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fenceguy2 · 11-05-2007, 05:23

anyone know anything about these boats. looking at a 35' orion shoal draft

SkiprJohn · 11-05-2007, 11:53

Aloha Fence,
Sparkman and Stephens have a good reputation as designers. You could do a web search or go to your local public library and look them up. Almost all sail mags have had articles about them. They did a lot of designing using shoal draft and centerboards. Good performing boats.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

fenceguy2 · 11-05-2007, 12:44

thanks. I did find some stuff. but nothing that would help me determine market value.

hellosailor · 11-05-2007, 13:24

Market value means what would someone pay for it. Unless there is a good supply of boats and a good supply of buyers--there may be no market value.

You can try looking for comparable sales on Boat and Yacht Sales, Buy Boats and Yachts - YachtWorld.com or with BUC.com – boats for sale, boat values, yacht charters the "BUC Book" is pretty much defined as a market value guide.

AFAIK S&S never designed a "dog" although they were paid to design to someone else's criteria. The one Orion'35 on Yachtworld is probably not unreasonable for a boat that old in that condition. A lot of "not a hot name" boats of that age and condition go for roughly that price. Whether it is a good deal, will depend mainly on condition and whether the boat is suitable for your purposes.

Weyalan · 16-05-2007, 21:11

Sparkman & Stevens have a very good reputation for well designed boats with great build quality. These are real blue-water vessels. The S&S 34' has been used for solo non-stop round the world trips (google "Jesse Martin", for example). I have crewed on a couple of S&S racers and they are great boats.

Terra Nova · 16-05-2007, 22:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Weyalan

Sparkman & Stevens have a very good reputation for well designed boats with great build quality. These are real blue-water vessels.

Yo Wey,

while Sparkman & Stevens are widely known for Olin Stevens' first-rate designs, they never built any boats to my knowledge.

best, andy

Weyalan · 16-05-2007, 23:50

Doh, you are, of course, right, Andy. My brain is tired from too much drafting today... I am confusing my designers with my builders yards... like, for example, some of the Nutor Swans that were designed by S&S but built in Finland.... oh dear.. I think i'll go home now and sleep!