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your opinions please - formosa 41ft ketch

4K views 4 replies 4 participants last post by  remetau 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi Sailnet,

I had a quick look at this boat a few days ago:

Carmanah Yacht Sales (Victoria, BC)

I am interested to hear what you have to say about this boat, especially in regards to how much it should be worth, and things I will likely need to spend money on in the near future.

The boat seems to be in quite good shape, but I have not poked around too much yet. I'm planning on visiting her again soon and spending time looking at everything I can see.

Some considerations:
-sails are from 2002 or older
-a quick patch was done on one of the port lights that was leaking. after purchase I would have to remove and re-bed all of the port lights properly, but according to the broker the leaking one was patched quickly and no water is entering the cabin
-she has a solid hull and plywood cored decks
-she used to have teak decks but they have been removed

Obviously I will get a proper survey done, but before that I need to know how much to offer. Any thoughts?

If you are not familiar with my rough purchase criteria, experience, etc you can get caught up here.

Thanks,
Ryan
 
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#3 ·
She'll not be very nimble... so as a BC summer cruiser you'll be frustrated trying to do much sailing - big and comfy, though, by the look of her.

Probably Taiwan built, and generically many of those boats have always had issues with the glass-over-ply construction and moisture intrusion. Good that the teak decks are gone, but it'd be good to get some good evidence on the extent of the work done there. New plywood too??

I do think, though, that as a beginner sailor you'd be better off with a boat more fun to sail and more responsive so that you'll learn more quickly what works and what doesn't. The Cat 36 you linked to earlier would, IMO, be a better starting point.
 
#4 ·
I do think, though, that as a beginner sailor you'd be better off with a boat more fun to sail and more responsive so that you'll learn more quickly what works and what doesn't. The Cat 36 you linked to earlier would, IMO, be a better starting point.
Yeah that Catalina is nice, there are a few of them around Seattle too. I'll definitely make a trip down there to see some boats (there are probably 8 on my list to see), but for now I'm having a look at boats closer to home.

What do you think of this Columbia 41? I'm going to try to look at her tomorrow:

Vela Yacht Sales (Victoria, BC)
 
#5 ·
These are beautiful boats, but I always wondered why they normally are found for such bargains. One Formosa owner that we talked to said that there were some problems when these were built and many of them have big electrical problems. So I would suggest checking the wiring as much as you can, and ditto about the decks.
 
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