On Dec 30, 2004, at 11:04 PM, Mary,Robert,Lena wrote:
> (if all goes well) Our family, is about to become the proud owners of
> a corsair 24 mkI. One of the reasons we are buying it is that these
> boats (corsairs in general) are supposed to be of high quality.
> surely the resail value reflects that (we hope). But just how long,
> should we realistically expect this boat to last? yes sails blow out
> and rigging wears out, as does winches and moving parts, nets
> deteriorate and we expect all that. but how many more years can we
> expect out of an already 12 year old hull,amas, and beams? 10? 20?
> what about that aluminum mast? We do plan on taking care of it best
> we can! will this boat outlast the loan?
As the owner of F-27 #60, and being 50+ years old myself, I ask this
question of both me and my boat. Boats made from solid fiberglass show
no evidence that there is a point of no return, though I see examples
now and then where the resin/cloth ratio was way out, and the boat has
become so soft that it is essentially useless. At some point, I'd
assume that flex fatigue will be the issue for even well built solid
glass boats- i.e. the boat will lose integrity and repair will be
impractical or not cost effective. Clearly this point will come after
most boats have been lost due to accident or neglect, and some will
become "classics", and will be saved at any expense.
Cored construction has its limits as well, based on flex- I've never
seen someone write on what those limits are. I figure that on our boats
there will be some area where the engineered strength has a smaller
margin than others, and repetitive flex will show up as a loss of
strength, and the repair will not be cost effective. I have no idea
where that part may be or how the failure will appear, but I'm
comfortable that it is a ways off.
Every other part of the boat is replaceable, mast, rigging, etc., and I
figure the value of our aging boats will always be based on the
condition of the repairable parts, the appearance of the boat, and a
comparison with the cost of the new version. I'd be surprised if you
were ever upside down in your loan, so long as you spend roughly the
10% depreciation per year that I figure is the real cost of ownership
(I think it is higher than that, maybe more like 15%, but I enjoy
putting in my labor, so that cuts it down for me).
I also figure that these boats are classic, that one day people will
research the archives of this list to determine just when the water
tank was moved, or the mast changed, so they can return their boat to
original factory spec. I put all my original hardware in boxes and have
saved my original cushion fabric and lines, with the expectation of an
eBay windfall in some distant future:-)
Jesse Deupree
F-27 ION
Portland Maine
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