Which boat has the best owners forum?

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Paddy Fields

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Hi all

Been looking into getting something like a second/third/forth hand moody, amel najad, halberg rassy, oyster, etc, and wondered which of these kinds of “brands” has the most active (English language) user forum, with knowledgable owners who are happy to offer advice, particularly with maintenance.

Id like a boat/forum that is open, but has enough focus/exclusivity so that you don’t have thousands of people pulling a thread in lots of different random directions.

Some of these forums require a subscription. While I don’t mind paying for joining a user forum, but preferably only after I’ve actually got the boat, hence why I’m asking here, rather than just signing up to all the forums :-)

Thanks in advance

Dan
 
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Paddy Fields said:
Thanks for the pointer. Im not so worried about mass produced boats: my question was more towards the "niche" boats I listed, since I'd worry that if the boats were relatively rare, information and help would be harder to come by.
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Yes, I gathered that and my reply was slightly tongue-in-cheek (although the Bavaria forum is an outstanding resource).

I owned a Hallberg-Rassy for about 20 years, and there used to be a general HR forum which seems to have disappeared. However, there are a few model-specific HR forums still around. I found that aftersales support from the factory was outstanding if I needed it, and I'd imagine this would also be a service provided by several others of the makes you mentioned.
 
pvb said:
Yes, I gathered that and my reply was slightly tongue-in-cheek (although the Bavaria forum is an outstanding resource).

I owned a Hallberg-Rassy for about 20 years, and there used to be a general HR forum which seems to have disappeared. However, there are a few model-specific HR forums still around. I found that aftersales support from the factory was outstanding if I needed it, and I'd imagine this would also be a service provided by several others of the makes you mentioned.
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Interesting. There is a HROA, but it is £40 a year to join.

I expect the forums for the manufacturers that have gone kaput are good, purely because there is no official support anymore.

For the brands that are still going strong, I’m a bit wary that some of the owners associations for the more exclusive brands is more about patting each other on the back for being able to afford one, rather than about spannering.

Edit: not that I am adverse to a bit of back slapping lol!
 
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Paddy Fields said:
Interesting. There is a HROA, but it is £40 a year to join.
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I found the HROA a complete waste of time and not worth the subscription.

Paddy Fields said:
I expect the forums for the manufacturers that have gone kaput are good, purely because there is no official support anymore.

For the brands that are still going strong, I’m a bit wary that some of the owners associations for the more exclusive brands is more about patting each other on the back for being able to afford one, rather than about spannering.
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I'd hazard a guess that a lot of Oyster owners just pay for stuff to be done.
 
Paddy Fields said:
Which would be a worry if you were buying an older model with the intent of doing the spannering yourself.
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Not necessarily. Unlike cars, boats are basically custom built from fairly simple materials. Engines are easy to find information on. Electronics similarly are well documented. Rigging, etc, all comes from established companies. So there shouldn't be many aspects of "spannering" where you'd have much difficulty.
 
The Westerly Owners Association is free to use and very helpful. Have a look and see for yourself. If you want to participate, you just have to register. https://westerly-owners.co.uk/activity If you need advice about buying any Westerly you will get information as to what to look out for. Also I have never seen any arguments or rants like on the ybw forum.

If you want to join the association, that is just £15 per year and includes 2 excellent magazines per year.
 
We have belonged to the HR association for nearly twenty years and value it for the company and access to information. HR owners tend to be a bunch of old fogies, but we have enjoyed the rallies and dinners. Much of the annual fee goes into the cost of the magazine which is always interesting or useful and has often been brave enough to publish my rubbish.

The HR forums are mostly to do with cruising and technical matters and are sometimes very helpful. There are two Facebook pages, one for chat and one no-photos one for cruising use, limited for those on limited data. The forums are restricted but the webpage is https://www.hroa.co.uk.
 
Paddy Fields said:
Yeah, I was on there for about a month as an associate member, before being kicked off for not buying one lol !
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Definitely recommend the MOA - Moody Owners Association, lots of technical info, getting advice etc etc. And they have lots of meets if you interested. Not expensive either.
 
The Island Packet " iphomeport " is full of interesting stuff, free to register as its for existing owners and, as they say in their American English, 'wannabe's' - two countries divided by a common language!

Despite this, much very useful information available by searching or for the asking.

One of the mods is a semi pro IP repair specialist and gives his advice freely, the other had a long association working for the factory and is a mine of information.

Saying this, Island Packets are not for everyone. They are, as most boats are, a compromise.

But they are high quality, durable, seaworthy and strong. The well documented faults of the earlier models have mostly been fixed by now.

I suggest you register and take a look.

As a boat owners resource it will be hard to do better.
 
You beat me to it Rotrax :)

I’ve been on the IP group for 13 years now and it’s very useful indeed. They are a friendly bunch and there are lot of hands-on owners there. The Americans tend to be meticulous about their boat maintenance and there’s no shortage of advice.

It is quite US-centric but there is a sizeable number of us in the UK/Europe and elsewhere round the world to maintain balance :D

It’s big enough to be a sizeable resource but still small enough to be able to get to know people personally.
 
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