New boats

[T.Treffery]

I've been looking at some of the construction videos of the new boats being made, Bavaria, jeanneau and beneteau etc. What are the new boats like in quality and longetivity. They certain look very comfortable but does the build techniques mean the boat is going to be as strong as one made in the 80's etc(the 80's I pulled out of the air). I know some of the caravans made here in Australia and one brand in particular are very poor quality. They just shake, rattle and roll apart on your first trip.

[Tortuga's Lie]

They all vary. The one main difference between boats built today versus 25-50 years ago is the hull thickness. Mainly the older the boat is, the thicker the laminates. Today, the builders want to save money on materials plus they have the process down very scientifically with the use of vacuume bagging and injection moulding so they can get stronger bonds with less material. How they put together all the other stuff varies from builder to builder.

This is very general and I am sure others will chime in.

[Cheechako]

Yep, they are trying to use high technology to retain strength and save money with less glass and resin. My bet is an old chinese hull laid up with little knowledge but with an abundance of glass will survive longer than a hi tech one built on the "margin". It's an imperfect world with lots of variables and engineers have trouble figuring it all out. The Americas Cup disasters; boats and booms breaking in half etc pretty much confirms that. Those are fastidiously engineered etc. The average boat company does things with even less engineering involved. Wasnt it a brand new Ericson that the keel fell off of in the gulf a few years ago?

[David M]

Older boats have a track record that newer boats do not. With older boats you can look up their reliability over time and make a more educated decision. Newer designs are more of a crapshoot. It's not that new designs are better or worse, there is more of an unknown to them.

Also, the market for used boats is very soft and the chances of finding a used boat in excellent condition that has taken the big depreciation hit from its original cost is excellent.

In many places there are more boats than there are slips to put them in. This drives up the cost of berthing which makes owning a boat less desirable, which drops the demand for owning and therefore the value of a boat.

[Mr Mac]

Go to a boat show and walk aboard the new boats and you'll see by the fit and finish who rises to the top! We stepped aboard a couple of Beneteau's and were disappointed to say the least. Of all the boats we saw, Catalina and Jenneau we best built.