YM test of GT35

[doris]

Snooks,

I commend your open mindedness to explore and accurately report the world as you see it. There’s nothing worse than a journalist who squashes all he sees into a template of preconceptions; and FWIW I think YM is fun, interesting and damn good value for the price of a Starbucks’ coffee.




That said, I simply have no idea why you think the GT-35 is “an important boat” (outside the narrow perspective that it’s built in the UK): it’s not very fast, it’s certainly not a McLaren super car, the styling is not the Mae West and it’s all a bit clunky looking.

It’s true that rich folk can pay lots for desirable things; but $500K+ for a one-off attempt at a Toyota Hilux ...I think not!

I haven't sailed the GT35 but I have owned and sailed assorted Stephen Jones boats and none are slow. Even a Rustler 42 is no slouch.
I suspect that GT 35 v Arcona 380 cruising passage times will be very similar.

 

[dom]

I suspect that GT 35 v Arcona 380 cruising passage times will be very similar.

I'm happy to be wrong here, but if someone gave me even odds I'd still put decent money on the Arcona 38!

That said AFAIK I've never sailed a Stephen Jones boat, so my opinion is based only on speculation/instict - and should therefore be ignored.

But I still think the Arcona looks nicer!

 

[doris]

Arcona 380 coming very soon. Hope you get to test her. Be interested to see how you think they compare.

Is there a table?

 

[Barbican]

I suppose the new upcoming Southerly 36 will be the closest alternative to an all British built yacht. I wonder how much they will be?

Had a quick conversation in the yard the other day and I understand they will come in under the GT35 price, not that I've ordered one, happy enough with the current boat! Interesting comparison to the GT since again it's a Stephen Jones design, and if it's anything like my Jones designed Southerly in the water it will be a fantastic boat. Molds just being made so it'll be a while before the first one goes splash.

 

[Twister_Ken]

Is there a table?

Indubitably. This one is just out of the shed. Still being finished.

 

[doris]

Had a quick conversation in the yard the other day and I understand they will come in under the GT35 price, not that I've ordered one, happy enough with the current boat! Interesting comparison to the GT since again it's a Stephen Jones design, and if it's anything like my Jones designed Southerly in the water it will be a fantastic boat. Molds just being made so it'll be a while before the first one goes splash.

Does that include the bank guarantee?? That might be a tad expensive in view of recent history.

 

[Tempus]

(Yawn) Here we go again, back to Southerly kicking

Strange that forumites can happily recommend Ovni's and many others who have phoenixed without blinking an eye, but as soon as someone mentions Southerly the jibes come thick and fast. I lived through the insolvency with a boat in build so know how it was, painful but water under the bridge. We should surely celebrate the fact that they are back on their feet, making great British boats and repaying their suppliers.

Enough said I hope.

 

[E39mad]

Well said Tempus - some of us Brits don't half do ourselves down!!

 

[Seven Spades]

I haven't sailed the GT35 but I have owned and sailed assorted Stephen Jones boats and none are slow. Even a Rustler 42 is no slouch.
I suspect that GT 35 v Arcona 380 cruising passage times will be very similar.

It is ;ike everything it depends. In strong winds they will both reach hull speed and the GT with probably cut through the waves and not get stopped. However in anything less that a F6 the Arcona will leave it for dead.

 

[Seven Spades]

Thank you

I liked the Contest 42CS both inside and out, a tad slab sided maybe - they use a single piece mould.

But good solid boat, with a price to match.

I didn't find the interior of the 42CS bland, it's not traditional and full of visual confusion, it's nicely composed. It has enough visual distractions, hull port lights, off centre saloon etc depending on which of the 5 (IIRC) saloon layouts you choose.

There is plenty you can to to add your style to any boat. Sadly for a lot of "quality" manufacturers they can't afford to build a boat without having an owner for it. And invariably owners want to do things to their own boats or choose a colour of cushion that might not be to everyone's taste

Well this is the Contest 42CS interior. that table with sharp converse and no fiddles and that stupid cube is not for me. After a passage I want to relax at a table and enjoy a meal not perch on a stool. You are right it is all about taste and I don't like the taste of the buyer of the first GT 35 and I don't like the fast of the Contest 42CS. I do however like the Hallberg-Rassy shown earlier and the new Arcona 380. Maybe I am and old dogie, but I suspect that there will be more people who think the way I do than do not.




I should also point out that there is nothing to hold in the Contest. I think they have just got the interior all wrong, but the exterior is absolutely fine.

 

[snooks]

Well this is the Contest 42CS interior. that table with sharp converse and no fiddles and that stupid cube is not for me. After a passage I want to relax at a table and enjoy a meal not perch on a stool. You are right it is all about taste and I don't like the taste of the buyer of the first GT 35 and I don't like the fast of the Contest 42CS. I do however like the Hallberg-Rassy shown earlier and the new Arcona 380. Maybe I am and old dogie, but I suspect that there will be more people who think the way I do than do not.

View attachment 43133


I should also point out that there is nothing to hold in the Contest. I think they have just got the interior all wrong, but the exterior is absolutely fine.

You do know the table top slides to port revealing a2 chart and laptop / iPad stowage....then unfolds to make it possible for this sat to port to use the full width table...don't you?

Not sure why the cube stool is there, not needed in that layout...or on a boat, but that's my personal opinion

You could also just ask for fiddles and I'm sure they could put some on

 

[JumbleDuck]

I think that is 'Back in your box' Mr Jumblyduck!

Having seen the evidence, I believe. Bloody hell!

Some (fifteen?) years ago a friend of mine bought a classic boat: a 20-ish built by Groves and Gutteridge in the 40s or possibly earlier. He hadn't done much sailing, and what he had done had been mostly with me, so he asked me down for her maiden trip: Hamble Village to Cowes to Beaulieu and back home.

At this point I should say that the boat had just been the subject of a full restoration, for which her previous owner had won a prize. She looked very smart.

The first time we put any load on a runner, though, the track pulled out of the deck under the car and bent into a neat omega shape. Investigation revealed that it was attached to with half inch woodscrews. So were the chainplates.

I think he sailed her once more, cautiously, after that trip. I wouldn't go on her again. She rotted away on the river for a few years and was sold as a near wreck.

 

[JumbleDuck]

I wonder if car magazines are criticised for testing super cars for testing cars for people with a lot more money than me

This isn't exactly a supercar, though, is it? More like a Bristol as they ended up: an ugly handbuilt car with the performance of a high-end Mondeo but which said "Look at me. I'm rich."

Why do Oysters cost "so much"? You can get a 60ft Hanse for a fraction of the price of the equivalent size Oyster.

See above. Oyster are quite unashamed about marketing financial exclusivity. Costing a lot is the point.

Rather thinking about toys you can add, think instead about the things you can't. Lead keel, deep bilge, water tight crash bulkheads, deep secure helm, Jefa steering, doubled light switches, decent chart table that you can use at sea. Solid oak fiddles, beautiful joinery, an escape hatch in the aft cabin, cushions held on with plastic clip fittings rather than Velcro, decent solid locker catches etc.

How much of the extra £250k goes on a few light switches, plastic clips and a table for those funny chart things which nobody buying a £315k yacht would be seen dead using?

All that wood was actual tree wood.

As opposed to ... ?

 

[AndrewfromFal]

This isn't exactly a supercar, though, is it? More like a Bristol as they ended up: an ugly handbuilt car with the performance of a high-end Mondeo but which said "Look at me. I'm rich."



See above. Oyster are quite unashamed about marketing financial exclusivity. Costing a lot is the point.



How much of the extra £250k goes on a few light switches, plastic clips and a table for those funny chart things which nobody buying a £315k yacht would be seen dead using?



As opposed to ... ?

The whole point about Bristol Cars was NOT to be noticed. If you wanted people to notice how much you spent, a Rolls Royce /Bentley has much greater 'presence', and also cost a great deal more. I'd agree with you that the Chrysler-engined Bristols were not lookers (although the earlier 404 is of one of the prettiest cars ever); - as a friend of mine remarked 'Ship-shaped, Bristol fashion'.

I know a few Oyster owners across the size range, and none of them are people who spend money for the sake of it (or 'because they can'); to follow your analogy (even though I think it's another example of car analogies not working for yachts) none of them are into cars that are especially bling.

 

[JumbleDuck]

The whole point about Bristol Cars was NOT to be noticed. If you wanted people to notice how much you spent, a Rolls Royce /Bentley has much greater 'presence', and also cost a great deal more. I'd agree with you that the Chrysler-engined Bristols were not lookers (although the earlier 404 is of one of the prettiest cars ever); - as a friend of mine remarked 'Ship-shaped, Bristol fashion'.

The whole point about Bristol cars was to be noticed by the right people. Any oik can recognize a footballer's Bentley; ony the rich would recognize a Bristol. Same with the GT35. To most of the yachting world it will be a rather ugly anonymous AWB; the rich will be impressed, though.

 

[michael_w]

One of the reasons Oysters are expensive because within the constraints of the moulds they are a custom built boat. Try ordering something non-standard on a Halberg and see how far you get. They won't even let you have red antifoul...

 

[AndrewfromFal]

The whole point about Bristol cars was to be noticed by the right people. Any oik can recognize a footballer's Bentley; ony the rich would recognize a Bristol. Same with the GT35. To most of the yachting world it will be a rather ugly anonymous AWB; the rich will be impressed, though.

I realise that most of the aspirational lifestyle 'journalism' that is publish engenders the idea that 'the rich' are a tribe with a distinct and narrowly defined set of tastes and a certain carelessness about how they spend it; but this is merely a fallacy which certain publications (although funnily enough, not the yachting comics) use to sell more advertising space to 'luxury' brands.

Most rich people I know (and by that I mean the sort of people that could afford to buy one out of income, rather than savings) wouldn't recognise a Bristol if it bit them on the arse (unlikely I grant you); and the few that would, wouldn't be impressed. The only people that recognise and are impressed with Bristols are car enthusiasts.

 

[JumbleDuck]

Most rich people I know (and by that I mean the sort of people that could afford to buy one out of income, rather than savings) wouldn't recognise a Bristol if it bit them on the arse (unlikely I grant you); and the few that would, wouldn't be impressed. The only people that recognise and are impressed with Bristols are car enthusiasts.

Probably because Bristols are now dead and gone ... I did say "was to be noticed". The equivalent today is probably an Overfinch.

 

[AndrewfromFal]

One of the reasons Oysters are expensive because within the constraints of the moulds they are a custom built boat. Try ordering something non-standard on a Halberg and see how far you get. They won't even let you have red antifoul...

Or Bronze seacocks, allegedly:wink-new::wink-new:

 

[dom]

...the rich will be impressed, though.

Ahh yes the "discrete I've arrived badge only recognizable to the few."

This in turn sprouts a new industry of people "with access to the rich", who eagerly explain the "meaning" of these subtle badges of success, preferably using the self-aggrandising format of the first person ..."I'll tell you why "my friend James X" bought his Wally and "Krishan Y" her antique pearl necklace.

Speaking of James; for years he happily sailed a small sub-15K First in the solent. A few years ago he bought a Wally for $10m+ and spend another $500K or so a year running the thing. He hated the whole scene and two or three years later he sold it for <$5m (IIRC).

I guess money only affords us the opportunity to prove to ourselves that we are what we are.