# Scanmar 31 & 33



## hoppy (Jul 7, 2000)

*Scanmar 31 & 33*

Wondering if anyone has experience with a Scanmar 31 or 33. Seems like a better than average boat. Hope to sail Bahamas to Venezuela and maybe some off shore as well.
Would likely pull the Volvo and upgrade to a Yanmar. Appreciate any feedback.


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## sailingfool (Apr 17, 2000)

*Scanmar 31 & 33*

My feedback - find a European yacht BBS and post your query there. Most US boaters have probably never seen a Scanmar. Try to be sure the cost of the new engine (say $10-13K) is coming out of the price of the boat...
On a techniocal note, I think "Bahamas to Venezula" would reasonably qualify as offshore...


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## gull (Jul 7, 2000)

*Scanmar 31 & 33*

Perhaps you are looking at the Scanmar 31 located in South Carolina, (Charleston)???
I looked at that boat as I thought it had everything I was looking for ..... BUT

My overall impression was not good - I describe it as a poorly finnished Swedish Hunter - mostly cheap and nasty below - made me wonder what else was poorly built.

I really wanted to like the boat and spent over an hour crawling around looking at everything I could - the more I looked, the more I realised this was not the boat for me.
This particular boat has been converted (very poorly) from tiller to wheel steering - not a good idea in my opinion - particularly the way it was done. There are several other weird-isms with the systems on the boat.

As I said, this was not the boat for me - yet it may be suitable for someone else. I just didn''t get a fuzzy feeling, which is sad because as a design I really like a lot of the ideas: fractional rig, aft head, quick hull shape etc.
I think perhaps the boat has potential if you were to do some refitting and redesign.
Good Luck, let me know if you need more specific info.


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## jack_patricia (May 20, 2001)

*Scanmar 31 & 33*

Hoppy, one specific European (and English speaking) BB to which you can post your question is http://www.ybw.com/cgi-bin/forums/wwwthreads.pl as this is the Practical Boat Owner/Yachting Monthly forum.

A second, far more distant source would be the UK''s Hallberg-Rassy owners assn. as many of these folks are somewhat knowlegeable about the variety of Swedish and Baltic-based boat builders. They are at http://www.hroa.co.uk/discus/

Perhaps our general view of boat building has been unavoidably altered by these huge accummulations of C''s, B''s and H''s plus a sizeable smattering of J''s and IP''s we see at the boat shows. Much like New England, most boat building in Scandianvia and the coastal Baltic is done by small builders, each of whom must solve the infinite # of design and construction issues in ways with which they are familiar and which tradition suggests and, to the extent they have it, new technology provides for. IOW there can be much variability involved in boat building. I find it pretty fascinating to see how specialty knowledge, over time, evolves into a cottage industry within an industry - e.g. the Dutch excel in steel, the English understand the bilge keel underbody, the Belgiums are world leaders in sailboat floatation, and builders in Finland and Sweden excel at joinerwork and ergonomics.

Regrettably, it isn''t wise to generalize and think all (e.g. Swedish) yards produce similar levels of quality or even offer similar design quality. That may explain the comments about the Scanmar above...and it doubly justifies seeking out info from folks closer to where the boat is built.

Jack


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## hoppy (Jul 7, 2000)

*Scanmar 31 & 33*

Thanks to all for the feedback.
I was interested in the Scanmar 31 in
Charleston, SC. Two telephone calls and an
e-mail were ignored by the listing broker.
Glad that I didn''t buy a plane ticket.
Will see what I can dig up on the 33 as it
is double the 31 price. Thanks again!


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## aria31 (Mar 16, 2012)

*Re: Scanmar 31 & 33*



hoppy said:


> Wondering if anyone has experience with a Scanmar 31 or 33. Seems like a better than average boat. Hope to sail Bahamas to Venezuela and maybe some off shore as well.
> Would likely pull the Volvo and upgrade to a Yanmar. Appreciate any feedback.


Hi, we have a Scanmar 31 and have been to the Bahamas. I like my Volvo-Penta engine, still loyal and trustworthy. Great boat, fast into the wind, lovely, and taught (it's got stories to tell).

Jose


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## mbarbarick (Nov 3, 2014)

*Re: Scanmar 31 & 33*

Hi -I recently purchased a 1984 Scanmar 33 in good condition just needs cosmetic and paint on stripe. One big issue is that the rubrail on port side is shreaded for about 2 feet and would like to replace it. would any one out there have any idea of where I might find a mfg that would carry somewhat rare Sweedish yachts rubrail? or a equivocal replace ment. its about 2' wide at bottom and 1' at top sort of a triangular 'A" pattern . the other option would be to find a hard rubber putty substance and repair it. Are there any options here that would work?

Any clues would be helpful

thanks

Mike


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## bobmcgov (Jul 19, 2007)

*Re: Scanmar 31 & 33*

Congrats on the new boat, Mike. Scanmars are among my favorite designs. The company is kaput -- except for its Monitor wind vane division, which may be worth contacting, on the bizarre chance they have a roll of 1980s rub rail in the back.:laugher Odder things have happened.

Alternatives are to remove the rest of the damaged rail (fun) & replace with a new by Taylor Made or similar. Could do both sides, or just one on the theory no one sees both sides of the boat at once.  Hard to imagine a built-up patch staying put. Guess you could make a mold of undamaged stuff and pour one in some kind of elastomer or plastic, piece it in. A lot of effort. Sounds like the rub rail did its job, tho!


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## Jaramaz (Aug 9, 2013)

*Re: Scanmar 31 & 33*



bobmcgov said:


> Congrats on the new boat, Mike. Scanmars are among my favorite designs. The company is kaput -- except for its Monitor wind vane division, which may be worth contacting, on the bizarre chance they have a roll of 1980s rub rail in the back.:laugher Odder things have happened.


?? Following the link you provided I couldn't find anything saying these guys have been selling Scanmar boats. Seems more like a coincidence in name.

Don't think Scanmar has been a great success over there (in US & Canada), here however they have been and still are quite popular. Build quality is not bad, but as some of the Scanmars were sold as DIY kits there is a variation.

Understand if you like Scanmar when you have a Ballad - same designer.

Agree that one probably has to change the rail completely, and then best do both.

/J


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## bobmcgov (Jul 19, 2007)

*Re: Scanmar 31 & 33*



Jaramaz said:


> ?? Following the link you provided I couldn't find anything saying these guys have been selling Scanmar boats. Seems more like a coincidence in name.
> 
> /J


Scanmar the boat building company is no more. Some of its assets (including the name Scanmar) passed thru various hands and now attach to the maker of Monitor wind vanes in California. Mbarbarick might contact them just in case other Scanmar assets -- like a cardboard box full of rub rail material -- found its way into their basement.:laugher Can't hurt.

The sailboat division of Albin is gone, too -- 'Albin Marine' is now a Connecticut (USA) builder of sport trawlers,  rather than a Swedish builder of sailboats. They haven't got any old Albin sailing stuff -- just took over the name when the European branch folded -- but there are a couple vendors in Sweden that still have boxes of old Albin parts they somehow ended up with.


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## [email protected] (Jun 15, 2016)

*Re: Scanmar 31 & 33*

Have had my Scanmar 31 for 26 years, looks good and much admired. Very easy to sail and not lacking performance.

Initial high quality of build shows through, no sign osmosis and interior joinery still VG, much better than mant much younger boats.

Self tacking system is great boon.

Handles well under engine both ahead and astern.

Yacht TOKENKAY - based Portsmouth UK


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