Does anyone have any knowledge / opinions about mid 198O's, 45'
Lancer Sloop, designer Herb David? One of my sailing students is
looking for input. I know nothing about them.

There are two listed on Yachtworld for vastly different prices.

Thanks

Jack

"Jack Dale" wrote in message
...

Does anyone have any knowledge / opinions about mid 198O's, 45'
Lancer Sloop, designer Herb David? One of my sailing students is
looking for input. I know nothing about them.

There are two listed on Yachtworld for vastly different prices.

Thanks

Jack

We looked at Lancer when we were in our model selection phase. There are
many things about them which were attractive - and some which were curious
at best. We only went aboard 42s, which were somewhat different than the
45s in character.

Looking at the two in question, it appears as though one has been through a
refit, and the other has not.

As we are now in our refit phase, I can attest to how expensive it is - and
what some of the value may be in a refit boat.

Just MHO but buying someone else' already refit boat is usually cheaper than
paying for it yourself. Without having been aboard this particular model,
from the looks of things, it's a very roomy boat, no doubt in part due to
the very high freeboard.

However, in addition, much of the roominess is due to the relatively small
storage space compared with other cruisers. Depending on how they intend
using the boat, it may be a great deal - or they could find themselves
looking for places to put stuff, something to hang onto while they pitched
about, and the like, below.

Without any judgment toward their seaworthiness, just due to what I see in
cruiser terms, I'd be inclined to see it as a coastal, gulf or bays cruiser.

Very interesting boats...

L8R

Skip and Lydia, with her house sold and mine optioned, refitting as fast as
we can!


--
Morgan 461 #2
SV Flying Pig
http://tinyurl.com/384p2

"Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things you
didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail
away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore.
Dream. Discover." - Mark Twain

Jack Dale wrote:
Does anyone have any knowledge / opinions about mid 198O's, 45'
Lancer Sloop, designer Herb David? One of my sailing students is
looking for input. I know nothing about them.


When helping a friend shop for a boat a couple of years ago, I poked
into th guts of a mid-30-footer Lancer of that vintage. Build quality
was laughably poor... it was like a textbook example of "how not to
build a fiberglass boat." I don't know if their bigger boats are done by
the same people but I'd be suspicious.

If one is seriously shopping for a boat, get a book on surveying. My
personal recommendation is Ian Nicholson's "Surveying Small Craft" (he
means boats under 100 tons) which gives very good details & pictures of
what's good & bad in yacht build quality. It would be a good idea to
check the public libraries on the subject.

Fresh Breezes- Doug King

Hi Jack and Skip,

I've been on several each of the Lancer 30s, 36s and MotorSailers (40?),
although it's been a bunch of years. The 36 may be what Skip is talking
about (mid 30 foot?), and as I recall it was a Gary Mull design (adapted
from the hull of Transpac veteran "Chutzpah"). Chutzpah (which I've
also sailed on) was one of the first ULDB designs, pretty good downwind,
but a bugger to take upwind. I'm not sure what size the MotorSailer is,
40 perhaps?

At any rate, Lancers were considered to be fairly inovative in concept,
but lacking in construction and finish. The overall construction I
would compare to Hunters and similar: overall good enough for coastal
sailing, questionable for blue water sailing. But like any
generalization there are always exceptions and I have seen several that
have been completely refitted and have traveled some serious sea-miles.
Most recently I've gotten to know a couple that has a Lancer
Motorsailer that was sailed from Alaska to Hawaii and then back again...
no serious mechanical problems reported.

Like many glass boats of the 70's and 80's, you're likely to run into
boats that have been extensively refitted/reconstructed or in serious
need of help (which could explain the wide price range). Skip's advice
is well founded and I'd only add that I'd recommend you take particular
attention to blisters, delaminations and other signs of poor glass work
which is so common of boats that vintage.

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as I recall it was a Gary Mull design (adapted
from the hull of Transpac veteran "Chutzpah").

I better correct myself, before someone else here does ;-)
"Chutzpah" was designed by Bill Lee, not Gary Mull. I was told that the
Lancer 36 was taken from the design of Chutzpah, but I don't know this
for a fact. I've been on both (Chutzpah and a L36) and if the L36
didn't come from Chutzpah, it at least was influenced by it, the two
hulls are very similar.

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