Hi Guys I'm a new member but been a sailor for years. I've been thinking about buying a yacht and my budget is small so my question is about buying a custom yacht against buying a regular branded boat. The custom yacht seem to sell a lot cheaper and you appear to get a lot more for money?

Just remember all that when the time comes for you to sell.

There is a reason yachts are made as one offs. If they were good they would sell more. There will be exceptions that prove the rule, but few. Unless your budget is very low, you wil be able to get a Tophat cheap and, in my view, you couldn't do better.

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MorningBird said..
There is a reason yachts are made as one offs. If they were good they would sell more. There will be exceptions that prove the rule, but few. Unless your budget is very low, you wil be able to get a Tophat cheap and, in my view, you couldn't do better.

My Father once bought a one off outboard speed boat in a turn it was the most dangerous thing on water it had a tendency to grip in a turn and let go and grip again with enough force it could throw you out of the boat . Worst boat he ever owned . Only went in it once just l kept sailing after that.
I am sure if you look hard enough you will find a production boat with all the features you need and want its a buyers market out there
Top hats a great boats lots of room inside and they sail well. Dollar wise the out board hot hats are cheaper .But treat your self and buy one with a diesel if you can afford it.

I know that a lot of people shy away from them but as far as a lot of boat for your money, ferro cement would be a option

Regards Don

I know a guy selling a top hat in syd. 4k.

How about a "Roberts Custom". There must be a BIG market for them.

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LooseChange said..
Just remember all that when the time comes for you to sell.

L.C. is on the money again
when you have had enough B.O.A.T.= $$$$ as Cisco would say a low purchased price Top Hat would sell quickly or for more koney perhaps a compass 28 plenty around and they popular and there a great web site for owners
Or
nqboats.com.au/townsvilleslipws/yachts-for-sale/used/sail-monohulls/walker-h28-ketch/165370
The above but I'm bias

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HG02 said..

nqboats.com.au/townsvilleslipws/yachts-for-sale/used/sail-monohulls/walker-h28-ketch/165370

My advice is to be a tad wary of Townsville Slipway and Yacht Sales.

They had a Townson 34 yacht for sale that they swore black and blue was an S&S34 as did the owner according to them. They are not just brokers. They are traders as well.

Whether it was an S&S 34 or a Townson 34 was discussed on this forum a couple of years ago and the consensus was that it was a Townson. I know it was a Townson. I saw enough of them in Auckland in 1978 to know a Townson when I see one. They are very characteristic.

A further bad experience I have had in Townsville was driving all the way up there from Bundaberg, some 800 klms each way, to buy a yacht advertised as a Van De Stadt 34 that was actually a Van De Stadt 30. Nice yacht and worth the money, but not what it was advertised as.

Caveat Emptor. Let the buyer beware. What the buyer needs to be more than anything is AWARE.

Why not an Adams? At least they are sailing yachts not Duch herring busses. I am racing and sailing them for years, they are tough, fast, reliable boats and locally made so parts should be no problem.
Anything made 'custom' is usually very hard to find parts for. If it breaks, well...
Anything from Adams 8's, 10's, or like the 28 which is a fully fitted out cruiser with 1.47 metre keel, or if your budget is such, 10.6, or like the 35 with shoal draught, 0.7 metre keel and daggerboard.
I could recommend them any day and they sail circles around any top hat or cavalier or such.
Joe was a tiny man so the smaller ones are lacking head room, no doubt, but Graham Radford, the ex partner of Joe is alive and well and very willing to help with plans and advise.
You won't get one for four grand, though. Those cheapies are to be aware of. Before l bought mine, - for two years - l was aquainting myself with the mooring minders on the east of Oz between Mooloolabah and Adelaide.
Have a look at my photos you'll see Adamses there.

I hope you know already what 'boat' stands for?
Bring Out AnotherThousand?

Fair winds!

That Townson 34 is in port here again at the moment, or was yesterday when I was swanning about on the river. Lovely boat.

During the week two Supersonic 27's sold on eBay by Maxiyachts. One went for just over $1000 [needs rudder instal] the other with a dead Yanmar 8 sold for $710. I tried hard to get one of my sons to bid on the second. It needs sails but I have plenty to suit. I would watch on eBay, particularly boats that Maxiyachts lists and Gumtree. When you see something of interest raise it here and we will assist. Add details to your Bio, particularly our location and there might be a lister close by.

Best to stick with stock 'glass boats as starters. Custom often means race oriented boats with nasty stuff like running backstays. There is a 30 foot 'glass boat built in fairly large numbers called a Custom 30 too.

If she is in good condition it looks to be a good buy.

she looks like a lexen 32 hull

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cisco said..

HG02 said..

nqboats.com.au/townsvilleslipws/yachts-for-sale/used/sail-monohulls/walker-h28-ketch/165370

My advice is to be a tad wary of Townsville Slipway and Yacht Sales.

They had a Townson 34 yacht for sale that they swore black and blue was an S&S34 as did the owner according to them. They are not just brokers. They are traders as well.

Whether it was an S&S 34 or a Townson 34 was discussed on this forum a couple of years ago and the consensus was that it was a Townson. I know it was a Townson. I saw enough of them in Auckland in 1978 to know a Townson when I see one. They are very characteristic.

A further bad experience I have had in Townsville was driving all the way up there from Bundaberg, some 800 klms each way, to buy a yacht advertised as a Van De Stadt 34 that was actually a Van De Stadt 30. Nice yacht and worth the money, but not what it was advertised as.

Caveat Emptor. Let the buyer beware. What the buyer needs to be more than anything is AWARE.

well you could also buy it via the H28 club its in the register as for sale with contact details.
But there plenty of nice boats out there

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crustysailor said..
a couple of Manitou's on Gumtree as well, this one $4k:

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/seven-hills/sail-boats/yacht-fibreglass-32ft-centre-cockpit-manitou-32/1072628705

4k will be the beginning of many more thousands and hours and hours and hours of labour.

just to change that motor over to the new bukh your looking at I bet at least $2000 and hours of frustration.. to give you an example just for the new engine mounts it will set you back $500. then all the other things that will go wrong. then working out how to get the engine in and out of the boat will set you back a whole lot more money.

then all the thing you thought worked... don't work and your looking at another $5000

and then you get picky and want to make your mark on the boat and set it up like you want it ... another $10000

and then just as you think your about to go out and sail, something brakes and your in the hole for another $1000.

in saying all this I love my boat :).. but don't delude yourself into thinking that there's such a thing as a cheap boat , especially around the 30ft range.


my advice if your like me and NOT rich then sacrifice something to spend some more money on your boat. most people drive fancy new cars. I drive a Sh!t box and the money I save on this I can afford my boat.

I know which I would rather own..

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bubble7777 said..

crustysailor said..
a couple of Manitou's on Gumtree as well, this one $4k:

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/seven-hills/sail-boats/yacht-fibreglass-32ft-centre-cockpit-manitou-32/1072628705

4k will be the beginning of many more thousands and hours and hours and hours of labour.

just to change that motor over to the new bukh your looking at I bet at least $2000 and hours of frustration.. to give you an example just for the new engine mounts it will set you back $500. then all the other things that will go wrong. then working out how to get the engine in and out of the boat will set you back a whole lot more money.

then all the thing you thought worked... don't work and your looking at another $5000

and then you get picky and want to make your mark on the boat and set it up like you want it ... another $10000

and then just as you think your about to go out and sail, something brakes and your in the hole for another $1000.

in saying all this I love my boat :).. but don't delude yourself into thinking that there's such a thing as a cheap boat , especially around the 30ft range.


my advice if your like me and NOT rich then sacrifice something to spend some more money on your boat. most people drive fancy new cars. I drive a Sh!t box and the money I save on this I can afford my boat.

I know which I would rather own..

That sounds like my boat and Bubble has put it down nicely. Once I retire my car is gone . I run low over heads and donate my wages to the god of the sea on a weekly basis and in return I hope one day she will favor me.
Around 30 foot is enough for me and hope I can still sail her when I'm over 85 plus

The Manitou started out as a 27 foot yacht and had a canoe stern added to create the centre cockpit. Just imagine a Compass 28 like stern where the aft cabin window is. That's why the interior room is just like a 50's 27 footer long keeler. Good concept though at the time. Extend a good old design and sell it in kit form.

One thing to remember with the Custom 30 is that it is in WA and will need to be relocated. Either by road or sea. If she is not in a current state to cross the bight it could add a lot of money to the purchase price.

I like the look of the boat and the price seems good though.

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bubble7777 said..

crustysailor said..
a couple of Manitou's on Gumtree as well, this one $4k:

http://www.gumtree.com.au/s-ad/seven-hills/sail-boats/yacht-fibreglass-32ft-centre-cockpit-manitou-32/1072628705

4k will be the beginning of many more thousands and hours and hours and hours of labour.

just to change that motor over to the new bukh your looking at I bet at least $2000 and hours of frustration.. to give you an example just for the new engine mounts it will set you back $500. then all the other things that will go wrong. then working out how to get the engine in and out of the boat will set you back a whole lot more money.

then all the thing you thought worked... don't work and your looking at another $5000

and then you get picky and want to make your mark on the boat and set it up like you want it ... another $10000

and then just as you think your about to go out and sail, something brakes and your in the hole for another $1000.

in saying all this I love my boat :).. but don't delude yourself into thinking that there's such a thing as a cheap boat , especially around the 30ft range.


my advice if your like me and NOT rich then sacrifice something to spend some more money on your boat. most people drive fancy new cars. I drive a Sh!t box and the money I save on this I can afford my boat.

I know which I would rather own..

Shhhhh bubble7777 the SWMBO's may read that, then we will all be in trouble

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Franrick said..
One thing to remember with the Custom 30 is that it is in WA and will need to be relocated. Either by road or sea. If she is not in a current state to cross the bight it could add a lot of money to the purchase price.

I like the look of the boat and the price seems good though.

I was presuming JBrab was in WA. It's hard to know sometimes where people live if they don't add info on their bio.

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Ramona said..

Franrick said..
One thing to remember with the Custom 30 is that it is in WA and will need to be relocated. Either by road or sea. If she is not in a current state to cross the bight it could add a lot of money to the purchase price.

I like the look of the boat and the price seems good though.

I was presuming JBrab was in WA. It's hard to know sometimes where people live if they don't add info on their bio.

I am in WA all you have to do is check my profile if its important to you or actually relevant

You get used to the useless "cranky old barstard" comments after a while jBrab.

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brizzydave said..
You get used to the useless "cranky old barstard" comments after a while jBrab.

Yeah ....what he said. After all we got used to you too Dave ... here, have a rum

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JBrab said..

Ramona said..

Franrick said..
One thing to remember with the Custom 30 is that it is in WA and will need to be relocated. Either by road or sea. If she is not in a current state to cross the bight it could add a lot of money to the purchase price.

I like the look of the boat and the price seems good though.

I was presuming JBrab was in WA. It's hard to know sometimes where people live if they don't add info on their bio.

I am in WA all you have to do is check my profile if its important to you or actually relevant

JBrab
I Checked your profile before I made my post.
Where you lived wasn't there when I checked otherwise I wouldn't have made the comment.

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Franrick said..

JBrab said..

I am in WA all you have to do is check my profile if its important to you or actually relevant

JBrab
I Checked your profile before I made my post.
Where you lived wasn't there when I checked otherwise I wouldn't have made the comment.

Yup, I too had a look earlier and there was no location information listed in the bio.

Yep I checked too and it said Australia! But feel free to ad more details, it helps us help you.

Gotta nurture this joint fellas. This isn't Lord of the flies.

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cisco said..

HG02 said..

nqboats.com.au/townsvilleslipws/yachts-for-sale/used/sail-monohulls/walker-h28-ketch/165370

My advice is to be a tad wary of Townsville Slipway and Yacht Sales.

They had a Townson 34 yacht for sale that they swore black and blue was an S&S34 as did the owner according to them. They are not just brokers. They are traders as well.

Whether it was an S&S 34 or a Townson 34 was discussed on this forum a couple of years ago and the consensus was that it was a Townson. I know it was a Townson. I saw enough of them in Auckland in 1978 to know a Townson when I see one. They are very characteristic.

A further bad experience I have had in Townsville was driving all the way up there from Bundaberg, some 800 klms each way, to buy a yacht advertised as a Van De Stadt 34 that was actually a Van De Stadt 30. Nice yacht and worth the money, but not what it was advertised as.

Caveat Emptor. Let the buyer beware. What the buyer needs to be more than anything is AWARE.

This isn't by any chance the boat you are talking about is it?


I flew up to Townsville to have a look at it. Turned into a nightmare trip and was the principle defining moment which led to my decision to leave the country!

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japie said..


This isn't by any chance the boat you are talking about is it?


I flew up to Townsville to have a look at it. Turned into a nightmare trip and was the principle defining moment which led to my decision to leave the country!

No that is not it but that is a design by another leading Kiwi designer whose name escapes me at the moment. Possibly Alan Mummery.

There seems to be something about Townsville. I drove all the way up there to look at a yacht that was advertised as a Van De Stadt 34 which was a VDS 30. Total waste of $800. It was advertised privately.

While I was there I tried to have a look at an S&S 30 (Defiance) but the broker was out sailing.

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cisco said..


No that is not it but that is a design by another leading Kiwi designer whose name escapes me at the moment. Possibly Alan Mummery.

There seems to be something about Townsville. I drove all the way up there to look at a yacht that was advertised as a Van De Stadt 34 which was a VDS 30. Total waste of $800. It was advertised privately.

While I was there I tried to have a look at an S&S 30 (Defiance) but the broker was out sailing.

Maybe the brokers working hours are from 9:00am to 15 knots

Japie- Was it the boat or the trip which was a nightmare?

One thing you can do if you are interested in a boat that is far away is ask on this site if someone is nearby who can take a look at the boat for you. I have done it for somone who was interested in a boat in Cairns and I was heading there. Next week I will pop into Albany-any good boats there?