Hire Boat Numbers

[Captain]

Hi, 

For those interested a few weeks back I put my anorak on and calculated the approximate number of hire boats at each yard, the number of each type and style. Some of this is based on knowledge otherwise some on estimated figures however I believe I should be within 1 or 2% .

According to my calcs of hire cruisers ie those available for weekend and weekly hire exc small day boats there are cc 630 cruisers plus 2 in build made up 114 different varieties ie sizes and types. Plus 58 yachts

200 centre cockpit 

197 forward steer 

164 Dual steer 

54 sedan

17 aft cockpit

Boatyards have:

Richardsons 209

Herbert Woods 124 +1 in build plus 9 day cruisers 

Barnes Brinkcraft 87 + 1 in build plus 12 day cruisers 

Faircraft NBD 63 plus 7 day cruisers 

Ferry Marina 44 plus 9 day cruisers

Brooms 25

Silverline 20

Bridgecraft 20

Martham 10 + 22 yachts

Horning Pleasurecraft 9

Pacific 9

NYA 4

Maycraft 2

Eastwood Whelpton 1+ 16 yachts 

Ludham sailing (Hunters) 14 yachts 

Martham Ferry (Olivers) 3 yachts

Swallowtail 3 yachts 

I won't list out all the different styles of boat however the mosr numerous single design was the Alpha 44 Dual steer at 31 followed by Alpha 35 Dual steer at 30 although if you combine the mark 1 and mark 3 Bounty 37s you have 32 left, not bad for one of the oldest Grp boats on the Broads 31 of which are at Richardsons.

Hope this is of interest to any other boat nerds like myself.

Neil 

[Chelsea14Ian]

Very good next project private  🚢 private boats.

[Captain]

Hi, private boats now that would be project and a half! Craig is sadly no longer around to help with some of the data although his database is still a wealth of information 

Neil

[NeilB]

Richos still have a half built Carousel and the Sedan, shed doors were open the other day so had a quick peep!  Not being worked on though.

[Roy]

Thanks that’s quite interesting I have often wondered how many boats bridge craft has and other independent yards 

[Broads01]

Thank you Neil, definitely of interest to a fellow nerd like myself. I didn't realise Ferry Marina had so many. Interesting that numbers of forward steer and centre cockpit are so close and dual steer not far behind. Do Maycraft definitely have 2? I thought one of the Hamptons was a day cruiser.

[Captain]

Hi 

No problem. As to Maycraft,  I am making an assumption that as Mayfair is available on three different start days then it's likely they use both for holidays and fit day hire in as and when available however I haven't asked them or spoken to any customers so you are just as likely to be correct. What I can say is that they have 2 of only 3/4 remaining Hampton 25s on hire on the Broads, although I believe Bridge stores at St Olaves did and may still have one for day hire. There are 2 more on the Thames at Caversham.

Neil 

[Captain]

Hi NeilB, 

What a shame Richardsons still have 2 half built boats. Must have been thousands invested in those boats. I can possibly understand the sedan being mothballed as this may have given them issues as a new design however they already have 17/18 of the centre steers you would think it would be worthwhile trying to finish it.

Neil 

[CambridgeCabby]

Summercraft still have two hire boats as well 

[Andrewcook]

Hi to bear this in about Richardson's Two Boats not completed yet as Paul Richardson's is now running the Richardson's Yard including the Caravan parks' he  has now got as this could  now slow down on the Richardson's fleet of New Boats in the near future to come. 

[andyg]

23 minutes ago, Andrewcook said:

Hi to bear this in about Richardson's Two Boats not completed yet as Paul Richardson's is now running the Richardson's Yard including the Caravan parks' he  has now got as this could  now slow down on the Richardson's fleet of New Boats in the near future to come. 

I would imagine Andrew it's all about consolidation, Clive leaving the family business and following his passion must of been a huge blow to the business. I've no doubt that their father taught both Clive and Paul all they needed to known. I'm sure both richardsons and Horning pleasure craft will be around for some time yet..  

[Dan]

20 minutes ago, andyg said:

I would imagine Andrew it's all about consolidation, Clive leaving the family business and following his passion must of been a huge blow to the business. I've no doubt that their father taught both Clive and Paul all they needed to known. I'm sure both richardsons and Horning pleasure craft will be around for some time yet..  

Well I guess really as the boatbuilding team has also gone to Horning it has meant Stalham does not have the team to finish them easily, but I suppose it will happen sometime, somehow

[Matt]

Barnes listed a handful boats for sale with NBS this week.

[Captain]

Thanks Cambridge Cabby, 

You have answered my reconciliation query. I was two boats out between my calculation for total yard fleets and total number for the different styles, I included Summercrafts 2 Aquafibres however forgot to include them as a hire fleet. School boy error!

Neil

[Mouldy]

11 hours ago, Matt said:

Barnes listed a handful boats for sale with NBS this week.

They do that every year.  The Pearl 38 was on the market when we bought ours 3 years ago.  I guess their ethos is of they sell, then there’s a bit of cash to go back into a new build programme, but if they don’t, then they’ll hire them out again next year.

[Davecc]

Thanks, very interesting.

 I was wondering about the average hired lifetime of a boat. I'm assuming 20 years approximately but do styles go out of fashion and those are sold off earlier? 

[CambridgeCabby]

Many hire boats still operating are more than double 20 years of age 

[Wussername]

Some of which are looking very "tired".

[JanetAnne]

Hunters fleet, many of Marthams etc etc are well over 70 years old!

[Matt]

2 hours ago, Mouldy said:

They do that every year.  The Pearl 38 was on the market when we bought ours 3 years ago.  I guess their ethos is of they sell, then there’s a bit of cash to go back into a new build programme, but if they don’t, then they’ll hire them out again next year.

And still at £60k 😃

[MargeandParge]

1 hour ago, Matt said:

And still at £60k 😃

They just don't depreciate as houses don't because they are normally updated  to stay reliable enough and the cost of new build runs at the same speed as inflation.

Some 40 year old GRP hulls are as strong as the day they were built and stronger than a lot of hulls built now. 

So an older boat cared for is worth 25% of the cost of a new one . This is just our opinion and obviously build quality is related to the manufacturer as it is today.

Kindest Regards

Marge and Parge  

 

[CambridgeCabby]

Our old and much loved Ocean 30 was certainly a testament to the quality of the grp in the 70’s .

They didn’t realise , I believe, just how strong a material grp was and over fabricated it making our hull almost an inch thick !!

Many of the newer boats we viewed just weren’t manufactured to the same quality and the hulls were wafer thick .

Our Sheerline has a thicker hull than most of the modern offerings but even then our Ocean was more than twice its thickness .

[Matt]

1 hour ago, MargeandParge said:

They just don't depreciate as houses don't because they are normally updated  to stay reliable enough and the cost of new build runs at the same speed as inflation.

Some 40 year old GRP hulls are as strong as the day they were built and stronger than a lot of hulls built now. 

So an older boat cared for is worth 25% of the cost of a new one . This is just our opinion and obviously build quality is related to the manufacturer as it is today.

Kindest Regards

Marge and Parge  

 

Indeed, the market will dictate the price. 

[ExSurveyor]

There are a lot more boats of all shapes and sizes appearing for sale on various platforms.

[Captain]

Dave cc, 

If had uploaded my data onto a spreadsheet I could have worked out the average age of the hire fleets although it would be an estimate as some boats are a little sketchy. It's certainly more than 20 years on the Broads before they are retired, maybe the canals is closer to that as they seem to be cheaper to build. 

Most boats or atleast the reasonably popular ones currently see 35-40 years in service. I have seen boats retired after a couple of seasons others still going after 50 odd years. The oldest Grp boat is probably San Pedro at Richardsons an Aquafibre Ocean 30 from around 1967. Richardsons also have the oldest bathtub which I believe is Rhapsody 1 ex Tropicana from Mixer Marine from cc 1972 most of the other Bounty 37s date from 1974-87 and Calypso from 1973.

The oldest wooden boat, well Zoe a yacht at Martham boats dates from 1898 and Janet and Jocelyn from around 1950.

Neil