Need Advice on a Blue Water Cruiser

[shaisimon81]

Its an interesting boat this saga 43 i'm looking it up
thanks
I AM CHECKING ALSO THE CATALINA 440 AND OVNI 435
Whats your opinion on these boats ?

[nhschneider]

We have been buddy-boating with friends who sail a Saga 43 for the past year-and-a-half and I've been surprised at the quantity and seriousness of the repairs they've had to make. Granted, it's anecdotal but I had always thought those boats were better built than this one appears to be.

We did a year-long cruise with our three children when they were 13, 10 and 8 years old that included Mexico/Hawaii/Alaska. Personally, we loved having a center-cockpit boat as it gave us some privacy in our aft cabin.

Of course, I'm biased but we're very fond of our Contest.

Good luck, fair winds and calm seas.

[jannw]

Here's some things to consider if you plan to sell in Australia.

The US-AU free trade agreement mightn't apply to a boat you sail to Aus ... you will have to pay import tax if you plan to sell it or keep it there ... which is 15% of the landed value of the yacht and its gear. See: importing a yacht ... if it is US manufactured you might get a 5% discount off (import duty waived, but not GST).

I grew up in Sydney and I never saw a Catalina or a Hunter ... and I did a lot of twilighting and proper racing ... you might have fun selling one there. I saw lots of Benneteau Firsts, Jenneaus, some Xyachts, Farrs, Bavarias, Hanses. Everybody I knew owned something which could be raced ... no one owned straight cruisers ... so I'd probably stay away from anything which is a straight cruiser, and not a cruiser/racer.

I own something similar to the Ovni you mention ... I like it (well ... enough that I bought one) ... but I never saw one in Sydney ... there might be 5 in Australia (other than ones transiting). It'll be hell to sell there. Good boats, though!

I'd suggest you look for a benneteau first ... the 40.7 has a decent following in the racing circuit, and should be easy to offload.

[shaisimon81]

Thanks for the info .....
I wont by a boat just because its sellable...
allthough its important there are things much more important to us.
What kind of alluminium boat do you have ?
shai

[Sonadora]

take a piece of paper and put a dot on it. Draw a line to the right and write 'Ovni 435'. Draw a line to the left and write 'Catalina 440'.

point is, those two are completely different from one another. I honestly don't think Jimmy Cornell ever considered a Catalina 440.

(Jimmy sails an Ovni 435)

[goboatingnow]

Buy a good beneteau or jeaneau. They will take u round the world and a known quantity. Ignore quite frankly the quirky US brands. They have no reputation or visibility outside the US so nobody will know them.
Dave

[shaisimon81]

Out of the production boats made in europe is there any model that is more interesting for me taking in mind high seas,tankage etc....?

shai

[Sonadora]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Buy a good beneteau or jeaneau. They will take u round the world and a known quantity. Ignore quite frankly the quirky US brands. They have no reputation or visibility outside the US so nobody will know them.
Dave

Same could be said of the quirky Oz/New Zealand/UK/French/Swedish/Finnish/Dutch/ect. brands

Beneteau and Jeaneau (as well as a handfull of Cat manufacturers) benefit from widespread distribution to charter companies.

Early in the charter industry, boats like Irwin and Morgan (Out Island) were pretty popular, but there weren't so many charter companies back then.

[Sonadora]

Originally Posted by shaisimon81

Out of the production boats made in europe is there any model that is more interesting for me taking in mind high seas,tankage etc....?

shai

For European boats, the Ovni you mentioned is pretty much bullet proof. You might look at Hallberg Rassey or Najad or Malö. The Nauticat 42 (not the 44 Motorsailer) seems to be a pretty decent all-weather cruiser.

[rolandgilbert99]

Originally Posted by goboatingnow

Buy a good beneteau or jeaneau. They will take u round the world and a known quantity. Ignore quite frankly the quirky US brands. They have no reputation or visibility outside the US so nobody will know them.
Dave

If you are right this is rather unfortunate! Many good boatbuilders in the US are building quality boats with state of the art designs and manufacturing.
European boats are built like cars on an assembly line and some decisions on design and construction are more related to profit and productivity than seaworthyness.
I grew up in France and when the Beneteau and Jeanneau hit the North American market in the 80's, I was amazed by the features they were offering and like most people I was dreaming of one of these boats.
But after they took a great share of the North American market, they reduced the thickness of the fibreglass, the size of the stays, the quality of the hardware declined and everything started to look good, but cheap.

These builders are concentrating on features, look and comfort for the dock rather than for world cruising in security.

Even Hunter, they were very inspired by the european style designs and features, but they haven't produced boats of such poor quality as the French boats.

It is really sad to see that people associate quality with the european manufacturing, it is not true anymore. Same goes for cars and other products from Europe. Boatbuilders in America have a niche market with luxurious and comfortable quality boats, such as the Morris, Hylas, etc. Their standards are much higher than Beneteau and Jeanneau (same company anyways) with their assembly lines. Take it from a Frenchman!

[jannw]

Per your request ...

I own a Garcia Nouanni 45 ... it is an aluminium centerboard yacht, round bilge construction. Very similar to the Ovni in many ways.

I am Australian, I do not ever believe that I can sell this boat in Aus ... I will have to sail it back to the EU to sell it. This was part of the trade-off I made when I bought it. Alu Centerboards are a French/or EU thing. No one in Aus would even look at one.

Benneteau Firsts (or the equivalent Jenneaus) are your best bet for resale.

That said, I wouldn't trade my Garcia for anything ... amazing boat! But it ain't gonna race ... which is the issue in OZ, where everyone races.

[vtcapo]

Originally Posted by jannw

Per your request ...

I own a Garcia Nouanni 45 ... it is an aluminium centerboard yacht, round bilge construction. Very similar to the Ovni in many ways.

I am Australian, I do not ever believe that I can sell this boat in Aus ... I will have to sail it back to the EU to sell it. This was part of the trade-off I made when I bought it. Alu Centerboards are a French/or EU thing. No one in Aus would even look at one.

Benneteau Firsts (or the equivalent Jenneaus) are your best bet for resale.

That said, I wouldn't trade my Garcia for anything ... amazing boat! But it ain't gonna race ... which is the issue in OZ, where everyone races.

That is hard to believe especially if the price is right. That is one fine looking boat with one of the best interior layouts I have seen. The centerboard would certainly work down here in Florida and the Caribbean.

Any problems with the aluminum construction i.e.; electrolysis?

RT

[jannw]

Dear VTCapo,

Thanks for the compliment ... I love the boat too. It just isn't too Australian tastes (and I am an Aussie). Look at a map of Australia ... apart from the barrier reef it just isn't a good cruising ground ... too much ocean, too little sheltered exploration coves! Good for the caribbean, Florida, The Med ... but Aus isn't a fit.

Everyone in Aus capital cities races ... so the market is for cruiser/racers ... not much getting around that. Benneteaus, and Jenneaus are big!

I could sell it (my boat) for something ... but the true value could only be realized somewhere like France

No problems with construction (27 years old and still strong) ... but I have a stray electrolysis issue eating away at my shaft anode pretty harshly. I will put the boat up on sticks in a month, and will sort it out then ... but it is still a little un-nerving - every time I dive on the hull I see corrosion on the anode I don't like. I guess it is the aluminium hull version of osmosis!

J

P.S. ... the interior layouts were semi custom ... or fully custom ... no two ()of the 30-ish made) were the same. Mine is very seaworthy ... but not so pretty as the Garcia factory suggestion ... but I have a ton of storage, a massive chart table, a real wet locker, and a true "storm kitchen". But it ain't so pretty inside as Harle's other designs. Damn seaworthy, though. Built like a brick **** house!

[rolandgilbert99]

And Garcia is much better than OVNI from what some previous owners of OVNI told me. In any case these aluminum centerboard boats are no comparison with Beneteau and Jeanneau for long range cruising, you can sail to the arctic with these boats. But if the market in Aus is for light cruiser-racers I can understand that people prefer these ones.

[Boracay]

I'd disagree about a centreboarder for Oz.

So far, coming up the east coat it's only been Sydney, Newcastle and Port Stephens that have any sort of water depth.

Gold Coast/Moreton Bay/Sunshine Coast is all pretty shallow, and it doesn't get much deeper as I look north. The locals prefer cats, but a good centreboarder should work well.