Hull 612, built in 1974

[dokondr]

One more thing. On the last picture with mast I see some bad corrosion of the mast end attached to the step. Is it true? I don't quite understand what it is from the picture. How to deal with this corroded end? How to fix it?

Thanks and Happy New Year!

[MarkRyan1981]

Happy New Year to you too!

That's aluminum, and I would be surprised if that was any more than surface corrosion. From that photo, that would not alarm me - wire brush it up when you get there and I'd suspect it would be fine.

Things to look out for when you get the boat is thing such as Stainless fittings on the mast. On Triola, when I sold her, the surveyor picked up the strap on the bottom of the mast, at deck level. I thought nothing of it, and thought the surveyor was talking nonsense. On drilling the rivets to inspect the interface between the SS fitting and the ally mast, I discovered that corrosion had been taking place, and that in perhaps ten years time, it could have caused enough weakness to bring down the mast. I put Duralac on the interface and re-riveted it back together, so now she is safe, but that was interesting to see.

[dokondr]

Happy New Year to you too!

That's aluminum, and I would be surprised if that was any more than surface corrosion. From that photo, that would not alarm me - wire brush it up when you get there and I'd suspect it would be fine.

Things to look out for when you get the boat is thing such as Stainless fittings on the mast. On Triola, when I sold her, the surveyor picked up the strap on the bottom of the mast, at deck level. I thought nothing of it, and thought the surveyor was talking nonsense. On drilling the rivets to inspect the interface between the SS fitting and the ally mast, I discovered that corrosion had been taking place, and that in perhaps ten years time, it could have caused enough weakness to bring down the mast. I put Duralac on the interface and re-riveted it back together, so now she is safe, but that was interesting to see.

Thanks! How much was surveyor paid? And why did you sell Triola and for how much? (if all this is not secret, of course )

[MarkRyan1981]

The survey was paid for by the buyer, so I am not sure. For my new boat, I paid about £700 for the pre purchase survey - worth every penny.

I sold her as my family is expanding! We have a fourth child on the way, and with Liz, four kids and me, Triola was just not big enough, so we now have a Bavaria 40 that has lots more space (but does not sail as well if I'm honest!).

She sold for £10k I think, or thereabouts. I had another buyer interested also, so I could have pushed the price higher, however the new buyer I liked a lot. A lovely family, buying her to adventure the world in. A proper sailer and a lovely chap, so I was happy to sell Triola on to such an owner.

[dokondr]

Glad for you and your family! Good luck!
How would your compare Ballad to Albina Scumpi 30, for example this one? Scumpi has a deck-stepped mast, so one problem less, fin keel and ruder on a skeg which is good. Why Ballad is more popular?

[prjacobs]

I too looked at the Scampi 30, but preferred the Ballad for various reasons.
The Ballad was made by Albin Marin, Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ballad_30
According to Wikipedia the Scampi was made by various different yards. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scampi_30
Pictures below from SailboatData.com.

[Bob McGovern]

Glad for you and your family! Good luck!
How would your compare Ballad to Albina Scumpi 30, for example this one? Scumpi has a deck-stepped mast, so one problem less, fin keel and ruder on a skeg which is good. Why Ballad is more popular?

As I understand the history, Magnusson built the S30 (Joker) to race the early IOR circuit, 1968 or so; Albin Marine picked up the design and began developing it into the cruiser/racer we know as the Ballad. But the IOR rule changed quickly and was exploited even quicker, so that by 1971 when released, the Ballad was not very competitive in IOR.

So while the Ballad was still being brought to market, Albin asked Peter Norlin to take the basic Ballad shape and optimize it for IOR racing as the Scampi. He deepened the forefoot, improved the rudder, and on most versions of the Scampi (there were 4, IIRC) located the diesel in or near the V-berth, with the propeller shaft running along the bilges and exiting thru the keel. The point of that was to give the Scampi a nose-down attitude at the dock, with no-one in the cockpit. That functionally shortened the waterline and made the boat measure deeper in the bows and narrower in the stern, improving its racing rating. Just a little bit, but enuf to keep the design competitive for 2-3 more years.

None of the changes that made the Scampi better for racing improve it as a small cruiser, tho. People do still cruise and daysail Scampis, and they are another good-value Albin boat.

[prjacobs]

Thanks Bob, very informative write-up, and good to know I made the right choice back in 2011 ... definitely a case of following my heart instead of my head.

[Bob McGovern]

The Scampi has its fans and is still sailed hard all over the world. Nose-down trim, tho, is part of what made late-period IOR boats so terrifying downwind in a blow. As beams got wider, sterns got narrower, and CofG was raised (to the point racers were gluing lead bars to the coachroof for ratings advantage!), the boats developed a really strong urge to broach, and sometimes to roll over. It all culminated in the 1979 Fastnet tragedy.

https://www.yachtingworld.com/features/ ... han-122220

That little half chine on the Ballad midships is even sharper and more pronounced on the Scampi:

https://www.nettivene.com/en/purjevene/albin/813795

That said, by radical IOR standards both the Ballad and the Scampi have reputations as fairly moderate, balanced, well-behaved boats. Run a 135% genoa instead of the 155%, reef when advisable, don't overpower the boat deep downwind, it should be fine. Most cruising IOR owners never put the mast in the water.