43' Wilf O'Kell Zeus Ferro

[Boxertwinjeff]

Does anyone know much about this design, and should Ferro be avoided?

[nauticalnomad]

Ive had a ferro boat before.
I dont know this design but i googled the guy and he seems to know what he was doing. He has drawn up and designed a few.
I had a Endurance 38 in the UK i bought and it was a strong boat.
I also looked at one in Darwin about 15 years ago but had little windows and looked like a water tank inside.

Id buy another one as they are cheap and alot of boat for your money.
Some have concrete cancer etc which is where the stell reinforcement has rusted and swollen and the ferrocrete explodes out. This is fixable by grinding back to fresh steel and coating and re-epoxying with chemset concrete epoxy.

Ferro boats are heavy and slow. Perfect for heavy weather and plenty of them have made decent passages accross oceans. They just sink within minutes if the hull is breached.

Check this site out.. The World of Ferroboats

Good thing is if you are after alot of boat and dont have much money you can bargain the price down as they may be hard to sell..
If the whinches work and the boat has sails and the engine is in good condition then what more do you need?
20 to 50 aud and youre on the water able to sail to Asia. Awesome!

[WilfOKellsKid]

I know a bit about the design, I own one, and my Father designed it (Wilf OKell) and yes, he thanks you for the compliment, he does know his stuff (that is my words, he is far too humble to say anything like that). Ferro is strong, they sail well and built well. I have a plan for the Zeus ferro. Let me know if you want to purchase one!

[DeaneW]

Hi, Id like to contact Wilf as I am looking at purchasing a 43' Zeus, Kidnapped, and I'd like to find out some more about it. It's possible that I helped build this hull back in the early 70s, as I worked with a fellow called John Lucas who had a company called Ferro Craft Marine. He was a quantity surveyor in Brisbane. We built 6 or 7 hulls in the time I worked there.
Cheers
Deane Welch