Hello and Good Morning

[Quicksilver55]

I have joined here to gain a little knowledge as I want to purchase and begin a great loop journey. I have been around boats up to 32 feet in length and been on inland lakes, and rivers in the midwest area including Lake Michigan. I will be retiring in 4 more years and would like to have a boat that I can put a couple of hundred hours on before the trip so I can be familiar with the boat and address any issues with it. There is a boat available right now in Michigan it is a 2005 Beneteau Swift Trawler 42. I am reading mixed reviews on the boat but a lot of what seems to be hear say comments and not actual comments from owners. I have not physically been on the boat but they seem like a good choice for this venture. It is equipped with what seems to be very low hour Yanmar 370 HP diesels and very well kept from the photos. I'm just trying to get some feedback from owners of the boats.

Thanks, and looking forward to the future correspondence with all.

 

[RT Firefly]

Greetings,
Welcome aboard.

 

[Quicksilver55]

Thank you

 

[Dwk]

The Trawler Builder Forum for Beneteau's would be a good place to find opinions, experiences with the Beneteau Swift Trawlers.

 

[Quicksilver55]

I appreciate the lead Thanks,

 

[Peter B]

Welcome to TF Quicksilver. Also, as I doubt you were trying to emulate the English policeman in 'allo, 'allo, I have taken the liberty of adding the n to 'good moring', which I suspect was your intent.

 

[menzies]

Welcome to TF Quicksilver. Also, as I doubt you were trying to emulate the English policeman in 'allo, 'allo, I have taken the liberty of adding the n to 'good moring', which I suspect was your intent.

Sure he wasn't missing a second "o?"

 

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard.

 

[Quicksilver55]

I have found 3 boats which have caught my interest. These are the boats
2000 Ocean Alexander 450 Classico, 2700 hours on Cat motors
2005 Swift Trawler 42 - 390? hours on Yanmar 370 HP
2003 Cruisers 3750 motor yacht right around 1000 hours on Yanmar 315 HP motors

I have seen where some are writing regarding the swift balsa core construction, but it appears that the Ocean Alexander uses the same construction. The Ocean Alexander is more highly regarded it seems by different members. I guess my question would be why is one favored over the other are there other differences that I don't know. I personally do not like Cat motors, I come from the trucking industry and can tell you the Cats are more expensive to maintain and repair than a Cummins, at least in a trucking application that's the case. I would appreciate others input.
Thanks

 

[boatpoker]

Don't know about the others but the Cruisers entire hull is balsa cored. I've surveyed dozens of them and it is rare to find one without saturated core somewhere in the bottom.

Cruisers did some incredibly stupid things like installing throughulls directly through balsa and expected the caulking ( OMG ! silicone !) to seal it like this one ...

 

[Comodave]

I have found 3 boats which have caught my interest. These are the boats
2000 Ocean Alexander 450 Classico, 2700 hours on Cat motors
2005 Swift Trawler 42 - 390? hours on Yanmar 370 HP
2003 Cruisers 3750 motor yacht right around 1000 hours on Yanmar 315 HP motors

I have seen where some are writing regarding the swift balsa core construction, but it appears that the Ocean Alexander uses the same construction. The Ocean Alexander is more highly regarded it seems by different members. I guess my question would be why is one favored over the other are there other differences that I don't know. I personally do not like Cat motors, I come from the trucking industry and can tell you the Cats are more expensive to maintain and repair than a Cummins, at least in a trucking application that's the case. I would appreciate others input.
Thanks

Of the 3 I would go with the OA even with the Cat engines. I agree that the Cats may be more expensive to maintain. But the boat overall would make the decision. I really like OAs but you have to look at the individual condition of the boat. I would also steer away from the Cruisers because of the core in the bottom.

 

[BruceK]

I was responsible for the Swift coring revelation, though it was hotly denied and ridiculed by a TFer,you need to check for yourself. Our Marina mechanic worked for the distributor, confirmed my understanding, adding that silicone sealant was used on thru hulls.
I considered/declined an 04 Swift 42. I think it had 4cyl Yanmars,whatever they were, the raw water introduction to the exhaust was seen as too high with potential to leak back into the turbos.

 

[Quicksilver55]

Thanks

I appreciate the feed back the one question that still remains for me though is the OA with balsa core construction that much better built that there are no hull issues? Or is their manufacturing process different and the balsa core is above the waterline?

 

[JohnEasley]

Many people will probably jump on and correct me... and they may well be right... but my understanding on OAs is that they are solid to the waterline and cored above it. Is that not correct?

Of the three boats you mentioned, I would agree with the others about walking away from the Cruisers for the same reasons mentioned above. I would put the OA at the top of the list even with the Cats. Look at the hours on the engines of each compared to the year. The Cats have been used. The Swift has really low hours. That means the engines really haven't been run much; they've been sitting a lot and diesels like to run. I would much rather have a 2000 with 2700 hours than a 2005 with 390 hours. At that point, it would come down to maintenance. If the Cats have been maintained well and run at conservative speeds, 2700 hours is "nicely broken in."

 

[firehoser75]

I agree with almost all of what the other posters have stated. First, I don't own a Bene Swift. However, 390 hours on a 15 year old diesel is something to be concerned about (wary of). That works out to an average of 26 hours per year. Not a lot of use, and a lot of sitting. Depending on maintenance, local humidity, fresh or saltwater, etc. that can have a potential large (negative) impact on the overall condition of the engine.

The Cat (and I am not a big Cat fan for a marine engine), on the other hand has averaged a healthy (but definitely not excessive) 135 hours per year, and 2700 hours is not a lot for a well maintained diesel (at that rate the engine might have only 50 years of theoretical life left before a major rebuild ).
My 2 cents of free advice would be to do more research about the overall construction of the Beneteau's (sounds like you are attracted to them), but keep looking. I suggest that you don't focus too soon on any one brand, but look for the best maintained boat that has most of the "features" that are important to how you plan on using the boat!
Good luck and enjoy the process.