Buy and refit older boat?

[theswiss]

Hi all,

I am new here and would love to hear your thoughts.

For a co-working project on a boat, I am looking for the right catamaran. Size should be around 50 feet, maybe bigger. I am familiar with the typical charter catamarans and my main issue is, I hate their interior. For a one-week charter, they are ok, but to live on it, I am looking for something a bit more stylish.

So I thought instead of buying a new boat why not go for a bigger, older catamaran and then refit it (especially interior). I thought of a Sunreef 62 or Lagoon 56 as they are very well equipped and affordable. However, I heard bad things about older Sunreefs (which would explain why there are so many on the market).

What are your thoughts on this approach? Does it generally make sense to buy a 8-10 year old boat and update the interior? Of course it should be a boat in a good condition, but that applies to any age of boat. Does anyone have experience updating the interior of a boat, or has done that before?

I also looked at Vaan Yachts and they look amazing, but it's maybe a bit too early as they are currently building hull #1.

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

[Clayfree]

The Vaan Yachts are beautiful! One thing I have heard that has stuck with me is that you can take an older boat and rebuild it and you still have an older boat when it comes to resale. I have thought a lot about doing just what you suggested. If you were only updating surfaces and finishes that would be one level of effort. If you start making structural changes then that's a much bigger project. Keep in mind the newer cats have wider hulls hence the nice cabins. The older cats will have less space to work with.

Go look at Sailing Uma on youtube. I think they did a really nice interior design on their older monohull. They have an episode devoted to a boat tour.

50'-60' would give you plenty of space to work with.