what happened to bilge keel boats after 1990?

voicilesrosbifs

voicilesrosbifs

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We've been looking for a bilge keeler up to 30 foot, the usual suspects led by the Sadler 29, Mirage, Moody, Hunter etc.... but the great majority of boats on sale are pre 1990. My assumption is that sales must have fallen off a cliff in about '92 - there seems to be nothing around. Some of the 80's boats we've looked at are showing their years.
Am I right in thinking that if we must have a bilge keeler (and we must, for where we want to keep it) it will have to be an 80's boat?
 
There was a recession 90-92 which won't have helped boat sales in the early 90s. Moody seemed to have concentrated on larger yachts after this which I think was a shame.

http://www.premiermarinas.com/pages/boat_yacht_archive

Is a late 1980s Moody too old? ours is very nice thanks to one previous owner who really looked after her.

Alternatively you might find a twin keel S31, built until 1994.

Pete
 
Well my Westerly Merlin is 1990 and I believe some where built later than that, certainly the Regatta 310 up to 1997; about 1990 and onwards twin keel design became more technical and the French built some interesting designs. There is a paper on twin keel design written by Andy Cunningham of Michael Schmidt & Partners, which you may find interesting, if you send me your email address I can send it to you as an attachment
 
From this time on, most people who bought new boats put them in marinas. Boats were also getting bigger and foreign imports dominating more. It's like cars, those of us who buy secondhand have to suffer the choices of those who buy new. I guess you're not prepared to buy a new bilge keeler? Neither am I funnily enough.
How about a long keeler with legs?
Good luck with finding something you like.
 
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................Is a late 1980s Moody too old? ours is very nice thanks to one previous owner who really looked after her.
Alternatively you might find a twin keel S31, built until 1994.....

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Actually S31's were produced from 1994 to 1998.
I have a 97 twin-keel version. But I'm not selling...
 
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sales must have fallen off a cliff in about '92

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I think British boatbuilding fell off the cliff at the same time and they were the main proponents of bilge keels.

In the same period Southerly has been refining the swing keel alternative for the same market place.
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Am I right in thinking that if we must have a bilge keeler (and we must, for where we want to keep it) it will have to be an 80's boat?

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Have you looked at the British Hunter 30? But do your research and avoid the bad manufacturing year.
 
The UK yacht industry suffering from an overvalued pound went down the pan and imports flooded in after 1990. UK makers moved up the size range to try and survive but most went bust by the mid 90s. And continental markets dont have the quite the same issue of drying harbours, so import boats are mostly fin with the occasional drop keel. Bilge was peculiarly British

You can still buy a few Brit bilge keelers that were made in the early 90s. I used to have a Moody 336 for example, and a damn good boat it was. There were also some Westerley and of course Hunter. But the numbers are small cos the UK buyer focusses (as he does everywhere else) on what is cheapest and the cheapest was then Bendytoy.
 
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Have you looked at the British Hunter 30? But do your research and avoid the bad manufacturing year.

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Curious - hadnt heard that one. When was it and what was it about?
 
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Have you looked at the British Hunter 30? But do your research and avoid the bad manufacturing year.

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Curious - hadnt heard that one. When was it and what was it about?

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Heard direct from a marina neighbour of some 6 months who owned a Hunter 30 bilge keel and was also a big fan of the design.

He nearly purchased an example from the bad year but fortunately some members of his Solent based yacht club warned him off. He summed it up by saying a batch of Hunter hulls in the mid nineties had a porous grp layup, it was so bad even osmotic bubbles could not form in the grp.
 
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We've been looking for a bilge keeler up to 30 foot, the usual suspects led by the Sadler 29, Mirage, Moody, Hunter etc....

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What about the Legend 290 / 306 which, (in my unbiased opinion as I own a 306 model /forums/images/graemlins/wink.gif), are excellent boats, with HUGE amounts of cabin space for the money.

Mine is a 2002 model bilge keeler, 28 ft 6ins LOA.

PM me if you want more info.

Cheers, Allan
 
what a load of rubbish. Some hunters had gel coats which didnt cure properly and were repaired by the manufacturer. Others were the some as any other GRP hull in that some needed osmosis treatment after 10 years and others are still going quite happily bubble free !!!
 
Hunter Channel 31 (2000-2006 ish) You may still be able to get a one-off built by Lauren Marine

Sadler 290 built 2003-2008

RM's

I'm struggling to think of any others from this era in the size you asked about
 
It is true that some British Hunters around 1996/7 ish had a problem with an inferior gel coat.I know as I had one.Some of the boats were treated gratis by Hunter(some at Foxs on the Orwell).It was only the people who found out by having a survey in the first year as they were selling.I later found out that Hunter kept quiet about this problem as had it become common knowledge it could have bankrupted them.It applied to numbers of boats in the hundreds I was told.Some surveyors on the East Coast knew about this.I have a file of E mails with Hunter about this problem(then owned by Select Yachts) & basically they said as I was the second owner then they had no liability.When I had the boat Hunters asked if they could inspect it.I asked why & they would not say.Only later did I put 2 & 2 together.This had much discusion on the Hunter Association website.If you are buying a Hunter from mid 90s make sure you have a good survey done.The dodgy ones are likely to show up with a high moisture content.
 
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