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Cheap Bene, needs (major) work


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Could maybe make a cheap launch out of it, cut the keel down to a 100mm stub and remove and sell the sailing gear and rig, wouldn,t be a lot of strain left on the structure if cruising the Gulf at 6 knots, shallow draught, diesel inboard, and a fairly comfortable and roomy interior? :idea: 

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The last Kiwi built cruiser racer would be Neil Bailey's Beale 45 Zucherro, absolute masterpiece by Lloyd Stephenson with an eye watering price to match  - you get what you pay for!

 

It is fun at boat shows to ask the sellers of bendy type boats if the bulkheads are tabbed to the hulls, most claim to use "high strength polyurethane sealant", in other words no! Dufour say their bulkheads are tabbed in, using this to distinguish their boats from other competitors.

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True, but the numbers they are built in and the number that have issues are an indication that this is normally a safe method of construction for the AVERAGE user. When buying any boat for any purpose it is up to the purchaser to ensure it is fit for intended use.

 

In the case of separated floor grids, there is normally some sign. A competent surveyor should find it. Anyone who does not get a survey takes the risk on themselves.

 

Looking carefully for movement when lifted, deformation of the hull outside when lifted, cracks/stree marks, and or 20 mins with a hammer will almost always find an issue. But indeed it can be more hidden than some other methods of construction. 

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Or in the case of Cheeki Rafikki an dodgy repair was allegedly done and was impossible to pick up.

Of course, many have done thousands of miles, there is a reason there are so cheap.

 

If a Car maker said one in every hundred thousand cars the axles will fall off without warning would it be acceptable? Not a problem if you were backing out the drive but what about doing 100 down the motorway?

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Ok please correct me here,maybe totally wrong.

The vessel has suffered delamination??   Why is it being sold by an insurance company rather than the builder?

can you insure a vessel against delamination? or has the vessel hit a hard object which has caused the issue?then the later being the case I could see insurance company involved in selling but if its straight manufacture fault then should it not be between owner/builder.

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What I think has happened here is usually the result of a grounding. Whether it is the manufacturers fault is debatable in my opinion.

 

https://www.morganscloud.com/2015/06/25/cheeki-rafiki-report-misses-an-opportunity-to-make-boats-safer/

 

"The fundamental issue seems to be that these boats rely on a structural liner to take the loads of the keel. The matrix—as it is called throughout the report—is fabricated outside of the boat and then glued in.

Now I understand that modern adhesives are incredibly strong, but clearly something is wrong. Over and over again we see boats with this construction technique suffer separation of the matrix from the hull in a grounding as well as damage to the laminate in the way of the keel bolts."

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Thanks "Willow" basically no back bone to take stress? interesting link,seems the keel arrangement is not structurally tied in to hull,as most yachts the keel supports are internally fitted so keel hangs off supports and using hull for support as well. So the yachts have like a module/plug fitted to hull with keel and relying on glue, So picking we may see more of the benes going cheap in nz?

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This is a 23 year old "cheap European production boat".

 

The NZ market is awash with a wide range of new "cheap European production boats", that can be purchased with a five year warranty and no immediate maintenance requirements for comparatively very low prices. This is also pushing down the price of quality older NZ built boats substantially.

 

A section of this market is designed to a price, not to a quality. These are not NZ designed and built boats. I have no problem with that, the thought of getting a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom floating bach with a five year warranty and no maintenance is very attractive. The catch with these "cheap European production boats" is the design life.

 

Depending on the use, I would have thought any sort of regular use in NZ coastal conditions and these boats would have a max design life of 20 years, with hard use maybe only 10 years. At 23 years this one is done.

 

What is the expected life on a new lightweight engine these days? 20 years and you would be lucky. Sails stuffed ages ago, swabs and most interior fittings would be tired as. Most boats would need a substantial refit in the 20-30 year timeframe, standing and running rigging etc. With these boats I believe they allow for that, and only design the hull to last the same time as everything else. i.e. its stuffed. The value is just in scrap, being the keel, and that is probably iron and not lead anyway... built to a price.

Sorry Fish but these boats are neither cheap nor poor quality. There are thousand of them world wide with no problems.

 

The french dominate the glass yacht production boat market and make more boats in a month than NZ has produced in twenty plus years.

 

The vast majority are fit for purpose.

 

 

I remember when the Young 88's were fist produced and vitually all of them had forward bulkhead detachment issues... among other issues.

 

Remember many of these Beneteau grid issue are not production issues but owner abuse. Most are a result of groundings, etc.

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"Sorry Fish but these boats are neither cheap nor poor quality. There are thousand of them world wide with no problems. 

The french dominate the glass yacht production boat market and make more boats in a month than NZ has produced in twenty plus years.
The vast majority are fit for purpose.
I remember when the Young 88's were fist produced and vitually all of them had forward bulkhead detachment issues... among other issues. 

Remember many of these Beneteau grid issue are not production issues but owner abuse. Most are a result of groundings, etc. "

 

Errr, yes they are both cheap and poor quality.  They are fit for purpose - as long as that purpose is to be a floating caravan in the Med.  A vastly different environment than thrashing back from the Barrier in a fresh 25 knot SW.  An analogy - would you take off into the Outback of Australia in a Trekka?

 

As for "owner abuse", a boat should be able to withstand a reasonable amount of "abuse".  That is called sailing.  Bouncing off the odd obstruction should fall within the design parameters, or at least be possible to identify and remedy.  The car analogy again - would you consider it to be OK if the wheels fell off suddenly today because of that large pothole you hit last week?

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Disagree. There are plenty of french production boats sailing in NZ conditions with no issues.

 

One dominated the Around NZ race a few years ago while all the NZ boats crashed and burned.

 

These boats sail the world, sailing the Atlantic ocean in huge numbers as the migrate to the med from northern europe. They sail inbig numbers in the pacific. There are more French plastic production boats sailing the pacific than kiwi, aussie and american boats combined.

 

I have seen the bottom ripped out of a farr 11.6 after hitting a rock @ 6 knots. Yet some beneteaus have survived similar incidents with just superficial damage.

 

Remember Flojo?... lost its mast after a chain plate pulled out. Then its keel fell off two years later That was a kiwi cock up of monumental proportions. But people conveniently forget all that an point the finger at one beneteau (of which thousands have been built).

 

 

As a percentage of boats built the production french yachts are more reliable than anything pumped out of NZ.

 

Also, the charter industry is dominated by them across the planet. From NZ to europe they choose these boats because they are the best package of design, build, reliability and cost.

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"We don't have many bunks left on the boat - they've all been cut up and used as props to sort of stop the boat flexing and moving," he said.

 

Most of the crew spent a sleepless night on deck, he said, and they were wary about people going into the cabin of the Farr-designed yacht in case it suffered more damage.

 

http://www.newshub.co.nz/nznews/crew-used-bunks-to-keep-damaged-racing-yacht-together-2012060514

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Disagree. There are plenty of french production boats sailing in NZ conditions with no issues.

 

One dominated the Around NZ race a few years ago while all the NZ boats crashed and burned.

 

 

 

 

 

Don't let the truth get in the way of a good story, the 47 foot Beneteau was beaten on line in 2 of the four round new zealand legs by a much older NZ designed and built 35 footer. It did well but hardly dominating.

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