Bruce Roberts 43 Maurtius Ketch in GRP

[squashmikeyp25]

Hi All,

New member to this site but have found various threads very informative so far, so here goes;

We are a family of 4 looking to get back into sailing now the kids are a little more self aware. Last yacht was a Seal 28 lifting keel, prior to that an Oyster 39 and an Amel Super Maramu (as crew only).
We have looked at a lot of yachts over the last year or so, from Marcon 34's through Aqualady 38's and yesterday sea trialled an Oyster 41 - too performance oriented.

There is a BR 43 ketch in GRP that we thought we had missed which has come back on the market and seems to offer the mix of sea-keeping, comfort, space and performance(!) That we are after with a young family.
Sailing area is likely to be South West UK and Northern France, Channel Islands etc. The plan is to have a boat we won't outgrow fast, and that is capable of circumnavigating should the business opportunity present itself to allow us to do so.

I can't find much info on these yachts, so all and any opinions welcomed.

Regards,

Mike

[skipmac]

Hi Mike,

Pardon me if you are already familiar with this, but Bruce Roberts is a designer and not a boat builder. Some of these are home built, some by professional builders. Obviously in this case the quality of the boat will depend on who made the boat. I have seen BR designs that were solid and I've seen some that were junk.

Really have to look closely at the boat and research the origin. A number were made commercially in South Africa and generally well made.

Don't know much about the handling of the boats but certain that you will get some opinions on this from others.

Good luck.


Skip

[squashmikeyp25]

Thanks Skip.
Yep, aware there are wide variances. This one is South African origin, so hopefully one of the better ones.
I know this one - Camargue - has done some serious stuff, and I would get a full survey prior to moving forwards. Really interested in characteristics, suitability for family cruising, whether overkill for our plans etc.
I will have to assume at the moment that the boat in question is not a shed!
Thanks, Mike

[paulrack]

I sailed on a Bruce Roberts 45 for many years in SA. It was built and owned by Fritz Nebe from Nebe boatbuilders who built many of them. The one he built was a ketch which was not always the greatest, I think a sloop would have been a lot better balanced. They are not quick boats, but are solid safe bluewater boats that have done many circumnavigations. I was 12 at the time and myself and Friz's son who was the same age could sail the boat by ourselves. Up the west coast where we sailed we often had very high winds and she was always a good dry boat.

[skipmac]

I have looked at the Mauritius and unless this one is a different interior design I think the accommodations would be good for a family boat.

What Paul said about the sailing and handling is about what I have heard from others but hesitated to say anything since I have no firsthand knowledge.

[squashmikeyp25]

Thanks guys.

All useful stuff.

On a slight tangent, how would the BR 43 compare to a Cuttyhunk of similar vintage, size etc?

Again, a yacht we thought we had lost to a charity charter venture has come back on the market. These two boats are really it for us at the moment in terms of available stock in the UK in our price range, not wanting to go for a production boat if we can help it.

Also, if anyone is aware of anything else on the market that we should be looking at, that would be most helpful.

Regards,

Mike

[zumsel]

Mike,

I know about a Bruce Roberts 45 which is for sale by a german Gentleman in Greece. As far as I know the asking price was €66,000.- According to some contacts I have on a german forum who actually know the boat and have sailed it last year, it is in excellent condition.



You can find more information on the owners homepage Skipper Hans Homepage If you need help in making the contact, I don't know how good your german is or his english, let me know if I can help.

Cheers,
Jochen

[Richard Jordan]

Contact Bruce Roberts himself. He is pretty chatty and has records. He can to tell you quite a bit about his designs and even maybe about the particular boat. His email is boatdesigns [at] gmail [dot] com.

[squashmikeyp25]

Thanks guys for all help so far.

Looked at the Cuttyhunk today, but she doesn't really do it for us at the moment.

BR looks the way forward, so any more info much appreciated.

[NotQuiteLost]

Bruce Roberts designs are beautiful, functional and usually quite simple. There were some hack jobs done by unqualified amateurs in the past (unavoidable with as many plans as he sells) that have somewhat marred his brand's reputation, but I always thought that was more a reflection on the steel DIY jobs rather than the GRP ones.

[listermetcalfe]

Hi Mike,

I have a Bruce Roberts 53 built in South Africa in 1995 and fully renovated in every respect last year.She is currently for sale and lying in Las Palmas. Photos can be found at Bluewater Algarve incase you are interested.

She really is a fantastic boat and I would love her to go to a good family home!

Kind regards

Lister
07971476143

P.s She is cold moulded mahogany!

[squashmikeyp25]

We are now the proud owners of Atanea, a Marcon 34 we purchased in Southampton.

After lots of thought we decided to go smaller whilst the kids are little, and this layout with the safer centre cockpit, plus the separate aft cabin for the kids will do us for a few years.

Thanks for all the advice, and I will be asking again when we look to go bigger again in the future.

Thanks,

Mike

[squashmikeyp25]

Photo here

[skipmac]

Congratulations! So now, when are leaving for the tropics?

[kerrythomas]

Mikey--
Don't know if you have already aquired the boat, but I abode on one for 9 years. In short, it's a great blue-water boat but coastal cruisers would not care for the small hatches and companionways. It has a swept rudder that makes it a hog going downwind, but I think could be corrected by re-configuring the rudder to make the trailing edge more vertical. Never got to try--lost the boat to Hurricane Ike 2008 in Galveston, Texas. I would have another well=built of the same design, as it has taken me through some hairy situations. Ask if you need more info.
klt