S&S39 Mark Twain for sale for $55,000 on Boatsales. Bargain the price down bit.
Seems to be an excellent buy.

Except for the rot in the deck!
Sorry

really nice. shame theres not more interior pix

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MorningBird said..
S&S39 Mark Twain for sale for $55,000 on Boatsales. Bargain the price down bit.
Seems to be an excellent buy.

Been watching that one for awhile and have doubled up on lottery tickets. Lot of re arranging of deck hardware required to make her more handy. There are several other ex SYD/ Hobart racers of similar ilk for sale at the moment for ridiculously little money.

JUst love that boat. A lot.

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lydia said..
Except for the rot in the deck!
Sorry

Is this a known truth or just having a crack.( No pun intended.)
ligitamate question.
Cheers

I sailed on Mark Twain a bit & did a S2H on her, I think the 96 or 97 race.

great yacht, but yes, labour intensive! You need at least 5 crew that know what they're doing to get race with some intent.

on the other side of the coin, we were loaned the boat at one stage, & my wife & I had 10 days cruising around Pittwater & Cowan.

the 2 of us, she's not much of a sailor, managed to get around ok with a bit of pre-planning, a few good sails, but lots of motoring. The sail back to Sydney was great with just us, a poled out 3 & full main.

the story I heard from a few of of the old guard that had sailed on her for years, when Hugie replaced the motor, ( late 80's?.?.?) (close to needing another by now) he replaced it with a new Yanmar that was 300-400 kgs lighter than the old motor- she was forever too tender afterwards.

they said she needed a couple hundred kg extra on the keel.

She is still for sale, price now $42.5K. No need to buy lotto tickets !

From a distance, the boat actually looks quite good and it seems a lot smaller than 39'.

A

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Andrew68 said..
She is still for sale, price now $42.5K. No need to buy lotto tickets !

From a distance, the boat actually looks quite good and it seems a lot smaller than 39'.

A

I would still buy her if my wife would let me. Bidding on the production SS39 on eBay at the moment [Curlew, ex Jezebel}. It will never reach it's reserve. Tough part of the market to be selling in. The age is the main factor putting a lot of people off I'm sure. Hard to get people excited to spend 70 grand on a boat that's 40 years old. The plywood and teak deck on Mark Twain would have the average punter in a cold sweat!

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Ramona said..

Andrew68 said..
She is still for sale, price now $42.5K. No need to buy lotto tickets !

From a distance, the boat actually looks quite good and it seems a lot smaller than 39'.

A

I would still buy her if my wife would let me. Bidding on the production SS39 on eBay at the moment [Curlew, ex Jezebel}. It will never reach it's reserve. Tough part of the market to be selling in. The age is the main factor putting a lot of people off I'm sure. Hard to get people excited to spend 70 grand on a boat that's 40 years old. The plywood and teak deck on Mark Twain would have the average punter in a cold sweat!

through 50 grand at anew deck and you will have a boat 10 times better than a new production boat, capable of going to weather in a full gale i think she is grossly under priced, hope someone wise buys her

tough yacht to single hand Ramona

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SandS said..
tough yacht to single hand Ramona

As I mentioned previously she would need extensive sail handling alterations and an electric winch for the mainsail halyard. Furler and lazyjacks etc.

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Ramona said..

SandS said..
tough yacht to single hand Ramona

As I mentioned previously she would need extensive sail handling alterations and an electric winch for the mainsail halyard. Furler and lazyjacks etc.

good luck with the masthead genoa on the wind

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SandS said..

Ramona said..

SandS said..
tough yacht to single hand Ramona

As I mentioned previously she would need extensive sail handling alterations and an electric winch for the mainsail halyard. Furler and lazyjacks etc.

good luck with the masthead genoa on the wind

Mate sails his alloy Cole 42 singlehanded no problem but he has decent sized primary winches. Chatting to an elderly cruising couple one day on their immaculate 50+ foot S&S and they reckoned raising the anchor was the only hard part. The Jon Sanders article in a recent Afloat magazine with his similar vessel was worth a read. I'm not buying, my wife says I should be down sizing but I would be if I suddenly had an influx of cash. Mark Twain needs a lot of work to convert her to an easily managed solo yacht. If I was to buy her I would simply upscale what I have now with the addition of an electric halyard winch. I would upset the purists by installing an anchor well!

Mark Twain has been moored in Docklands for a while now. Very nice yacht but the winches would need to be re-positioned for single-handed sailing, and probably a few more things. Seems to be well set up for a crew. Sanding and varnishing the wood would make the yacht look stunning. But I have no idea what the overall condition is of the yacht, never sailed on her.

I've been eying off Curlew, would need a shower and a few other minor upgrades - and the standing rigging is over 10 years old. Great for weekend sailing but a bit small for me to take the wife and kids on an extended cruise.
I'm not sure what the story is there, it looks like a buyer paid for the survey and then pulled out. I'd ask what the reason is before bidding or pay to get the survey report. It's been relisted twice and given the current price I'd say she'll be reaching the reserve.
Great yacht for that money.

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SandS said..
tough yacht to single hand Ramona

Near sister has just returned from yet another single handed circumnavigation. Fremantle to Fremantle anti clockwise. Perie Banou.

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Ramona said..

SandS said..

Ramona said..

SandS said..
tough yacht to single hand Ramona

As I mentioned previously she would need extensive sail handling alterations and an electric winch for the mainsail halyard. Furler and lazyjacks etc.

good luck with the masthead genoa on the wind

Mate sails his alloy Cole 42 singlehanded no problem but he has decent sized primary winches. Chatting to an elderly cruising couple one day on their immaculate 50+ foot S&S and they reckoned raising the anchor was the only hard part. The Jon Sanders article in a recent Afloat magazine with his similar vessel was worth a read. I'm not buying, my wife says I should be down sizing but I would be if I suddenly had an influx of cash. Mark Twain needs a lot of work to convert her to an easily managed solo yacht. If I was to buy her I would simply upscale what I have now with the addition of an electric halyard winch. I would upset the purists by installing an anchor well!

i agree a bit big for me and ior hull shapes are not my favorite but would convert easily with some common sense approach and still make an awesome cruising boat

Beautiful boat. I did my 1st Sydney- Hobart on her back in 1979. After osmosis treatment in 78 hull was very sound, built like
a brick-sh_ _house! Awesome upwind but a bit of a pig downhill in a breeze, as was the case with most boats of that era.

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SandS said..

Ramona said..

SandS said..
tough yacht to single hand Ramona

As I mentioned previously she would need extensive sail handling alterations and an electric winch for the mainsail halyard. Furler and lazyjacks etc.

good luck with the masthead genoa on the wind

You could easily cruise with a number 3 and leave that big bugger in the bag

Working in Docklands today and just happened to spot her whilst out for a walk. Beautiful looking boat...

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jev7337 said..
Mark Twain has been moored in Docklands for a while now. Very nice yacht but the winches would need to be re-positioned for single-handed sailing, and probably a few more things. Seems to be well set up for a crew. Sanding and varnishing the wood would make the yacht look stunning. But I have no idea what the overall condition is of the yacht, never sailed on her.

I've been eying off Curlew, would need a shower and a few other minor upgrades - and the standing rigging is over 10 years old. Great for weekend sailing but a bit small for me to take the wife and kids on an extended cruise.
I'm not sure what the story is there, it looks like a buyer paid for the survey and then pulled out. I'd ask what the reason is before bidding or pay to get the survey report. It's been relisted twice and given the current price I'd say she'll be reaching the reserve.
Great yacht for that money.

I doubt whether Curlew will get to the reserve. I think the sellers are just using eBay as an advertising media. I figure the reserve would be just under what they are asking elsewhere.

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PhilY said..

SandS said..
tough yacht to single hand Ramona

Near sister has just returned from yet another single handed circumnavigation. Fremantle to Fremantle anti clockwise. Perie Banou.

In the Afloat magazine article Jon Sanders stated that he always sailed with one reef in the main and downwind furled the headsail sailing with the mainsail only with a preventer. Previous circumnavigations used twin headsails downwind. These days does not go forward of the mast!

yes you could try and sail around with a 90 percent jib but when the wind gets down to 10 or 12 knotts . you will be going no where.

and wishing you had the 135 percent heady on . you could run a furled headsail instead of changing sails . but the problem remains .

old guy single handed cranking on a big mast head headsail = big job ,almost too big !!

I know with my two speed st 40,s trimming the 135% heady on a 30 foot SV with some pressure in it ,is a big ask ,some people just cant do it .

you would need to put $15,000 worth of winches on her to even have a chance .

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SandS said..

yes you could try and sail around with a 90 percent jib but when the wind gets down to 10 or 12 knotts . you will be going no where.

and wishing you had the 135 percent heady on . you could run a furled headsail instead of changing sails . but the problem remains .

old guy single handed cranking on a big mast head headsail = big job ,almost too big !!

I know with my two speed st 40,s trimming the 135% heady on a 30 foot SV with some pressure in it ,is a big ask ,some people just cant do it .

you would need to put $15,000 worth of winches on her to even have a chance .

Mate with the Cole 42 has no problem with 130% headsail. His genoa winches are about the same size as a 2 gallon bucket though.

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SandS said..

yes you could try and sail around with a 90 percent jib but when the wind gets down to 10 or 12 knotts . you will be going no where.

and wishing you had the 135 percent heady on . you could run a furled headsail instead of changing sails . but the problem remains .

old guy single handed cranking on a big mast head headsail = big job ,almost too big !!

I know with my two speed st 40,s trimming the 135% heady on a 30 foot SV with some pressure in it ,is a big ask ,some people just cant do it .

you would need to put $15,000 worth of winches on her to even have a chance .

She wouldn't really go nowhere. Looking at J/35s, for example, ORC polars indicate that a boat with 105% overlap loses 2% speed compared to a similar J/35 with standard 150% overlap. Okay, different boat and most of that penalty would be upwind in light airs so maybe you lose 8% of your boatspeed when going upwind in 8 knots of breeze; you're still not too slow compared to many cruising boats.

My foretriangle's 20% smaller and no great drama. Okay, personally I much prefer a fractional rig with a 105% overlap but with a good modern sail Mark Twain would still be fun to sail for the right person. And from pics and memories, MT has four enormous winches on the cabin top; move two of them back to the wheel and you've got lots of grunt.

I know retired people with 40ft masthead rigged S&Ss who cruise the world's oceans quite happily, albeit in a boat with a proportionately smaller foretriangle but using the 150% (IIRC) as standard.

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Chris 249 said..

SandS said..

yes you could try and sail around with a 90 percent jib but when the wind gets down to 10 or 12 knotts . you will be going no where.

and wishing you had the 135 percent heady on . you could run a furled headsail instead of changing sails . but the problem remains .

old guy single handed cranking on a big mast head headsail = big job ,almost too big !!

I know with my two speed st 40,s trimming the 135% heady on a 30 foot SV with some pressure in it ,is a big ask ,some people just cant do it .

you would need to put $15,000 worth of winches on her to even have a chance .

She wouldn't really go nowhere. Looking at J/35s, for example, ORC polars indicate that a boat with 105% overlap loses 2% speed compared to a similar J/35 with standard 150% overlap. Okay, different boat and most of that penalty would be upwind in light airs so maybe you lose 8% of your boatspeed when going upwind in 8 knots of breeze; you're still not too slow compared to many cruising boats.

My foretriangle's 20% smaller and no great drama. Okay, personally I much prefer a fractional rig with a 105% overlap but with a good modern sail Mark Twain would still be fun to sail for the right person. And from pics and memories, MT has four enormous winches on the cabin top; move two of them back to the wheel and you've got lots of grunt.

I know retired people with 40ft masthead rigged S&Ss who cruise the world's oceans quite happily, albeit in a boat with a proportionately smaller foretriangle but using the 150% (IIRC) as standard.

Exactly. Modern cruising laminate 130% headsail on a furler is ample on my Currawong in light conditions. Would be fine on MT too. Need advice on convincing the Missus!

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Chris 249 said..

SandS said..

yes you could try and sail around with a 90 percent jib but when the wind gets down to 10 or 12 knotts . you will be going no where.

and wishing you had the 135 percent heady on . you could run a furled headsail instead of changing sails . but the problem remains .

old guy single handed cranking on a big mast head headsail = big job ,almost too big !!

I know with my two speed st 40,s trimming the 135% heady on a 30 foot SV with some pressure in it ,is a big ask ,some people just cant do it .

you would need to put $15,000 worth of winches on her to even have a chance .

She wouldn't really go nowhere. Looking at J/35s, for example, ORC polars indicate that a boat with 105% overlap loses 2% speed compared to a similar J/35 with standard 150% overlap. Okay, different boat and most of that penalty would be upwind in light airs so maybe you lose 8% of your boatspeed when going upwind in 8 knots of breeze; you're still not too slow compared to many cruising boats.

My foretriangle's 20% smaller and no great drama. Okay, personally I much prefer a fractional rig with a 105% overlap but with a good modern sail Mark Twain would still be fun to sail for the right person. And from pics and memories, MT has four enormous winches on the cabin top; move two of them back to the wheel and you've got lots of grunt.

I know retired people with 40ft masthead rigged S&Ss who cruise the world's oceans quite happily, albeit in a boat with a proportionately smaller foretriangle but using the 150% (IIRC) as standard.

yeah i think i know that retired couple , ex World championship wrestling tag team partners Larry Oday and Mario Milano

yep if you fit big enough 2 speed ST winches , you can have a crack at any monster i guess , just gotta hope you dont get an override on one of those big winches .

i think a fractional rig with an electric mainsail halyard winch would be more suitable for geriatrics ...

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SandS said..

Chris 249 said..

SandS said..

yes you could try and sail around with a 90 percent jib but when the wind gets down to 10 or 12 knotts . you will be going no where.

and wishing you had the 135 percent heady on . you could run a furled headsail instead of changing sails . but the problem remains .

old guy single handed cranking on a big mast head headsail = big job ,almost too big !!

I know with my two speed st 40,s trimming the 135% heady on a 30 foot SV with some pressure in it ,is a big ask ,some people just cant do it .

you would need to put $15,000 worth of winches on her to even have a chance .

She wouldn't really go nowhere. Looking at J/35s, for example, ORC polars indicate that a boat with 105% overlap loses 2% speed compared to a similar J/35 with standard 150% overlap. Okay, different boat and most of that penalty would be upwind in light airs so maybe you lose 8% of your boatspeed when going upwind in 8 knots of breeze; you're still not too slow compared to many cruising boats.

My foretriangle's 20% smaller and no great drama. Okay, personally I much prefer a fractional rig with a 105% overlap but with a good modern sail Mark Twain would still be fun to sail for the right person. And from pics and memories, MT has four enormous winches on the cabin top; move two of them back to the wheel and you've got lots of grunt.

I know retired people with 40ft masthead rigged S&Ss who cruise the world's oceans quite happily, albeit in a boat with a proportionately smaller foretriangle but using the 150% (IIRC) as standard.

yeah i think i know that retired couple , ex World championship wrestling tag team partners Larry Oday and Mario Milano

yep if you fit big enough 2 speed ST winches , you can have a crack at any monster i guess , just gotta hope you dont get an override on one of those big winches .

i think a fractional rig with an electric mainsail halyard winch would be more suitable for geriatrics ...

Actually he'd be 75kg or so and she'd be scraping to get to 60-65kg. And they have a mere 200,000 miles of cruising to go with their 4 British Offshore Racing Yacht of the Year awards, their 7 Fastnet and 1 Hobart class win etc with their 40ft S&S, so of course they're not worth learning from. I mean WTF would they know about S&S boats of that size with so little experience?

Yes, I too prefer a fractional rig but MT could be a great cruiser for many people with a modern 105% headsail. Given that double headed rigs were in a brief vogue when she was launched she'd probably also be easy to fit as a slutter.

An 80 year old gentleman sailed a 48ft S&S masthead sloop to Lord Howe Island and return singlehanded with no issues, that boat was "Love and War". It's all about how you set it up. I sail a 47 ft masthead sloop with a 135% headsail singlehanded with no problem and I'm 70. I think Ramona with your skills you'd have no problem turning "Mark Twain" into a beautiful cruising boat.

true , throw enough time and money at anything and it will be possible .

MT has plenty if winches from what I see, just relocate them and I don't see why you wouldn't be able to singlehanded. A couple of them look beefy.
A few weeks back there was a pile of sails in the deck, I assume there's plenty them to chose from.
The price is down to 42k, round it down a bit more and IMO that would be a good buy. Not sure about the rot that got mentioned earlier.

But It looks like your missus needs a bit more convincing than you do. Can't help you there, but let us know how you get that sorted, it will help a lot of us.