1980 DeFever 41

[Bonniebegood]

Anyone know the good, the bad or the ugly about this boat? We are seriously considering buying one.

[mvweebles]

I haven't talked to him in years, but I was acquainted with a guy who had one and cruised it for a few years. He was an accomplished delivery skippers, one of my mentors back in the day. He liked the boat for his purposes, but I did not get into details. The fact he chose one spoke well to me but you never know.

[grahamdouglass]

A Marine Trader 41 and Defer 42/41 are pretty much an identicle boat. You can look at my album to see how much they are alike.

I have a single engine so the propeller is protected by a skeg. There is a long keel which means that the boat tracks really well with auto pilot but can be a challenge to manuver in a tight spot. It has a fantastic flybridge, very large, a big lounge. Being a 40 year old boat from Taiwan wood rot from fresh water on the deck is the most common problem. The Ford Lehman engine is reliable.

It's the classic tri-cabin trawler, the Defever shear line on the front of the hall and shape of the boat is beautiful.

[Bonniebegood]

I appreciate the information! This one also has a single Leyman which we are very familiar with as our last boat had 2 of them. We bounced around on the deck quite a bit. Found no soft spots. We are hauling out in a few days so will be able to see the keel…etc then. Do you know if they are solid or cored fiberglass?

[Mambo42]

I have a 1979 Defever 49 and it is a great boat. Very sturdy, very well built, but...........if you have the same hull as i do you will need stabilizers. In fact, I arrived in Turkey today to have them installed. Without them it is just not a fun ride in a bit of weather, rock and roll is to put it mildy, it is more hard rock and roll.
One thing to check is weak spots in the deck. In my boat I found a couple of weak spot, they feel soggy, see leakages inside, so will address them. Also check the hull where the V-brackets are attached. You could add some strength there, in rough weather that part of the hull does get a beating.

But the good part is that the boats are timeless, the Ford lehmans are absolutely great and you can basically tackle any sea. It is not the boat that is limiting, it is you.

[High Wire]

Welcome aboard!

[Comodave]

Welcome aboard. A friend had a 40 Defever. It was a nice boat but did roll a bit. They didn’t seemed bothered by it.

[Bonniebegood]

Thank you! That is exactly the question I was looking for the answer on! She’s rolly! She has a more round chine than flat. We had a 49 DeFever RPH but it was stabilized. IT WAS great! I was a bit concerned about that.

[JimW]

Originally Posted by Bonniebegood

Anyone know the good, the bad or the ugly about this boat? We are seriously considering buying one.

DeFever 41 built by Tiger Marine, 1988 with Twin Volvo 41A . . . Cruised Bahamas, Great Loop, Northern Gulf Coast . . . Purchased in 2018, Well built, apprehensive initially about the engines (reading posts of “I know a guy who’s”), have had no challenges with engines, normal PM items, 3.77 g/hour fuel burn @7knts . . . Plenty of room, few steps . . . Open water capable . . . IG @mv_classea . . .

Good Luck - Standing by,

Jim

[Mako]

40 years old sounds like fuel tank time. Something else for your surveyor to dive into

[sunchaser]

Originally Posted by Mako

40 years old sounds like fuel tank time. Something else for your surveyor to dive into

Maybe not. DeFever took great effort to design tank supports and fills to minimize rust and water entrapment. Bores scope around tank will reveal a lot.

[grahamdouglass]

There is a fellow with a Kady Krogen 42 who has "rolling chocks" at my yacht club. He says they reduce roll. They are used on fish boats in the PNW.

[kchace]

Originally Posted by Bonniebegood

I appreciate the information! This one also has a single Leyman which we are very familiar with as our last boat had 2 of them. We bounced around on the deck quite a bit. Found no soft spots. We are hauling out in a few days so will be able to see the keel…etc then. Do you know if they are solid or cored fiberglass?

The hull is solid fiberglass. The decks and superstructure are cored.

Ken

[Finnegus]

I looked at one a few years back and it had some issues with water incursion around the windows that had rotted out the plywood on the cabin and some of the deck. The deck was teak over glass, over plywood and had a number of soft spots. The deck leaks had hit the top of the fuel tanks so they were suspect at best. It is a great design and the hulls are pretty bullet proof but if the deck hardware was not bedded correctly and maintained as well as the windows I would be cautious. I have always found that the builder of a boat matters less than how the boat has been maintained and used.

[BobMc]

Originally Posted by Bonniebegood

Anyone know the good, the bad or the ugly about this boat? We are seriously considering buying one.

DeFevers are some of the nicest looking boat around (much different than the CHBs, heavier, more substantial, nicer lines), and they are real trawlers, not fast trawlers (plan to travel at slightly less than hull speed for great fuel consumption). The 40/41 models were built in various yards to the design specs of Art DeFever; consequently, the construction details, such as the hull layup, interior work, etc, varies from yard to yard.

It would help to know the HIN number of the DeFever you're looking at and from that determine which yard built the boat. Many were built by Blue Water Yachts in Taiwan, others by a yard in Mexico. If you can determine where it was built, perhaps you can determine whether the yard was known for it's good or bad construction.

We owned a 1987 DeFever 41 for 14 years and cruised her extensively (over 45K miles in two separate trawlers, including the DeFever). We'd do it all again and liked everything about the single-engine DF 41 (some are twins which leaves less moving around space in the engine room). I'd go with a single any day over a twin!

[SeaStarDF50]

According to my records, there were 85 hulls built of the DeFever 41 by Miracle Boat Company, beginning in 1976, as a stretched version of the DF70-38 . I find no other 41s built in that era. There were initially 35/ DF70-38 hulls built in wood at Oriental Boat Company from 1970-1972, and then over 1200 built in fiberglass at various boat yards in the mid-to-late '70s. It's a very popular boat! Enjoy!

[Comodave]

A friend had a 40’ Defever that was built in Costa Mesa if I remember correctly.

[Steamguy]

I had a similar boat, a 1979. A wonderful boat and I loved it. Very steady in a sea at cruise, a bit rolly at lower speeds when the swells were on the quarter, but what full-transom boat isn't?



I agree with Mako and kchace. Problems I had were:
a leaking fuel tank that the surveyor 'glossed over' as 'rusty condensation water' (and did NOT mention in his report).

Two: the transom was balsa cored and the nameboard wasn't bedded, so the rainwater got in and rotted the core there and, eventually, before it was discovered, the rot moved into the engine stringers which were glassed-in but open at their ends! NOT fully encapsulated!

[thataway]

A 1976 DeFever Passagemaker 40, hull number 10 named Pelagic made the trip circumnavigating South America. We sailed with her for about 4 months, and the boat/crew were well prepared for long distance passage making. I realize that the 41 is a different boat, and fuel tankage. But the hull lines are similar. Pelagic did have stabilizers.

[Comodave]

My friends 40 had transited the Panama Canal at least twice. Last I heard it was in Florida and for sale a couple of years ago.