What a shame

gaylord694

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Good to see somebody take the responsible approach and getting a savage company in, I hope they dispose of it responsibly. Do let us know then he sells the equipment on eBay and and we can all see if he has anything useful. That Aries might be of interest.

There are far to many rotting hulks around every creek, backwater and boatyard round the planet.
Reading along the lines he doesn't care what's taken off it now I think poor bloke has resigned himself to the enviable..
 

Neeves

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.It looks like an old guy in the yard is now having to get a salvage company in to get rid of his grip/wooden coach roofed beautiful boat as it's beyond viable repair costs .....It's such a shame as there's some really valuable equipment on it such as a complete Aries self steering assembly and a two year old mast and rigging......

Its difficult to interpret but reading the OP we have a yacht that has been well cared for, a new mast and rigging only 2 years old is not a yacht that has been abandoned. Its described with "coach roofed beautiful boat' and has some desirable gear. Maybe there is nothing wrong with the vessel - but with a string of strokes the owner has less motivation - he'd rather spend his money on a relaxing cruise ship with his wife....he has written off his investment/pride and joy for an easier. life

If the fate of such vessels is a salvage company then what is going to happen to the 'beautiful' 30' - 40' on show at you nearest Boat. Show today - their stapled furniture with the printed veneer finish is simply not going to last as long as the current batch of condemned yachts.

I read through the posts on the thread with sadness - if we don't encourage a batch of new owners, young or old, the market is simply going to melt away and buckle under the weight of shredded fibreglass. The industry to invest in is not that represented by BenJenBav but the salvage companies.


The 'next' generation of potential owners are our children/grandchildren - if they have grown up with no interest in renovation nor sailing and don't hanker after the 'original' Mini nor a Morgan (they rather have a new or almost new Merc or Beamer) - whose fault is it?

On the other hand there is a trickle of new members to the PBO section of YBW, some of whom might be interested in the yacht that is the subject of this thread....if there was a mechanism to bring it to their attention.

Jonathan
 

ylop

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Jonathan what boat do you own? Are you preaching that we should save classics whilst owning a comfortable modern GRP boat?

Are modern boats actually easier to recycle (or shred to dump) because they are made more flimsily? Recover the lead from the keel, anchor/chain etc, the stainless rigging, aluminium mast, the batteries, engine and wiring, you can probably cover the cost of chopping up a hull and transporting it to landfill.
 

Neeves

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Jonathan what boat do you own? Are you preaching that we should save classics whilst owning a comfortable modern GRP boat?

Are modern boats actually easier to recycle (or shred to dump) because they are made more flimsily? Recover the lead from the keel, anchor/chain etc, the stainless rigging, aluminium mast, the batteries, engine and wiring, you can probably cover the cost of chopping up a hull and transporting it to landfill.
We owned a 38' sailing, fibre glass with minimalist modern hard wood interior, cat that we had owned for just under 25 years. It was bought by 2 brothers and their wives (with young children). Josepheline had been well cared for, had nothing much to 'renovate' and their 'maiden' voyage was home..... across Bass Strait, a mere 550nm passage

IMG_4768.jpeg

I did not like the saloon table top and made a new one, below. It can be slid, side to side. Improvements are not the sole role for 'project' yachts
IMG_4489.jpeg, see pics

I'm suggesting that maybe if there was a simple and cheap listing of potential project yachts more might be taken on by new committed owners.

One question I'm raising is that there will not be any classics as the current, unarguably, comfortable modern yacht will rapidly show its age with time.

Jonathan

If I had been able to access a beautiful old yacht with new rigging, mast and desirable extras 40 years ago our sailing path might have moved in a different direction. As it was we sailed, raced and cruised, an old J24 and then a new X-99

What next a 30' Corsair - if one comes on the market.

What's odd about the opening post - 2 years after a new mast and rig was installed the yacht 'developed' unviable repair costs.
 
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ducked

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There are a lot of older boats that are actually crap designs but rose tinted glasses suggest are good designs. They sail worse than modern boats, host the crew more uncomfortably and on a cost per meter are more expensive than modern boats to keep.

I have a classic motorbike, I never drive it, it handles like it’s made of rubber, accelerates slower than watching paint dry and you need to plan your braking 2 weeks in advance. A lot of early westerlies are like that, and the Contessa 32 fits firmly into that space as well, as do UFOs, old Contessa’s, Rivals et cetera.

However, if I owned a marina, and old boats, long forgotten about, stacked at the back and fees paid annually, it wouldn’t bother me, as it was money in the bank for the storage service. If I could make more money by putting a bigger boat in the space, that’s different.

Every marina has neglected, green stained boats slowly rotting away. As a consumer I want them all binned and there to be a glut of berths and competitive pricing to attract me to the marina.
This is the kind of thing that gets consumers a bad name. The assumption that there some inherent vertue in consumption, and that your purchasing power justifies the imposition of your ideas on others.

That and the fact that, unfortunately, in a consumer society, it does.

What a shame.
 
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flaming

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One question I'm raising is that there will not be any classics as the current, unarguably, comfortable modern yacht will rapidly show its age with time.
I'm not as sure about that.

The less woodwork there is, the less there is to age. And of course as companies have got better at production control, less "filler" pieces have been required. If you go to the brilliant PBO thread "I hate to see a good boat put down" you will see lots of instances where the builder of that boat had glassed plywood into the structure, which was now rotting and needed replacing. A modern boat doesn't have this in the same way.

I think that it's actually more likely that plenty of current boats will survive in basically sound condition, where a little cosmetic work and system updates will be all that is required.

And those boats will probably be more like the cars of today, in that it won't be hull structure etc that eventually condemns them, but engines, rigging etc.
 

Fr J Hackett

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Its difficult to interpret but reading the OP we have a yacht that has been well cared for, a new mast and rigging only 2 years old is not a yacht that has been abandoned. Its described with "coach roofed beautiful boat' and has some desirable gear. Maybe there is nothing wrong with the vessel - but with a string of strokes the owner has less motivation - he'd rather spend his money on a relaxing cruise ship with his wife....he has written off his investment/pride and joy for an easier. life

If the fate of such vessels is a salvage company then what is going to happen to the 'beautiful' 30' - 40' on show at you nearest Boat. Show today - their stapled furniture with the printed veneer finish is simply not going to last as long as the current batch of condemned yachts.

I read through the posts on the thread with sadness - if we don't encourage a batch of new owners, young or old, the market is simply going to melt away and buckle under the weight of shredded fibreglass. The industry to invest in is not that represented by BenJenBav but the salvage companies.


The 'next' generation of potential owners are our children/grandchildren - if they have grown up with no interest in renovation nor sailing and don't hanker after the 'original' Mini nor a Morgan (they rather have a new or almost new Merc or Beamer) - whose fault is it?

On the other hand there is a trickle of new members to the PBO section of YBW, some of whom might be interested in the yacht that is the subject of this thread....if there was a mechanism to bring it to their attention.

Jonathan
The clue was in "beyond viable repair costs"

As you say though it's interesting given the "new mast and rigging" It must be 30 foot or thereabouts to have an Aries so what has happened to it as a new mast and rigging is going to be several thousand pounds for such a boat.
One can speculate that basic maintenance has been ignored / overlooked and the wood is now rotten and replacement is beyond the owners skill level and it would be non viable / uneconomic. for the work to be undertaken. It would also be interesting what the valuable extras are, certainly the Aries would be worth £1.5K but what else 40 year old non self tailing winches, not even worth the effort of removal, the "new mast" need to find someone that needs one, probably not that easy. Boats of the 60s to 80s even 90s require ongoing maintenance to stop their deterioration and I suspect as Flaming says far more than subsequent generations of yachts. I can certainly vouch for that having bought what was an 8 year old vessel of a premium maker built in the 90s that the previous owners answer to any maintenance was to ignore it ir put a blob of sikaflex on it. It took me years to get the yacht right. Simple non costly maintenance if ignored quickly becomes expensive.
 
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steveeasy

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It depends if they are desirable or not, and if it’s been advertised. There is a demand for these and support local businesses. It’s also a good entry in to boat ownership for many people and a reason to get out of bed.
It’s how I got in to boat ownership and frankly it’s been very benificial to me and rewarding.
They don’t all fail. Mine was being broken up at a salvage yard. I bought it. Had many years of fun and sold it for 5 times what I paid for it.
I yarn for another similar project but have to settle working on my Fibreglass contessa, which might be easier but not so rewarding.
If the boat had a new mast then if it was not an ugly duckling it sounds a shame.
Steveeasy
 

steveeasy

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I’ll also add the chap I sold my boat too ripped it to pieces to rebuilt it totally which makes me so sad. She was bomb proof and sound as a pound.
Steveeasy
 

Fr J Hackett

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It depends if they are desirable or not, and if it’s been advertised. There is a demand for these and support local businesses. It’s also a good entry in to boat ownership for many people and a reason to get out of bed.
It’s how I got in to boat ownership and frankly it’s been very benificial to me and rewarding.
They don’t all fail. Mine was being broken up at a salvage yard. I bought it. Had many years of fun and sold it for 5 times what I paid for it.
I yarn for another similar project but have to settle working on my Fibreglass contessa, which might be easier but not so rewarding.
If the boat had a new mast then if it was not an ugly duckling it sounds a shame.
Steveeasy
At a guess with a wooden coachroof it also has rotten gap sheathed plywood decks. Anything can be restored given the skill will and time but there aren't that many with those qualities hungering after a 40 year old or more project.

Any guesses as to what the boat is?
 

steveeasy

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Hopefully not a Twister or I might end up with a new boat.
Sense of worth was what it gave me. Saved me from a life of dullness. Not quite that bad but you get the idea.
Steveeasy
 

RogerJolly

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It's about time we started getting these old wrecks cleared out of the yards and moorings. Most are sat un-used and un-usable, and are stopping active sailors from getting a mooring and are also helping to push mooring fees up, as vacant moorings remain scarce.

Club moorings and low cost moorings particularly are full of them.
Is the 'destinations capacity' a factor.

Every boat lying rotting and/or just unused is one less boat competing for space in a crowded Newtown Creek, say.
 

steveeasy

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begs the question if it’s worth having a dedicated site for marketing such boats for sale. A south coast boat breaker has capitalised on charging to scrap boats and then selling them on. Win win but I’m sure they would argue not.
My twister the owner paid to scrap it and I bought it for than loose change.

Steveeasy
 

dunedin

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It depends if they are desirable or not, and if it’s been advertised. There is a demand for these and support local businesses. It’s also a good entry in to boat ownership for many people and a reason to get out of bed.
It’s how I got in to boat ownership and frankly it’s been very benificial to me and rewarding.
They don’t all fail. Mine was being broken up at a salvage yard. I bought it. Had many years of fun and sold it for 5 times what I paid for it.
I yarn for another similar project but have to settle working on my Fibreglass contessa, which might be easier but not so rewarding.
If the boat had a new mast then if it was not an ugly duckling it sounds a shame.
Steveeasy
But there are probably at least a hundred old boats for every one person like you who wants a project.
Hence the comment that like old cars, we nee to realistically scrap at 90% of the old and small boats that were made in large quantities in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Hopefully we retain the best amongst that 10%.
 

steveeasy

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But there are probably at least a hundred old boats for every one person like you who wants a project.
Hence the comment that like old cars, we nee to realistically scrap at 90% of the old and small boats that were made in large quantities in the 1950s, 60s and 70s. Hopefully we retain the best amongst that 10%.
I’d agree with that. With less about, those that remained would potentially be in more demand. However a lot of them are being still paid for and the owners refuse to sell them. Was a nice Hustler in a yard for years with new Beta fitted and sat filled with water. Told owners but did little about it. They would have been better to drill a few holes in it
Steveeasy
 
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chriscallender

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For anyone that is interested, there's a FB group "Sitting there rotting in a boatyard" where a lot of UK based project boats are offered free/for a nominal fee. There's also Boat Disposal who seem to advertise a lot of stuff in that group. Some of the boats look pretty OK too.

I think there are two kinds of people - those who like tinkering, maintenance and refurbishing, and those for whom it is a necessary chore just so they can go sailing. I'm very much in the latter category so have no plans ever to refurbish a project boat, so I don't know why I joined that FB group, I just like to look at them (and I know that is dangerous... :) ).

I think the issue is mostly that sailing was in its heyday in the 1970s with large numbers of boats sold, many of which are now knackered old wrecks/semi-wrecks. The costs of brining them up to a high standard are very high and the pool of people willing to put the time and money in on something like that are few and far between. Especially when you can have something elderly but seaworthy that you could sail away in tomorrow for not a lot of money, so the only reason to take on a project boat is for the love of the project itself. That isn't really the same case as buying an old banger car which used to be the cheapest way of getting on the road (maybe isn't nowadays).
 
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ducked

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Good to see somebody take the responsible approach and getting a savage company in, I hope they dispose of it responsibly. Do let us know then he sells the equipment on eBay and and we can all see if he has anything useful. That Aries might be of interest.

There are far to many rotting hulks around every creek, backwater and boatyard round the planet.
""savage company" seems a bit harsh, but also a lot appropriate.
 

ducked

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For anyone that is interested, there's a FB group "Sitting there rotting in a boatyard" where a lot of UK based project boats are offered free/for a nominal fee. There's also Boat Disposal who seem to advertise a lot of stuff in that group. Some of the boats look pretty OK too.

I think there are two kinds of people - those who like tinkering, maintenance and refurbishing, and those for whom it is a necessary chore just so they can go sailing. I'm very much in the latter category so have no plans ever to refurbish a project boat, so I don't know why I joined that FB group, I just like to look at them (and I know that is dangerous... :) ).

I think the issue is mostly that sailing was in its heyday in the 1970s with large numbers of boats sold, many of which are now knackered old wrecks/semi-wrecks. The costs of brining them up to a high standard are very high and the pool of people willing to put the time and money in on something like that are few and far between. Especially when you can have something elderly but seaworthy that you could sail away in tomorrow for not a lot of money, so the only reason to take on a project boat is for the love of the project itself.
"brining them" seems appropriate too. You get a better class of typo on YBW
 

Blueboatman

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I’m going to chip in, if only to offer some - cautious- encouragement!

We all know the high running costs of owning a boat in the UK.
Particularly when we decide that old electronics, sails,anchors and non self tailing winches are in need of urgent upgrade..

But, supposing you find a swinging mooring and or a winter mudberth
And an old grp boat that is easy on the eye and has a decent reputation for giving sailing pleasure ..and it is free.

Now suppose you choose to live with a bit of osmosis.
And a secondhand outboard slung ‘ridiculously’ on the transom. Afeter all it’s only an auxiliary..
And you throw away the tired interior, the horrid headlining, the cushions, manky head, old petrol engine, etc

And you don’t go mad with new 2 pack paint, kiwigrip decks, winches, diesel engine , full electronics and new batteries ( etc etc)

So you now have a light, empty, half decent day sailer with overnight camping potential After all, we all enjoy sailing on the same sunny days and enjoy the same views and anchoring spots after a joyful day on the water.
That does not require a cosseted winter haul out nor marina berth nor is there anything of value onboard so 3rd party, exposed mooring insurance will suffice for opportunistic thieves or the odd scrape and bump..
And the time investment is minimal
More sail, less fiscal drain
Easy to pass on or scrap too after 10 years..
Meanwhile you’re out there doing it not looking at unaffordable shiny boats how boats..
Just a thought
 
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