Which are the crap yachts

[gavinandrebecca]

Hi everybody
we, like lots of others are coming to the US to , hopefully, buy a boat to sail back to australia. I know about oz custums tax, GST, PLUS the ridiculous quarrantine issues which must be navigated to import a yacht. Now it seems every yachty is quick to say this is good, i love my boat, so what i am after is which are bad, and why? And is it dangerous to take a x-charter beneteau 411 or jeaneau40 across the pacific and why? been looking at tayana 42, 39 fast passage, corbin 39, to name a few, though these are '80s and i can get 2000 chartererers for same if not cheaper.
Any way who has owned a crap boat

[Giulietta]

Crap boat??

CD...someone for you!!!

[sailaway21]

Let's get a little more specific about what exactly you are looking for in a boat. I'm sure you do not want an expository on every lousy boat ever built. There is quite a bit of knowledge available here but no one wants to type for two hours trying to guess what you're looking for.

You've read through the boat reviews here from the members?

Charter boats are looked on with suspicion much like used rental cars. The consensus seems to be that they get used and abused. I'm not sure that rules one out, but it does make sense to look at one with a more jaundiced eye.

The only other consensus I've seen here is that Catalina's are glorified BB-Q stands, the Portugese invented the ultimate yacht around 1898 and the design is unchanged to this day, and no one has ever bought a MacGregor.

[gavinandrebecca]

i am after a 40ish' yacht that will safely handle a pacific crossing. A lot of chaterer are shoal draft and would prefer a stiffer (stiffest) hull that is predictable surfing down large swells, strong enuf to take the pounding, rigged approriately. Also not much tankage on charter boats. Cut to the chase, the fast passage 39?, any thoughts.i know francis stokes sailed one around. AND has any one here bought x charter and taken them across nasty seas?I have read previous logs but thanks for advice. This is a great forum. hmmmmmmmmmmm friend has a catalina 387 which the wife loved, can't wait to tell her.

[Zanshin]

I would recommend you look at boats in the Caribbean - they are much cheaper there than in the USA and the selection of ex-charter boats that must be sold (particularly when the new boats arrive) is very good. You also have an easier sail towards the Panama canal.
Many of the charter boats are sailed to their destinations from France. That includes those SunSail/Moorings etc. hulls in Tahiti and the Whitsundays so - quod erat demonstrandum - they can make it.

I bought an ex-charter boat in the Caribbean. So far only some storms in the leewards and windwards but soon I'll be going through the canal and will be in Sydney sometime in February. I just talked with a marina up by Pittwater in order to reserve some dock space upon my arrival.

[nightowle]

Sailaway 21:
Your comment is too funny!:
"The only other consensus I've seen here is that Catalina's are glorified BB-Q stands, the Portugese invented the ultimate yacht around 1898 and the design is unchanged to this day, and no one has ever bought a MacGregor."
I got a good chuckle out of that! Well said, indeed.
__________________

[gavinandrebecca]

Thanx Zanshin. We are starting in BVI. What did you buy and any chance you can keep me posted on how you go with Oz custums and Quarantine. wife thinks production boats are unstable in big seas, and flimsy. I mean if a tayana hit something it would bounce off, if jeanneau hit a turtle, it sinks. (bit of an extreme analogy) so please keep me posted, and sailaway i dont understand the portugese pun?

[Faster]

Originally Posted by gavinandrebecca

.....I dont understand the portugese pun?

Stick around on Sailnet and you soon will!

If you're shopping in the boat range and budget range you suggest, I'm not so sure there are a lot of "crap" boats... Which ever boat you look at needs to be looked at hard and carefully regardless of "brand".... for example I recently looked over a Swan that was definitely "crap".

[gavinandrebecca]

Ok maybe i should rename or start another thread, but it seems every boat you look at, people who own them now say "l love mymacgregor" and you only have check the reviews here, that the boat any member owns now is this best, yet there are thousands. I know i guess it is like cars and "what is my purpose in life?" Just funny no one has owned a bad boat, though ive been on a few, and one was a roberts 25 which had no traveller the tiller vibrated horribly and the owner sitting there say "beautiful isn't she" Looked good, sailed S@#T

[Zanshin]

I bought a 2003 Jeanneau 43DS. Well equipped with in-mast furling, genset, A/C {which I don't use} and I'm adding the radar / watermaker / windgen in St. Maarten. The boat was the largest I felt comfortable with single-handing; but there were some great deals to be had on the Bendytoe 473's and also the really big 50/52/54s coming out of charter. But who in their right mind wants 5 midget-sized heads?

I'm not going to stay in Oz with the boat and have already talked with the customs people here - they want a 15% of the boat's local value (almost double the BVI price) placed in bond. I've talked with a dealer here who says I could probably get away with not having to post the bond.

A good surveyor will tell you the shortcomings for blue water cruising and also the costs of remedying any design deficiencies. There are also a couple of good bluewater boats available in the BVI that might fit your budget or expectation and I can recommend Todd Duff at BVI Yacht Sales who is a liveaboard and blue water sailor to steer you in the right direction. No, I didn't buy my boat through him but should have.

I personally think that with a crusing speed of 8 knots, a flexible schedule, and modern weather reporting systems you will be able to avoid the really big storms.