Vee Express 267

[Guest]

Have just read some of the April postings about these boats. Hard to believe some of them - have just purchased one (1989 model) and has 'sailed' through her survey. Any other owners out there? Would love to correspond and share experiences. It is our first boat and we are in Lincolnshire.

 

[Guest]

Would this be about the hull problems?? If you can get hold of a copy of MBM 1989 vintage (at work, so haven't got details with me) one of the copies has a full report on the hull problem...as I understand it only affected a few of the early ones. I can do you a photocopy of the report no problem. Use the user options to send your address to my message box!
I've got a Cruisers 224 Holiday..no probs either. The Vee Express and the 224 were the only 2 made by Cruisers Int under licence fron Cruisers Inc, USA. IMHO, they are among the best internally fitted out boats in the price bracket.

 

[Chris_d]

Its a lot of boat for the money, but is difficult to sell because of the structual problems encountered in 89/90 which caused Cruiser's Intl to go bust.
The problems only effected boats used at sea, so there are many perfect examples on rivers, also not all hulls were affected and many were repaired by Cruisers. I don't wish to cause alarm, but i would want to know exaclty which hull number I was buying and what the score was, a superficial survey might not reveal the defects concerned if the surveyer wasn't familiar, cracks or extra reinforcement under the shower moulding I believe.

Anyway welcome to the Cruisers club, I have the smaller 224 and so do a few others on this board, basicly excellent boats for their size, enjoy!

 

[Guest]

Thanks Chris & Maxwell
I have been in touch with the Surveyor and he was aware of the problems suffered by a small number of very early boats. He assures us that ours is in excellent condition with no signs at all of the stress cracking associated with the problem. Breathe sigh of relief!

 

[Guest]

Chris, did you see my recent post on 'beam sea'? If not, have a look. Basically my 224 almost flipped over as we were belting round Plymouth Sound...in a slight beam sea! You experienced anything similar??

 

[Chris_d]

Hi Maxwell, yes I saw that, haven't had the same problem I must say, but 224 does seem very sensitive to trim tabs. You must use with care, I have had a couple of hairy moments when playing , by applying too much tab on one side to correct lateral trim, the bow dug in and caused the boat to lean over excessivly and veer off violently, if this happened in the same direction as a beam sea it would be very scary! I think because of the deep V but short hull length you can't allow the bow to go too deep and maintain good directional stability.
I only apply tab very sparingly, don't touch the drive trim just put that fully in or down, also quite useful if crew don't don't move around, someone joining you on the helm side can very detrimental too handling, especialy if you haven't moved all beer to portside to correct permanent list to starboard!

Otherwise how did Plymouth trip go, did you tow it down, what with, any probs launching retrieving, was there anywhere good to go, anchor etc.. I want to drag mine about a bit more next year, but Plymouth is a bit far at 40mph, might try Poole.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for info..very useful..I was a tad heavy handed with trim tabs. What you describe sounds identical to what I experienced! (Beer is not on long enough to make a difference!!)

Yes, Plymouth went well. Decided to ask trailer factory to move axles forward a foot to get weight off nose..which it did. Came to set off with boat on..horrendous snaking! Had to turn back and delay hols by a day so that we could move axles back! Towed well after that. made sure auxil outboard etc was stowed over wheels. Very very heavy on nose however. Tow with a Discovery which sits mighty low on its rear springs! Probably put heavy duty everything on rear end for next year. Diesel consumption brilliant..used about 1/3 tank to get down there. For us coming from near Worcester it's all M5 / Devon expressway to Plymouth. Took 7 hours (with stops virtually every service area) well worth it though. We berth at Mayflower Int Marina just up Tamar in Hamoaze area of river. Brilliant place..cost £18 night incl electricity and superloos ie own sink/loo/shower/hairdryer in separate compartment. Everything on site: bar/restaurant/washing/drying/chandlers/hoist/marine services/very friendly, helpful staff. Used public slip round corner..bit awkward for turning, but nice and deep. Drove boat off trailer..easy! Plenty of room to store trailer at Marina..24hr security incl patrols at night. Some great boating..especially anchoring in red hot weather off Cornish villages of Kingsand and Cawsand at entrance to Sound. Just like the Med. Whole of River Tamar to explore plus Sound of course. Sometimes motored to QAB marina in old quarter and stayed for 4 hrs for £5 to eat/drink/mooch around Drake/Raleigh's haunts. Retrieved boat at QAB, due to tidal height and vicious northerly wind which would have made retrieval on the unprotected public slip dicy. However I do use docking arms on rear of trailer..brilliant, 'cos keeps arse of boat level as she is winched in. Poole is great, but lack of decent slipways..there is decentish one near RidgeWharf yacht centre up River Frome. Have been told MDL marina @ town centre is expensive.
What about top hose incident in previous post..a dodgy one or what??
Anywhere useful on the Thames near you to slip boat in?
Max

 

[Chris_d]

Sounds like a good trip, you must have been away during that nice warm spell.
Shame about the top hose, its always that moment of panic when you realise something has broken and your mind thinks the worse.
Sorry if my advice lead you in the wrong direction on the trailer, but I'm sure I said only move it an inch or two, its worth playing around a bit though, my Trooper sits dead level and doesn't snake, nothing uprated. I guess its best done with the boat loaded, but not easy. I was lucky in that I bought my trailer off someone who had sold a 224 so everything was already setup.

If you fancy the Thames, Benson is probably best for facilities near me, if you fancy lower down probably Windsor Racecourse. Remember only 4.3knts though!

 

[Guest]

Thanks Chris. Yes your advice did say only an inch or two..but I (like the idiot I am) thought that a foot would really take the nose weight off!! I'm going to try an inch or two (said the actress to the bishop!) and check that. Am also going to fit a stabiliser. About 5" of keel overhangs the back plus the outdrive of course, but it is unavoidable, as the winch post is as far forward as it can go.

 

[JeremyB]

I had a 224 which I sold recently. I was interested to hear you mention the starboard list - I assumed this was because I had an aux outboard on the back on the starboard side - but I always had to trim to offset this.
I agree -a great boat and a lot of fun

 

[Chris_d]

Yes, its the toilet compartment I reckon, I usualy store something heavy in the portside of the mid-cabin, like crates of beer, trouble is you slowly move it back to the starboard side... if you know what I mean ;-)