Component quality - Motorhomes vs Boats

[nicholsong]

I owned Contessa 32 'White Knight of Purbeck' before the SHE 36. Fabulous sea keeper but a bit small for us after I'd fitted central heating, refrigeration, teak cockpit seats etc!
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Contessa 32 had lovely lines, very similar to Nicholson 35 and the Rivals. I agree with you about space, which is why I elected for a Westerly 33, which proved to be also a good sea-keeper, thanks to Laurent Giles's design.

As the saying goes 'If it looks right it may be right. If it looks wrong it will be wrong'

Geoff

 

[cyberyacht]

The Sadler 32 (same hull but higher topsides gave you a bit more room inside.)

 

[Nyvern]

Difficult to compare a boat with a motorhome. If you want the same volume of space on a boat that you get on a large motorhome you would have to pay a great deal more for the boat so only right that find better quality items the boat.

 

[David and Sally]

There is one similarity. A place for everything, and everything in it’s place. On a boat it is essential to be able to use warps, anchors, life rafts, nav equipment, flares etc with no mucking about.
In a motorhome the wine and beer have to be properly chilled and ready for consumption at a moment’s notice. Loo has to be ready for action.

 

[John Barrett]

The saloon of my old SHE 36, all teak and velvet, and nothing could be more cozy!

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[David and Sally]

The saloon of my old SHE 36, all teak and velvet, and nothing could be View attachment 548074cosier!

Lovely

 

[DT]

We have owned a two boats the second a Chaparral we kept in Florida. From new we never had any issues despite being banged by waves and tortured by the hot sun. Not the same story with our Lunar and Swift caravans and as for our MH. ,!!!

 

[63720]

We used to have a Contess 32 sailboat, built in 1979. Incredibly strong, solidly built cabinetry, stainless steel or brass fittings, but quite skinny with modest internal volumes. We now have a 40ft Wauquiez pilot saloon sailboat, again, a quality boat with quality fittings and teak cabinetry but with good internal volumes. Yes, she creaks a bit when we are slamming upwind in a seaway but she is 10 tonnes unladen and is capable of a circumnavigation. She is finished to a higher quality than many production yachts. Some years ago my partner did a delivery trip of a brand new 54 ft Beneteau from la Rochelle to Lymington. Going round Ushant in very rough weather the ceiling panels were falling down around him and there were leaks from hatches. Modern boats are built to a price too, frequently to attract the charter market where large internal volumes are the key driver and this means that the build quality is compromised. However, motor homes are generally ridiculously lightly built - it really is not acceptable.

I agree to a point but the difference is in payload. I'm all for quality of construction but I'm not afraid of modern materials. TVs once came in a wooden box which took two people to lift but now anyone can lift one. I want to stay at 3.5t but with a decent payload so for me the lighter the better whatever materials are used.

 

[Paulypaul]

I can see there are a lot of WAFI's or ex-WAFI's who have moved onto motorhomes

 

[Martyn911]

Or a Moblivette K yacht, well built for the money and much better looking than the Concord.And it even looks good inside, see the reveiws on Utube.

Or a Moblivette K yacht, well built for the money and much better looking than the Concord.And it even looks good inside, see the reveiws on Utube.

Your having a laugh fella not in the same League, I actually fell for your post and looked the mark up on youtube. A little van, compared to a 15 ton bus. jealousy is a strong emotion. About to get band again by Jim the ring leader

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[Paulypaul]

Your having a laugh fella not in the same League, I actually fell for your post and looked the mark up on youtube. A little van, compared to a 15 ton bus. jealousy is a strong emotion. About to get band again by Jim the ring leader

springs to mind, and I think you took the bait

 

[Platelet]

Apart from some of the previously mentioned cheaper fittings on my Elddis that annoy me, the biggest grip I have is the fitted GPS. To save a few pennies Elddis have fitted a car GPS that is not fit for purpose for a motorhomer . Unfortunately TomTom don’t do a MH replacement without replacing the complete facia.

I’m no expert on this but is the mapping software inbuilt or on a memory card? If it’s inbuilt you maybe able to flash the memory, if it’s on the card you maybe able to download an update. Some gps modules have their system on one card and the mapping on another card.

 

[robnchris]

This is our Catalina, fabulous boat and very nimble for a 45 footer.
One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that most of the stresses a boat suffers isn't from the sea pounding the hull but the stress caused from the wind in the sails on the mast, just look at the shrouds on the windward side of the boat Taut like piano string then look at the shrouds on the Lee side slack with sag in them.
Add to that Tacking and Gybing, throw a Spinnaker or Gennaker into the mix or the twin cruising Genoa's our yacht had and then you will see some stresses.

 

[Soycd]

I know a lot of fellow Motorhomes are, like us, ex-boaters, and am wondering whether the same thought had struck them.

I understand perfectly the need to build down to a weight, and so accept the relative flimsiness of the structure above the chassis when compared with boats, which even in the modern era are relatively substantial.

I can also understand, a bit, that fittings, like say cupboard latches, and hinges need to be similarly light, and of relatively poor quality (not saying bad, this is all relative). However some of the other stuff, common to both boating and Motorhoming seems to be less robust. You could almost say trashy.


In our six your old van I have experienced issues with water pumps, inverters, switches, electronics, lighting and other niggles. Many of these components are common to boating as well.

That is not to say our boats didn't have failures too, it is just that in fixing them I rarely felt I was dealing with something poorly made or designed.

Could it be that the harsher movement of motorhomes compared to that of boats is to blame, or is our market one that shortcuts can be hidden?

I'd be very interested to hear others' views.

You get what you pay for, I expect.

 

[tonyidle]

I’m no expert on this but is the mapping software inbuilt or on a memory card? If it’s inbuilt you maybe able to flash the memory, if it’s on the card you maybe able to download an update. Some gps modules have their system on one card and the mapping on another card.

I use the car setting. The MH setting isn't very good anyway (on any of them).

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[L' Hobo]

I’m no expert on this but is the mapping software inbuilt or on a memory card? If it’s inbuilt you maybe able to flash the memory, if it’s on the card you maybe able to download an update. Some gps modules have their system on one card and the mapping on another card.

You may not be an expert but you lost me with the first 'flash the memory',.
I sometimes get a flash of memory, but sadly, not when I'm trying to remember people's names

 

[L' Hobo]

This is our Catalina, fabulous boat and very nimble for a 45 footer.
One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that most of the stresses a boat suffers isn't from the sea pounding the hull but the stress caused from the wind in the sails on the mast, just look at the shrouds on the windward side of the boat Taut like piano string then look at the shrouds on the Lee side slack with sag in them.
Add to that Tacking and Gybing, throw a Spinnaker or Gennaker into the mix or the twin cruising Genoa's our yacht had and then you will see some stresses.

View attachment 548260

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but at least one has some control with how much sail one uses.

 

[John Barrett]

but at least one has some control with how much sail one uses.

Not when the genoa reefing drum line breaks and the reefed sail unrolls, just like mine did in a Force 7 crossing the channel at night...

 

[dash300]

This is our Catalina, fabulous boat and very nimble for a 45 footer.
One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that most of the stresses a boat suffers isn't from the sea pounding the hull but the stress caused from the wind in the sails on the mast, just look at the shrouds on the windward side of the boat Taut like piano string then look at the shrouds on the Lee side slack with sag in them.
Add to that Tacking and Gybing, throw a Spinnaker or Gennaker into the mix or the twin cruising Genoa's our yacht had and then you will see some stresses.

View attachment 548260

View attachment 548261 View attachment 548262

Do you mean that flappy thing yotties fixatedly keep looking up at?

 

[robnchris]

Not when the genoa reefing drum line breaks and the reefed sail unrolls, just like mine did in a Force 7 crossing the channel at night...

Oppps bet that was fun.

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[robnchris]

but at least one has some control with how much sail one uses.

That is very true but it amazing how many think they will go faster with the yacht on it's ears when all they achieve being over canvassed is a load of weather helm.

 

[EML]

So yes I do understand the point which the CEO was making and it was a very poor one.

Agree 100%. It's absurd for a MotorHome builder to suggest that it's too difficult to stop water coming through the roof, so we just have to live with it. It's that sort of mentality that makes people like me build our own.

And the fact that a moho body is approximately square is irrelevant.

 

[Pausim]

If they think square bodies are a problem they could put some curvature at the top of the walls and move the joints away from a square edge.

 

[Peppadog]

The Sadler 32 (same hull but higher topsides gave you a bit more room inside.)

Well not exactly the same hull. But same designer, and David Sadler’s follow up design. They are certainly a bit bigger down below.

Here’s my S32. Dried out in Green Bay, Scilly Isles earlier this year. She was built in 2013 from the original moulds.

 

[Offagain]

This is our Catalina, fabulous boat and very nimble for a 45 footer.
One thing that hasn't been mentioned is that most of the stresses a boat suffers isn't from the sea pounding the hull but the stress caused from the wind in the sails on the mast, just look at the shrouds on the windward side of the boat Taut like piano string then look at the shrouds on the Lee side slack with sag in them.
Add to that Tacking and Gybing, throw a Spinnaker or Gennaker into the mix or the twin cruising Genoa's our yacht had and then you will see some stresses.

View attachment 548260

View attachment 548261 View attachment 548262

That looks very much like Kastos, but not recently
Nice boat.

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[L' Hobo]

Well not exactly the same hull. But same designer, and David Sadler’s follow up design. They are certainly a bit bigger down below.

Here’s my S32. Dried out in Green Bay, Scilly Isles earlier this year. She was built in 2013 from the original moulds.



View attachment 548446

Nice boat but no good too me as there no deck derrick to lift my old bones aboard and the ladders a bit too short + I think your just showing off to us M/H owner how level you got it. (or is it hanging from a sky hook which you have cropped off)

 

[funflair]

This thread got me thinking "what do you get for your money" well £150k would get you this https://uk.boats.com/power-boats/2022-jeanneau-cap-camarat-9-0-wa-8014952/

Not sure what you get for £80k but I don't think I would fancy living in in for a couple of months while touring Europe.

 

[Jamesh]

This thread got me thinking "what do you get for your money" well £150k would get you this https://uk.boats.com/power-boats/2022-jeanneau-cap-camarat-9-0-wa-8014952/

Not sure what you get for £80k but I don't think I would fancy living in in for a couple of months while touring Europe.

About as as much space as pvc!

Cheers James

 

[robnchris]

That looks very much like Kastos, but not recently
Nice boat.

Spot on it is Kastos, about 10yrs ago, we would up tie there to keep away from the anchor draggers or sit at anchor opposite the steps to the beach in 5m.
The walk up the restaurant (can't remember the name) was worth it for the view alone.

 

[Peppadog]

Nice boat but no good too me as there no deck derrick to lift my old bones aboard and the ladders a bit too short + I think your just showing off to us M/H owner how level you got it. (or is it hanging from a sky hook which you have cropped off)

Sky hook
Actually, its the first time I have been in a place to 'take the ground' since buying her from the builder in late 2016. So I was a little wary. Its also my first twin keel'er, so not even tried before. My previous boats would have fallen over! It sits on the keels and rudder of course, as I guess you knew. The ladder is for getting out of the water. Its a bugger when its on the beach though, like in the photo. We used the dinghy to stand on. Which was needed anyway when the tide was in. Its tied on!
The boom makes a good crane arm. Often a technique used to get a person out of the water and back in the boat. A bit too low for lifting you over the guard wire though L'Hobo

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