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Old 24-09-2021, 21:38   #1
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Boat purchase test sail, mainly for the Aussies.

I’ve titled this one to include “mainly for the Aussies” because this may well be one of those things that vary from country to country. Despite this, all comments welcomed, whatever your country, but if you are outside Australia, please include that in your comments for context.

Anyway, I’m on the hunt for my next boat, an older cruiser in the 45 to 50 foot range. It’s been quite fun actually. It seems so much easier this time, I have so much more of a clear picture of what is important to me.

But I hit a speed bump early on that has left me scratching my head. I phoned a seller in QLD, asked some moderately intelligent questions about the boat then asked how much warning he would need to organise a test sail.

He carried on like I’d offered to sleep with his wife then sell his children into slavery.

I won’t even begin to describe the weird statements he made, but basically he told me I was a bloody idiot who needed to learn to sail. He never needed a test sail to figure out if a boat was ok.

Ummm.... ok.

So, is this guy an isolated fruit-cake or am I going meet more of this? If so, what the heck do I do if the boat is one that interests me because I’m sure not going to buy something that big without finding out how worn out it is.

For the record, the couple that sold me this boat actually invited me and my family for a sail, served an excellent breakfast on board (in retrospect, that kind of drowned out the smell of the diesel they’d spilled everywhere, nice move guys) and happily put aside more than half the day. The results speak for themselves. I just thought that might be normal, I’d sure do the same.
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Old 24-09-2021, 21:48   #2
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Re: Boat purchase test sail, mainly for the Aussies.




What's he hiding?

Common practice is:
If it looks good on inspection, make an offer subject to acceptable sea trial (test sail). and survey.
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Old 24-09-2021, 23:13   #3
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Re: Boat purchase test sail, mainly for the Aussies.

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Originally Posted by StuM View Post
[IMG]
What's he hiding?

Common practice is:
If it looks good on inspection, make an offer subject to acceptable sea trial (test sail). and survey.

That’s an option, but I don’t want to pay to slip something that sails like a dog or where the interior rattles and squeaks and shifts around under way.

As for hiding, I actually came away wondering if the silly old fart was too old to get on board any more and too embarrassed or proud to admit it.

Having spoken to him on the phone it’s no stretch to imagine he has no friends or family on hand to help him out by taking me out. He was an arrogant old goat.
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Old 25-09-2021, 00:12   #4
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Re: Boat purchase test sail, mainly for the Aussies.

(From an Aussie)
Be a little bit careful of boats North of Brisbane as the warmer waters are good breeding grounds for bugs & worms as well as blisters are more likely on fibreglass boats 'up there' than further Sth in colder waters. I found out.
Are you still in Tassie waters? Boat sold or work in progress?
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Old 25-09-2021, 00:27   #5
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Re: Boat purchase test sail, mainly for the Aussies.

yep...100% it is normal to take boat for test sale...and make sure it's a good one. as a guide, say 1hr for every 100k of value

but i would echo what StuM says...agree a price subject to satisfactory test sale. this shows you are serious (sellers don't want to waste time taking punters for a sunny day on the water !). however make sure it's understood in advance that this agreed price will need to be adjusted for any problems found during the test sail

btw, sounds like there is no broker ? we brought a boat once from an idiot that we did not want to deal with, so spoke to a local broker...explained we wanted THAT boat but couldn't handle the owner, so if he got the listing, we'd buy it. 2 weeks later the broker has the boat, which we promptly brought (after a test sail of course). paid the same price owner had been asking so being an idiot cost him the commission

cheers,
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Old 25-09-2021, 01:30   #6
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Re: Boat purchase test sail, mainly for the Aussies.

The key point is that you do the sea trial, aka test sail, after you have a signed sales contract.
Think about it from sellers point of view. How many yahoos are going to call him up and want to kick the tires and go for a free afternoon sail. The sales contract should allow you to bail out and get your deposit back if you don't approve of the seatrial (or the survey).
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Old 25-09-2021, 03:59   #7
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Re: Boat purchase test sail, mainly for the Aussies.

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Originally Posted by GILow View Post
II won’t even begin to describe the weird statements he made, but basically he told me I was a bloody idiot who needed to learn to sail. He never needed a test sail to figure out if a boat was ok.

Ummm.... ok.
That boat owner sounds sounds like an old goat indeed - and a fruitcake to boot.

I realise you've just started to look, GILow, but if there's a boat that pops up that you really want, I like chrisr's idea of finding a broker to persuade the old goat.

Hope your encounters improve!
Warmly,
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Old 25-09-2021, 05:49   #8
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Re: Boat purchase test sail, mainly for the Aussies.

Quote:
Originally Posted by BruceS View Post
(From an Aussie)
Be a little bit careful of boats North of Brisbane as the warmer waters are good breeding grounds for bugs & worms as well as blisters are more likely on fibreglass boats 'up there' than further Sth in colder waters. I found out.
Are you still in Tassie waters? Boat sold or work in progress?


I often wondered how temperatures might affect osmosis.

Yep, still in Tassie, 0.7 degrees C last night, lots of fun.

Still got the Swanson, it is mostly complete just needs cosmetic work.
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Old 25-09-2021, 05:52   #9
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Re: Boat purchase test sail, mainly for the Aussies.

Quote:
Originally Posted by Paul L View Post
The key point is that you do the sea trial, aka test sail, after you have a signed sales contract.
Think about it from sellers point of view. How many yahoos are going to call him up and want to kick the tires and go for a free afternoon sail. The sales contract should allow you to bail out and get your deposit back if you don't approve of the seatrial (or the survey).


I really don’t believe ANYONE would be looking for a free afternoon sail on a 40 year old heavy cruising boat.

And any good salesman will tell you the trick is to get the punters imagining themselves behind the wheel.
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Old 25-09-2021, 06:15   #10
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Re: Boat purchase test sail, mainly for the Aussies.

Sea trial (aka test sail) is very common in our neck of the woods AFTER there's a signed sale/purchase contract in place.

Seldom/rarely before.

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Old 25-09-2021, 06:18   #11
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Re: Boat purchase test sail, mainly for the Aussies.

This has been discussed numerous times.

Tire kickers not knowing if they like the model/ style of boat wanting to see if it’s for them, so want to sail it. We just sold a boat, so I know the type. They’ll eat up a half day just to figure out they still don’t know what they want. And since there are multiples of them, seller ends up doing a lot of educating and entertaining.

That’s why standard practice is to make an offer with a deposit. It eliminates the tire kickers. Bad sails, creaking hulls, etc are written into the purchase offer.
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Old 25-09-2021, 07:04   #12
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Re: Boat purchase test sail, mainly for the Aussies.

Quote:
Originally Posted by GILow View Post
I really don’t believe ANYONE would be looking for a free afternoon sail on a 40 year old heavy cruising boat.

And any good salesman will tell you the trick is to get the punters imagining themselves behind the wheel.
Certainly when you sell your boat you can make offering daysails as a marketing point. Other sellers who you may want to purchase from just aren't going to give you a seatrial prior to a signed offer.
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Old 25-09-2021, 07:24   #13
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Re: Boat purchase test sail, mainly for the Aussies.

Quote:
Originally Posted by GILow View Post
I’ve titled this one to include “mainly for the Aussies” because this may well be one of those things that vary from country to country. Despite this, all comments welcomed, whatever your country, but if you are outside Australia, please include that in your comments for context.

Anyway, I’m on the hunt for my next boat, an older cruiser in the 45 to 50 foot range. It’s been quite fun actually. It seems so much easier this time, I have so much more of a clear picture of what is important to me.

But I hit a speed bump early on that has left me scratching my head. I phoned a seller in QLD, asked some moderately intelligent questions about the boat then asked how much warning he would need to organise a test sail.

He carried on like I’d offered to sleep with his wife then sell his children into slavery.

I won’t even begin to describe the weird statements he made, but basically he told me I was a bloody idiot who needed to learn to sail. He never needed a test sail to figure out if a boat was ok.

Ummm.... ok.

So, is this guy an isolated fruit-cake or am I going meet more of this? If so, what the heck do I do if the boat is one that interests me because I’m sure not going to buy something that big without finding out how worn out it is.

For the record, the couple that sold me this boat actually invited me and my family for a sail, served an excellent breakfast on board (in retrospect, that kind of drowned out the smell of the diesel they’d spilled everywhere, nice move guys) and happily put aside more than half the day. The results speak for themselves. I just thought that might be normal, I’d sure do the same.


Test sails occur to evaluate the particular boat you are buying and occur as part of the purchase agreement process.

Sellers don’t in general facilitate “ test sails “ in a purchase you actually cover any out of pocket expenses associated with a test sail.
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Old 25-09-2021, 08:09   #14
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Re: Boat purchase test sail, mainly for the Aussies.

I have engaged my sailing instructor to help me purchase a boat here in Sydney. We'll be going on a test sail on Tuesday. I wouldn't buy a boat unless I was able to take it for a test sail.



Your seller sounds like a bit of a nuff nuff. If he's getting angry about allowing you to try it out then you should run in the other direction.
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Old 25-09-2021, 08:20   #15
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Re: Boat purchase test sail, mainly for the Aussies.

from my experience you don't do a test sail until the offer is made and survey is being done. also from my experience the day you do the test sail there will be NO wind
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