Yellow mood but CT54 research helped-

I have to admit that I like doing sailboat research at work (during my lunch breaks-lest you think I’m a slacker).  So when I get into a yellow mood,,,,you know,,,,kind of just don’t want to workout but you know mentally it will help,,,,that’s what I call a yellow mood.   Looking for my family’s next sailboat or researching boats to discuss on this blog usually breaks me out of my yellow moods,,,,,so it’s relaxing but still requires me to engage my mind.

Still in a bit of a yellow mood, I decided to look at one of the boat’s I’ve had my eye on in San Diego, new to the market, a 1977 Ta Chiao CT54.   She’s in decent shape in the pictures, but without an initial walk-through and then a full survey, I really don’t know her condition.  However, when researching sailboats, I usually start on the internet.  I aim to find as much as has been written about the boat I’m researching, good or bad.  I do this so I can look for what the authors say about the boats, then take that with me if we ever get to a point of looking at the boats.  There’s a lot written about CT54’s and 56’s,,,some which you could take with a grain of salt and some you want to pay attention to.  The best articles are by the guys who designed the boats,,,,in this case Mr. Bob Perry.  Mr. Perry is pretty famous in boat design circles and is still in business, currently designing a 60+ foot blue water sailboat for Pacific Sailcraft.

As I started researching the CT54, I started on google and immediately found a sailboat review from Jordan Yachts on the CT54.  It’s titled: CT54/56 Sailboat Review- The Perry Pirate Ship,,,,,a great name for a very complete and well written article.  If you’re researching sailboats and you find an article from Jordan Yachts, I would start there in my research.  This article pointed out some very specific things about the build on the CT54 that’s important to know going into a potential inspection and buying process; CT54’s have varying build quality (depending on whether the potential owner spent any time at the yard in Taiwan), the fact that the yard learned as they went,,,,so earlier boats may not have the same build quality as the later boats and the fact that not every CT54 was built with the same design below, so understand that going into your research.  For instance,,,,there’s CT54’s with 2,3 or 4 window’s in their Pirate Sterns, a very visible example you can see easily.  Confirm this for yourself by looking at the different CT54’s that are online now on yachtworld and you’ll see.  Next, I look to see if the sailboat designer or builder is still alive and still in business.  In this case, Mr. Bob Perry is still alive and very much in business, so I looked to see if he had personally written anything about the CT54,,,and he has.  I found it on the Sailfeed when I looked up CT54 reviews and found the fantastic article written by Mr. Perry about Ct54/56’s and their build history.  Great Article that I used to further my research.  Lastly, I looked all over Bob Perry’s website, Robert H. Perry Yacht Designers, Inc.  I think it’s pretty awesome to be able to buy a boat from a company and designer that’s still in business, and both Ta Chiao and Bob Perry are still around and in business, so that’s a plus.  While on Mr. Perry’s website, I saw that he occasionally answers email and has a consulting business (for $500), so I decided to email him to see what he thought of the boat via the link and if he thought the price was in line.  To my complete surprise, I received an email back within minutes, telling me that he really couldn’t answer my questions without doing consultation,,,,,which we can’t afford right now but we may buy his book.  When I emailed back a quick thanks, he went on to explain that he had actually looked over the link and thought if the boat was in decent shape, that it might be a fair price, although probably a bit high.  I have my own concerns about the boat (like does it have black iron fuel tanks and it’s build quality); but what a surprise to get an email back from Mr. Bob Perry, that was a real thrill for someone who writes a tiny sailing blog and has looked at many of his boats.

I have no financial obligations to Mr. Perry and have not received any monies of any kind to mention his name, the CT54 name or the names of these other websites,,,,but you should check them all out if you’re remotely interested in a Perry Pirate ship or any of his other designs.

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via Daily Prompt: Yellow