Athena 38: Athena 38

[vadrouille]

Hi guys and girls

Our search for an Athena may be over and we have had an offer accepted.

Having never sailed an Athena i am far from knowing the boat inside out.

Therefore, i would appreciate your input on any specific things i should be asking the surveyor to check.

The boat is a 1999 model with in mast mainsail.

Cheers in advance

Terry

[Rapanui]

Hope it goes well for you. We have a 2003 Athena and its brilliant value for money. The solid layup below the waterline and hand layup have fewer quality problems unlike the later models. Have no experience of in mast reefing and few Athena have this, but you will lose sail area compared to standard fully battened main so will impact light weather performance slightly
There are no major model specific weaknesses I am aware of. Minor ones are:
-Standard door lock is poor and spare keys difficult
-Door track wears and door drops scraping aluminum to aluminum
-Stanchion bases corrode see forum for Old style FP stanchion bases
-Trampoline securing buttons corrode see forum
Stuff that would be common to any boat:
-Engine/saildrive condition
-Standing rigging, when was it last replaced. If its more than 10 years old then it's time could be up
-Sails, has the cloth been UV degraded?
-Gas bottle stowage, may need upgrading to modern safety standards
-Osmosis in hull?
-Stress cracks
A good survey should identify any problems. Good luck