Malahne - 1937 Camper & Nicholsons 53.95m motor yacht

Wow, they really f##### that up. You have shake your head, knowing that someone drew those plans up, and someone else said, wow that looks great, lets do it.

Quite a large yacht, especially for that era. A pity she's not in original condition. How can someone rape such a classic and fabulous design? Great heritage too. Unbelievable.

Just one week ago Pendennis finished a great job:
http://*************/news/malahne-launches-after-30month-restoration/
http://*************/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Malahne-launch-Pendennis-21-600x312.jpg
The re-launch was already in progress when david_japp wrote his post, but nobody knew.
So a new chance ist given to see her as known from the movie mentioned above.

Much better than before...

My friend John and I had been travelling through Europe in our mini van , and ended in Monaco early 1969, Got a job on the beautiful " Malahne " when she was owned by Sam Spiegel, many happy and great memories of our time aboard her, still remember the all the guys ie( the crew ) Loved every minute of my time in Monaco, especially Rosie's bar, Fantastic Time Beautiful " Malahne " PS many good wishes to the people of Monaco, who welcomed John and I as one of their own.. Richard.

I guess you have to admire someone who restores an old motor yacht like Malahne or Istros, but it doesn't make all that much sense to me. Maybe I'm wrong, but the restoration probably ends up costing as much as a new yacht; the end result is a yacht with a fairly small amount of space and light below; and when sold the owner probably won't even recoup 20% of what was spent on the restoration. Yes, an old yacht may look pretty, but I feel like a lot is sacrificed to get the look.

That said, J.P. Morgan's old Corsair was a truly stunning motor yacht that would be worthy of a restoration if still extant.

Nah, done properly the refit is still a fraction of the new cost. Not that you can recover the investment from a sale afterwards, but still cheaper. And more fun, I think.

\But it's still a fraction of what a new boat is as far as ride, room, amenities, etc.

I admire the classic Trumphy's people restore.....but who wants a glorified ICW yacht...….best thing to do with them is put them in an air conditioned garage once they're finished......

Whoever refit the yacht in the posting first REALLY screwed it up and amazed it's even seaworthy with so many levels added to it.

The Pendennis restoration is beautiful. Just in passing, the before restoration photo looks Photoshopped to me.

You're simply not correct in your perspective. Look, I took a shell remnant of a Hatt 53c and rebuilt it into a modern Carolina fishing machine for less money than you can grab a newly minted 35' Contender from the factory. You want to tell me that your Contender has more fishability, more range, more comfort, more amenities than my 53c did? Hell, you can't even make that argument with regards to a brand new 52 foot Carver as compared to the Burger I've just completed.

And as far as a Trumpy or even an old Hacker or Garr, you're welcome to miss out on the level of pride and satisfaction that lives in that neighborhood of ownership. A friend has a Trumpy, and she migrates smoothly every year from Maine to Florida while you're cleaning your conditioned garage.

I'm comparing apples to apples (albeit at different prices). A Hatteras 53C rides NOTHING like a new 54' GT, nor does it perform like one. Hull design and power has come so far since then, that it's night and day difference in every aspect. So yes, it is cheaper to restore an old Hatteras SF, BUT it's still an old Hatteras SF. Like comparing a 1970 corvette and a 2020...….there is none. Same as the old trumphy's, you ever ride on one in a beam sea????

But the 53c didn’t sit at a dock, wasn’t a floating condo, and raised fish as well or better than most new vessels. So what’s your point here? Yes, you can pay a hell of a lot more and have new, but you can restore old and have terrific. Your position on this in indefensibly stupid.

You mentioned that a refit on an old boat was a fraction of new cost...…..I was commenting on that......yes, it is a fraction, but nothing like a new boat. Also the refit aspect takes a lot of time and a lot of frustration and only good for a very seasoned boater that knows the in's and out's of a boat and a refit.

• Why should these boats be put into a conditioned garage? Why not cruise them, why not use them?
• Why is my renovated boat "nothing like a new boat" when it is in fact very much new?
• Yes, refits take time, have their challenges. Building a new boat takes time, has its challenges, and it costs a lot more.
• Would I rather be at sea in my 53c or a new 54? I would prefer my 53c. I knew how it was built, and it was much stronger than a modern hull, the deep entry made for a spectacularly smooth ride in weather, and everything within the hull was modern, so I was missing no amenities. No, she won't cruise 30.
• A novice boater should really think twice before buying and operating a boat of significant size, weight, and power.
• My Burger is a hell of a vessel. Can't buy this new at this price, and can't beat the outcome of the investment.

It's ok to disagree. Just don't disparage. Don't judge what you don't understand just because you don't want to get your hands dirty. Either way, new or used, you're making an investment.

Due to the amount of upkeep and woodwork and the limited sea worthiness of a Trumphy is why I mentioned the garage statement. Sort of like, 99% of owners wouldn't choose to drive a restored 1967 427 corvette from FL to Oregon.

A new 54' GT rides incredibly better than a 1970's 53C in every sea condition and aspect. The seakeeping ability is a night and day difference, there is NO comparison. With modern building techniques the 54' GT is stronger than your 53C, it has to be stronger in order to stay together at a 35 knot cruise and 42 knot top and have 2 1600HP engines bolted to the stringers . You will not have structural issues with either from sea conditions. That being said, no matter what you do to your 53'C you cannot improved the hull design, it is what it is.

I get my hands dirty everyday. I have cut my teeth running Hatteras', have restored or kept up many vintage Hatteras' over the years, 1000's of different Hatteras Yachts over the years. All of the way from 1960's to 2019's. I've seen countless owners buy an old SF for $200k, throw $300-700k into it and still have an old hull design that's worth $350k AND a lot of frustration dealing with mechanics and yards and projects that never seem to finish on time. When it's better advice for *most* owners to buy a 5 year old +/- 54' GT and go have fun with it and all of the systems are modern technology AND easy to get parts for..........heads, steering, hull design, engines, generator, etc. Most yacht owners don't have the time to deal with it.

You like restoring and fixing older boats, that is your hobby, and there is nothing wrong with that. But, most yacht owners are not like you, they want to buy a yacht, get in it and enjoy it, and hate having to deal with mechanics and yards. For the masses of yacht owners, recommending restoring a 30+ year old boat is bad advice. There is a reason you see a lot of older boats where people started to redo them, ripped items out of them, and then stopped and they just sit there for years and years......

The best thing any owner can do for a boat is to use it. Sitting in a garage somewhere is tantamount to operating a non profit museum. Why put a boat into a museum when you can enjoy the pride of the use and ownership? Every boat requires maintenance. Any investment you don't make this year into your brand new boat is simply depreciating deferred maintenance down the road.

54GT versus the ride of my 53c? Lmao. Go run a 54GT into 10-12 footers at 20 knots for several hours and then get back to me. That's absurd. There is no better ride and strength in that class of boat as compare to the vintage Hatt. Period. Full stop. No, you won't cruise 28-30. You'll cruise 18-21. That's the upside of the new one. Speed. Time to fishing grounds. But as my bait hit the water at 120 feet off Port Everglades, how much faster did I need to get there as I fished all day across to Bimini?

Interior fit and trim, detail, modern quality? Come aboard my Burger. Try to make that statement with a straight face.

No, I like restoring old boats as opposed to buying new. Why? Because new boats cannot compete with the quality to investment ratio of my finished product, and it gets me into exactly the boat for me and brings with it all of the confidence and understanding that you cannot have buying new. I don't do it for a hobby. I do it for my own use and pleasure.

Why do so many projects stall? Because an owner thought they could get a steal and prescribed a budget about 10 cents on the dollar of what is required. Not because it's so expensive or difficult or "frustrating". No, they bought an old hull for $100k and thought they could throw $100k into a hole that needed $300k, $500k, whatever. Why did it need so much? Years of others punting that work into the future, and it finally caught up.

YES, a 54' GT rides incredibly better than a 1970's 53' C in EVERY sea state. And yes, I've had both boats in very big seas. Hull design has become incredibly better from the 1970's to now. There is no refuting that.

Yes, there's refuting that, right here. I've been on both, and there isn't a softer ride at speed in big blue than on the 53c. I'll stand behind that all day, all night.

I'm choosing not to comment on the topic of conversation (which has completely de-railed from the subject in the Thread Title) but I find your tone inappropriate and combative.