Looking for advice on Formosa 47 or 51

[elcid]

Hi, I am new to this forum and am looking for advice on either a Formosa 47 or 51. I am soon to retire and would like to start cruising the Pacific.r/Tony

[ParadiseParrot]

Decks Decks Decks

[marramarra]

Try contacting "Atlantia" which is a Formosia 50' that has been world travelling for a long time. We met them in Coff's harbour in 2010. From their blog they are in Thailand now.

atlantia dot org dot uk.

[atavist]

welcome aboard Elcid...

Formosa's in general CAN be great boats... depends on a couple major factors, use and maintenance, and who was supervising when they were built.

Being built overseas to save labor costs some of these boats were done right and some weren't... it's a hit and miss game... the only way to know for sure is a good survey of the boat in question.... like any boat if she is older, wasn't maintained, and or shortcuts were taken in construction then you will get a shotty boat... if a few shortcuts were taken but she has been taken care of you will probably never know the shortcuts were taken...
Like all boats it all comes down to the individual boat in question... Get the best surveyor you can find and follow him around like a lost puppy while he is doing the survey. You will learn a lot...

A good Formosa is a very compotent blue water passage maker, just be sure you get a good one.

[Jolly Roger]

I completely agree with Atavist.
When we were living aboard in the Mediterranean circa 1978, a lot of Formosa’s came through from the Suez Canal. We were very envious of their style and size, but many owners were very upset with the shoddy workmanship, particularly in the engineering department.
It seemed to depend whether the owner went over there, and sat on it while it was being built—these were generally okay. But those who just took delivery and sailed away experienced a ton of problems, some very serious and expensive to repair. delaminating masts and spars, wonky prop shafts, under ballasted, leaking decks, etc.

I suppose most of these have been fixed long ago, otherwise they would be on the bottom of the oceans.
Just make sure you take a very long, hard look at whatever takes your fancy, particularly the decks. But then, that probably applies to any boat, even including the brand new ones.