What about an Avance 33?

[capt lar]

looking at an interesting boat - 1986 Avance 33 by peter norlin and avance yachts of finland. trying to do some web search but my finnish is a little rusty. they are supposed to be very well built and with an 8'6" beam (converting from metric so don't correct me) she looks like a missile and has adequate accomodations below. our plan is still a daysailer weekended for now and the cruiser in 3 years if we can get everyone else under control. any opinions would help - not a common boat here. it seems to be down to this boat and a bristol 31.1 in great shape. i know - very different, but for the use, both would be a blast and we are under 50K which for us is comfortable. capt. lar

[Jeff H]

There are a huge number of really good boats for sale under $50. How did you get down to these two strange ducks?

Jeff

[capt lar]

i am using a well respected sailor / broker as a buyer's broker. bristols are in big demand and would not be labelled strange ducks by anyone i know - pricey due to demand - the 35 and 41 are prestige boats. the broker owns an avance 33 himself and uses it as a performance daysailer (phrf 150) and occasional club racer. he heard of this one through that association. i would be interested in knowing which high quality boats you would be looking at with a budget for under 60k. capt. lar

[Jeff H]

Lets see here, the Avance 33, while a neat boat in many ways, was as super narrow, IOR-1 style design. These are strange boats by any standard.

While they are a more than a bit strange, they are not bad boats. They have an easily driven hull and an efficient rig and foils, and so offer good sailing ability in light to moderate conditions, but they are a real bear in a breeze. I like their fractional rig and while I am not a big fan of self-tacking jibs, the Avance's is particularly nicely done.

The Bristol 31.1 is the smallest of the series that included the 35.5 and the 38.8. While the 35.5 and 38.8 were very good boats for their day, the 31.1 was a far less successful design. There are certain design concepts that can work well in a certain size range which do not scale down successfully without a lot of adaptation, so much adaptation that the basic design concept is altered. In the case of the 31.1, the design concept was scaled down too far to make sense resulting in a boat that is wildly overweight, full ended and carrying too much wetted surface for its own good, in other words a bit of an odd duck.

There are a lot of 'cult boats' out there that demand prices at the low end of rediculously over priced. The reason for cult status are varied but not always reasonable. Across the board I think that Bristol prices tend to be a bit inflated because of the somewhat upscale quality of the later boats. So while they are pricey, a number of the Bristols, the 31.1 are still pretty strange boats.

Respectfully,
Jeff

[capt lar]

perhaps not the best of timing. we have a bristol 31.1 under agreement and set to survey next wednesday. i appreciate your honest assessment and i , too, felt she was a scaled down version. you can tell by the room below that something is a little off. i also understand the trade off on waterline. we will sail her on wednesday and see how she goes. remember we are not expecting the same sailing we could get from many 35 footers, but the price is fair, the boat has been maintained to a very high level, and all major systems seem to be in top shape, so i do not think we can get hurt on the deal. if we decide to sail to bermuda, we may want to rethink out needs, but for intended use, i think she will be a reliable, solid boat with good local demand if/when resale comes around. again thanks for your honest opinion. i read many of your posts and i know some do not like what they hear, but i hope you keep it up. if people ask, and someone knows, thats what this forum is supposed to provide. capt. lar

[MarkSF]

[QUOTE=Jeff H;11189]Lets see here, the Avance 33, while a neat boat in many ways, was as super narrow, IOR-1 style design. These are strange boats by any standard.

While they are a more than a bit strange, they are not bad boats. They have an easily driven hull and an efficient rig and foils, and so offer good sailing ability in light to moderate conditions, but they are a real bear in a breeze. I like their fractional rig and while I am not a big fan of self-tacking jibs, the Avance's is particularly nicely done.

The Bristol 31.1 is the smallest of the series that included the 35.5 and the 38.8. While the 35.5 and 38.8 were very good boats for their day, the 31.1 was a far less successful design. There are certain design concepts that can work well in a certain size range which do not scale down successfully without a lot of adaptation, so much adaptation that the basic design concept is altered. In the case of the 31.1, v in other words a bit of an odd duck.

There are a lot of 'cult boats' out there that demand prices at the low end of rediculously over priced. The reason for cult status are varied but not always reasonable. Across the board I think that Bristol prices tend to be a bit inflated because of the somewhat upscale quality of the later boats. So while they are pricey, a number of the Bristols, the 31.1 are still pretty strange boats.

Respectfully,
Jeff[/QUOTE
]

Sorry to resurrect this older thread but it is the no. 1 result if you Google search on Bristol 31.1.

I recently bought one and though it would be helpful to do what I did before buying it : compare it to the Catalina 30, the most ubiquitous boat in the size range.

The Bristol is heavier (11200 vs 10200), slightly less beamy, slightly longer overall, slightly shorter waterline by an inch or two. However that shorter waterline is due to two seaworthy features : the full bow and tapered stern. Compared to the C30's PHRF of 180, the Bristol's is 174, so that weight hasn't slowed it down, nor has the increased wetted area - which is due to it having a skeg-mounted rudder and large keel (fully encapsulated), two more seaworthy features. The Bristol has a keel-stepped mast. Sail area is very similar.

Below it has slightly less space than the C30, but good headroom. It has fantastic storage space. I'm 6ft 5 and walk around stood up straight. Can lie straight on the V. The head is plenty roomy. The main difference is that Bristol did not include any aft berths at all. There's just the V and two doubles in the stateroom.

If you place all sailboats on a scale with full keeled bluewater designs at one end (10), and lightweight racers at the other (1), I would say you have the C30 at a 5 and the Bristol at a 6.5. Whether the data support statements like "wildly overweight, too much wetted area, odd duck" - you decide for yourself.

[Avance33]

I recently bought an Avance 33 and can’t locate the freshwater tank. Any help would be appreciated. Also I was surprised to find no holding tank for the toilet. All of the plumbing is gone. Any help with locating the freshwater tank would be appreciated.