Hi

situation: am looking for a  single-handed trapeeze boat...  contender or a 600.  The 600 is likely my boat of  choice (pro-cons weighed up etc...)

Issue:  600: there's a good few for sale at the moment.  Some reasonably  priced around the 1500quid mark, and several 500-1500quid dearer.

Is there any correlation with the cost and  age/condition of the boat. 

Are 'old' boats prone to failure/structural degradation or something else?

If buying a cheaper older boat,  do I need to be aware of anything?  Is it just condition of sails might account for the price reduction?

Am likely to be sailing for 'kicks' rather than for the competition. But  still want a  sound boat that'll last and  I can sell on in a few years.

Answers on a post(card).

thanks

  fin

A boat with a Superspar rather than Angel mast will be worth a bit more, and like you say the condition of the sail accounts for some of the price as well.

Older 6's may be a bit battered cosmetically but the only real weak spots are loose mast step, loose kicker u-bolt and worn out and leaky daggerboard cases, I've had these things happen on both my 6's which were newer than a lot of others so don't worry about it.

Just either check if these things have happened and been fixed or be prepared for them to happen at some point, they are all easy to fix with no detriment to the boat.

Hi Fin. Check your PM,

Many thanks,

Splosh.

I bought my 600 for £1k the hull is a little rough, but it is airtight and has two masts, one SS and the other an angel, the sail is a little tatty but works.

You just need to know where to look.

Dan

I got my 6 for a little over £1K. The hull isn't in the best nick, and its had several problems that ive just about weeded out now. Check the kicker bolt, if it's loose, be wary (after the trouble I've had I would suggest avoid it all together). If there's a hatch in the hull (normally there to replace loose kicker bolts) it's probably worth checking how soggy all the wood inside the hull is. The mast step on my boat was a bit of a mess, all sealant everywhere and some odd repairs underneath it but there was nothing structually wrong with it, that doesn't tend to be a problem. And as Jamie says, worn out daggerboard cases are nigh on impossible to stop leaking (at least I haven't found a way yet) but as long as you drain the boat after sailing it isn't really a problem.

The sails are pretty much bomb proof, they get a bit grubby with age and the headboards get squashed but with the full battens they don't flog themselves to death like laser sails and I haven't noticed massive amounts of stretching in my sail (it's still good enough to win races at opens as long as other bits of the boat don't fall off).

there is a way to repair the centreboard case...mark did (splosh). He made a fibreglass mould of the daggerboard, then filled and bonded it in and effectively made a sleeve that fitted in the case and made the board a perfectly tight fit. if you look at the boat you cant even see where the work has been done, it looks like a brand new case with all the colour matching and gelcoating and whatever else they did

I'm sure mark will explain this alot better than i did but if you ever need any tips i'm sure he will help with it and point you in the right direction on what to use and how to do it

A quick fix for the case is to stand the boat on it's transom so the back of the case is horizontal, then pour in epoxy that will fill the hole and create a 'buffer' for the board to rub on, it should last a while before the board cuts all the way through the epoxy.

For a longer-lasting repair, do the same thing but incorporate either a piece of rope or webbing into the epoxy, again it's something for the board to rub on before it gets to the actual case.