me and my friend are looking to race yachts 16ft!?
Jan 21, 2010 in
Yacht Charters
whats a good yacht in the budget 10-15k (aus dollars).we want a boat a boat that takes more than 3 plp.
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One comment
ricsudukai on January 21, 2010 at 6:02 am
It has to be 16 ft? You will get an excellent Hartley TS16 for $5,000 – $7,000. A good TS18 for $8,000 or so and a TS21 for $10,000. The TS 16 will be o.k. but the 18 or 21 is a lot more boat for a group of four.
http://www.hartleyyachtclub.com.au/index.php?p=1_1
There is a vibrant TS 16 scene in Oz if racing is the ideal.
For your budget there are a lot of older keel boats around, Black Soo’s, Van de Stadts, various others – but they are a lottery if not well maintained and if you are not very capable of sussing them out well. I have recently advised against the purchase of an early seventies ply 25 footer on the hard – I found areas of soft rot in the keel timbers (under the bolt on cast iron keel – nasty) and Garboards, failed deck fittings, split gunwhale, toe rails and all safety rail footings bad, badly laid and breached glass fibre on deck (fresh water damage to deck ply joins and to inside!) and very old standing rigging. Paying for a competent survey is a very wise decision as while there are plenty of cheap boats about there are not that many bargains.
If you are looking for an off the beach class that can handle three or more people and still remain competitive I’m not sure you will find that. A light weight Sharpie for three of you but that is a fiercely fought class even at club level and is pretty expensive – although lower performing old ones are around and fairly cheap – the money is in the sails, foils, light weight and fit out. The cats tend to be very exxy and rarely cope with more than two people.
For your budget a trailer sailor will cope with a small group and still perform all right at club and regatta level – plus mooring fees and anti-fouling don’t worry you, and you can sleep at night without worrying about your boat in a storm!
Other thing is that just one of you buy it, own it, register it and run it – group purchases rarely work out well it seems, but you might be lucky.
Good luck.