Why a Composite Cat ?

[Factor]

All construction methods have positives and negatives. I dont think "one: is empirically better than the "other".

However there are some guides to this, a production foam glass boat is a known quantity and a good bet if you have some risk aversion, and you think you may want/need to sell sooner rather than later.

A composite boat is a good bet if you have some skills, or can pay someone with them, are prepared to be vigilant about your research/survey and intend to keep the boat well into the long term.

That hammerhead above is a boat I would cheerfully own, if I had somewhere to park it! As a boat it clearly is a good thing, good designer , sails well , proven history. Like any second hand boat I would budget 10% for upgrades/contingencies etc. Even so - what a good value world cruiser. However the market place doesnt work well for big tris so its a long term ownership proposition.

Definitely a boat I could love though!

Swings/Roundabouts

[sandy daugherty]

The whole discussion so far proves this point. YachtWorld prints what the brokers check on a form, and brokers are as divided as all of the preceding commenters about what composite means. So you really don't know what you are looking at without further investigation.

Buyers are more comfortable with brand recognition. One-off boats are all over the charts on every point of comparison, and generally are less expensive because of that.

You can make some assumptions from the photos; the more the better, the less be suspicious. If everything looks clean and well kept, get a surveyor. If it doesn't, don't bother!

If you have decided you don't want to pay for a survey, just say so; you will hear of some very special deals as a result <g>

[tsmwebb]

Just to be pedantic FPR (fiber reinforced plastic) is a type of composite construction. All "fiberglass" boats (most often polyester plastic with e-glass reinforcement) are composite. What a sales person is trying to covey when they call a boat composite is hard to know without some context. https://secure.wikimedia.org/wikiped...osite_material

Sorry about that...

Tom.