Checks when buying a BM

[mlekeux]

Hi,

I am in the process of buying a BM, on sale near my home. I am new to this boat family, and to wooden boats. What should I check on the boat ? Are there known weaknesses I should check ? Are there official papers I can ask from the seller ?

BTW, it is BM 721 (Tramp). It is for sale with (official?) rig + a wooden rig from a mirror dinghy + launching trolley (no road trolley, no cover). It is at 850€ (~671£) which seems a lot to me compared to other BM sold on the net. What price would you find reasonable (I would go around 600€ (~475£)) ?

Also, does anyone know the history of this particular BM ? I tried to contact by PM some previous owner but got no answer yet (found it on bmba.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=tobuy&thread=372&page=1#2351 and bmba.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=advice&thread=374&page=1#2348)

Thanks for your responses,

Max

[robwilder]

Hi Max,

Its a wooden boat so usual checks, nothing particularly different to check on a BM. ensure boat doesn't have any rot around the floor / centreboard case etc.

Welcome to the world of British Moths!!

Chairman Rob

[polyfiller]

If I remember correctly, 721 is a meritlock. Check the floor to sidetank seams are sound, look for hull weakness, and given it's a meritlock, check that the king post (structure under the mast / deck whcih holds the whole thing up) is sound ... if you can reach it, get hold of the main kingpost strutt and try to move it... if it moves, this is bad on a meritlock. Look for depression in the deck at the mast step .. any signs of depression in the deck curve indicate a kingpost problem.

[rjhpox]

I'm wondering on the condition of my kingpost (is that really the usual name) — the deck seems to depress under the mast on a downwind gust. The boat is glass JEP/Clarke. Is there a good reinforcement that can be done if only to put my mind at rest?
Robert
BM839

[godfrey]

Hi Robert
Sorry to hear that there are still problems out there with those. JEP made a very poor job of the king post/support etc. I thought that by now they had all been reinforced but it sounds like yours missed out.
The deck certainly should not flex. A timber (or frp if you wanted to be fancy) member can be bonded in by working through the access hatches at arms length. Its a bit fiddly as are all these things, but well worth doing and not that hard.
Makes me wonder what the original support looks like after 13 years in the wilderness? Has it fallen out completely?
GGG

[rjhpox]

GGG wrote

Jul 18, 2012 16:55:17 GMT godfrey said:

... A timber (or frp if you wanted to be fancy) member can be bonded in by working through the access hatches at arms length. ...

Thanks for the reassurance. I am going to the Nationals — I expect there are experts who can reassure further and provide detailed info. I'll try to work out what's needed, perhaps you can be specific — I think 4ft long arms would be useful.

Robert