Somewhat frustrated finding a boat....

[Burton]

Hi All,

We live in Maine and have owned a pile of boats, mostly sail. It is our desire to get a small power cruiser and the Albin 25 looks about the best in compromises. However, from the ads I have seen the 25's cost as much or more than the 27's. True?

What is an average price for a good-condition 25? I've seen some really dilapidated boats that seem to be priced too high-- as in needing re-powering, have delaminating plywood on doors, no extras, the original engine, no electronics, and no trailer for $13,000 and up. We are not looking for a cream puff harbor queen, but a well-maintained boat that does not need a lot of work. What can we expect to pay?

Oh-- we looked at a 27 some years ago and a yard on the coast. The boat turned out to be in bad shape but we discussed the 25'er. He said he planned to buy one and put in the biggest engine he could as the boats could plane-- not a full displacement hull. Well? That is, if we re-power one, can it be made to plane with say a 55 turbo lombardini? They are fairly light.

Sure would appreciate any help.

Thank you,

Burton

[Mark Deeser]

Not a planeing boat, 25 is a displacement hull, 27 is semi displacement. If you try to make a 27 a go fast boat you will be a very disataifed owner. You might get it to plane but the handling will be bad and the cost to operate terrible. If you want a faster Albin look to the 28 it will plane and at a reasonable cost. Our smaller Albins do what they were made to do rather well, pick the one that suits your needs and be happy.

[OldDemps]

I’d say your budget needs to be around $25,000 for very nice 25. Check out https://m.facebook.com/25albin/
Search the boat Sigrid or dragonfly on this site for nice examples of redone Albin 25.

[DesertAlbin736]

Generally speaking you will get what you pay for one way or another. Better to find one that's been restored & either re-powered or well cared for rebuilt original engine, in which case the original engine will be a Volvo or Albin AD21 depending on model year. In such a case an owner who has put a lot of money &TLC into the boat but now needs to sell for reasons of age and/or health or other circumstances will have taken a loss for anything less than $20K if it's in turn key condition. In the case of A25's they were well built. I paid $23K for my 1971 boat & 1999 aluminum trailer in 2014 when it was 43 years old. And I drove 850 miles to Idaho to get it & bring it back to AZ because at the time there were only two others I could find listed for sale, one in Texas and the other in Florida.. It had been repowered around 1992 with a 1986 Yanmar engine which is still running strong. Fact of the matter is around 2,000 were made between 1969 & 1980, most of those staying in Europe & at most a few hundred imported to North America, mostly to Canada. I've never seen or heard of one newer than 1978.

[Burton]

Thank you. The real concern here is that we have some pretty significant tidal current plus river current that can add up to some fairly fast moving water getting in and out of the Union River. Its not just the desire to go faster. Our last boat would do 45 mph, which was miserable. And, one had to do about 18 mph to get it to stay up on a plane--that's too fast for threading through the lobster buoys comfortably. On the 25' Albin it looks like the hull change in about '73 might have added a bit of speed? Do the later models roll any less severely?

[DesertAlbin736]

Later A25 models (minor hull design change limited to flattening & flaring the underbody at the stern & increasing engine HP to 36 HP) are slightly faster in the range of 8 to 10 knots top speed compared to earlier pre-1973 that cruise at +/- 6.5 knots. Both tend to snap roll in a beam sea. Otherwise speed for displacement and even semi-displacement hulls is heavily dependent on waterline length. So in your situation the choice is timing tide currents for slack & only have to deal with river currents, or timing for outgoing river current canceled by flood tide currents, in which case you get steep chop.

[WillieC]

Maybe when the 35hp engine was spanking new you could run to 10kts. But why? Life is good at 6-7kts.

IMG_1499.JPG

DA is correct, it is all about t-t-t-timing.

[DesertAlbin736]

Taking a fresh look at this thread and your "need for speed", at least a certain amount necessary to deal with tidal and river currents, it may seem a bit blasphemous from an Albin owner standpoint, but perhaps the boat you really need to check out is a C-Dory, either a 22 ($25K-$30K used), or a 25 ($70K-$90K range).

The C-Dory 22 layout has a sitting head room V berth forward with porta potty under center section (no separate enclosed head), full standing head room pilothouse/salon with inside steering station in forward starboard corner & seat to port (doubling as the front seat for the dinette), dinette to port & galley to starboard. Open aft lounging/fishing cockpit, usually equipped with bimini shade. Outboard powered, usually Hondas, and if I'm not mistaken 50 or 60 HP in the 22, sometimes found with optional kicker/trolling motor.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BvBKFR_TSdM

The C-25 is a sizeable upgrade in price & room, including adding a stand up enclosed head in the aft starboard corner of the doghouse. Power is usually from a Honda 135 or 150. Both boats have dory inspired planing hull shape & faux lapstrake sides.

https://vimeo.com/233678642

Like with any used boats, owner add ons & customizations can vary from nothing more than a compass to full electronics suites with radar, and power windlass for the anchor. Personally I like the cabin & cockpit layout of the Albin 25 better & find the C-Dory V berths somewhat "cave-like". Not that I'm claustrophobic or anything, also coming from previously owning sailboats where forward V berths are notoriously narrow, cramped, & enclosed.

A couple in our local sailing club switched from a Montgomery 23 sailboat to a C-Dory 22 a few years ago & later traded up for a C-Dory 25. Either boat is eminently trailerable with a 1/2 ton truck.

Disclaimer; I'm not advocating for either of the sellers in the videos above.