Construction quality on the new boats

[Felipe g]

Hello
I just came out of the boat show in genova, trying to find the right boat to sail with my family in the mediterranean (lets call it bluewater). I have 3 small children so reliability is the first must for me (construction quality) and I have a wife so good design and living on board is important. Im thinking in a 46 foot.
Clearly there is a war when it comes to attract new customers, and the brands are commenting on others brands problems which makes very difficult to trust and to choose.
Also i found some forums about quality but are outdated with the new model and technology used on new boats.
I just sailed a dufour 430 2021, and i love the design, but for a new boat it showed already quality issues (wood crancking, but quality of the compartments lock, etc)
From the experience of the forum, having bought new boats what wold be an interesting choice?
Thanks

[bil56]

I think it is better to buy a recent 2-5 year old boat rather than a new one, the problems will have been fixed by the builder / yard / previous owner
and not an ex rental boat !

[Caleb_Grey]

Look at amel or kraken, dofour is below jeanneau

[mglonnro]

Originally Posted by Felipe g

From the experience of the forum, having bought new boats what wold be an interesting choice?
Thanks

We bought a new Hanse. Despite many warnings (and old anecdotes) about how many problems we would have with a "new boat", there were really few.

Compared to my previous boats (10-20 yrs used ones), with the new one we got to just go out and sail instead of maintaining a "things to fix list".

A good dealer is key to a good end result!

(All EU boats, sold within the EU at least, have a 2 years warranty period, so that's a good thing as well.)

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Felipe.

[Nicholson58]

Originally Posted by mglonnro

We bought a new Hanse. Despite many warnings (and old anecdotes) about how many problems we would have with a "new boat", there were really few.

Compared to my previous boats (10-20 yrs used ones), with the new one we got to just go out and sail instead of maintaining a "things to fix list".

A good dealer is key to a good end result!

(All EU boats, sold within the EU at least, have a 2 years warranty period, so that's a good thing as well.)

+1 on the Hanse. Our cruising friends sailed their’s to the Caribbean. Structure was no issue but a few infant mortalities of components handled by the company. I view the main panel as too electronically complex. He is still having trouble with it. I prefer old fashioned click-clack breakers, no computer.

[moseriw]

Quality management means to satify customers with the poorest possible quality.

Hint: buy a good old boat <1985

[lvictorlucas]

Best to buy a boat that has been broken in and has some wear. Also be sure to fly in a reliable surveyor, never a local one. Make sure he cores the hull and recheck the data he provides before you pay him.

[Sandy Frank]

Create a criteria when look at boats, new and used, that include must haves and wants.

If you are concerned about structural quality make a must have:
-"tabbed stringers to hull (structural) rather than glued."
-"tabbed hull to deck joint rather than glued.

These are going to be pretty hard to find in a new production boat, but older production boats are significantly "overbuilt" compared to "mil-spec" boats today. Maybe on a new order the factory can accommodate?

Hanse, mentioned above, is a glue company.

If fit and finish of furnishing is a primary concern, then that is pretty easy to discover visually.

[Wckoek]

I have seen Jeanneau which is only a few years old with crack on bulkheads as well.


Hanse is one of the better production ones, I think Dehler even better, Bavaria for the past 5 years have been decent.

[Wckoek]

About old boats, any boats that is older than 20-30 years that wasn't continually upgraded by their previous owner will require a lot of money and more than 9 months to a year of refit.


I wondered where are all the old boat molds now?
I know Hans Christian's mold is still in Thailand, can we dig out Valiant's mold and start new production of older designs in somewhere cheaper?

[DEAN2140]

John Neal at Mahina Sailing purchased a Halberg-Rassy 46 for his business and did a thorough review of the reasons for selecting it. Even if this boat is out of your price range, his analysis is very useful. Like most of the comments, I would look for a late model boat rather than a new one.

http://mahina.com/wp-content/uploads...-John-Neal.pdf

[boatpoker]

Boats are now built by the accountants.

[Goodall_M1]

There are new boats out there with fantastic build quality...
I just wish I could afford them...

There are others that are built to look good in a marina but are pretty obviously not supposed to be sailed at any heeling angle (or possibly not sailed at all. Look at the brochure with vases of flowers etc in the photos and ask the sales rep "and where do you recommend to stow those before you go to sea?")

I helped to deliver one new boat where the bilge pump actuator was on the starboard side of the sump but the pump was on the port side. When heeling to starboard with a little water in the sump, the pump ran continually but only pumped air.
Solution was easy, a sponge and a bucket soon solved the problem.

On the same boat the fridge was made up of two large drawers with a latch to hold them shut.

OK so go down below to make the skipper a cup of tea when heeling to starboard and undo the clip...
Both drawers come out and hit you in the chest...
Remove the milk, add some to the skipper's tea, and replace the milk...
Now try to close both of the fridge drawers when the cabin is too wide for your feet to get a purchase on anything... and you need a third hand to click the latch over

Two days out of the builder's boatyard and both wheels had developed a six inch forward and backward wobble, and I had to go into the town and buy a 29mm socket and a ratchet bar so that we could re-tighten the wheel nuts.

If I ever do buy a new boat I would ensure that I get it delivered by someone sailing it then they may find the build quality faults.

But I am more likely to buy a used boat where the previous owner has sorted out most of the problems!

[WoodenKetch]

46 feet is quite a bit of boat for a fairly new skipper. A 39 footer would happily accommodate your family and might cost half as much to run over time.

Or maybe you have experience and know what you want in which case ignore me.