Buying Tips

[California_Kid]

Good Day!

I live in California and instead of sailing all the way to the Mediterranean, I am thinking of buying a IF in Sweden and sail it to England, Ireland, Portugal, Spain, and then into the Mediterranean.

The trip is still about 2 years away, and I am in the early planning phase of the trip.

Does anyone have any tips for buying an IF in Sweden?

Thank you for your time and wisdom,

Jeff

[Fredrik]

Hi Jeff, just have a look on our sales-site "salutorg" and be amazed how much superquality sailboat you could get for 40-100' SEK. Clearly shows the fact you never be prophet in own country...Enjoy your selection regards Fredrik SWE1928

[California_Kid]

The great selection of available boats is the basis of my plan.

But I quess I should clarify my questions...

1) Can I simply buy a boat in Sweden and sail it to another port?

2) Are there registration or safety inspections I need to be aware of?

3) What is the VAT that I keep hearing about?

Thank you again for your time and wisdom.

Jeff

[FredrikH]

When you buy a boat that is this old, you don't have to worry about any extra taxes or fees, as far as I know. The boat is also less than 12 meters, so I does not have to be in the ship registry.

When it comes to sailing, I would make sure everything is in really good shape before I cross the Biscaya. Here are some tips:
- Reinforcement on the rudder; prolonged steel plates over the top hinge on the rudder
- change the inner shrouds to the "danish type", the old bolt through the deck has a tendency to break in tough conditions.
- Bring a storm jib and make sure you can reduce the surface on the mainsail. The IF can go with full sails up to windspeeds of 25 knots, but that is "on the limit".
- See if you can do something about the kitchen; The standard cooking place does not allow you to cook when you are sailing.

Good luck! It seems like a fantastic adventure! Don't forget to spend an extra month on the Swedish coast before you head south!

[Ardina]

Fun project!

I would also recommend you to check out the largest Buy/Sell website in Sweden - called Blocket http://www.blocket.se The following link should hopefully give you all the IFs for sale in Sweden right now http://www.blocket.se/hela_sverige?q=if ... 3_11&md=th As you can see, there is quite the selection: 24 IFs has come out on the market since the beginning of June. Maybe Google Translate can assist you in figuring out what the ads are saying ...

The price range is SEK 35 000 - 95 000 corresponding to approx. USD 4500-12000. Being in your situation I would go for the higher end of the scale, trying to find a boat in good condition with "everything" fixed, especially the issues described by Fanta. I'm guessing you don't want to spend a lot of time in Sweden fixing and fitting the boat.

Three additions I would add to Fantas list
Window fittings. Others know more about this than me but I think that boats older than 1973 have rubber fittings around the side windows. I would avoid crossing Biscaya with this type of side window because they might be pushed into the cabin if there is a big wave from the side. From 1973 on the window fittings are aluminum, a much more sturdy construction. There are also the option of buying a re-fitting kit from Marieholms Boat on the west coast of Sweden http://www.marieholmboat.se/

Spray hood . Make sure the boat has a sprayhood in decent condition or plan to buy and fit a sprayhood. The IF is a quite low boat and gets quite wet if waves pick up.

Halyards and trim lines drawn aft In order to increase safty and avoid having to spend a lot of time up on deck, I would look for a boat with all halyards and trimlines drawn aft from the mast to enable operation from the cockpit. There are several different solutions but I think that the most common way is a board with clam cleats in front of the sprayhood.

Good luck with the project. Please let us know how it progresses!

[California_Kid]

Great! This is exactly the type of information I was looking for.

Thank you!

Happy Sailing!

Jeff