Any Bruce Roberts owners?

[DanSailing]

In advance i wanna take the chance to thank anyone who would help me out ... Would like to get any input on this boat if anyone has any it would be a 1987 Bruce Roberts ketch below is the pictures and info on it 1987 Bruce Roberts Ketch Sail Boat For Sale - www.yachtworld.com .. I been sailing for a while already and am ready to move on to owning a sailboat and living aboard one... thank you again any info would be appreciated.

[Chasing Summer]

I had a friend who built one in a yard at the south end of San Francisco Bay ... Alviso. Yard's not there anymore. He was a fiberglass mechanic and sailor. He loved the design. I think they are quite beamy and spacious. Don't know what ever happen to him. That's been over 10 years.
Anybody know Bob Childers?

[alan_za]

Pretty cheap! I've only ever sailed the 45ft Roberts ketch. It was quite slow but looked like a good liveaboard.

Probably should get a good survey

[boatsail]

There is a br for sale on my pier at the Anchorage Marina in Baltimore, md. it was listed for just under 10 k. find it on craigslist.

Sorry for bad spelling.... Caps... I'm typing on my phone on my boat right now.

[charliehows]

wow, good price. Pretty similiar to my old girl, which is built like a brick shithouse, very reassuring when the sea gets up, with a bit of organising very easy to sail single handed.

[boatsail]

Had that been around when I was looking for my boat, I would ha?ve picked it up. I was taking down the old carpet on the inside of my hull tonight. pita. Why did people use carpet?

[DanSailing]

Thank you everyone i appreciate the fast replays..@boatsail u do think is a good boat to take down to bahamas etc???.... and true got to get survey done on it it looks pretty cheap for a 36 footer in the other hand i have plenty of time to take care of it and do the work myself .... lolWhat does anyone recommend to add other than carpet i hate it as well....?? @ Chasing Summer u should come down to the keys and miami where am at u wont chase it anymore lol all yearround ...Thank you for the input they are very spacious lov the curves on it ...

[boatsail]

Anytime. Just got back from my midnight sail. 2:45am here!

If you coordinate with the owner, I could look over the boat and take photos and give you my opinion. I would also bring a friend I met here on CF if he is around and available(his is at my marina). He sailed around the world! He probably forgot more about boats than I know.

I have been on boats and under the water (U.S.M.C diver) my whole life. I'm no expert, but do have an opinion I could share regarding that particular boat with you if you are serious.

I would not mind at all. Just let me know.

[DanSailing]

Thank you again boatsail .... Btw Am Leosdany Former Marine Thank you brother ....am kind of new here had my account for a while forgot the password i been lookin at some threads and they do talk good about B.R ... am gonna get in touch with the brokers in the keys and chek it out the owners lives in Europe as i read I will let u know about what i see am gonna take pics as well . Semper Fi Brother OORAH.

[Celestialsailor]

This one is built with the "C'Flex" f/g method. Probably the weakest form of fiberglassing available. No way to control the resin to Fiber material ratio. It looks like a typical hardware store interior.
If it's just a liveaboard, fine. Anything else...I'd keep looking.

[boatsail]

Anytime Dan. Semper Fi!

[justwaiting]

i used to have a 43ft in steel, have been on about 6 other, 2 while sailing. All of that count for next to nothing as all of them had been owner built and the quality varied accordingly. Every "Roberts' need to be considered on its individual merits - some a great and are very much open ocean boats others - well lets be nice, lol. One of the FG Roberts (36 ft) if i remember rightly) had been built with a ply form and no release agent had been used so the builder let the ply in place and added more glass over the outside - guess that you could say that it was solid. If it had not been for that i would have bought it as the builder had good wood working skills and the layout was spacious and well done. The boat that i did buy had been built by a boiler maker so the hull was good but the fit out was not.



All of them had very crappy electrics, put together with auto and house wiring, except the one that was been circumnavigated by a family of four and the owner was a marine electrician.



Most of the Roberts i saw had marinised truck motors, rather than purpose designed marine motors - from what i saw many of the motors had been installed when they were all ready second had, perhaps reflecting the budget nature of many of the builders.

The sailing ability of the Roberts designs are often derided. If you are looking for sailing performance the chances are that you will be disappointed. At the same time my experience of them as sea boats was that they were solid and safe boats. Motoring into 35 knots of wind with a confused sea, crossing bars and sitting at anchor in a cyclone never concerned me - it was a safe boat.



Yes i would buy one again provided it was FG provided i was focused on cruising. If my focus was sailing i would select some thing else.

[DanSailing]

Thank you Celestialsailor i was just gonna do some research on that kind of fiberglass guess i got my answer lol thank you .... I do want it for liveaboard but want more of it i want to be able to cruise offshore and head to bahamas and more so in other words it wont handle rough weather that good because of the "C" Flex correct?

[DanSailing]

@justwaiting Thank you very much as Celestialsailor pointed out i think that the Cflex is not what am looking for in a sailboat i need something that I will take in a circum and still be ready for more ....lol and as u mentioned it doesnt look that great anymore I think that there are plenty of threads here that talk about bluewater sailboats so no i wont start one lol lets see how it goes .... Thank you again everyone!!!

[videobear]

There's a beautiful Roberts ketch in Hawaii on ebay just now.