Present vs Albin

We are looking at both an Albin 43 and Present 42. Would like candid opinions of both as to quality of construction and resale values. Thanks from a pair of newbies

well I'll take a shot at this. I own a 40 Albin (1983) and have ben aboard several. I have been aboard only 1 Present.
The construction and quality of an Albin depends on which crew in Taiwan built the boat. I would suspect (but don't know for certain) the same may be true about the Present.

Being the boats have "aged" I think it would boil down to how the ones you are looking at have been maintained. How the various owners have kept up with the leaks, decks, etc.

It may depend much more on if the boat has been properly maintained and more hopefully upgraded from original.

There were some real construction method eye openers for me on my Albin and some things that I think were just my boat specific in terms of poorly put together/manufacturing/ or PO repair issues like a badly hydrolyzed bottom well into some laminates.

EXTERIOR WOOD!!!!.....THE END!!!!

Seriously, the Albin is loaded with exterior teak. If you are into maintaining the teak, then have at it. Not to mention teak decks and everything that goes with that....after being 25 years old. The Present 42 has NO exterior wood that I can think of and has glass decks. Other than that, everything that was said above. I think it will all boil down to the individual boats and how they were built and cared for. Another thing I like on the Present is the giant drawers in the aft cabin. Something so simple but so useful!!!! I would give the nod to the Albin on build quality....although I am not sure that is accurate.

I too looked at both the Albin and Present, among a few select others before we bought. The guys above are dead on, in a nutshell it really comes down to condition and personal appeal of the specific boat notwithstanding who made it. At a glance there does not appear to be much difference between the two excepting minor variations in layout, hull shape and overall style. Personally I found the Present to lean too much toward motor yacht styling than suited my taste. Both were indeed built in Taiwan but one thing that swayed me toward the Albin was that they used mostly North American built components, fittings, hardware, engines and systems and maintained on-site US parent company supervision during construction. I was also swayed toward Albin because they are/were the oldest boat builder on the planet and have been building boats since the days of the tall ships. (Present Yachts lasted about 20 years.) My thinking was surely Albin learned a thing or two over their 100 or so years in business, mostly this has proved to be true in terms of construction and quality but like all the rest of the Taiwanese built boats, Albin was not adverse to cutting corners where they could. As far as resale values go, the Albin has it hands down over many similar trawlers, at least at the time we bought they did. I suspect however this is more because of their long established name than it is any "real" advantage over other similar boats.

Interestingly, both the Albin and Present later models share some identical high end quality features such as the same upgraded aluminum framed windows, extensive use of the same modern heat shield/soundproofing and aluminum plate flooring throughout the engine room. In fact, sitting in the salon or engine room it would be difficult to know which boat you were on. Generally speaking I found that from the late eighties onward, the construction & quality of all the trawlers we looked at was so similar that the manufacturer is much less an issue than how well the vessel was maintained.

My two cents worth, Cheers

footnote: Hi Baker, good point!!! however the later Albins do not have teak decks either. The sundeck models have teak on the sundeck only but it is completely under cover : )

Thanks for all the insight...

Never been on either, but the Albin is better looking.

>>>Another thing I like on the Present is the giant drawers in the aft cabin.<<<

We own a Present 38 and it also has the giant drawers. But, like all the drawers on our boat, there are no guides or slides so that if you are not prepared, when you pull out a drawer it tends to end up on the floor.

The 38 was built by Nautique Yachts in Taiwan. There is a large Nautique logo in the fiberglass on the forward deck. I have seen the exact same boat listed as a Nautique 38 on YW. I think Present was the dealer/importer, not sure what, if anything, he had to do with the design.

We previously owned a '84 Irwin sailboat and the fiberglass and gelcoat were of a much, much higher quality than our Present. Again, maybe just a function of the day of week when the Present was built.

Bob