Thanks for your reply.
What you have said reminds me when I bought the boat I now have.

After looking at pre-owned sailboats in 1982 I ended up buying a new one.
Today, based on the information I have collected over the years from
experience, yacht clubs, reviews, races and club members comments I might as
well buy a new sailboat.
The latter sources of information may not reflect the true about a sailboat.
Racing people will tend to prefer a J type of boat for racing on the coast
and around the club. Cruising people have different needs and prefer a
different type of boat like the CE class A.
Rather than having to have money in escrow or letter of guarantee just for
looking and sea trying a boat before buying I might as well get a well
documented new one. This way I'll enjoy up to date technology, new sails,
full boat warranty and the individual components and equipment will also be
covered for a period of time.

"David&Joan" wrote in message
news:2zaRe.73227$DW1.48219@fed1read06...
Denis:

What you describe is the "custom of the industry" and there are very good
reasons for it as others have noted. I sold yachts for about a year in
Annapolis for a very respected dealer/broker and not once did I have a
customer who just wanted to take a test sail to see what suited him. It
just
isn't the way business is done. Even $100 paid to the seller isn't likely
to
get you a test sail. As a yacht broker I would drop such a customer like a
hot potato as a "tire kicker".

And as someone noted, how can a broker make a living selling boats at
$50,000. Well, just barely. Our brokerage had a $25,000 cut off to accept
a
listing. It just didn't make sense to spend your time driving all over the
northern Chesapeake showing boats to earn a total (split 50/50 between the
person and the firm) commision of less than $2,500.

There are brokerages that sell low value boats. There is one in the south
county area, that we referred our low end listings to. But all of his
boats
were either on the hard or right there in a slip at the marina. He never
had
to drive anywhere to show his listings. He did have a $1000 minimum
commision.

If you just want a test sail to determine if one type of boat is better
than
another (as opposed to checking out a specific boat before closing the
deal)
then there are other ways of doing this. Chartering is one way. Bumming
rides from OPBs (other peoples boats) is another. You can sometimes wangle
a
test sail from a new boat dealer if he has one that you like in stock. But
new boat dealers are pretty good at smoking these frauds out.

Also let me suggest that a short test sail is not going to really tell you
whether one type is better suited for you or not. Unless you are a very
experienced sailor, all sailboats sail well on a nice day. Once you know
boats, you can tell more from the design, layout, construction as to how
it
will work for you than after you sail it for a short while. My first
cruising boat was a new XXX. I was in love with it for the first several
months. Then I began to notice its vicious roundup tendencies in a strong
gust. I sailed other boats of similar size that didn't do this. I sold the
boat after less than a year and later learned that this was the
manufacturer's first design of this type and it was a fundamentally bad
design.

David

Ever bought a new boat? I did once and never again. It's not like
buying a new car, where pretty much everything works when you get it. I
had over 150 items on the original punch list that needed fixing.
Chartplotter didn't work, hot water didn't work, bolts put in the wrong
way, chipped fiberglass, fuel gages didn't read correctly, leaks, etc.
etc. etc. A YEAR later still everything wasn't fixed.

I'd much rather buy a boat that was one or two years old, where the
original owner did all the fitting out and took the big depreciation
hit.

What you are saying is true.
However, when I purchased my actual sailboat (in 1982) it was new.
I was blessed by having the manufacturers rep to assist me and to provide
needed parts.
Plus, at the club were I had the boat launched several members had the same
boat and they help me a lot for the first season.
Buying a 1 to 4 years old boat has lots of advantages and may be better than
buying a new one. The question is why would the owner of a well equipped 1
to 4 years old boat would want to get rid of it. Some are saying it may be
that the bank want their money? That may be a good come along. However, I
have learned that friends of the lending institutions have first pick. In
other instance, the owner want out of boating because of Family reason. Then
if the boat suits you and you are amenable to the owner you may have a good
purchase.
Even an older boat could be a good acquisition. The way the owner takes care
of his sailboat has a lot to say about the condition of the boat. As for the
performance of the boat nothing is better than seeing the boat in action.
One year when in Maine during heavy weather I was making it trough the
northeast passage with my actual boat. When going throughout the passage I
observed all kinds of sailboats going through. A few sailboats attracted my
attention by sailing by with ease making better headway than other. The name
of those sailboats got imprinted in my mind and during my shopping I will
look out for their types.



"Keith" wrote in message
oups.com...
Ever bought a new boat? I did once and never again. It's not like
buying a new car, where pretty much everything works when you get it. I
had over 150 items on the original punch list that needed fixing.
Chartplotter didn't work, hot water didn't work, bolts put in the wrong
way, chipped fiberglass, fuel gages didn't read correctly, leaks, etc.
etc. etc. A YEAR later still everything wasn't fixed.

I'd much rather buy a boat that was one or two years old, where the
original owner did all the fitting out and took the big depreciation
hit.