Too Old???

[ChesaScott]

I was looking at several sailboats and started wondering how old is really too old to offset the price of fixing it up??? There are alot of people getting rid of their sailboats including giving them to charities.... I guess my question from more experienced sailors is when does a sailboat start to cost more to fixup than buy??? I know some of it it will be based on the owners maintance but some will be based on items such as sails just getting too old to really keep on using. Any thoughts from those that know much more than me????

[CharlieCobra]

My boat is 48 yrs old. They're never too old.

[camaraderie]

Look in the polls section here at the average age of the boats we own. There's your answer!

[tommays]

Well

I dont think they get to old as mine is 28 and just getting broken in

BUT i looked at plenty the same age that were to far GONE from neglect


My most recent no-way was a free Saber 28 that had to be removed from the boat yard and taken to my house which could have happened

BUT a quick look on yachtworld at saber 28 prices and doing a basic budget showed i could buy one in sailaway condition for less that even thinking about bringing the free boat back to life

[AjariBonten]

Treatment is way more important than simple age; as is original construction quality.

Many older boats are in better condition than moderately used newer boats.

[Danny33]

30 years old and still nice .
Look at a lot of boats to learn whats out there.
Its the learning phase.

[CBinRI]

Mine is 32 years old but was constructed very well.

[xort]

ditto

condition and care is everything. I bought a 1985 that was in pretty good shape. some of the other 1985's & newer were so bad it would have cost double the value of the boat to bring back. There were others of my kind in excellent condition...and the price reflected it.

There are some models/years that are just born with trouble. So some research is in order.

[sahara]

+1 the above.

And to add, boats of poor initial build quality or ugly design are good candidates for the scrapheap. Beautiful boats of high initial build quality are frequently worth a lot of maintenance or even resurrection. Think older Alden Challengers, Tartan 37's, Bermuda 40's, or older Concordia's.

[hertfordnc]

I think the consensus is that there is no such thing as 'too old' There are too many variables for age alone to be the driver. The oldest fiberglass boats were way overbuilt. It took a while for the manufacturer's to learn just how little material they could get away with. A really old boat will likely have had many things replaced.

All other things being equal, a 40 year old boat that had a major refit 20 years ago could theoretically be stronger and more seaworthy than a 20 year old boat.