which one to go for

For ease of maintenance, there are folk on here who would only choose shafts. Out drives need servicing annually, costing £500-£600 per year. However, outdrives are more economical, as they produce less drag than shafts/ rudders, and can be trimmed for optimum attack. Some also say shafts are easier to handle when mooring although I have no complaints with my twin drives. Ultimately if you are not buying new, it will depend what comes with the boat you like best. Targa's are going to have drives (up to circa 45 ft), the Sealine fly's use drives in the F33, and shafts in anything bigger, although they are now using Pods in their F42 and F48, but i think these are out of your stated budget.
 
The easiest way to think is to compare with car brands. Fairline is the BMW, compared to Sealine the Ford. Fairline has the better quality build, and more sporty hull design. Sealine boats have the best packaging and space utilisation, their wood finish, not up to Fairline levels. However this is quite a generalisation, and some folk on here might argue.

Don't discount Princess, who are the Mercedes comparison, probably the best build quality. Sunseeker is the out and out sporty brand of the big 3 or 4.

Exciting times choosing though. We are pretty sure we have found our next Rafiki, and now need to get the timing right as we are also planning a house move.
 
You will find that pretty much your choice of drive will be dictated by your choice of boat.

35-40ft open sports cruisers will have outdrives, 38-45 ft fly bridge boats will have shaft drive. There are a few exceptions, such as sub 35ft fb boats, but of the boats your considering the above rings pretty true.

It will be the same for Fairline and Sealine.

By the way, in terms of quality of build/manufacture, by the time a boat gets to 10 plus years old, it comes down to condition and previous owner maintenance.
You can ruin a Fairline/princess (trust me, I nearly bought a ruined princess) and you can cosset a sealine so it's better older.
 
To answer your question properly....

Sealines (certainly the 30 odd foot sports cruisers) tend to be a bit lighter built than the equivalent Fairline. If you'll trawl through this forum you'll find occasional report of Sealines suffering from hull damage but no such reports of Fairlines. Saying that, Sealine have a very loyal following of owners who buy nothing but Sealines and are very happy with them.

Despite the above, if I saw the right Sealine at the right price and it passed a comprehensive survey I'd be happy to buy and own one.

Finally, trying to find a shaft driven boat in this price range will seriously limit your options therefore I'd stick with outdrives.
 
petem said:
To answer your question properly....

Sealines (certainly the 30 odd foot sports cruisers) tend to be a bit lighter built than the equivalent Fairline. If you'll trawl through this forum you'll find occasional report of Sealines suffering from hull damage but no such reports of Fairlines. Saying that, Sealine have a very loyal following of owners who buy nothing but Sealines and are very happy with them.

Despite the above, if I saw the right Sealine at the right price and it passed a comprehensive survey I'd be happy to buy and own one.

Finally, trying to find a shaft driven boat in this price range will seriously limit your options therefore I'd stick with outdrives.
Click to expand...

I think there are Beneteau/Jeannau shaft drives in this range.
 
Shawn, you're trying to decide on the interior trim colour before you've decided if you want a sports car or a van, to be honest.

There's no point in worrying about shafts vs outdrives until you have decided if you want a sportscruiser, a flybridge, a hardtop or a trawler (or even something else). To a large extent, the choice of drive system is determined by the type of boat you choose; only a tiny handful of production boats ever offered a choice of drive systems.

In a crude attempt to upset as many people as possible, here is a simple explanation of the various types of boat in the 30-40 foot range:

Sportscruiser (almost always outdrive below 45'): open cockpit, wind-in-the-hair type of boat. Babe magnet, designed to show off your James Bond good looks cruising round sun-drenched, sophisticated ports. An absolute blast on all three days of the year in the UK when the sun shines and the wind isn't blowing old boots. The rest of the time, everyone gets wet and cold. Once you have arrived somewhere, you spend half an hour wrestling to get the canvas up, before retiring down below. The saloon, which is a wonderful, cool haven in the Med, is dark and claustrophobic as you peer out through the tiny portholes at the other rows of wet boats in the marina.

Flybridge (sub 35' likely to be outdrives, otherwise shafts): this is the Solent Motorhome. Better suited to days on the South Coast because when you arrive somewhere you have a light-filled saloon from which to watch the drizzle. A much smaller cockpit than the sportscruiser, but you can at least convince yourself that it would be a great place for lunch if the rain stops. Probably slightly less cabin space than a sportscruiser, on account of the engines being located further forward to accommodate the shafts, but not by much. Driving from upstairs gives the wind in the hair bit, and better visibility than down below when the weather is pants. Remember to buy a decent set of foulies.

Hardtop: Basically a sportscruiser with a lid on it to keep the rain out. Increasingly popular these days with people either afraid of the rain or afraid of skin cancer (depending on where you keep one). Depending on the size and designer's ability, it will either be almost as sexy as an open sportscruiser, or it will look like a dog's arse with a hat on. For the available budget, likely to be one of the earlier hardtops where the designer simply glued a big lid onto an existing boat.

Coupe: exemplified by the likes of Nimbus boats, these are solid, practical designs, built for grotty weather and cruising comfort. Could be either outdrive or shaftdrive, single or twin engine. Likely to be driven by ex-yachties with a penchant for cardigans. Cockpit will always contain a suitable nautically themed floormat, with matching his/hers carpet slippers just inside the saloon.

Trawler: for the budget, likely to be an older Trader/Grand Banks sort of boat. Lots of mahogany and brass inside and everything has fiddles. The crockery and glasses will feature traditional ships' wheels. Similar in many ways to a flybridge, but with more of the 'Retired Admiral' look about it. Shaftdrive and likely to have smaller engines and a lower cruising speed than a Solent Motorhome.
 
Wiggo's post is spot on . If it was my £120k then it would be a phantom 38 , bombproof engines , low maintenance (shafts) , good hull and nice looks with fairline quality .imho .
 
Wiggo said:
Shawn, you're trying to decide on the interior trim colour before you've decided if you want a sports car or a van, to be honest.

There's no point in worrying about shafts vs outdrives until you have decided if you want a sportscruiser, a flybridge, a hardtop or a trawler (or even something else). To a large extent, the choice of drive system is determined by the type of boat you choose; only a tiny handful of production boats ever offered a choice of drive systems.

In a crude attempt to upset as many people as possible, here is a simple explanation of the various types of boat in the 30-40 foot range:

Sportscruiser (almost always outdrive below 45'): open cockpit, wind-in-the-hair type of boat. Babe magnet, designed to show off your James Bond good looks cruising round sun-drenched, sophisticated ports. An absolute blast on all three days of the year in the UK when the sun shines and the wind isn't blowing old boots. The rest of the time, everyone gets wet and cold. Once you have arrived somewhere, you spend half an hour wrestling to get the canvas up, before retiring down below. The saloon, which is a wonderful, cool haven in the Med, is dark and claustrophobic as you peer out through the tiny portholes at the other rows of wet boats in the marina.

Flybridge (sub 35' likely to be outdrives, otherwise shafts): this is the Solent Motorhome. Better suited to days on the South Coast because when you arrive somewhere you have a light-filled saloon from which to watch the drizzle. A much smaller cockpit than the sportscruiser, but you can at least convince yourself that it would be a great place for lunch if the rain stops. Probably slightly less cabin space than a sportscruiser, on account of the engines being located further forward to accommodate the shafts, but not by much. Driving from upstairs gives the wind in the hair bit, and better visibility than down below when the weather is pants. Remember to buy a decent set of foulies.

Hardtop: Basically a sportscruiser with a lid on it to keep the rain out. Increasingly popular these days with people either afraid of the rain or afraid of skin cancer (depending on where you keep one). Depending on the size and designer's ability, it will either be almost as sexy as an open sportscruiser, or it will look like a dog's arse with a hat on. For the available budget, likely to be one of the earlier hardtops where the designer simply glued a big lid onto an existing boat.

Coupe: exemplified by the likes of Nimbus boats, these are solid, practical designs, built for grotty weather and cruising comfort. Could be either outdrive or shaftdrive, single or twin engine. Likely to be driven by ex-yachties with a penchant for cardigans. Cockpit will always contain a suitable nautically themed floormat, with matching his/hers carpet slippers just inside the saloon.

Trawler: for the budget, likely to be an older Trader/Grand Banks sort of boat. Lots of mahogany and brass inside and everything has fiddles. The crockery and glasses will feature traditional ships' wheels. Similar in many ways to a flybridge, but with more of the 'Retired Admiral' look about it. Shaftdrive and likely to have smaller engines and a lower cruising speed than a Solent Motorhome.
Click to expand...
Tetrapyloctomy - just googled it LOL!!
Great post BTW
 
Ok all thanks for the replies

This is where i am at, i have just been to burton water marina in lincoln very nice people and very helpfull

I looked at a sealine s38 sealine f36 prestige flybridge 36, bayliner 32? And a fairline targa 34

Out of all of these i really liked the s38 and the targa 34, the targa was a nice boat and i am really drawn to this boat but the mistake i dont want to make is going for a 34 footer when i could have a 37 footer

So i now think i either want a s34 or 37/38 or a targa 34/37

My thoughts now are will a 34 be big enough but will it also be much cheaper to run moorings will be about £450 a year cheaper but what about fuel costs and insurance etc etc

So again asking for your advise on this now

Thanks for your patience and comments
 
lanerboy said:
Ok all thanks for the replies

This is where i am at, i have just been to burton water marina in lincoln very nice people and very helpfull

I looked at a sealine s38 sealine f36 prestige flybridge 36, bayliner 32? And a fairline targa 34

Out of all of these i really liked the s38 and the targa 34, the targa was a nice boat and i am really drawn to this boat but the mistake i dont want to make is going for a 34 footer when i could have a 37 footer

So i now think i either want a s34 or 37/38 or a targa 34/37

My thoughts now are will a 34 be big enough but will it also be much cheaper to run moorings will be about £450 a year cheaper but what about fuel costs and insurance etc etc

So again asking for your advise on this now

Thanks for your patience and comments
Click to expand...

Laner, ultimately, these decisions are very personal. Which boat do you feel most excited about. When we were looking, we wanted an open sports cruiser, that would work on the river and coastal, 1 or 2 diesels, 1 or 2 fixed berths, UK/Eu built (we had US boats previously and were disappointed with the quality and integrity), about 30 feet long. We had a look around , and settled on a Sunline 31, then looked at 3 before we settled on Rafiki. we are now 4 years on, and still happy with her, although starting to consider a Fly in our old age!

As others have said, size for size, Sealines will give more accommodation than Fairline/Princess/sunseeker, but generally Fair/Prin/Sun have better seakeeping. I repeat generally, as the latest Sealine 35/42/48 hulls have excellent write-ups for their seakeeping and performance. Fair/prin/Sun will probably have better joinery/ fit and finish. However, as others have said, with a used boat, the key criteria to condition is how well the boat has been maintained.

Good luck. your timing is good, as with SIBS coming up in a couple of weeks, there will be a plethora of Used Boat Shows in the Southampton area, giving you the opportunity of viewing a lot of boats in couple of days.
 
Cheers rafiki

Its a hard decition as far as i am concerned its a lot of money and i need to make sure i make the right decision

One thing i have found out is there are more boats out there than i thought that are not selling i have had a couple of emails offering me boats at 20k off asking price of about 100k are people desperate to sell ???????

I do think its a buyers market at the moment as i dont think there are a great deal of buyers for 100-120k boats i think if people can afford a boat they are spending more than this to get a better boat

I am in no rush as i think the season is nearlly over now but i may be totally wrong in all my thinking :D
 
Yes, you hold a lot of the cards right now, and I think September a good time to buy if you have the cash. Owners looking to sell are facing mooring charges over the winter, and needing to keep the boat clean and tidy, while the motivation or the boat has gone. Good Luke.
 
lanerboy said:
Its a hard decition as far as i am concerned its a lot of money and i need to make sure i make the right decision

One thing i have found out is there are more boats out there than i thought that are not selling i have had a couple of emails offering me boats at 20k off asking price of about 100k are people desperate to sell ???????

I do think its a buyers market at the moment as i dont think there are a great deal of buyers for 100-120k boats i think if people can afford a boat they are spending more than this to get a better boat

I am in no rush as i think the season is nearlly over now but i may be totally wrong in all my thinking :D
Click to expand...

My budget is half of yours, and I get sellers who have advertised their boat at 80-90k offering theirs at around 50-60k. IF cashing your asset is important (so you think sometime say next year you might need 120k and you assume you can sell your boat even to upgrade) then boat is probably the worst asset you can spend 120k on.

Those who can easily afford 120k won't be looking for a 120k boat! they are more into £0.5m boats and not that many that you can attract. This is just a quick summary:

1. my first boat was sold for £300 in just 2 hours on ebay (a dinghy!)
2. 2nd boat sold for £1500 in two days
3. 3rd boat sold for £4000 in a week
4. 4th boat sold for £8500 in three weeks
5. 5th boat sold for £21000 in two months......(£4000 below asking price)

So I am now after a boat around 50-60k to keep for at least 2 seasons and know that I won't be able to sell it probably even in 12 months... poor hard earned cash...:(
 
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