Boats made in 1970's and 80'

[hamburking]

Boats from the 70's, unless totally redone, will be dated and worn out. You need to be lucky enough to find one with all new standing rigging, sails, and repowered. The boats from the 80's generally have better systems, engines, through hulls etc...and more modern layouts. I'd say get the newest boat you can find that you can afford. From the 80's I suggest the C&C34 and the Hunter 34. For a few bucks more, the Hunter Legend 35.5 is a beauty...get 1991 or newer (the series ended I think in 95) to get the sugar scoop stern and transverse bunk in the aft cabin.

[Sailor647]

Our boat, a 1988 Norseman 400, is extremely well built. I would think where it was built and how it was designed would have more to do with quality than the year in which it was built.
Check out John Neal's list of blue water cruising boats if you're looking for a capable blue water cruising boat.

Mahina Expedition - Selecting A Boat for Offshore Cruising

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by hamburking

Boats from the 70's, unless totally redone, will be dated and worn out.

I bought a 1974 Bristol 27 for $2,000 to learn about monohulls after racing beach cats for 15 years. It had sat on the hard for 5 years.

I thought I'd own the boat for a couple years and then move to a newer, larger, boat but this Bristol is such a strong, good sailing old boat that I still haven't bought another one.

I've sailed it in winds around 35 knots and it handled it quite well. I did buy a new main, and an outboard. I added solar and an inverter to charge my laptop and to run some fans etc.

Last winter I did the bottom again and also painted the topside hull. The boat is also in John Vigors Book 20 Small Sailboats to take you anywhere. I'd guess I may have $8,000 in the boat including bottom jobs etc.

http://www.amazon.com/Twenty-Small-S.../dp/0939837323

[sailorboy1]

All that matters is what condition a boat is in NOW!

[FamilyVan]

I've owned a 1974 and my current 1979. The build quality and style are wildly different because they are fundamentally different boats, not because of then they were made.

I would say, all other factors being equal (which they never are) buy the newest best kept boat in your budget. For me- that was a 1979.

Sent from my SGH-I547C using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[Dockhead]

Old is old, and besides that out of date.

I bought a boat which was 8 years old, sort of out of reflex since I never buy new cars, and always thought it was more cost effective to let someone else take the initial depreciation. But if I ever have another boat, it will be new. Because the initial depreciation is not more costly than the initial sorting out which you have to do to get an older boat up to snuff. And you can order a new boat to exactly suit your needs.

Nothing wrong with boats from the 70s or 80s other than the fact that there has been a lot of progress in boat design since then. Not necessarily all of it positive progress; you have to decide yourself what you like, but much of it is definitely positive, especially what concerns systems.

An old boat which needs upgrading is almost always a bad deal, even if the boat itself is free -- almost always the value of the boat after the upgrades will be less than the cost of the boat plus the upgrades. That market works because some buyers value their own time at zero and plan to do the work themselves, and other buyers simply hope that the boat price represents something like what it will cost to get on the water.

By the same token, though, an older boat which has just been upgraded by someone who loved her, can sometimes be a true bargain if the upgrades were done thoroughly and done well. It is possible to make an old boat as good as new; unfortunately doing so costs about the price of a whole new boat -- or even more.

Concerning construction methods -- these have definitely improved with time. Early layups were massive and therefore strong, but at the cost of weight, and osmosis was a problem for many older boats. Materials and methods got gradually better, with the detour of early hull coring methods which were awful and which led to problems with waterlogged, rotten cores -- avoid. What concerns construction methods, the newer is almost always better, with the caveat that inexpensive production boats sometimes have shortcuts in construction which are not suitable for everyone -- hull liners, glued in hull grids, light uncored construction, underbuilt rudders. Just check out the particular boat model to see if it's affected by any of this -- you can't paint even all the models of a given maker with the same brush. For example, Beneteau built a few dogs but also a lot of pretty solid boats -- just check the model.

[stevebein]

I have a Nautor Swan 43 MS, 1978. A great boar for a cruiser, live aboard, etc. which I have put on the market. IF interested contact me at drbein@aol.com for specs.

[Colin A]

I think boat builder and condition matter more than year. Lots of variables. I will say that if you like an older design for whatever reason (some of them are great) find the one with the most work done. As mentioned it adds little to the resale vs paying to have it done. It also depends on budget and how much you like working on boats (I kind of like doing it) That being said I'm not sure really new boats are that great of a value either not when you can buy an upgraded 70-80s boat in the under 35k range spend 25k and be sailing with a very nice boat.
On a side note, since you asked about years, again this varies wildly by builder but the mid to late 70's boats had higher issues with osmosis then earlier or later ones. One theory is that resin prices went up with oil and resin suppliers flirted with cheaper product that caused issues (there were actually lawsuits about it back in the day) I have seen a number of late 70's boats with blister on up thru the 80's but very few of the 60's boats have them and I've only seen a few very cheap 90's boats with the issue. Again varies widely by boat builder and even where the boat was built.

[neilpride]

My best bet for boats between 80`s and 90`s , things start to get screwed i think starting around mid 90`s onward.....

[FamilyVan]

Also, if you're looking at old boats- be realistic. You can have lots of fun on them- no doubt. But be psychologically prepared for that 40 year old engine not to start every time you want it to. Be prepared for the self hurling gear not to self furl when you need it to. You get the point.

An old inexpensive boat will get you out on the water, but will certainly take more skill and patience to keep moving then a newer or new boat.

You need to be realistic, you're not buying a 40 year old boat because it's better then a brand new boat. You're buying it because you don't have a quarter million dollars to drop on a new boat right now.

People frequently make fun of the new production boats- but I druel over the thought of owning a brand new Sense. A boat that docks itself? With no stairs?

Sent from my SGH-I547C using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[neilpride]

Hell, people usually link old boats with old werecked gear, and is wrong, there is lots of old ladys in excellent condition i will say sometimes even better than new boats,,,, just saying...

[Cheechako]

Originally Posted by captain58sailin

The problem with asking me that question is, I am a 1 trick pony, for me there is only one make of vessel, I am not conversant with other manufacturers and could not advise intelligently on them. I always liked the looks of the Valiants, and Swans. I have friends who sailed extensively on a Morgan O/I through the south pacific and back to AK in the late '70s, who own Swans now , and they went with and stayed with a Swan ever since. I can tell you that almost any boat of that vintage is going to need an extensive refit, the wiring is going to be the leading candidate for replacement, I've found that most of the insulation on the wiring in my vessel has broken down and requires renewal. Which is a chore, but it gets you to every nook and cranny in the vessel and there are no surprises left after that exercise.

This begs the question.... why does the covering on boat wiring break down? Is there something outgassing from the resin that attacks the wire cover? Inquiring minds need to know!

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by FamilyVan

Also, if you're looking at old boats- be realistic. You can have lots of fun on them- no doubt. But be psychologically prepared for that 40 year old engine not to start every time you want it to. Be prepared for the self hurling gear not to self furl when you need it to. You get the point.

An old inexpensive boat will get you out on the water, but will certainly take more skill and patience to keep moving then a newer or new boat.

You need to be realistic, you're not buying a 40 year old boat because it's better then a brand new boat. You're buying it because you don't have a quarter million dollars to drop on a new boat right now.

Actually you may buy an old boat because you may just want to try sailing a slow monohull sailboat and see if you like it.

Also, I walked the docks a lot before discovering my boat and wondered about all the sailboats that never left their slips. So I'm thinking I'd never put too much money into a sailboat until I knew I'd use it a lot.

My 41 year old Bristol has a 2012 outboard that burns a little over a liter of fuel per hour. The main and jibs are almost new, and the tiller works about the same as it did when new it feels like (going by the feel of my new catamaran tillers).

And as far as the little small failures of the furler of the furler for example, it simply makes your trips more exciting. I was sailing back in and nearing the creek with maybe 20 knot winds and my jib wouldn't furl up so I had to fix it. Autopilot was already set so after multiple trips for tools I got it just before time ran out.

[FamilyVan]

Originally Posted by thomm225

Actually you may buy an old boat because you may just want to try sailing a slow monohull sailboat and see if you like it.

My 41 year old Bristol has a 2012 outboard that burns a little over a liter of fuel per hour. The main and jibs are almost new.

Yes- you didn't want to drop a quarter million on something you may or may not like.

There are exceptions to my post as there are exceptions to many things. People that are into old wooden racers are clearly an exception to my post.
Generally though, if you can easily afford a brand new Oyster you're not looking at generic boats from the 70's and 80's.

Sent from my SGH-I547C using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

[thomm225]

Originally Posted by FamilyVan

Yes- you didn't want to drop a quarter million on something you may or may not like.

There are exceptions to my post as there are exceptions to many things. People that are into old wooden racers are clearly an exception to my post.
Generally though, if you can easily afford a brand new Oyster you're not looking at generic boats from the 70's and 80's.

Sent from my SGH-I547C using Cruisers Sailing Forum mobile app

Maybe, but then you have a whole new worry. Scratching your new gelcoat!

You don't have to worry about that crap on an older boat. You can just write a check here and there to get it right then go sail the thing. No worries.

Of course the right old boat makes it better. The PO went over my boat with a fine tooth comb replacing anything that was worn before he sailed off to Florida from Massachusetts in 2004. He sailed it a couple years there and almost back.

I found it at a small marina with no for sale sign and bought it for $2,000 in 2011.