went to the new york city boat show today

[tomcat rio]

you would be surprised how little boat you get for $100k or even $150K.
usually i see some nick nack i have to have, but not this year. the black cove 29 was nice ($200k). albin was not represented.

[Mariner]

I'd never heard of the Back Cove 29. After looking it up, it looked exactly like a 28' Albin.

[Fogg~Dogg]

I was at NY Show also with my frantastically beautiful 21-year old daughter. I kinda felt like David Hasselhoff on Bay Watch as we walked around. She loved the big "bikini boats". I liked the Back Cove 29 (33 is about to be unveiled at Miami Show) and the Sabre 34. BUT, I gotta tell ya, the Albins deliver an awful lot for the money compared to these boats. The Back Cove is about $300,000 all tricked out...and the Sabre can easily get up over $400,000. A comparable Albin 28TE and the Albin 35 Command Bridge or Albin 36 Express can compete with these boats...especially at about $100,000 - $200,000 less.
It's too bad the Albins weren't at the Show...I always like talking with Albin savvy people. Right now my boat in a heated hangar, with the boat planned to be back in the water by April 15th. Only new thing coming is an eye-height GPS/Plotter that will allow the Raymarine RL72 to be constantly on radar display above. The lower plotter has a big screen with very readible type for these old eyes, thus I'll do all my course work there...probably a new Garmin 4200 Series.
One last thing, the berth cusions forward are being changed out to be 50/50 foam and Temper-Pedic memory foam. Other than all of this, the Fogg-Dogg will be ready to go back into Portsmouth (NH) Harbor and work its way up and down the Maine Coast. Can't wait!

[RicM]

Yeah the Back Cove looks sweet but I wonder how it handles compared with the A 28TE. The rudder looks small (good for high speed i would think) but no keel and little or no prop protection. Here in Narragansett Bay it can be a slalom course of lobster pots in some areas. They are hard to avoid completely, especially at night. At the price of a good used A28 I don't think they can compete.

[tomcat rio]

http://www.backcoveyachts.com/bc29.htm

[Elizabeth Ann]

The Back Coves are interesting, I still think I prefer the more traditional lines of the Albin. I'll be at the Miami show and I think Andrew from Albin is suppossed to be there too. Fogg~Dogg, maybe you and your daughter want to go Sorry man, you brought it up.

[tomcat rio]

...really liked the 30 mainship with a 230 yanmar. i just saw one locally (2002, with 240 hours) for an asking price of $80.k i passed him the data. he's drooling.
my other brother calls maxims, "dentist boats" or the kind of first boat you get if you have a few bucks but no boating knowledge.
rickey has decided he's a fisherman. his maxim doesn't lend itself to that endeavour much at all
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http://newimages.yachtworld.com/1/3/6/8 ... 1068400000
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http://www.boats.com/listing/boat_detai ... searchid=1

[Elizabeth Ann]

Yeah, Mainships are nice too. In fact, we were courting a Pilot 30 while we were courting the Albin 28. Obviously, we allknow which was chosen.

That Mainship you have pictured is interesting. Is it really a Pilot? The lines look different and it looks more geared up for fishing. Maybe it's just me.

[Mariner]

Mainships are great boats for the money, but there were a few things that made me warry. When you grab on to the safety railing on the walkarounds and shake it, the whole gunnel of the boat moves with it. That didn't sit well with me. Also, many of the non-structural fiberglass parts are shot with a chopper gun, which is not a huge problem. But what bothered me was that there was a clear lack of attention to detail in cleaning up the stray fibers in areas that aren't plainly visible to the casual observer. A talented fiberglass worker wouldn't let that slide.

I'm sure from a structural and equipment standpoint, they're just fine, but there were a few fit and finish things that didn't live up to my expectations. Even though the Albin is not perfect, I felt that it was better than the Mainship.

[RicM]

We looked at a couple of Luhrs Alura's when we were shopping, basically the same boat as the Mainship Pilot 30. Same hull for the most part. A little less finish in the cabin. Nice boat but not built anywhere near as well as the Albin 28. Also slower by a good bit (230HP on most MS Pilots vs 315hp yanmar). I made a run at a pretty nice '88 Alura with twin gas engines that would have been pretty quick, it sold for about $34K. We kept coming back to the Albin for a lot of reasons.

[tomcat rio]

...is before you buy it. its a lot of fun to look around.

[powerboater56]

I chartered a Mainship 34 pilot in the Abaco's a couple of years ago. Much less room in accommodations than the Albin 32+2, and I thought the boat was wet.
Any slight chop and spray flew. Quality was OK, but some details were poorly thought out. I've heard the Mainship 30 is wet also.

[Veebyes2]

Mainship to an Albin to a Saber. Each has its own pricepoint. Each is good value for the money.

A whole lot worse could be done than a Mainship. All boatbuilders do dumb things.

We spent a few summers with the owners of an Alura 30. It had lots of cubic cabin space but our ,at the time, Albin 27AC had more useable storage. Comparing an Albin 32 with either the Mainship Pilot 30 or 34 is not fair. Again, the Albin does circles around the Mainship in space available for cruising.

I have friends who have a Saber 42 Express, one drop down georgeous boat. Of course for $1/2mil it had better be. One could get a very nicely fittied out Albin 45 for that price.

Basically, you get what you pays for. You just have to decide what you want to pay for.