Thinking of buying Sealine. and ....Please do not shoot the messenger :)

Re: Buying a Sealine. or Coppercoating ?...Please do not shoot the messenger :)

Hmm odd.

Logically, you would think with the number of Sealines around and the number of S38's built, there would be lot's a folk complaining that the hull on their boat is showing signs of cracking. I can't seem to recall anyone ever raising an occurrence on these forums, local boat pals or in any magazine.

Sealine's have been bought & sold many hundreds (thousands?) of times over the past 25 years, with surveys being done I expect on almost each occasion. Surely it would be reasonable to conclude that all those qualified surveyors would have started to notice such a serious problem?

Fake news! Seems to me to be a bit of scaremongering by someone that hasn't really done their research, or with an agenda. Sounds like a lot of rubbish to me.
 
Re: Buying a Sealine. or Coppercoating ?...Please do not shoot the messenger :)

Some S38's were fixed under warranty by Desty Marine, others were fixed at owners expense.
Later hull numbers had Mr Fibreglass man standing for longer in the same place before moving on.
Almost all by now will have been fixed, but there are bound to be a few un-fixed thinner ones still knocking about.

By comparison, the hull on the SC35 seems tank-like.

On the same site is also a 2011 Fairline Targa 50 with 42 defects...

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Re: Buying a Sealine. or Coppercoating ?...Please do not shoot the messenger :)

Even if fixed, I would still never feel right having one of these S38's. Also feel that it would affect re-sale value... it's something that will always be known / asked when purchasing.

I actually looked at an S38 and then found out about the hull issue.... ended up buying the Smeraldo 37 right next to it. Never looked back...
 
Re: Buying a Sealine. or Coppercoating ?...Please do not shoot the messenger :)

A known problem with S38's. As long as the repair has been carried out it wouldn't put me off.

A friend had a new S38, one of the first and got it replaced because of the cracking.

There is a repair place in Hamble point (Desty?) who did a lot of the repairs.
 
Re: Buying a Sealine. or Coppercoating ?...Please do not shoot the messenger :)

asteven221 said:
Hmm odd.

Logically, you would think with the number of Sealines around and the number of S38's built, there would be lot's a folk complaining that the hull on their boat is showing signs of cracking. I can't seem to recall anyone ever raising an occurrence on these forums, local boat pals or in any magazine.

Sealine's have been bought & sold many hundreds (thousands?) of times over the past 25 years, with surveys being done I expect on almost each occasion. Surely it would be reasonable to conclude that all those qualified surveyors would have started to notice such a serious problem?

Fake news! Seems to me to be a bit of scaremongering by someone that hasn't really done their research, or with an agenda. Sounds like a lot of rubbish to me.
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Are you serious with your comment? The s38 was one of the worst hulls structurally it's common knowledge about the s38 hulls cracking under the saloon seating area, I could show you another one where the spray rails have been ground out and filled , repaired to strengthen the hull where its weak. The F43 cracks just in front of the forward bulkhead as it's so thin in its lay up. Shall I go on.
 
Re: Buying a Sealine. or Coppercoating ?...Please do not shoot the messenger :)

asteven221 said:
Hmm odd.

Logically, you would think with the number of Sealines around and the number of S38's built, there would be lot's a folk complaining that the hull on their boat is showing signs of cracking. I can't seem to recall anyone ever raising an occurrence on these forums, local boat pals or in any magazine.

Sealine's have been bought & sold many hundreds (thousands?) of times over the past 25 years, with surveys being done I expect on almost each occasion. Surely it would be reasonable to conclude that all those qualified surveyors would have started to notice such a serious problem?

Fake news! Seems to me to be a bit of scaremongering by someone that hasn't really done their research, or with an agenda. Sounds like a lot of rubbish to me.
Click to expand...

http://www.europeanmarinesurveys.com/2015/09/sealine-s38-structural-hull-defects-920/
 
Re: Buying a Sealine. or Coppercoating ?...Please do not shoot the messenger :)

Wasn't the S38 the first Sealine to be vacuum bagged during lay up process....and it went horribly wrong? I know of someone who was going to buy one, until the surveyor pointed him in the direction of Desty's for major hull strengthing. The £17k quoted was to come off the asking price, but he got cold feet in the end. Shame though, because outside of this they are nice boats.
 
Re: Buying a Sealine. or Coppercoating ?...Please do not shoot the messenger :)

The problem here is that whereas the problem might have been fixable and indeed already fixed on most, there are many many other makes and models out there that simply do not have a horrendous problem like this. The maker is realistically no longer around so support is limited to those enthusiasts who set themselves up post Sealine UK. From other comments also perhaps the problem was not limited to the S38 either.

I can't 'see too many sellers wishing to have this possible defect listed on the brokers details. "Lovely Sealine S38 ... thin hull fault sorted ... RUNAWAY ..."

Not the first time a perfectly good make has attained a tarnished reputation on one rogue model, and this happens to far worse effect in the car industry I expect.
 
Re: Buying a Sealine. or Coppercoating ?...Please do not shoot the messenger :)

I have a 2005 D4 260 S38 which did have the hull problem. Sealine took over the repair and sent the boat to Desty,s at Hamble.

All i can say is that 10 years on i have had no further problems at all. I check the hull every year on lifting and have found no issues.

Desty have done a superb job as there excellent reputation would suggest.

Rggards

Keith CHI
 
Re: Buying a Sealine. or Coppercoating ?...Please do not shoot the messenger :)

It is not the first time that a new boat builder dazzled by the promise of new materials and technology has ignored in its designs the stresses and strains a hull is subject to and what happens when you design out most of the internal bracing structure to provide interior volume,save money and weight.
JCL were probably the first to fall foul and many USA builders came a cropper over using unproved construction methods and materials supposed to cut costs and labour time.
However the much derided MoonRaker 36 from the same stable still seems to be soldiering on through the years with no hull problems apart from plain old age ?
 
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Re: Buying a Sealine. or Coppercoating ?...Please do not shoot the messenger :)

FlowerPower said:
Some S38's were fixed under warranty, others were fixed at owners expense.
Later hull numbers had Mr Fibreglass man standing for longer in the same place before moving on.
Almost all by now will have been fixed, but there are bound to be a few un-fixed thinner ones still knocking about.

By comparison, the hull on the SC35 seems tank-like.

On the same site is a 2011 Fairline Targa 50 with 42 defects...

"These recessed side deck hatches cover the electrical motors operating the main saloon (very large) windows which are designed to lower into the saloon side linings. However it was discovered that debris (ex production) had blocked these locker drains, a consequence of which the lockers over time subsequently filled with sea water – flooding the electric window motors / winding gear and eventually flooding into the guest cabins below via ducting, destroying deck head linings, side linings, carpets & electrical gear etc. We also understand that this same problem has happened to other Fairline Targa 50s, fitted with the same main saloon electrical window operation – potential buyers beware"
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Not Fairline's finest day but a blocked locker drain is hardly in the same league as "exceptionally weak hull GRP" is it!
 
Re: Buying a Sealine. or Coppercoating ?...Please do not shoot the messenger :)

volvopaul said:
Are you serious with your comment? The s38 was one of the worst hulls structurally it's common knowledge about the s38 hulls cracking under the saloon seating area, I could show you another one where the spray rails have been ground out and filled , repaired to strengthen the hull where its weak. The F43 cracks just in front of the forward bulkhead as it's so thin in its lay up. Shall I go on.
Click to expand...

Being in the business I don't doubt your expertise and experience volvopaul. I think I might have jumped in too quickly with my response to the OP. Sorry about that. The internet has awash with misinformation and sensationalism. I should have known better on this one, being an I.T. consultant! I was really just trying to make the point that I questioned the contents of the article, as it looked on the face of it as typical sensationalist internet rubbish. I jumped to that conclusion, simply because I had never heard of these specific problems on Sealine's or any other boats for that matter. A hull cracking and starting to show signs of potentially breaking up is obviously very serious and a real risk to life. Being in and around boats and being with boat people most weekends over the past 30 years, I am just a bit surprised that I have never heard (or read) about it, especially with the impression you give that it's a fairly common fault. That's all.

I would have thought that these days, a manufacturer (Sealine or any other brand) would be bound by law to publicise (check on and make good) any flaw of such a serious nature on the basis that there is a significant risk to life. It seems tumble driers, cars and other goods get recalls, so why not boats?

You said "Shall I go on." when referring to faults. Yes, I think you should! That would great. Dish the dirt on common boat faults! I am sure we would all love to hear what you have to say. You should write a book on boat faults. With your vast knowledge of common faults, it would be brilliant to collate them into a document or a book! I would buy it. Seriously what a useful tool that would be for boat buyers. Bl00dy nightmare for sellers all the same. :)
 
Re: Buying a Sealine. or Coppercoating ?...Please do not shoot the messenger :)

asteven221 said:
Being in the business I don't doubt your expertise and experience volvopaul. I think I might have jumped in too quickly with my response to the OP. Sorry about that. The internet has awash with misinformation and sensationalism. I should have known better on this one, being an I.T. consultant! I was really just trying to make the point that I questioned the contents of the article, as it looked on the face of it as typical sensationalist internet rubbish. I jumped to that conclusion, simply because I had never heard of these specific problems on Sealine's or any other boats for that matter. A hull cracking and starting to show signs of potentially breaking up is obviously very serious and a real risk to life. Being in and around boats and being with boat people most weekends over the past 30 years, I am just a bit surprised that I have never heard (or read) about it, especially with the impression you give that it's a fairly common fault. That's all.

I would have thought that these days, a manufacturer (Sealine or any other brand) would be bound by law to publicise (check on and make good) any flaw of such a serious nature on the basis that there is a significant risk to life. It seems tumble driers, cars and other goods get recalls, so why not boats?

You said "Shall I go on." when referring to faults. Yes, I think you should! That would great. Dish the dirt on common boat faults! I am sure we would all love to hear what you have to say. You should write a book on boat faults. With your vast knowledge of common faults, it would be brilliant to collate them into a document or a book! I would buy it. Seriously what a useful tool that would be for boat buyers. Bl00dy nightmare for sellers all the same. :)
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Thanks, I'll write one when I retire ! It's a shame the boats were built that way, I still think it's the way they were laid up instead of hand lay up. The later sea lines are a different class and good of the Germans to sort it there way.
 
Re: Buying a Sealine. or Coppercoating ?...Please do not shoot the messenger :)

asteven221 said:
I would have thought that these days, a manufacturer (Sealine or any other brand) would be bound by law to publicise (check on and make good) any flaw of such a serious nature on the basis that there is a significant risk to life. It seems tumble driers, cars and other goods get recalls, so why not boats?
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I've never heard of any Manufacturer 'recalling' boats to fix a fault. To be honest, even tracing them would be a nightmare. Still, that's not an excuse for not trying.

asteven221 said:
You said "Shall I go on." when referring to faults. Yes, I think you should! That would great. Dish the dirt on common boat faults! I am sure we would all love to hear what you have to say. You should write a book on boat faults. With your vast knowledge of common faults, it would be brilliant to collate them into a document or a book! I would buy it. Seriously what a useful tool that would be for boat buyers. Bl00dy nightmare for sellers all the same. :)
Click to expand...

If you look at the YBW used boat reviews they normally ask an experienced surveyor to list areas of concern. Of ask a decent surveyor and he'll tell you which boats are good and which are bad.
 
Re: Buying a Sealine. or Coppercoating ?...Please do not shoot the messenger :)

CHI said:
I have a 2005 D4 260 S38 which did have the hull problem. Sealine took over the repair and sent the boat to Desty,s at Hamble.

All i can say is that 10 years on i have had no further problems at all. I check the hull every year on lifting and have found no issues.

Desty have done a superb job as there excellent reputation would suggest.

Rggards

Keith CHI
Click to expand...

IMO If it's been repaired properly then there's no reason why it shouldn't make a safe boat.

Pete
 
Re: Buying a Sealine. or Coppercoating ?...Please do not shoot the messenger :)

petem said:
Not Fairline's finest day but a blocked locker drain is hardly in the same league as "exceptionally weak hull GRP" is it!
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Well, yes and no.
Although the the ultimate consequences of hull cracks would be bad if you did nothing, adding more fibreglass and a few extra stringers to a hull could be £20k: those leaking drains look to have caused damage that could also run to a similar bill, once you have replaced all the damaged trim and electrical gear.
 
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Re: Buying a Sealine. or Coppercoating ?...Please do not shoot the messenger :)

Without being too contentious, a quality control inspector missing the fact that a somebody has failed to hoover up some glassfibre swarf which will eventually block a drain is not quite in the same league as your design department getting fundamentally wrong the basic structural design of boat hull or the workshop crew skimping on just how much resin and glass was employed when building the hull. ?
Perhaps if they had a few more naval architects in the Sealine room and a few less a-la-mode designers they would have made better job of it.
Wonder if Shead,Bennett or Olesinski would had have problems of this nature.
Has anyone mentioned the chine riding 42 yet. :)
 
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