IG 51 For Sale

[BruceK]

Kong Halvorsen Island Gypsy 51: Power Boats | Boats Online for Sale | Fibreglass/grp | New South Wales (NSW) - Mosman Nsw | Boats Online.
Looking for a project? I watched this boat being slipped, and the hull repaired, after a sinking. I think the hull is meranti timber, not fibreglass. Any boat with a spiral staircase to the cabins below is interesting, but what a job it would be to bring it back.

 

[Insequent]

I'll offer moral support for you to take it on Bruce!

That's a project that goes beyond mere bucket loads of money, and almost endless time: it looks like a marriage killer as well. Five years of doing nothing else when not at work?

 

[gaston]

The best I could offer would be $150000 my way .

 

[FlyWright]

Where to start? Yikes!

 

[BruceK]

I watched this boat on the hard at the dilapidated massive old Halvorsen factory premises at Putney in Sydney.
My boat was in the shed for osmosis work, etc, for 6 weeks, I was there most days. A mobile crane got the IG51 out of the water. I helped on a small boat playing tug(terrified a line would fail and decapitate someone, me for example),during a failed attempt to slip it. I think the stabilizers got in the way of the cradle.
Brian, right on about the marriage challenge, but surprisingly, the wife wanted it restored 100% to former glory, husband was way less keen. She was at the failed slipping(hauling to our US friends), running about buying lines and fenders and watching the pump at work. Husband was not. Looks like the husband won.
They were in the shopfitting business, so used their own carpenters to work on it,they got into trouble with the complex curves and called in the shipwrights working on my boat.
Meranti looks like teak, but it`s not. Not at all. Due to the rarity of Australian red cedar and the similarity, it is used in antique cedar furniture repairs. Much better for that than boats.
It must have been a stunning boat in its day. It sits high, with a full deck of cabins etc under the main cabin accessed by 2 stairways, and a FB on top, a huge volume boat. Without a keen deep pockets restorer, its day may be gone.

 

[Insequent]

The stern looks too square and high - it looks odd to me, surely not the original shape? I guess it floats and is able to move under its own power, important things, so maybe a dreamer will go for it, at a price. It might have sucked me in 10 years ago, but I know at least a little more now than to bite off a project that big.

 

[BruceK]

The stern does look awkward, I think there was a little deck accessed via the gate, enclosed by railings, but it`s not what you`d expect to see from Harvey H. Maybe with the railing it`s a good spot to wave to the less fortunate, a kind of Juliet balcony. I`ve seen a 72 with a "yachtfisher" extension at lower deck level. That looked odd too, again query originality,it was a boat imported from USA.
I suspect that by the time someone got the rest of it fixed, they might be in trouble underwater again. Not a project for the fainthearted!

 

[BruceK]

I messaged the broker suggesting the hull was meranti, not f/g. Now it`s advertised as having a "ply/ply-glass" hull. I doubt the meranti planks were replaced with ply.Could have been glassed over,doubt that too.

 

[Andy G]

It does look very odd from the stern quarter, very unlike a Halvorsen design.

Not exactly a classic.

 

[Liberty2015]

I messaged the broker suggesting the hull was meranti, not f/g. Now it`s advertised as having a "ply/ply-glass" hull. I doubt the meranti planks were replaced with ply.Could have been glassed over,doubt that too.

Bruce K. You are correct it is Meranti. We use to keep our last boat in middle harbour ( about 5 Years ago) and use to do a lap around it occasionally in the dinghy,she was on a mooring in middle harbour for years,and was a lot worse back then with rotted planks , the stern was temp ply wood( and I note it has been rebuilt , but not as the original ???? ) windows were missing and sea gulls were nesting everywhere. A real shame , but I think unless you had a million to spare........ It will probably end its life sitting on the hard somewhere or be smashed up.

 

[ktdtx]

Torpedoes??

 

[BruceK]

When it arrived at the Putney yard, the pumps did not have to run continuously, the defects which had sunk it seemed to be high up. As the carpenters worked, a good deal of hull planking lower down and forward was replaced, and treated with wood preservers.
I think the transom design is as it was when craned onto the hard, but there were holes, I recall difficulty finding a sound spot for a line. She was tied to a wharf after the failed attempt at slipping, I went onboard, a sad sight, a once grand vessel.
I feel the impression the refit would be like the South Steyne, Baragoola, North Head ferries, a tantalizing labour of love. I suppose if the magnificent James Craig could be revived, anything could. Checking prices of 50ft boats for sale in what appears to be fair to good condition is instructive. I hope someone takes it on.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
I see the price is POA. I vaguely recollect a posted price in the 70K range. Am I wrong in thinking so and if I am, how much are they asking? Given the sad state, I wouldn't expect it could be much more than 20K.. These are AUD of course.

 

[BruceK]

You are right RTF, was 70K, now POA. Whether that means more or less is moot. Advert says new engines, they don`t look brand new, they could be, but more likely to be updates that have not been for a swim. My guess is they`ll take what they can get.

 

[Liberty2015]

Hi Bruce,

A friend who knows all things Halvorsen, has told me it was the first 51'built and was first owned by a Richard Wison up until the 1990's

 

[BruceK]

Hi Bruce,

A friend who knows all things Halvorsen, has told me it was the first 51'built and was first owned by a Richard Wison up until the 1990's

Never heard a surname, but having met the husband, the boat was probably sold on before its swim.
The POA "pricing" is probably to get anyone interested to talk to the broker, like the limited info in the advert.
Seen out of the water, it is a big volume 51.

 

[man n black]

Definitely gonna need a labor of love there...

Ch

 

[gaston]

Definitely gonna need a labor of love there...

Ch

I was thinking full comprehensive insurance and a gallon of petrol

 

[Andy G]

I was thinking full comprehensive insurance and a gallon of petrol

Well, that shows your age. We went metric 47 years ago.

 

[BruceK]

As Sir Humphrey Appleby might have said, the restoration process would be "courageous', if not "character forming". The husband owner seemed a savvy businessman, if there was a $ in bringing it back I think he`d do it. But he`s not.

 

[LogicalMarine]

Hi Bruce,

A friend who knows all things Halvorsen, has told me it was the first 51'built and was first owned by a Richard Wison up until the 1990's

Richard wison or richard wilson? Do you have contact details by any chance? Thanks chris