Mainship Pilot 34 vs Albin 35TE

[Seadweller]

I'm in the middle stages of searching for a single diesel Downeast so we can get back into spending weekends on the boat. I've not physically been on either of these, and the Albin 35TE seems to be fairly uncommon. Anyone know these two boats well enough to say which would be best for overnighting? How about if another couple was on board? I know both would be "cozy" with two couples, but I need to stay under 36'. Other recommendations also welcome!

 

[Comodave]

They are both nice boats. I think I read somewhere that engine access on the Albin is pretty tight.

 

[DavidM]

I owned a Pilot 34 Hardtop for several years and found an old listing for an Albin 35 TE online: https://jackpadymarine.com/35-albin-tournament-express-fresh-water-boat/#. The two are very similar. The Albin has a nice queen bed forward whereas the Pilot has a typical V berth.

That particular Albin had twin Cummins QSB 380 which must make it really fly. But I wouldn't have a hull like that in twins. I looked at a Pilot with twins and I couldn't see twisting myself into it to maintain twins. One is bad enough.

The Pilot's cabin seating dinette drops down to make a full sizeish extra berth although I wouldn't like sleeping on the cushions. I suspect the Albin is the same.

My single engine Yanmar 370 would cruise in the mid to low teens and top out at about 19 knots.

Either would be fine for 3-4 day trips but a week would be pushing it mostly due to fridge volume.

David

 

[lwarden]

We looked closely at Albin 35TE's when we bought our current boat. The one we saw was poorly maintained and had twin 370hp Cummins engines. Engine access to the outside of each engine would be difficult with twins. You had to pull the floor up to access the engines, something I didn't care for. Build quality was not great, probably similar to a Mainship, I'd call it mid-level. Since the hull is designed to plane I would not think it would be particularly efficient with a single engine at displacement speeds. I do know there are some with singles but from what I could tell they didn't carry enough HP (about 450 IIRC) to comfortably plane so didn't seem like a good power setup if you want to use it for what it was intended for, a fast trawler.