Maple Leaf 48, Formosa 46 or Cape North 43

[gjordan]

I had a Peterson 44 for 8 years and it sailed very well. The Formosa is from a different yard, but you might want to find out if the decks were balsa cored or plywood squares which is what I understand my Peterson had. Mine didnt have teak decks (thank heavens) so I never had any soft spots. The theory behind the plywood squares is that there is resin between each square so if you get water (or rot) in an area it doesnt travel like balsa core. I agree that Taiwan Stainless is very poor. Leaking water tanks and bad chain plates were my biggest problems. As someone already said, if you find one that has previously had the big bucks spent on it, they can be a great boat. ___Grant.

[andreshs1]

Hi Grant

Yes, theoretically should be pretty much the same, although it seems to be some differences on the rigging, where the KP44 has 2 back stay system and the Formosa 46 has 1 single one.

I have been looking at this Formosa and it seems that the hull paint/gel coat is peeling off, what could be the reason for that?

Cheers

[gjordan]

My Peterson had a single backstay and I dont recall ever seeing one with twin backstays, but if the chainplates were done right, I would not think it a detriment. If there is pealing paint, someone over the years did a lousy paint job and it needs to be redone. That is not a small expense. I think they all came from the yard with gelcoat, not paint, but I could be wrong. ____Grant.

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by andreshs1

Hi Grant

Yes, theoretically should be pretty much the same, although it seems to be some differences on the rigging, where the KP44 has 2 back stay system and the Formosa 46 has 1 single one.

I have been looking at this Formosa and it seems that the hull paint/gel coat is peeling off, what could be the reason for that?

Cheers

The Formosa's were gelcoat, not paint. Their layups are not good. They have an excessive resin to glass ratio and are largely made of chopped mat with very little roving in the hull. This means any small air bubble, void or moisture penetration of the gelcoat will be wicked up the millions of fiber ends in the mat which can (not always) result in very wet mat and delamination whether or not this occurs has too many variables to be listed here but cheap chopped mat layup is a risk.

For a few photos of cheap Taiwan chopped mat being peeled of a bottom check out these on another forum.

[Djarraluda]

The other issue we had with several Taiwan boats such as Formosa in the 80's was the wiring.
Wiring was laid-up in the deck moulding then, when inverted and put onto the hull, some boats were wired by twisting the cable ends together and glassing it into the hull/deck joint.
At least one boat caught fire in early 80's in HK because of this.
I believe there were only some built this way, just can not recall which ones.
Roger

[andreshs1]

I would like to thank you all for the advice provided

At this point, we have visited the 3 boats, and the layout we like the most is the Maple Leaf 48, unfortunately I am worried on the risks introduced by the balsa core.

We decided that with 2 young children we need more volume than the Cape North or Formosa have to offer. And with the risks of the balsa core, we will not take the Maple Leaf neither. Thus back on the search.

Again, thank you guys for the advice!

Regards
Andres

[boatpoker]

Originally Posted by andreshs1

I would like to thank you all for the advice provided

At this point, we have visited the 3 boats, and the layout we like the most is the Maple Leaf 48, unfortunately I am worried on the risks introduced by the balsa core.

We decided that with 2 young children we need more volume than the Cape North or Formosa have to offer. And with the risks of the balsa core, we will not take the Maple Leaf neither. Thus back on the search.

Again, thank you guys for the advice!

Regards
Andres

Don't be too hasty. I am not a fan of balsa bottoms or I wouldn't have written Balsa = Compost .... but ..... if done right they can be very good hulls. Fortunately it is really quite simple for a good surveyor to determine if it's one of the good ones or one of the bad.

If it meets all your other criteria it still may be worth a look. Tell the surveyor to do the bottom first. If it's bad, pay him for his time ($100 or so) and walk or if it's good, go on with the survey. I do things like this quite often.

[andreshs1]

Hi boatpoker

Yes, I guess that you have a very valid point

I am organizing a trip to Langkawi to see several boats, I will check with the surveyor if he can do such test for an affordable sum

Cheers