Pre-purchase Survey of Hallberg Rassy 49

 

This cutter rigged Hallberg Rassy 49 was designed by Olle Enderlein & Christoph Rassy and built in 1989. A superb boat for long distance cruising, with lots of stowage space and long range capability. The classic flush teak-laid deck is uncluttered and the stow away cutter stay is ideal for short handed sailing. This particular vessel had a four cabin interior, making it popular for charter or family cruising.

The pre-purchase survey of this boat took place over a period of two and a half days. The sea trial  allowed a more thorough check of the engine & drivetrain than if the engine was simply run whilst ashore. Following the sea trial, a sample of engine oil was taken and sent away for chemical analysis. The very last task of the survey was to climb the rigging. Although there was ice on the mast, making my hands sore & numb, I was able to identify a number of fine cracks on the stainless steel hardware that secured the cap shrouds to the mast head. Whether the new owner wished to take her ocean cruising or simply use her for weekend cruising, he was glad to know that these defects had ben found in good time and could be repaired before a more costly and dangerous failure occured.

 

See examples of my pre-purchase survey reports:

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Pre-purchase Survey of 1999 Hunter Legend 380 in Chichester Marina

This pre-purchase survey took place over a two day period: The hull, keel, rudder, skin fittings and external drive gear were all checked whilst the vessel was ashore. I then returned a few days later to check the rest of the boat. The engine was also inspected when the boat was back on her mooring, with a one hour test run, both in forward and reverse gear.

The Legend 380 is rigged with a B&R (Belgstrom & Ridder) type rig. This design was apparently developed for use on performance 'round the world' race boats. The mast has the spreaders swept back at an angle of 30 degrees, creating a broad 'tripod' base and removing the need for a backstay.

I knew of a smaller Legend with a similar B&R rig that had problems with the attachment of the shroud deck plates: The internal structure that tied the deck plates to the hull had de-bonded. With this previous experience in mind, the very first check that I made on the boat involved the removal of part of the seating framework in the saloon, on both port and starboard sides. This task took over an hour to perform, but I consider that it was worth it. Although I didn't find any loose or de-bonded structure, I did find evidence that post-build repair work had indeed taken place, with relatively new fibreglass laminate applied to the parts of the hull moulding that secure the shroud chain plates in place.

I suspect that although Hunter Legend claim that the B&R rig configuration creates an immensely strong rig with greatly reduced stress on the hull, the loads taken by the shrouds are very high and possibly much higher than those experienced by the twin backstay on a more traditionally rigged bermudian sloop. If the supporting structure of the deck and hull are not substantial enough, de-bonding of the join between the hull and hull stiffening structure is likely to occur.

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Barcelona: Insurance Survey of a 57' Dagless Fleur de Lys

Surveys of timber boats are always very interesting, and this Fleur de Lys was no exception. She was designed by L. Francis Jones and built in 1979. She was constructed from 1 1/2" Iroko planks on large oak frames & floors and powered by two six-cylinder Sabre diesel engines.

She was ashore in Port Ginesta, a very large marina just south of Barcelona, Spain. It's always nice to be tasked with a survey in a warm country and this was a particularly nice location in which to spend a couple of days.

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Insurance Survey of a Frances 26 at Emsworth Yacht Harbour

I have just finished the insurance survey report of this very nicely maintained Frances 26, currently out of the water at Emsworth Yacht Harbour, Hampshire, England. It's not often that my reports have as few as twelve recommendations for the owner to carry out, showing that she has been very well looked after.

This Frances 26 was built in 1989 by Victoria Yachts in Warsash, Southampton, England. The original Frances was designed by Chuck W. Paine for his own use. His wish was to reduce the size of the well known Colin Archer designs, in order to reduce the problems and difficulties encountered with the larger ocean cruisers. He retained the attributes of the Archer designs that were necessary for comfort and safety at sea, such as a double ended stern, plenty of ballast and heavy displacement. A generously sized bridge deck offered a good level of flooding protection, should the vessel be pooped. For crew who are nervous of working on the foredeck when the vessel is heeled over, the teak laid deck of the Frances has a very well designed 'well' on her foredeck, providing high-sided bulwarks that give a better level of safety to the crew.

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Insurance survey of Broom Monarch Motor Cruiser

I have just completed an insurance survey of a 1983 Broom Monarch motor cruiser in Birdham Pool Marina, Chichester. A total of 28 of these fast offshore cruisers were built between 1982 and 1991. This example, which has spent most of her life on The Thames, was fitted with a large double berth in the forepeak and two cabins in the aft. She was fitted with two Ford Mermaid Majestic, six cylinder turbocharged diesel engines, each driving a three-bladed bronze propeller.

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Pre-purchase Survey of Hallberg Rassy 42 (E) in Alicante, Spain

The Hallberg-Rassy 42 (E) was designed by Olle Enderlein and built between 1980 and 1991, with a total of 255 hulls being built. Enderlein’s design was replaced in 1991 by German Frers’ 42 (F). To me, her most noticeable difference when compared with the more recent Frers design is her large expanse of flat deck. I find that working (and relaxing) on a flat deck is much nicer than having to work around the slippery sides of a coachroof.

Down below in the saloon, they are light and spacious, with plenty of light coming through the numerous deck hatches and opening hull ports. With these boats being 23+ years old, the interior mahogany bulkheads, cupboards and furniture frames have darkened to a very beautiful deep red-brown.

I was recently asked to travel out to Alicante in Spain to survey a very nice 42 (E), built in 1982. Performing a pre-purchase survey of a 42’ ketch is physically demanding at the best of times, but working down below & delving into the bilges is more strenuous when the outside temperature is 30°C and the humidity is high. The vessel’s skipper, who was a great help throughout the day, kept me supplied with many litres of bottled water.

Not surprisingly, this boat’s hull had suffered from blistering in the past. This is incorrectly termed ‘osmosis’ in the UK and is called ‘boat pox’ in the States. Of more concern were the skin fittings and attached valves. The majority of these were the boat’s original hardware and were beginning to fail. I say ‘beginning’ as it was only when the valves and attached spigots were lightly struck with a hammer, did any of them fail.

Having finished the majority of the survey, it was time to put the yacht back into the water and take her back to her mooring, several miles up the coast. This gave the skipper & I plenty of time to run a sea trial on the Yanmar 4 cylinder main engine and also to enjoy a very pleasant sail. My only regret of the survey was that I didn’t take a photo of her deck whilst I was at the top of her main mast, checking over the mast cap and attached hardware.

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Pre-purchase Survey of Nimbus 380 Carisma Motor Cruiser

I have just finished a pre-purchase survey on a very nice Nimbus 380 Carisma motor cruiser at Lymington Yacht Haven. She was built in Sweden in 2004 and has been maintained to a high standard. She was equipped with teak cockpit, decks, bathing platform & flybridge, cabin heating and a good selection of instruments. The 380 has a large amount of storage space, with a large locker positioned under the saloon sole.

The survey also included a sea trial, where the vessels's twin Volvo diesel engines were tested through varying conditions. The engines were KAMD 43P, each rated at 230HP, each driving a 4 blade propeller through a V-drive. Although the sea state was quite lumpy, with a fresh breeze and wind-over-tide, we managed to reach 23 knots through the water. Careful adjustment of the trim tabs kept the semi-displacement hull nicely balanced. With the trim tabs fully raised, visibility from the helm in the main cabin was poor and the ride very lumpy. once adjusted, all-round visibility was excellent and the ride kinder to the boat and crew.

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Hull Survey of a Teak & Oak 1945 Motor Boat

Today's most interesting survey was of a timber house boat, which was inspected whilst dried out on the grid at Strand on the Green, Kew, London. Whatever role Venture was originally built for, no one really knows as there were few details or records available to describe her history. The details on her stern show that she was built for the Royal Navy and measures 40.5' length overall.

Her hull was constructed from double diagonal teak planks, with a total thickness of 1", fastened to bent oak frames with copper nails and roves.

She was purchased by her current owner in 2007 and photos show that she was open-decked, with a simple wheelhouse mounted over the single Perkins 6354 diesel engine. The owner then fitted her out with decking made from 18mm eastern hard plywood, with laminated Douglas Fir deck beams. Iron knees secured the hull sides to the thwarts of the original construction and would have given Venture much of her stiffness. In the new fit-out, the knees have been kept, but much greater stiffness has been added by the new deck and superstructure.

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Insurance Survey of 1976 Westerly Berwick

Our lousy Sussex weather held off long enough for me to undertake this recent Insurance Survey at the Littlehampton Harbour Masters' workshops, just next to the River Arun and opposite Littlehampton Marina.

The Westerly Berwick was designed by Laurent Giles. These aft-cockpit, bilge keel sloops were built between 1973 and 1980.

Marine Survey of a Westerly Berwick in Littlehampton, West Sussex

This particular Berwick was made in 1976 and was powered by a relatively new Perkins KD28 diesel engine. Her hull was in reasonable condition, although the hand-painted topsides were rather faded. She didn't have too many defects that would cause her owner too much labour before her Spring launch. The most was significant is shown in the photograph below, which shows some of the cracks in the fore-stay chain plate. There were a number of well developed cracks on the two vertical plates that support the bow roller. The image shows the two cracks on the port side plate. This plate also supports the fore-stay; therefore the security of the entire rig depends on the strength and integrity of this plate. In consideration of the fact that cracks have occurred in similar locations on each of the vertical plates, it is likely that these cracks are predominantly due to cyclical loading from the vessel’s mooring chain when she is on her summer mooring. The cracks on the port side plate (the one in the photo) may also be due to cyclical athwartships loading from the jib when she is sailing.

The recommendation to the owner was that the bow roller fabrication is repaired in order to return strength to the two plates. This repair should include the welding of doubler plates on each of the existing vertical plates.

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Pre-purchase Marine Survey of Fisher 34 at Birdham Pool Marina

A few days ago I had the pleasure of performing a marine survey on a very well maintained Fisher 34, Mark III - a masthead rigged motor sailing yacht with integrally moulded full-length keel. She was built by Northshore Yachts in 1999.

I usually find that boats made as recently as this are often very light in construction, but not so with a Fisher. These days the Fisher boats are made to order and my guess is that in order to make a boat to this high standard and with such a sturdily built hull, Northshore Yachts have to charge a premium. This makes them less competitive with the lighter motor sailers on the market and are therefore made to order.

Fisher 34 Mk III at Birdham Pool Marina

The new owners seem to be very happy with her. I'll look out for this boat when I'm down at Ramsgate Marina, her new home.

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Pre-purchase Survey of 24' Jeanneau Eolia at Emsworth Yacht Harbour

Fantastic weather today for a pre-purchase survey of a Jeanneau Eolia. These masthead rigged cruisers were designed by Phillipe Briand and have a cast iron keel with iron centre-plate. This particular boat was built in 1985 and was fitted with a Yanmar 1GM inboard diesel engine.

24' Jeanneau Eolia

As well as being a Marine Surveyor, I am also a boat owner and have had the pleasure of sailing my 24' Westerly GK24 for the last sixteen years or more. The GK24 is similar in length to the Eolia, but this Jeanneau had considerably more headroom than my 1970's cruiser / racer. Additionally, the layout of the Eolia was more aligned to larger yachts of her era: A double berth beneath the port cockpit seating, a good sized galley area, a well appointed heads compartment and quite an acceptable forward facing chart table. The cockpit was a good size, with a large cockpit locker on the starboard side. The forward living space however was more like a smaller craft: Simple saloon seating along each side that joins up towards the bow, which also serves as a fore peak v-berth.

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Insurance Survey of Holman & Pye Designed Red Admiral Sailing Yacht

I have just had the pleasure of performing an insurance survey on a very nice 36' fast sailing cruiser/racer. The vessel was a Holman & Pye designed Red Admiral, built in 1979 by Halmatic and fitted out my McGruers. Her lines were typical of Don Pye's designs of the time: fast, handsome and embodying the best aspects of the IOR Rule to produce a fast cruiser.

Holman & Pye designed Red Admiral

There's a saying that all boats are a compromise, but as my client has owned her for nearly 25 years, the Red Admiral nicely fulfils his requirement for a fast, safe and adequately spacious cruiser.

My task was to perform an Insurance Survey so that my client could present the report to his insurance company, thus allowing him to re-insure the vessel for a further ten years or so. My client also wished to have a detailed professional inspection carried out so that any defects or safety issues could be highlighted to him. The recommendations in the report then formed the basis of the vessel's winter maintenance schedule.

The boat survey was performed on two separate occasions. The mast was climbed and the rigging was inspected whilst she was afloat. Similarly, the engine was run with the propeller engaged, whilst she was still on her mooring. The remainder of the survey was carried out several weeks after she was lifted ashore for the winter. This allowed a thorough inspection of the hull to be made.

Thanks to the owner's meticulous attention to detail and desire to keep the vessel in good order, the recommendations were few but significant. They were the sort of defects that result from slow deterioration of the part's material and would not be apparent unless inspected closely:

• The gas hose was perished.
• A PVC skin fitting was degraded by UV light. As the fitting was close to the waterline, I recommended that the fitting was replaced with a Bronze or DZR Brass equivalent.
• An engine fuel hose was cracked.
• The lines that tie off the jackstays were old and degraded.

She was certainly one of the nicest boats that I have surveyed recently, but I may be biased in this respect as she has similar lines to my much smaller Westerly GK24, built in the same era.

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Insurance Survey of a 1988 Fairline Carrera

It was a cold grey morning when I arrived at Birdham Pool to inspect this boat for insurance purposes. The Fairline had been squeezed tightly between other boats in the yard and there was a significant amount of surface water lying around. It looked as though this inspection was going to be uncomfortable, considering the dull weather and wet surroundings. However, I always find that surveying a well cared for boat always seems to lift the spirits. The deck and cockpit still had a dulled finish, but the topsides were extremely well polished and in great cosmetic condition. A short while later the owner arrived and he was able to explain a little more about her history. This boat had spent most of her life in her berth and hadn't got out of the harbour much. We don't know why she'd been re-engined, but my guess is that the neglect had ruined it, rather than any extensive use.

The new owner was now giving a lot of his spare time to bringing her up to a high cosmetic standard. The list of sales and labour receipts, not to mention new gear on board, showed me that her owner is also giving a great deal of thought to her safety inventory. New items included fire extinguishers throughout, emergency flares, life-rings with lights, back-up outboard motor, VHF/DSC radio, refurbished skin fittings & hoses and overhauled cooking gas system. To add to these, my survey findings will lead to a few more safety-related recommendations. These will include the overhaul of the manual and electric bilge pumps, fitting of a carbon monoxide alarm, fitting of a lpg alarm, replacement of a number of mild-steel hose clips with stainless steel ones and replacement of a heavily crazed navigation light. None of these are too onerous, but all are important for the safety of the crew and vessel.

Pre-purchase Survey of Westerly Storm at Marchwood, Southampton

Between 1986 and 1993, Westerly Yachts built 142 of the Storm 33. These cruiser / racers never really took off as a One Design as they had difficulty with keeping up with the lighter boats in light winds. As a cruising boat though, they were more successful as their size made them well suited to a three-cabin layout. The forward cabin is spacious, with a hand basin on the port side. The saloon has plenty of room, with more storage space than her modern equivalents. The galley on the port side is well laid out, with a large, forward facing chart table on the starboard side, just forward of the heads. The aft cabin makes very good use of the space under the cockpit sole and port-side seating. Once I had removed the numerous fenders, buckets and warps, I could comfortably fit inside the stern locker, an area where I usually spend at least half an hour of my survey time: There's always so much to inspect here, often with access for inspection of fuel tanks, stern gear, steering gear and the quality of the hull-to-deck join.

Westerly Storm 33

This Storm was one of the very early ones and she had a cast iron fin keel, masthead rig and Volvo Penta 2002. Her survey report turned out to be a bit on the dull side as there was very little about the boat that was in need of attention.

Both the current and future owner of this Storm are members of the Westerly Owners Association, the largest yacht owners' group in the World. A Westerly owner since 1995, I am also getting to know and like these boats better through my day-to-day survey work. Fieldhouse Yacht Surveys also offer an attractive discount to WOA members, so consider joining them when you are looking for a survey on your potential Westerly buy!

Valuation Survey of 1973 Tequila Sport 24

Spider Pig was sitting on her road trailer when I inspected her yesterday down at The Sussex Yacht Club in Shoreham on the UK South Coast. Built in 1973, she is a quarter ton club racing yacht, built by Oivier Gibert who later became Gibsea or Gibert Marine. Under her first owner, she was named 'Ichabod', then later 'Born to Run'.

The current owners of Spider Pig are members of the Brighton Marina Yacht Club and intend to race her from there. The club's Frostbite Series that runs through January and February will most likely be their first. Judging by the bare, low profile deck and exposed cockpit of Spider Pig, the frostbite is going to reach every appendage of the five or so friends that will be crewing her.

Spider Pig, a Tequila Sport 24

Since buying her in early 2011, the boat has undergone a fairly substantial refit, with areas of the coachroof and foredeck being re-cored after the original balsa core had become rotten through moisture ingress. Her cockpit bares only a minor resemblance to the original after much of the cockpit moulding was taken out and replaced by a cleverly designed and built sandwich structure.

New cockpit of Spider Pig

A fine addition to the boat, and a great improvement over the original, is the new Jefa rudder that they had custom built. The blade profile was modelled in CAD and then CNC milled to shape and to fit around the aluminium stock. The assembly was then overlaminated with GRP and faired to give a very smooth and light rudder.

I intend to keep a close eye on the  Brighton Marina Yacht Club website in the New Year. The boat still needs a few hours spending on finishing off the re-fit, but she looks like she'll give a lot of smiles per pound and the bigger boats a run for their money.

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Pre-purchase Survey of Beneteau 50 in Swanwick, Southampton, Hampshire

I had a very long but interesting day last week surveying this very nice 2001 Beneteau 50 at Ancasta Brokers in Swanwick, Hampshire. This blue water cruiser was designed by Bruce Farr and had the shoal fin keel option, giving a draft of only 1.8 metres. She was very well equipped with a Panda Fisher generator, Brunton Autoprop, bow thruster, liferaft and EPIRB. The interior was very nicely finished with cream leather upholstery and woodwork that hadn't seen too much heavy use. Similarly, the teak deck hadn't received much hard wear, although the caulking was standing proud of the planking, suggesting that successive scrubbings with a stiff broom had worn back the teak. A light sanding should rectify that pretty quickly.

A few years ago I had an excellent delivery cruise from Ramsgate to Corfu on a Beneteau similar to this. Unfortunately my berth was in the forepeak accomodation. Although very spacious and comfortable whilst on her mooring, I have vivid memories of lying on my bunk in rough seas and to occasionally find myself in mid-air as the bow slammed into the troughs. I soon relocated myself to the saloon. Here I was continually being disturbed by the change of watch, but at least my bed didn't move so much.

For details of our pre-purchase surveys, take a look at our website at Fieldhouse Yacht Surveys. Feel free to email us or telephone us to discuss your specific requirements.

Valuation Survey of 1968 SCOD in Emsworth Marina

Today I visited Emsworth Yacht Harbour in Chichester Harbour to perform a valuation survey on a SCOD, which is a traditional sloop with a carvel hull and mahogany planking on oak frames . I had arrived before The Deck Cafe in the Marina had opened, so I had the coffee and toast to look forward to after the survey.

A SCOD from Burnes of Bosham

I had previously performed a pre purchase survey on this SCOD for the current owners back in January 2011. After a fairly thorough refit, performed in part by Nick Gates of Emsworth, she was ready for her valuation survey. Built by Burnes of Bosham in 1968, she was almost the last SCOD to be built and remains in almost original condition. She has been much restored but modernised sympathetically. She was built from carvel mahogany planking on oak frames with splined topside planking. Her new paint was very well applied and her splines were well faired. Her sloop rig still had its original spruce hollow mast. She had four berths in two cabins with a sea toilet and stowage aft of the forepeak. She also had her original mahogany tender. This 8' mahogany boat was very finely made and light too.

Tender to the SCOD

I don't imagine that I'll get much time to sail out in Chichester Harbour this year, but I look forward to seeing her out there next season.

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Hustler 32 Survey in Chichester Harbour

Valuation Survey in Birdham Marina

This 1999 Hustler 32 is berthed just a few metres away from Sundew, my Westerly GK24, down in Birdham Pool Marina, Chichester. The Hustlers were very spacious compared to other 32 footers of that era, yet they were fast race boats too. The fact that she has a cast iron keel with additional lead at the botyom of the keel, combined with her racy lines, suggests that this was the designer's original intention.

I have just spent the last few hours inspecting her as part of a valuation survey for her owner. She has been very well fitted out and well maintained. The inventory is certainly biased towards single-handed sailing, with a lot of attention given to safety. The only downside of the boat is that the local birdlife population must be roosting in her rigging, and on a diet of blackberries too!

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Coaster 33 Yacht Survey at Itchenor

Coaster 33 Yacht Survey at Itchenor

Just writing up my report on yesterday's survey on Waveney Harrier,  a superb example of a 1975 Coaster 33. These motor-sailors were built in the 1970's, through to the late 80's, with just under fifty made in total. Like Waveney Harrier, most were ketch rigged.

She has been cruised quite extensively by her previous owners, enough for one of them to write and publish a book called 'Cruising Down Channel in the Waveney Harrier'. I bought the book on Amazon the other day, but passed it on to the current owner once I'd had a brief read of it.

Her hull and cockpit / coachroof moulding were in very good shape for a boat of this age, not surprisingly considering how sturdily they were built. The interior and exterior joinery was also of a very high standard. She had also been recently re-engined with a Lister Petter 40HP, giving the owner a quieter and more economical engine than the previous Perkins 4.108.

I was lucky enough to spend the day on this boat down on the scrubbing piles at Itchenor, near Chichester. The very nice owner and friends were on-board too, making this a very enjoyable and interesting job, and on one of the sunniest days of the year.

Take a look at page 22 of the October 2012 edition of PBO, you'll find a review of Motor Sailors, including the Coaster 33. Also included in the review are The Fisher range, various Colvic Watson boats, a Nauticat and a Northeaster.

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