doug748
regular
Reged: 01/10/2002
Posts: 1029
Loc: Plymouth
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Most people are very positve about boats they have owned or sailed. However I read a recent post where a chap more or less hated the Contessa 26. Have you ever been disappointed or owned a boat you disliked?
On reflection my first boat, an Enterprise dinghy, was not the best choice to learn on singlehanded.
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Blueboatman
regular
Reged: 10/07/2005
Posts: 2425
Loc: London
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The problem is that whatever one names,there are bound to be good forum members who happily own one.
So,in general and in my very biased opinion-Anything short,fat and high,double points if it has a wheel AND lee helm..
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phanakapan
regular
Reged: 26/03/2002
Posts: 683
Loc: Brighton
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Well that's my boat to a 'T' !!  
Not really- anyway she doesn't have lee helm...
One mans' meat etc
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aitchw
regular
Reged: 18/02/2002
Posts: 2212
Loc: West Yorkshire, UK
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Mine too, with weather helm instead but she's mine and she goes in pretty much the direction I want and I wouldn't get out on the water without her. Tis all relative I guess and even if I could afford the boat of my choice she would always hold a special place in my heart.
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http://www.cravensailingclub.org.uk
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Jimi
regular
Reged: 19/12/2001
Posts: 16489
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I once knitted a boat out of worsted tweed. It was terrible, dead scratchy, would'nt point at all. Only benefit it had, the wetter it got the bigger it got.
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Blueboatman
regular
Reged: 10/07/2005
Posts: 2425
Loc: London
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Agree absolutely (absholutely)
I think it was the old editor Des S.. of yachting Monthly who quipped that at the end of the day most people just go to sea in what they got..
Ahem, Blueboatman is presently boatless and gently taking the mick out of certain generic boaty characteristics !
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FullCircle
regular
Reged: 19/11/2003
Posts: 8922
Loc: Burnham On Crouch
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Without any shade of doubt.....my current boat.
A Jeanneau Sun Odyssey 35.
Sailing and Layout very good, but.....
I have owned a fleet of MABs over the years which all cost less than 20k. I spend damn near 100k on a boat ,and i find that almost uniquely I am on my knees mopping out the bilges every day. or it wont start, or it runs out of ufel showing 1/2 tank, ot it leaks diesel into the bilges, or it overheats at cruising revs, or its boots fall off the rudder, or it leaks through the keel box on a mud berth, or it shoots 70 gallons of fresh water into the bilges when the calorifier valve fails, or it takes 10 weeks to launch after being delivered, or the shrouds are attached to the chainplates wrongly, or the furling drum forestay retaining nut falls off. Not to mention warped floorboards, rusted keelbolts, 3 sets of Navman instruments. Tedious, very tedious. All issues with the boat are related to it being built on a Friday afternoon and the time it takes to get the factory or its agents to investigate and fix the issues in a timely manner.
At least with a Manky Auld Boat you know you are going to get problems, and you can solve them without waiting for agents or factories.
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Come on over to the East Coast Forum . You meet a nicer forumite there.
The NEW East Coast Pilot website
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DuncanMack
regular
Reged: 02/10/2005
Posts: 1759
Loc: Dunno, lost the plot.....
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But you have insurance? Yes? 
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Duncan
The march of progress - but in which direction?
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John_Wilson
regular
Reged: 22/07/2006
Posts: 391
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I have one too...
Sails well for a modern production boat.
Also had to have the fuel gauge fixed, have also had water leakage from freshwater system, no diesel leaks as yet.
Agree with bilge-mopping (and how the $*@# do you get the bilgewater out of the space under the shower tray.
If you have an early 3YM Yanmar the overheating was supposedly fixed by replacing the heat exchanger stack under Yanmar warranty (they issued a service recall), but despite this being done I still very occasionally get overheating.
On the whole I quite like it though...
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michael_w
regular
Reged: 08/10/2005
Posts: 2338
Loc: South London
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In terms of disappointment, an X-302.
OK she sailed well enough but the penny pinching build quality was depressing.
Poor quality gel goat meant it was very difficult to raise a shine.
Cheap mismatched veneers.
Only one side of the saloon table could fold down, thus rendering the port settee only suitable for very thin midgets.
Useless clutches, Micky Mouse furler installation.
75ah house battery, for a boat with an air-cooled fridge>
Hopeless cockpit ergonomics. Can't work the sheet winches on a reach, because the mainsheet gets in the way. Sit in one of two places where you can see the jib, and after half an hour, either both your legs have gone to sleep, or a feeling reminicent of a visit to the headmaster is running across your bum.
Crappy engine installation. Noisy, can only reach the dipstick with a struggle. If you wanted to work on the lift pump, you'd probably have to take the engine out.
Oh, and the rudder split after 3,000 miles.
But for worst sailing boat, nothing so far, beats a St Mawes One Design.
Appalling lee helm, heartbreakingly slow, gets overtaken by a Mirror on a good day. Uncomfortable, everything is a struggle with these boats. Good for firewood.
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"Procrastinate now! Don't put it off"
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