt much room in the engine bay to do maintenance

stretch the budget a little and you could get a cranchi zaffiro 34 which would handle better with much longer length etc

hope that helps

[/ QUOTE ]

if you stretch your budget and get a Zaffiro that is a fantastic boat
you might return to harbour alive in a Force 8 with the 29 Targa, but the over confidence in that article is pure hell IMO try it as Mike F says in upwind heads seas stuff and you get my mark, I mean even a tug boat start flying all over the place in a Force 8 so imagine what - 5 ton motor boat will do....
I once drove a 28 Targa similar to this one with twin petrols, and the seakeeping was noting special IMO, ok you can turn the steering and feel you have a speedboat, but that was it in Force 4 head seas she did slam a but too much for my taste and did feel like a light boat
 
Hah, hah, I'd like to put the person who wrote that in the middle of the E Channel in a F8 with spring tides and then ask them whether the T29 can take it in it's stride. Yup, nice looking boat with usual Fairline refinements. Good day boat for nipping out to the Iles des Lerins /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif
 
> alive in a Force 8 with the 29 Targa
Errm, only in sheltered waters, I would suggest.

I brought the S28 back in a F5-6 last weekend, but everything was on my side. Just after low tide, mostly sheltered by the IOW, the current flowing with the wind, and the wind direction almost dead astern - I would even say it was quite fun. But, remove any one of those factors, and the fun factor would have rapidly disappeared.

It's quite happy going upwind in a F4-5, but do you have to be prepared to slow down sometimes, else lose some teeth.

dv.
 
Well, you will still have to choose your conditions, of course, but you'll get better handling than the S23 as it's a bigger, heavier boat and twin engined as well. Don't discount the AD31 powered ones, either - with two people they're fine and will be slightly cheaper.

As others have said, it's a good looking boat, pretty well screwed together. We loved ours and did some serious miles in her, including a 7 hour run from Falmouth to Christchurch in a F4 with occasional blowier bits in the middle of Lyme Bay.

They're prone to cracking the floor moulding in the cabin at the aft ends of the sofa, but it's not structural.
 
AD 31 struggle to get some boats planing, I would go for a fairline corniche you will get a nice one for around 50k too and loads of space for your money, and fairly modern looks too.
 
Sorry I've not been back to thank you all for your comments - not had chance to reply and am only just through the door at home so will reply later tonight. Not ignoring you all - just sleepy and looking forward to a nice bed that I can roll over in, a toilet that I don't have to reverse out of having undressed before entering the bathroom, and a cuppa without spilling it all over myself /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 
We went to see the Targa 29 (Fairline) this morning and aesthetically liked her very much. Our concern, as some of you have mentioned, is that she may not offer us dramatically more sea keeping compared with an older, beamier boat for the same money (which may also give us some more room) so want to look around some more. We've looked at an S28 and a Fairline Corniche and decided against both. The S28 surprised us by not grabbing us the way we expected and we didn't take to the age or lay out of the Corniche. We hadn't looked at the Cranchi Zaffira, but have now found one within budget (ish!) and will go and view her. She looks fabulous from the photos but time will tell how accurate they are I guess.

The Targa is a definate possibility though - she has much more room than the S23, we are not sure we want an old boat, she will allow us to go out in weather we can't consider just now and we can also continue to dry berth her - a plus point for us.

Hayden, thank you so much for your offer of MF. I hope you are not too disappointed to learn that we are not going to take you up on your kind offer. We couldn't separate her and Henry for a start /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

In the meantime, if anyone wants an S23 ................ /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif

I look forward to our 'Look at our new boat' post at some point in the future, no doubt closely followed by the 'She costs HOW MUCH to fill up?' post /forums/images/graemlins/cool.gif

For now, I'm at home tending my rather severely wind burnt face (Paul reckons I could have been mistaken for an Oompah lumpah yesterday!) and am enjoying being able to go to the loo without having to wander around spooky pontoons in the dark, only to forget the code went I get there /forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif.

As ever, thanks to you all for your time and thoughts.
 
Some friends travelled back in some pretty nasty conditions in a F T30 the other day which we found pretty horrible too - into a f5 head sea (albeit against both). Big short swell. Just on the plane, otherwise the landings were, shall we say, rather heavy.

They won't have been comfortable but were in one piece so if you do get caught out in the wrong conditions, it will be a big improvement on the s23.

of course, as a friend once said to me, for the most comfortable ride get the biggest you can afford... its not quite that simple but not a bad rule of thumb!

ItS
 
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