Wanted Alphacraft Or Aquafibre Etc. Centre Cockpit

[Broads01]

3 hours ago, kim leverno said:

1983 Alphacraft 32CC £35,950 on Norfolk boat sales.

Sent from the Norfolk Broads Network mobile app
 

Here it is

 https://www.norfolkboatsales.co.uk/used-boats/alphacraft-32cc-about-time-968.asp#prettyPhoto

Ex Anchor Craft and still with the same distinctive light blue colour. Hey Howard, your favourite boat design? 

[OldBerkshireBoy]

Howard is away checking those numbers again just in case 

[oldgregg]

On 12/07/2020 at 08:48, NorfolkNog said:

Boats designed and built for the Broads possibly? 

I think Andy is referring to the fact that some Alpha builds have had horrendous issues with osmosis. There are good ones and bad ones of course.

I think that's why people tend to consider Aquafibre moulds a safer bet, as they have a thicker layup and being such a large scale operation they had more consistent quality control.

[Aboattime]

11 hours ago, Broads01 said:

Here it is

 https://www.norfolkboatsales.co.uk/used-boats/alphacraft-32cc-about-time-968.asp#prettyPhoto

Ex Anchor Craft and still with the same distinctive light blue colour. Hey Howard, your favourite boat design? 

No its ex Sabena

[Vaughan]

 

43 minutes ago, oldgregg said:

I think Andy is referring to the fact that some Alpha builds have had horrendous issues with osmosis. There are good ones and bad ones of course.

I think that's why people tend to consider Aquafibre moulds a safer bet, as they have a thicker layup and being such a large scale operation they had more consistent quality control.

Oldgregg has the courage to say it and I agree with him.

A survey will not show up deficiencies in the mould quality or laying up process. A collision, however, soon will!

[trambo]

28 minutes ago, Aboattime said:

No its ex Sabena

Which also makes it ex DLR Ludham.

Fred

[Aboattime]

4 minutes ago, trambo said:

Which also makes it ex DLR Ludham.

Fred

Yes Fred, it was leased to them and then returned to Sabena.

[Aboattime]

On 11/07/2020 at 19:57, Ray49 said:

Hi Guys

First time for me posting on this site..Hope I am in the right place.

We are searching for a Alphacraft or Aquafibre Etc....centre cockpit upto 35ft...

we have hired loads of boats on the broads and have decided to purchase or own..

Just come back from 5 days on Swan Rapture from Richardson’s.

All your help and advice would be much appreciated.

Regards

Ray

 

[Aboattime]

On 11/07/2020 at 19:57, Ray49 said:

Hi Guys

First time for me posting on this site..Hope I am in the right place.

We are searching for a Alphacraft or Aquafibre Etc....centre cockpit upto 35ft...

we have hired loads of boats on the broads and have decided to purchase or own..

Just come back from 5 days on Swan Rapture from Richardson’s.

All your help and advice would be much appreciated.

Regards

Ray

Ray49 PM sent

[OldBerkshireBoy]

1 hour ago, Aboattime said:

Ray49 PM sent

Why a pm, why not post on open forum pages? 

[ChrisB]

I think one has to go into this type of boat ownership with your eyes open. These craft are not Moody, Swan, Princess or even Westerly or Macwester where the builder has a real interest in reliability and quality in order to hopefully get the owner's loyalty when he upgrades or goes bigger. 

These boats were built with just one objective in mind. Make Money through charter. 

And as with any asset that are now 35 to 50 years old they are going to need looking after.

[JennyMorgan]

18 minutes ago, ChrisB said:

And as with any asset that are now 35 to 50 years old they are going to need looking after.

Nowadays hire boats are being built with the view of selling on after so long. Alec Hampton soon realised the wisdom of that when he built his Hampton Safari's so it's not a new approach. Despite that many hire boats were absolutely churned out without an eye to the future, witness Caribbeans. It always amazes me as to what prices are sometimes being asked for, and got, for forty or fifty year old ex hire boats that effectively are well past their sell-by dates and value wise were written off years ago. On top of that these old boats need moorings and servicing, tis an absolute win-win situation for those who have made it their businesses!

[ChrisB]

39 minutes ago, JennyMorgan said:

Nowadays hire boats are being built with the view of selling on after so long. Alec Hampton soon realised the wisdom of that when he built his Hampton Safari's so it's not a new approach. Despite that many hire boats were absolutely churned out without an eye to the future, witness Caribbeans. It always amazes me as to what prices are sometimes being asked for, and got, for forty or fifty year old ex hire boats that effectively are well past their sell-by dates and value wise were written off years ago. On top of that these old boats need moorings and servicing, tis an absolute win-win situation for those who have made it their businesses!

You touched on a very valid point Peter. Say you straight line them to zero value over 10 years or maybe even 20. Any sale afterwards is pure profit. I would think that the last thing the "Big  Five" want is their cast-offs entering the smaller yard hire business, hence sell a boat to a loyal customer that stands at zero value in the books for £30K and it is the equivalent of retained custom for the next 15 years or so.

[JennyMorgan]

21 minutes ago, ChrisB said:

I would think that the last thing the "Big  Five" want is their cast-offs entering the smaller yard hire business,

As has happened in the past. Mind you, one of the 'big five' (at least one of them), has taken to leasing out surplus boats to smaller yards thus retaining some control should the leasee go under or cease trading.

[Aboattime]

2 hours ago, OldBerkshireBoy said:

Why a pm, why not post on open forum pages? 

Why not?Pms are there for a reason,and up to the member if and when to use them?

[NorfolkNog]

17 hours ago, Broads01 said:

Here it is

 https://www.norfolkboatsales.co.uk/used-boats/alphacraft-32cc-about-time-968.asp#prettyPhoto

Ex Anchor Craft and still with the same distinctive light blue colour. Hey Howard, your favourite boat design? 

Hi Simon, yes it is. Sorry a bit late picking this up. I hired Swan Royale many times, still my favourite. I do like the 32's and they are pretty rare, I think only a handful were produced. As others have mentioned, it is ex Sabena (they had 2) and DRL briefly. I did look around it a while back. I would want my expert to look at it but sad fact is lack of dosh! I came up on the Thunderball on Saturday but I don't think 11 quid will go very far!! 

[oldgregg]

3 hours ago, ChrisB said:

I think one has to go into this type of boat ownership with your eyes open. These craft are not Moody, Swan, Princess or even Westerly or Macwester where the builder has a real interest in reliability and quality in order to hopefully get the owner's loyalty when he upgrades or goes bigger. 

While that's true to an extent, the likes of Broom (when it was actually Broom) and their sister company Aquafibre who did the actual moulding very much had a focus on quality. Several other yards also built their boats well and with the intention of keeping them in the fleet for a long time.

[Broads01]

6 hours ago, NorfolkNog said:

As others have mentioned, it is ex Sabena (they had 2) and DRL briefly.

So it is, ex Magnum at Sabena. That'll teach me to jump to conclusions based on the colour. When it was Magnum it was a darker blue. I always associate Sabena boats with having noisy engines but that might be my memory playing tricks. 

[NorfolkNog]

18 minutes ago, Broads01 said:

So it is, ex Magnum at Sabena. That'll teach me to jump to conclusions based on the colour. When it was Magnum it was a darker blue. I always associate Sabena boats with having noisy engines but that might be my memory playing tricks. 

I only hired from them once, Camero I think it was, sports type boat. Long time ago now but I do have a vague recollection the sports bit didn't apply to the engine! I think one of those went to DRL too. Sabena had 2 of all the boats, i think the idea was one did weeks and the other did short breaks. 

[CambridgeCabby]

We looked at Camero an Alpha 29 aft cockpit ,when it was at DRL , stank of diesel , if memory serves me right it was bright red and was advertised as ideal for honeymooners , I seem to remember it had a sit bath as well 

[trambo]

6 hours ago, CambridgeCabby said:

We looked at Camero an Alpha 29 aft cockpit ,when it was at DRL , stank of diesel , if memory serves me right it was bright red and was advertised as ideal for honeymooners , I seem to remember it had a sit bath as well 

The Sabena livery was pretty loud as was popular at the time but they did think out the box when it came to their fitouts.

Fred

[vanessan]

6 hours ago, NorfolkNog said:

I only hired from them once, Camero I think it was, sports type boat. Long time ago now but I do have a vague recollection the sports bit didn't apply to the engine! I think one of those went to DRL too. Sabena had 2 of all the boats, i think the idea was one did weeks and the other did short breaks. 

Camero went to City Boats I think, still that red colour. City Boats went down (not literally!) a couple of years back so I guess Camero is probably in private hands now. 

[ChrisB]

I twice hired an Alpha 29 sportdeck on the RGO from Bridge Boatyard at Ely. Apart from vision with canopy up being pretty poor, we both liked the boat. The one we hired had an ultra thin bulkhead mounted boiler supplying radiators which was an excellent and silent form of heating and drying. The drying aspect especially as on one trip we hit some very mixed October weather.

The only other things that could be a problem are limited access to foredeck and on our boats the companionway was deep and very steep. It was not a problem to us, but could be to the less mobile.

[ChrisB]

I see Hoseasons are still listing the "Sunrays" from Bridge Boatyard as suitable for the "More Active"

[Broads01]

2 hours ago, trambo said:

The Sabena livery was pretty loud as was popular at the time but they did think out the box when it came to their fitouts.

Fred

Indeed. The interior photos of their Alpha 32 forward steer 2 berth stick in my mind.