1982 Mainship 30

I'm looking at a 1982 Mainship 30, and can't find information about them anywhere. They seem to be a black hole in the internet, or I'm searching for the wrong thing.

Does anyone have any information or advice about them? What is a good price?

I'm not aware of a Mainship 30 during that era, only the 34, 36 and 40.


I'm also not very familiar with the 36 and 40, but we had the third iteration of the 34 (MkIII, '87) and it was a great boat for our purposes at the time.


I think both the 36 and the 40 were double-cabin versions (aka aft cabin), but there may have been some sedans in there (and someone else can correct).


Or.... typo in the listing you're seeing? (Guessing you might not be seeing the boat in person?)


-Chris

ranger42c said:

I'm not aware of a Mainship 30 during that era, only the 34, 36 and 40.


I'm also not very familiar with the 36 and 40, but we had the third iteration of the 34 (MkIII, '87) and it was a great boat for our purposes at the time.


I think both the 36 and the 40 were double-cabin versions (aka aft cabin), but there may have been some sedans in there (and someone else can correct).


Or.... typo in the listing you're seeing? (Guessing you might not be seeing the boat in person?)


-Chris

Click to expand...

They made some, not sure how many but I've seen a couple. It is included in this old sales flyer.

Gdavid said:

They made some, not sure how many but I've seen a couple. It is included in this old sales flyer.

Click to expand...

I'm certain it's the 30 in the brochure, I've had my feet on the deck. I'm having a hard time determining what the common problems are and what a fair price is due to the lack of examples.

Additionally, the engine appears to be in good shape except for a single rusted joint. Is this something that is overly concerning?

That rusted joint is a potential concern. That elbow is where the exhaust coming out of the turbo is cooled off so it can safely travel through the exhaust hose without it burning up. The danger is if the elbow is rusting apart inside, the water may spray into the turbo who's bearings and blades do not tolerate moisture at all. The other pressing concern is that elbow is attached to an old Volvo diesel making parts and service both rare and expensive.

It appears that exhaust riser can be had for less than $300. Be sure to have a thorough mechanical survey done by a mechanic familiar with Volvos.

Gdavid said:

They made some, not sure how many but I've seen a couple. It is included in this old sales flyer.

Click to expand...

Very interesting, nice brochure, good post!

The brochure suggests publication sometime pre-'87 (when our Mk III was made, by Silverton in Marlboro, NJ) and whenever the 36 was introduced. My lousy memory thinks the 36s existed when our Mk III was built and they were usually gassers... Obviously the 40 wasn't a double-cabin version, so the aft-cabin models would have been the 36s, I guess... maybe the ones called the Nantucket.


Interesting the brochure doesn't appear to include photos of an actual (i.e., already-built) 30...

Interesting also there was apparently some overlap between the 34 and the Mk II; I had thought the Mk II was a clean replacement for the original, and also that the Mk III we had was a clean replacement for the MK II.

FWIW, the 30 diesel pictured is certainly green, but I'd have expected a Perkins or a DD 8.2T during that era... and our single diesel at the time was a green DD 8.2T.

-Chris

The mk1 and mk2 overlapped by a few years I think, and I saw references to a 30 in sales literature from the early 80s. Haven't actually seen one.

ranger42c said:

Very interesting, nice brochure, good post!

The brochure suggests publication sometime pre-'87 (when our Mk III was made, by Silverton in Marlboro, NJ) and whenever the 36 was introduced. My lousy memory thinks the 36s existed when our Mk III was built and they were usually gassers... Obviously the 40 wasn't a double-cabin version, so the aft-cabin models would have been the 36s, I guess... maybe the ones called the Nantucket.


Interesting the brochure doesn't appear to include photos of an actual (i.e., already-built) 30...

Interesting also there was apparently some overlap between the 34 and the Mk II; I had thought the Mk II was a clean replacement for the original, and also that the Mk III we had was a clean replacement for the MK II.

FWIW, the 30 diesel pictured is certainly green, but I'd have expected a Perkins or a DD 8.2T during that era... and our single diesel at the time was a green DD 8.2T.

-Chris

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The 30 had a 124hp Volvo which I believe is a TAMD40. Here is another brochure
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=http://www.denisonyachtsales.com/boat-guide-pdfs/Mainship%252030%2520Sedan.pdf&ved=0ahUKEwinrabO8svNAhXJyyYKHajlARYQFggdMAA&usg=AFQjCNHQrEtxAnAEL7lqKiUeIvcKgwFrgQ&sig2=SmxdtDqGktP3ihULhaUBrg

Mainship started with the M I (not MK1) in 1977.
In late 1978 they introduced the M II which was the "sportfish" version.
The 30 was made starting 1979 I believe, but they only made a handful or maybe less. It was not popular.
In 1983 they created the M III and stopped production of the other models.
The M III was supposedly the best compromise of the M I and M II. It had the cabin space of the M I and the open cockpit of the M II. They also had higher HP engines. (although many of the later M I and IIs were also powered up).

Gdavid said:

The 30 had a 124hp Volvo which I believe is a TAMD40. Here is another brochure
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&sou...7lqKiUeIvcKgwFrgQ&sig2=SmxdtDqGktP3ihULhaUBrg

Click to expand...

Another great ref!

jleonard said:

Mainship started with the M I (not MK1) in 1977.
In late 1978 they introduced the M II which was the "sportfish" version.
The 30 was made starting 1979 I believe, but they only made a handful or maybe less. It was not popular.
In 1983 they created the M III and stopped production of the other models.

Click to expand...

Yep, I've been typing "Mk III" -- but it was really known as the Mainship III as far as I know. And the original owner had added outriggers, since he sometimes fished the Atlantic off Ocean City, MD or Lewes, DE (I forget which).

-Chris