Albin Build Quality

[Donsan]

That is true BUT is that fact presented to Joe Newyacht buyer?

How about an old boat buyer who had an expectation of Albin quality?

Gee, come to think of it, just about everything electronic we buy nowadays has a made in China label on it but I have yet to find something on my boat to indicate it was made in Taiwan.....except some electronics ha ha.

 

[dhmeissner]

Cool bit of thread creep, prompted me to look into what happened to the C.C. Chen boatyard. I knew my Roughwater was designed by Monk and built in Taiwan, but had no idea the boatyard was still in business, ...albeit under another name now. Cool bit of history, I have seen one Thomas Gilmer designed sailboat they built as well, I think the Aries 32 and/or Roughwater 32.

???? HSING HANG YACHTS BUILDER-????
http://hsinghang-marine.com/

 

[Driftless]

All I can say after reading all of this is that the Swedish-built Albin 25 I have (hull number 737) is an amazing piece of engineering and manufacturing. It's drop-dead simple - everything you need and nothing you don't.

That said, what is there is very high quality. The stainless handrails, the fiberglass, everything they put on them is top-shelf. They saved money by leaving the frills out.

Now, what does that tell us about the American-built Albins, from Rhode Island? Probably nothing. All they really had in common was the name and the idea for an aft-cabin boat which became the A-27.

Personally, I don't much care. Driftless has been and continues to be a wonderful boat, seaworthy (in sensible coastal waters) and economical. What more do I need?

That's my two smallest-units-of-currency's worth. YMMV

Go small, go simple, go now.

JS

 

[Mark Laurnen]

Owning a 2004 Albin 31 Tournament Express, I know a fair amount about my boat. I have found it to be very well constructed , but rather cheaply finished. I have weathered terrible conditions without difficulty and with high confidence, but the trim components and workmanship aren’t much better than I could have probably done myself … and I’m no craftsman. You don’t get what you don’t pay for … I sure like the finish of the competitors, just not the price.

 

[DesertAlbin736]

Like Moby Nick, and Driftless (Ulf, aka Driftless & I did a bit of Erie Canal together in 2021, our boats being just one hull number different) I'm also an Albin 25 owner, in my case a 1971 model still going strong after 52 years. All I can say about this issue is that the larger Albin Trawlers like the 40 and others were not built in Sweden. For what it's worth they are Taiwan built trawlers similar to CHB, Universal, and others. Maybe better QC than some, but I can't attest to that one way or another. In fact the Albin Vega sailboats and the Albin 25 pocket trawlers were the only ones actually built in Sweden. Others like the Albin 27 pocket trawlers and the Tournament Express TE sport fisher series were built in the US, in Connecticut I believe.

psneeld, my brother has worked at the Pursuit Boats factory in Fort Pierce since 2000. Now there's some cool boats.

For any BoatUS subcribers out there, we were featured in the February/March 2020 issue.

 

[jleonard]

All I can say about this issue is that the larger Albin Trawlers like the 40 and others were not built in Sweden. For what it's worth they are Taiwan built trawlers similar to CHB, Universal, and others. Maybe better QC than some, but I can't attest to that one way or another.

They were good or not so good based on the actual crew that built it. There were family "crews" that would build the boat from start to finish. Depending on the strengths of their skills, that's how the boat came out. Some were excellent carpenters, some electricians, etc.
I got this info from a friend who once brokered these boats and he visited Taiwan to see how they were constructed.

 

[Nepidae]

We own a 1986 43' Sundeck and to date with the various projects we've done to the boat, including replacing the refrigerator, have never, repeat, NEVER found anything similar to what you have found with foam blocks.

Our '86 was brought into the country by the previous owner so our boat was a 1 owner boat, to clarify we are the 2nd owners.

Quite possibly the foam you found was added by a previous owner unless you are the original owner.

The 1 item I would recommend to any 80's vintage boat owner is that IF you have a centerline fuel tank, often referred to as a 'day tank', remove it immediately.

7 years ago we took ours out to have a place to put in our house battery bank and looking at the bottom of the tanks, had we not removed it, I had stopped using it when we bought the boat 6 yrs previously, we would have possibly pumped 60gal of fuel overboard.

I have cut out a piece of our hull to add sonar and not found any balsam or other soft wood. Not on the boat to look at the piece removed but if memory serves it seemed solid.

While the Albin may have some drawbacks, I can't compare ours to many other boats and find a better build.

 

[Nepidae]

Our galley seems to be a little different than the original poster.

NO, we don't and didn't have an ice box, our original Norcold was replaced by a Vitrifrigo (sp). To the port side of the refrig is a counter and a locker below we use to hold our liquor. Moving aft, there is a stove top, with a convection oven underneath and then 2 drawers below. The hull is outboard, behind this setup with no room for foam blocks.

Spanning, from a ladder, left, to the hull is a sink with open storage below that runs to the hull. There is no space on our boat for foam blocks to be put in.

As I said, I have been in just about every nook & cranny on our boat and have never encountered any spurious items that don't offer any function.

As I said, maybe left over from a previous owner.

Sorry you had an issue, but it is only fair that those who haven't bring that to people's attention.

I have also found on our Albin some great forethought in the construction.

We added a windlass and found the appropriate wires for the windlass running along the stbd hull from the wiring closet, in the fwd head, to the bow. From '86 to '11 it sat there waiting to be used.

Up on the bridge, under the cowling, are 2 wells to hold propane bottles, There is also copper tubing that comes down to the galley and ends behind the stove. When we go to put in a propane stove a lot of the work has been done.

Great moves and planning from Albin.

 

[skiprocks]

'85 Albin A 27 Sport (no aft cabin). Someone earlier commented that the construction was OK, but some of the finishes were less so. I would agree and I've spent the last 8 years enjoying the heck out of this boat "AND" repairing/remodeling where the original finish work wasn't up to par and we had some rot, etc. So are they good boats? Sure. The best? Nope. The one thing about our Albin that did surprise me is how thin the fiberglass on the side of the keel is.