Can anyone offer purchase advise for newbies starting out in the model boat sailing world.

I have unfortunately just purchased a boat that takes in water than a teabag . It is so bad, that it is to much of a risk to sail it... and can't find a solution to cure the issue due to the amount of leaks it has. One of them being unreachable. This has been a costly error due to my naivety I now having to start all over again and probably absorb the loss....

I regret not meeting the seller at his local pond when i collected it, to see the boat sailing when I collected  would have been obvious at this point that it wasn't going to be a good purchase.

To avoid this happening to other new members buying their first boat, can anyone offer purchase advice on what to look for and make sure someone is not just selling on their crap to an unsuspecting novice...

Not just boats, but any related equipment may be helpful.

Really sorry to hear this, I bought my first boat and has been brilliant, and worked well. The second was claimed to be professionally repaired, and it sank, so found divers to recover it and now well repaired has sailed well.

like cars, sometimes secondhand is brilliant and sometimes a money pit…. But I am not sure I could have sorted out the sinker on a test sail, as it was blowing when it sank with more leverage on the keel.

you learn, unfortunately and I am still learning 

Stephen

Can you not wrap the hull in vinyl?

Unfortunately it's the keel box that leaks the most, as well as the deck coming away from the Hull...

Unfortunately non of this visible when I purchased it... every time I repair one area another appears, and unfortunately the keel box is not possible to get to despite my best efforts ....

You can drip thin super glue down into the keel box from the outside, if water can get in then superglue can get to the hole/crack too .

 

I could and have considered this. Thanks for these ideas, they are appreciated and have been considered. The fear is if I get it wrong I will not be able to refit the keel....

Hi Mark

I am sorry you have had a bad experience. It is a long shot, but can you make contact with the previous owner, describe your dissatisfaction with the condition of the yacht. They may compromise if shown the errors of there ways?
In general terms, the price advertised can indicate the condition of the yacht being purchased. The cheaper the price the more work is required. That said, on occasions people will pickup some great deals. It’s all about being present at the time. 
 

Regards

JT

Put some tape over the bolt hole, turn the boat upside down and then fill the keelbox with water.  This should tell you if the leak is at the top or the bottom of the keelbox i.e. does the level drop fast and then slow down/stop or does it drain all the way down to the deck level?  If the latter then try 'painting' the inside of the box with epoxy.  (Super glue is rather brittle and not waterproof long term).  There should be some clearance at the top of the fin so a small amount of epoxy shouldn't stop the fin fitting.  If the leak is between the keelbox and the hull then best bet is to run a fillet round the joint from inside the boat.  if you use thinish epoxy the gravity can help if you can't reach everywhere.

What make hull do you have

Hi Mark sorry to hear you have been left with a bit of a 🍋. I have found the people involved in this hobby the totally opposite to your experience.

 

Like John says contact them see if a compromise can be achieved.

 

What did you get? Maybe see if anyone at your local club can help with repairing it 😃 

As the seller of this boat, I must take exception to this post. I bought this boat from a well known builder who had sailed it with no problems. I have sailed it at club level and had absolutely no problems with water ingress. The buyer came and looked at the boat and was happy. If had wanted to see it sailing, that could easily have been arranged.   On collection, it was placed in the boot of a car  barely big enough to contain it, with the lead and keel left on. The buyer then informed me that he was due to take it on the next day back to Scarborough in a much smaller car still.  I don't believe that travelling in this manner did the boat any favours.

 Mark contacted to me for advise and like the above posts I suggested using either Captain Tolley's or thinned resin swilled around the hull   to seal any crack. I do not know if he has actually tried  any of the suggestions.

 

As to John Taylor's unpleasant remark above "  They may compromise if shown the errors of there ways?"   The boat was sold in good faith and fully sailable condition . In fact the day before collection, I had assembled it to check it over and as I was not happy with the winch, replaced it with a brand new unit Hardly the actions of someone trying to shift a "lemon".

Perhaps instead of buying my Lintel, Mark should have spent 3 times as much and bought the one currently advertised in the For Sale ads.

 

Edited April 18, 20242 yr by tiggy_cat

Tiggy_Cat 

Sorry I only heard one-sided of the story. Like you said transportation in a small car can be done but removal of the keel & bulb is recommended. Plus possibly wrapped in a blanket to protect it. Please accept my apologies. The fact you replaced the winch suggest you wanting to help beginners.

2 hours ago, HotTub said:

Tiggy_Cat 

Sorry I only heard one-sided of the story. Like you said transportation in a small car can be done but removal of the keel & bulb is recommended. Plus possibly wrapped in a blanket to protect it. Please accept my apologies. The fact you replaced the winch suggest you wanting to help beginners.

Don't apologise, there is no need. In a forum like this , it is easy to get a picture which is not always complete.  I did indeed hope to encourage a beginner, hence trying to ensure the boat was Ok and selling for a price which would barely cover the cost of the two suits of sails it came with, let alone the rest.  Since Mark informed me of his issues, I have been asking around my sailing contacts  to see if I could find an alternative IOM for him, and had found an unjoined hull and deck for a Stealth. Now that he has seen fit to make it  the matter of public debate, I will just let things be.

Edited April 19, 20242 yr by tiggy_cat

On 18/04/2024 at 21:32, tiggy_cat said:

As the seller of this boat, I must take exception to this post. I bought this boat from a well known builder who had sailed it with no problems. I have sailed it at club level and had absolutely no problems with water ingress. The buyer came and looked at the boat and was happy. If had wanted to see it sailing, that could easily have been arranged.   On collection, it was placed in the boot of a car  barely big enough to contain it, with the lead and keel left on. The buyer then informed me that he was due to take it on the next day back to Scarborough in a much smaller car still.  I don't believe that travelling in this manner did the boat any favours.

 Mark contacted to me for advise and like the above posts I suggested using either Captain Tolley's or thinned resin swilled around the hull   to seal any crack. I do not know if he has actually tried  any of the suggestions.

 

As to John Taylor's unpleasant remark above "  They may compromise if shown the errors of there ways?"   The boat was sold in good faith and fully sailable condition . In fact the day before collection, I had assembled it to check it over and as I was not happy with the winch, replaced it with a brand new unit Hardly the actions of someone trying to shift a "lemon".

Perhaps instead of buying my Lintel, Mark should have spent 3 times as much and bought the one currently advertised in the For Sale ads.

 

I want to clarify that I posted here not to name and shame, but to try and get a selection of advice firstly for myself and my predicament and secondary to hopefully help advise any other newbies to the world of model boat sailing.

For the record I don't believe I was knowingly sold a leaking boat. You were helpful and had much advice when I purchased. I contacted you privately with the issues i had, and my intention was to keep our discussion private.... 

So back to the issue...I very much doubt the collection has had any such impact on the condition of the boat no matter the size of the car it travelled in....as it was protected and has been in every journey it has made with me. The fact remains it has leaked from the first time I put it on the water. Firstly through the joint where the deck meets the hull. These became apparent (visible) after 20 mins of sailing with areas visibly lifting and the boat lettingin water.  These areas were repaired and then we tried sailing again some days later. Unfortunately the boat was still taking on water.. I continued with further investigation and this is how I discovered the fin box to be an area of issue. Unfortunately, as I had discussed with you privately, this is proving a difficult fix and I have taken on board the advice of yourself and others on this forum. The leak is quite severe and can only be tackled from the outside as the access through any deck holes is to limited for hands to be able to get to the area to facilitate a repair. Because of the speed of the leak from the keel box any liquid is only going to sit in there for only a moment before poring into the boat. I have to be careful that this would cause no further issues.

I have had other club members look at the problem but the general opinion is it could be counter productive and raise further issues, however I am going to try as I have little choice at this stage. I have had a generous amount of help from the local sailing club who have gone above and beyond to assist me in how to move forward.

I hope if you have any further thoughts, you may message me privately because this posting was, as I said earlier, intended to provide newbies with purchase advise and not become an area to air dirty laundry....