On 21 Jun 2005 16:53:52 -0700, "Chris" wrote:


Hi there,

what do you think:

Is $8000 a reasonable price for a
Newport 27 from the early eighties,
in very good condition, with a
pretty unused freshwater cooled
diesel, but standing rigging that
needs to be changed?

I'd appreciate any comments,

Yes. A buddy here in Toronto just sold his 1984 Newport 27 for 12K
Canadian, which is 10K U.S., last week. It wasn't moving at 15K and he
thought it was a 'sacrifice deal' because people aren't liking smaller
boats so much these days. It has a gas engine, however, and had a
visible rentangle out of the foredeck where the core had failed: the
owner did a servicable and sound, but not cosmetically perfect job.

The boat had been raced for many seasons (I crewed on it for five) and
perhaps that was a factor in the boat not moving for months. However,
never having been cruised, it cleaned up nicely and "rides light' as
you'd expect of a 5,500 lb. 27 footer. In five years, we took two
firsts, two thirds and a second, racing against C&C 27s, S2s and
Catalina 30s and Viking 28s.

The Newport 27 is essentially a C&C 27 hull with a Newport topsides
and deck. It's rated about 212 PHRF-LO and has the following good/bad
things from a pure sailing perspective: It's very fast to accelerate
and handles well and can take a huge (30 knot) beating. Quite lively
and good for weekender cruising and/or club racing. The downside is
that it's light and can be badly pounded and slowed by relatively
modest wave action. You also have to watch it making lee way, but
downwind it can get up and surf at 10+ knots..bags of fun.

Lastly, like most balsa-cored boats, the core is prone to leakage and
failure, which can end up as a gruesome repair job. Get a survey and
make the call: Repairing the core can be owner-done, but it can be
messy and time-consuming, so $8,000 U.S. is a good price....if half
the deck isn't rotted.

Hope this helps.

R.