Hi Tony

I've got a 1977 Lochin 33, long wheelhouse (Sports Cruiser) varient.

Maybe I can elaborate a little more on a couple of Simon's good advice.

A survey is essential and history is obviously worthwhile.

It would appear that several companies built Lochins apart form Lochin themselves. Mine was built by Cresta Marine (later becoming Coral Marine) and Cygnus and other also built them. They are often quite different

As Simon said, some were home completed and mine appeared to have originally been sold as semi-complete and the parts that Cresta marine built and the first owner completed were plainly obvious. Fortunately, the first owner only completed the galley, shelves in the front cabin and wheelhouse and lockers under the side decks in the ****pit, I have already replaced most of these items in the spirit of the original build. This doesn't necessarilly mean that all "home builds" were sub standard, some could be even better than "yard builds" so would have to be judged on their merit but some would definately have been dodgy.

In thirty years, some good yard builds will have been ruined by owners who knew no better.

As for pitfalls, I don't think that Lochins have any more pitfalls than any other similar boats and probably, a lot less than most.

All old boats are prone to osmosis and mine has been epoxy treated at some time before I owned it. It was probably done around 2000 and is still fine (or at least was last time it was out of the water).

Mark 1 Lochins (pre circa 1982) don't have the additional reinforcing ribs but I don't know if they are any less sturdy. Mine is still fine and the inside is certianly neater.

I've heard some people say that "Lochins aren't very good in a following sea". Well they can be a bit wallowey but only if you are doing less than about 10 knots. So that critisism may well date back to the old ones with smaller engines.

Mark 1 Lochins weren't fitted with spray deflector rails (apparently, these came in with the Mark 2) so they were were very wet. Many boats were retro-fitted with these and if not; they are available from the factory. Take it from me; they make a hell of a diference.

Some early ones appear to have been spray laminated so the thickness of glass can be quite variable in places. It makes it a difficult job if you want to replace the windows and make a neat job of it.

The gelcoat on some appears to have been sprayed on and may contain minute air bubbles in places. After thirty years, it can look like someone has sprinkled pepper on it but much of it will polish out.

I doubt if you could find a thirty year old Lochin that will be imaculate, mine was used for diving by the previous owner so there is quite a lot of cosmetic damage to the gelcoat around the ****pit. I'm gradually repairing it and it's quite tedious. Some of the workboats will have been worked to death but that's not what you're looking for is it!

The average "small engine" these days seems to be around 300 HP.

It would seem that diesel isn't going to be quite as bad as we thought so coding may not be quite so financially viable.

I may well be wrong but I understand that one of the requirements of coding is 1 metre high railings around the ****pit. In my opinion, this renders it totally useless as a fishing boat and I'd rather pay more for the diesel.

Good hunting

Chas