Boat For Sale - Alphacraft 42 Dual Steer

[NorfolkNog]

Hi Folks

Just to let you know that one of our sponsors, Swancraft, currently have an Alphacraft 42 dual steer for sale.

Price now reduced to £24,950

A lot of boat for the money!

Alphacraft 42, dual steer broads cruiser for sale. £29,950. Nanni 43hp. Webasto water heater with matrix type heaters. Front cabin double with en-suite toilet and shower with 3/4 bath. Rear cabin with double and en-suite with toilet and shower. Large saloon area and large kitchen area at rear of the boat. Does need some work doing. Currently being used as a livaboard and can come with a livaboard mooring. Large outside sun deck and a rear well area with door leading into the kitchen area.

Photos can be found on the Swancraft Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/pg/Swancraft-639053706163756/posts/?ref=page_internal

If you have any queries please contact Paul at Swancraft who will be pleased to help - contact details are on the sponsors panel to the right of the page or via Facebook

 

Thanks for looking

 

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

With that length of boat, and that extra height, i would want a bigger engine.

[Mouldy]

5 hours ago, SPEEDTRIPLE said:

With that length of boat, and that extra height, i would want a bigger engine.

The old Alphas always seemed to chug along quite nicely.  The ex Royalls Alpha 42cc currently at NYA only has a 38hp engine and they always seemed to go well too.  Would it not depend on the gearing and prop?

As Howard said, there’s a lot of boat for the money and with some money spent, could be brought up to a decent standard.

[Cal]

Seems a lot of boat for the money but it does want a complete refit which won't come cheap.

43hp should be fine for the boat provided it is geared and propped appropriately. It is never going to be a racing machine!

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

With all that top hamper, she will be a real handful in high winds, which we`ve had rather a lot of lately. Yes, we hired an Alpha 42 back in the beginning of the 90s, which had a BMC 1.5, with a 3-1 gearbox. A lot of weight to push, and to gear the relatively low powered engine to provide enough propulsion would put a lot of strain on such an engine. 

Imagine pushing a hard tide with all that high GRP in a strong wind across Breydon.  There`s no substitute for cubes as they say.

Also,  as Cal says above, she would need a total re-fit, which would be VERY expensive, so when you add it all up, it might work out cheaper to buy a much newer boat.

My last point is that with such a high top, she would more than likely be used mostly on the southern rivers, and with their much stronger and faster tides, she would struggle if you had to go against the tide and wind on numerous occaisions.

[jimbob88]

How much would a half decent refit cost. 15-20k ?

Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

[OldBerkshireBoy]

Depends on what you want at the end of the day. I brought cheap ish but now have something that I could of spent years looking for without finding it.

[unclemike]

having just seen this, I hired starfire when they were both in alpha's fleet engine was enough ,only downside was sidewind, very spacious saloon, did 2 weeks and covered most places north and south

[Mouldy]

15 hours ago, SPEEDTRIPLE said:

 . . . . . My last point is that with such a high top, she would more than likely be used mostly on the southern rivers, and with their much stronger and faster tides, she would struggle if you had to go against the tide and wind on numerous occaisions.

Not wishing to be contentious, theses were on hire on the Southern rivers and were in the Alpha hire fleet for several years, so they must have been okay.  With regard to the height, surely the new fleets on hire from Ferry, Richo’s and NBD are taller, so there is no real reason that it couldn’t be used on the Northern rivers.  After all, aside from Grendel’s beloved Martham boats, not much other than day boats, ducks and swans safely negotiate Potter, which only prohibits cruising above Wroxham and Wayford.

Even with a refit at say 20k, it remains a lot of boat when compared to what is on sale through the various agencies for the same money.

[andyg]

Not one of alpha's better boats IMHO, a few of the old alpha boats are working again in hire fleets. Bridge craft and Barnes are running a few. I'm not aware of any having total refits. The boats were originally designed for the French canals I believe. That said they have happily been used on the broads for a good 20 years now. Not a problem if you except the height limitations. It's sure is a whole lot of boat for the money. 

[OldBerkshireBoy]

Looking at  the photos does it need a complete refit?

Paul said something along the lines of needs attention which knowing him and his eye for detail other brokers might say it's ready to move on and use.

[andyg]

I'd have to agree with that, apart from a very deep clean and some cosmetic works and a full mechanical check over it should be good to go. 

[NorfolkNog]

Here you go - listing from the 2006 Hoseasons brochure 

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

Talking to somebody in the industry, they did`nt book that well, so had to stay in the hire fleet for some years to pay for themselves.  I do think they are nice spacious boats for 4, but i would be putting a bigger engine in it for safety.  As i said above, a geared 1.5 BMC of around 35-38hp would be fine for the north rivers, but for the south, i`d want at least 50 horses in order to have that little bit in reserve.

On 21/02/2020 at 04:34, Mouldy said:

The old Alphas always seemed to chug along quite nicely.  The ex Royalls Alpha 42cc currently at NYA only has a 38hp engine and they always seemed to go well too.  Would it not depend on the gearing and prop?

As Howard said, there’s a lot of boat for the money and with some money spent, could be brought up to a decent standard.

 

[jimbob88]

I'm sure after a good scrub it would be fine to crack straight on with but I think if a good a boat like this at that price I'd like to spend a little bit extra updating it.

Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app

[Turnoar]

Notwithstanding whether this design was good for the hire task I wonder if the Moxham designs Alpha’ launched circa 2000 would ever have happened had it not been for this development of an older hull, in a similar vein as the Wilds (?) Capri, to give them the idea perhaps? What’s beyond doubt is the Aplhacraft Moxham design set a new bar and in my mind became the Rolls Royce Corniche of its moment quick to be emulated or sourced by brinkcraft and Richardson’s, and other yards probably. Jillings were and are exceptionally honourable broadsmen, another honourable broadsman who bought a mooring plot opposite the brundall yard commented to me how if a hirerer had a mishap with his jetty it was resolved without fuss. What a legacy.

[VetChugger]

I had a lot of time for the Alphacraft yard, hiring from them many times. Unlike some, I actually seemed to get on well with Langford Sr. If you could get him to talk he had some wonderful tales to relate. Sadly missed.

[MauriceMynah]

The Alpha craft with the sliding cockpit were designed especially to get under P.H. Bridge, or so I was told by a broads boatbuilder.

Nuff said from me :-)

[Graham47]

That is correct. Langford told me the same and that he personally took the first boat up to potter heigham to make sure it would.

 

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

1 hour ago, MauriceMynah said:

The Alpha craft with the sliding cockpit were designed especially to get under P.H. Bridge, or so I was told by a broads boatbuilder.

Nuff said from me :-)

As was Lightning in the 90s, sadly no longer though. As nice as it is, it`s well past time the bridge was raised, and if the substructure is as sound as people say (because i always get told i`m wrong ), then it would be a simple civil engineering task to raise it to an airdraft of around 7ft 3ins at average high water standings. 

[Maxwellian]

Although I love visiting above PH I would be reluctant to see this  barrier changed. The joys of not having flotillas of stinkies makes it a beautiful place to visit.

[marshman]

Raising Potter ?  I am sorry to  say ST you would get a much bigger lobby not to do it, than even the current anti BNP lobby. Not only would you have to fight , I suspect, the majority of Broads users but many non boating individuals would get involved too!! On top of that it is I believe Grade 2 listed and that won't help your campaign either!

There are plenty of options open for you to explore above the bridge - I suggest you use one of those and learn to love the peace and quiet above the bridge and the uniqueness of a largely untouched Broadland environment, encompassing not just the peace and quiet and the beauty, but the unique wildlife spotting opportunities. You will love it, but for what its worth, I doubt you will ever be able to enjoy from a large plastic bathtub with all modern amenities!

You could of course, learn to use one of those stickie things - then you can go and enjoy something truly original!!

[SPEEDTRIPLE]

1 hour ago, marshman said:

Raising Potter ?  I am sorry to  say ST you would get a much bigger lobby not to do it, than even the current anti BNP lobby.  

Can you please post your OFFICIAL public survey results to prove that marshy?, no?, why am i NOT surprised. 

1 hour ago, marshman said:

There are plenty of options open for you to explore above the bridge - I suggest you use one of those and learn to love the peace and quiet above the bridge and the uniqueness of a largely untouched Broadland environment, encompassing not just the peace and quiet and the beauty, but the unique wildlife spotting opportunities. You will love it, but for what its worth, I doubt you will ever be able to enjoy from a large plastic bathtub with all modern amenities!

Why should we have to pay EXTRA for another boat able to get under the bridge, when we already pay to navigate that section of the Broads through our tolls?. If the BA are not going to raise the bridge to a height for all lowliner designs to transit the bridge, then it`s only fair they REDUCE the tolls for ALL boats that cannot get under at ALL states of normal tidal ranges, and INCREASE the tolls for those that can.  

 

I`m not advocating the complete destruction or replacement of the bridge, although it would`nt bother me personally if they did, but showing consideration for other people, keep the existing bridge, but raise it so it`s at a height to allow those boats that were designed to go under to do so all the time. 

 

Back in the 60s 70s and 80s, even a lot of the 90s, nearly all broads lowliner designs used to go through the bridge at most states of the tides, and nobody complained about the volume of river traffic (mainly hire boats, and lots of them) back then. Nothing has changed, except for the selfish who want to use that section of the broads, at OTHER TOLL PAYERS expense. Back in the day, there were more pubs in Hickling village, a shop, and other facilities around that network that have all gone, due to the lack of use by visitors. 

[NorfolkNog]

Keep bumping this up folks!! 

[marshman]

I did couch it in the terms of "I suspect" !!!

Your view is noted - so I expect will be mine.