Which bilge keel cruiser would you recommend for us?

[Laurie]

I do believe it after reading rogerball0's first hand account though I am surprised.I did'nt realize Centaur's were so dodgy!

I still have my doubts about Sabres & Colvic sailors,well at least Sabres after reading yodave's experience but my confidence in British Engineering is taking something of a knock.Fortunately my pride in Macwesters still stands proud

There's nothing dodgy about them or the others, which is why so many are still out there, but as long as you are happy.
And yes, once again,I will tell you that Marcon and Colvic used the same technique.................

 

[Bosun Higgs]

Is that bad? Exactly the pro's and cons that I'm looking for!

The overwhelming majority of boats have balsa sandwich decks with few problems. Some Hunters have solid decks.

I have no interest / bias with centaur vs macwester. The only issues I know about with the cenbtaur are the keels but then in our club where there are drying moorings we have had two macwesters which lost a keep and sank, plus one Westerly 33. TBH I think its a proble of the era - grp was a new technique so I guess they werent sure of the strength required to take bilge keels.

 

[rogerball0]

I should point out that after five years of fettling my Centaur into some kind of shape there is nothing wrong with the technology (balsa core) & if i could've afforded it i would of used airex or corecell instead of ply. Lets be sensible; anything thats getting on for half a century old and lives in salt water and gets covered in the stuff will eventually need a bit of TLC in some way or another.

Bringing the thread back round to the question at hand, i would recommend a Centaur hands down for safety and go-anywhere-ability but lets face it there are more modern boats as previously mentioned, the uk Hunters are cracking little boats as are the Jaguar range - always liked the look of the 265 myself, bit pricey though.

Quidi Vidi have a look at some of the Westerly range here:

http://www.scribd.com/rogerball75

cheers

 

[Laurie]

I should point out that after five years of fettling my Centaur into some kind of shape there is nothing wrong with the technology (balsa core) & if i could've afforded it i would of used airex or corecell instead of ply. Lets be sensible; anything thats getting on for half a century old and lives in salt water and gets covered in the stuff will eventually need a bit of TLC in some way or another.

Bringing the thread back round to the question at hand, i would recommend a Centaur hands down for safety and go-anywhere-ability but lets face it there are more modern boats as previously mentioned, the uk Hunters are cracking little boats as are the Jaguar range - always liked the look of the 265 myself, bit pricey though.



Quidi Vidi have a look at some of the Westerly range here:

http://www.scribd.com/rogerball75

cheers

-interestingly, or not, Colvic took the moulds (?) for the 265 and built two I now believe?...direct competitor to the Hunter 272/3 They called them the Sunset 270......?...

When Colvic went bust, Paul Randall had bought the Jaguar name and tried to acquire the moulds for the Jaguar 265/Colvic Sunset 270 to be included in a hoped for resurgent Jaguar range.

 

[Lucky Duck]

-interestingly, or not, Colvic took the moulds (?) for the 265 and built two...direct competitor to the Hunter 272/3 They called them the Sunsomething......?...

The Hunter 265 superceded the 272/3 so I am not sure how they would have been in competition?

 

[Laurie]

The Hunter 265 superceded the 272/3 so I am not sure how they would have been in competition?

Sorry, perhaps my post was confusing. The Jaguar 265 was a contemporary and was to be a direct competitor to the Hunter 272. The Hunter 265(Ranger) and its derivatives were not mentioned as they weren't at the time designed! Perhaps you hadn't read rogerball0's post above to which I was responding?
Hope that helps?

 

[Nicholas123]

There's nothing dodgy about them

You don't think a boat that requires hull strengthening because of reported problems with the keels is dodgy? Or a mast stay that connects directly above a window? (a fault that they have in common with Sabers).Or the horrific problems rogerball0 has described but waves aside as routine maintenance? Or the report in PBO a few months ago that talked about weather or lee helm ( I forget which) & described how they bury the bow when pressed?
There are a number of other issues that I personally consider as important when choosing a boat but that I will not relate here because it will earn me no credit.
Everyone has to make their own minds up when choosing a boat it is a very personal thing.

 

[Nicholas123]

I have no interest / bias with centaur vs macwester. The only issues I know about with the cenbtaur are the keels but then in our club where there are drying moorings we have had two macwesters which lost a keep and sank

When I was considering buying a Mac 27 I contacted the Macwester owners association to find out if there were any problems with the keels that I should know about.I was told none though one had lost a keel being dragged off a reef somewhere.The bloke who's name I have temporarily forgotten later told me of this claim made by you that two Macwesters had lost keels & he said he emailed or pm'd you to find out the details so that he could investigate it twice but you never replied,can you give us the details now?It does seem very uncharacteristic.

 

[Laurie]

You don't think a boat that requires hull strengthening because of reported problems with the keels is dodgy? Or a mast stay that connects directly above a window? (a fault that they have in common with Sabers).Or the horrific problems rogerball0 has described but waves aside as routine maintenance? Or the report in PBO a few months ago that talked about weather or lee helm ( I forget which) & described how they bury the bow when pressed?
There are a number of other issues that I personally consider as important when choosing a boat but that I will not relate here because it will earn me no credit.
Everyone has to make their own minds up when choosing a boat it is a very personal thing.

Please next time quote me entirely and you will see I concur with your last sentence.