Hopeful new owner but need more info

[markd]

Hi All,
Ive loved the H25's ever since i raced against one in the JOG class now devision 3 in Hobart. Im Looking at buying one in Hobart. Im a bit scared of them as Ive heard they round up fairly easily due to their beam and ive never had a keelboat before. Is this true and are they as much of a handful as ive heard? The one im looking at is a full masthead rig.

[markd]

Paulmac if you bought Impala i would be interested if you looked at valsheda which is also for sale and what you thought

[paulmac]

Hi markd.

Yes - I did look at Velsheeda. I went aboard and had a look around when it was at the Boat Sales marina at the end of Murray street. She's a bit shabby. Hasn't been looked after very well for a few years I thought, but was racing up until it was put up for sale. It has a structural defect (a serious crack) around the area where the mast meets the cabin top. This tells me that the rig might not be safe. I spent about 10 minutes on board and then went to Impala, which was in much better condition.

You could buy her fairly cheaply I would think, but you would probably need to spend a bit to bring her up to scratch.

I would recommend that you do what I did, and get a marine surveyor to go over it for you. They'll give you a detailed survey report which tells you the condition of all parts of the boat. It will cost a few hundred dollars, but I think its money well spent.

I haven't had the chance to do much sailing on Impala as yet - she's currently with a shipwright getting a couple of things fixed that the surveyor found - new engine mounts, re-sealing and re-bolting the toerails, and some minor engine work.

Before I bought Impala I did sail her out on the Derwent for an hour or so, as a sea trial. These boats sail very well - mine sails very close to the wind, which I'm happy about.

As for the rounding up you mentioned, from my experience that's a sign that you have too much sail up. You reduce the amount of sail and the rounding up stops. I don't think it has much to do with the hull shape.

Cheers.

[markd]

thanks,
As far as the crack in the hull near the mast goes, i was aware of it as when i enquired (about february) it had just been taken from the dock and temporarly off the market, hopefully to have this fixed. Will be checking if it is still available this week and the crack issue will be my main focus. What caught my eye was the sail inventory which would cover me for quite a few years to come hopefully. Did notice by the photos that Impala was in far better condition, but at the time was looking at another vessel.

Just keep coming back to the H25's for some reason

[paulmac]

Yeah - that crack was the main worry with Velsheeda. I reckon you could pick that boat up for a good price - and you're right about those sails. Apparently the previous owner was right into racing. You could use the boat straight away and slowly over time, bring her up to be in really good condition.

I've always loved the Holland 25s. There's something about the design, shape etc... I really like the fact that they have a huge thingypit for a 25 footer and quite wide side decks. Thats a very practical design for a yacht, I think.

Good luck with it all and maybe consider using a marine surveyor. I used a guy called Pat Synge. You can contact him through the Boat Sales people.

[appleslice]

The idea that the H25 rounds up easily due to its beam is not quite right. It will round up if you try and sail it on its ear! If you adjust your sails and human ballast to limit heel to no more than about 15 degrees she will go like a rocket, as Ron Holland designed the >waterline< profile to be much narrower.