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Reviews
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Date of last review
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7
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5030
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Thu May 7, 2009
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Recommended By
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Average Price
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Average Rating
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100% of reviewers
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None indicated
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8.0
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Author
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administrator
Administrator
Registered: January 2000
Location: maryland
Posts: 1857
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Review Date: Tue April 8, 1997
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 0
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Well built, quality boat. Fin keel, skeg rudder with prop in aperture. Keel stepped mast,
internal flange hull to deck bolted 4". Draft is 4'4". Sails well in conditions I have
experienced so far. Owned boat for one year, sailed down east coast through some
heavy squalls. Teak toe rail, grab rails, cockpit combing. Engine (Yanmar 24 hp), good access.
I had to remove fuel tank on way down to clean, able to pull out easily in 30 min. Good
access to stuffing box. Traditional interior layout, V-berth, walk-through head
with locker to starboard, port setee extends to double berth, Q-berth port side
behind chart table, galley with 2 burner alcohal stove, lots of storage space. Interior
is all mahogony with teak and holley cabin sole. Pressure H/C with standup shower in
head. Edson wheel, Lewmar primaries. Ports are non-opening aluminum except
for one opening port in head. Some boats do have bronze opening ports so it must have
been an option. I am extremely pleased so far with the handling, construction
and layout on this boat. Carries 55 gal of water and 20 gal of fuel so she is a capable
cruiser. She requarly does 6+ knots in moderate winds.
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administrator
Administrator
Registered: January 2000
Location: maryland
Posts: 1857
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Review Date: Mon November 24, 1997
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 0
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Acquired 1994, an outstanding, stable boat. Likes a bit of air to go, very well balanced, tracks unattended in 8-12 kts. Full-keel (cutaway forefoot), 5' draft. Keel-stepped mast. Slightly underpowered with 15hp Yanman diesel. 3-Blade prop. Plenty storage space. 2 Watertanks carry 63 gallons, fuel 19 gal. H/C pressure water, shower, good nav. station, good sleeping berths. Dry boat.
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Review Date: Tue July 14, 1998
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 0
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We are happy owners of Surprise!, 29.9 #5, since 1993. Yanmar 2QM20H. LOA 29'11", beam 10'2", draft 4'4". 18 gal fuel, 63 gal water, and 12 gal waste.
She's a great coastal cruiser - my wife Sue and I brought her from Minnesota to NC, 2500NM by water, in the summer of 1996.
This boat is VERY maneuverable. When there is any way on under power, it backs as well as it goes forward. I can back upwind or down. The bow and roller furler have a fair amount of windage, but I can control it. We have no auto pilot, and didn't feel that we needed one. In the canals, with no wind you use the wheel to dodge things only - she tracks straight.
Under sail, she steers herself from wind just aft of abeam to close hauled. Any combination of sails. She has a slight lee helm at low speeds. As she falls off, the sails cause heel and the heeling tends to round her up. She will therefore, follow wind shifts, although not as fast as the helmsman would. Much of the time we sail hands off.
The other thing that we like is the incredible amount of storage. For instance, in the lazarette, I have 2 6 gal Diesel jerry cans, 2 2.5 gal alcohol jugs, two anchors with rode (we have 5 altogether), plus a change of oil, and cleaning stuff. Sue thinks we can easily carry a month's worth of cooking staples. I could go on.
I've done extensive rewiring (it's my hobby). We've replumbed all the fresh water and holding tank lines. Sue redid the upolstery and curtains.
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administrator
Administrator
Registered: January 2000
Location: maryland
Posts: 1857
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Review Date: Mon December 14, 1998
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 0
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We have owned and cruised our Bristol 29.9 since 1985 and we would recommend it very highly for anyone interested in coastal and offshore sailing. We upgraded our stock boat considerably and sailed it from San Francisco to Mexico, Central America, Panama, Colombia, and Western Carib to Honduras, Belize, Florida, and the Bahamas.
The boat is very strong and we have had no major structural damage or problems. Under the "problems" category, the mast did not have a proper drain at its base resulting in tremendous hidden corrosion which ultimately split the mast from the bottom up about 5-inches in several places. Had the mast been inspected even more often and this problem corrected, we would have avoided this problem. We have also noted some "waves" in the fiberglass coach roof under the hand rails on our boat and on others. Inspection shows no leakeage or delam. This is a minor thing and I have not noticed any problems at all.
The boat does flex a bit, both at anchor and under way. The result is some squeaking here and there, but we have never found any structural problems with the hull in any way.
We feel the 15-horse Yanmar is very adequate with a 3-bladded prop and have powered into very strong seas and winds for hundreds of miles from Cabo to Sanfrancisco. Water tankeage is excellent for a small boat. We're dissapointed in the 18-gallon fuel tank, but we carry plenty of extra fuel in jugs and can motor for up to 500-miles if necessary.
Some of our equipment additions include: storm sail with its foot midpoint between the headstay and the mast, monitor wind vane, propane stove, ham radio, radar, nesting dinghy in addition to our avon redcrest inflatable, heavy duty dodger.
We would be pleased to talk or communicate with anyone regarding our experiences with our beloved Bristol. Lets start with email.
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administrator
Administrator
Registered: January 2000
Location: maryland
Posts: 1857
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Review Date: Thu March 9, 2000
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 0
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A solid, well-built cruising boat. Strong points are quality construction and a beautifully finished wood interior with lots of room and storage space. Weak points include poor light air performance and difficult access to engine and stuffing box. Anchor locker is convenient, but too shallow to install a windlass. Adequate fuel and water capacity. Good performance and maneuverability under power.
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ardea
Bristol
Registered: October 2007
Location: New Bern
Posts: 1
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Review Date: Sat October 13, 2007
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 8
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We have owned or Bristol for four years and have been extreemly pleased with the quality of the boat and its performance. It has been put to the test in tough conditions in the Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds and have never felt concerned about it seaworthyness. Under sail in most conditions is tracks well and carries a balanced helm. She sails well under the genoa alone if you want to be lazy on a day sail and performs best in 10-15 knot winds under full sail. In 15 to 20 knot winds she performs beautifly with a reduced main and genoa. No fighting the wheel even in strong gusts. The brightwork and joinery below deck is high quality and frequestly get compliments from other boat owners. The only price you pay is the upkeep. Looks great but always something to do on to wood work. The only downside is that with the 15 horse Yanmar and 3 blade proper it is a bit under powered when you get into some headwind and seas. Overall we love the boat.
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johnshasteen
Senior Member
Registered: August 2002
Location: Houston, TX
Posts: 649
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Review Date: Thu May 7, 2009
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Would you recommend the product? Yes |
Price you paid?: None indicated
| Rating: 0
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Pros:
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Tough go anywhere in any weather boat
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Cons:
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None
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We've owned Paloma for many years and have sailed her offshore from Bristol RI, around the bottom of Florida and up to Galveston; from Galveston to Vera Cruza and Isla Mujeres; from Galveston to Port Isabel and back up to Corpus Christi. We have indured two Force 10 storms (winds gusting over 60 and 30'+ seas) and come out of both with crew fully intact and only minimal damage to Paloma.
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s/v Paloma, Bristol 29.9, #141
Slipped in Bahia Marina, easy access to Corpus Christi Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.
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