Kirie Elite 25

[Jerry Johnson]

I am just getting back into sailing after a 20+ year layoff. I owned and sailed a Catalina 27 way back when and just bought a 84 Kirie Elite 25 after having a friend go and check the boat out for me. The thing is, I can not find much information about these boats, I am able to find the larger boats and they seem to be very well made but can only find one 25 even for sale here in the states. If anyone has experience or knowledge of these boats, as for build and sailing quality please let me know. Also if anyone knows things that I should look for also let me know. I will be going to look at the boat myself at the end of this month and would just like to have a direction in what problems and the areas to look at first. Thanks in advance.
May you days be sunny and your sails be full.

 

[woodster]

is the boat made in the us ...if not when you search...include the country of origin in the search you may turn up more info...good luck

 

[Jerry Johnson]

is the boat made in the us ...if not when you search...include the country of origin in the search you may turn up more info...good luck

I am not sure if it was a French made boat or one of their Canadian made boats. I know it is the same boat as the Feeling 720 but there again I can't find much information on the internet about them. There are several places where I can find the two names but I can not read the language it is in and the translate on the computer does not seem to be working. LOL I guess I am really looking to see if anyone has experience with these brands or has been on one and has an opinion of them.
Thanks for the input.

 

[rgranger]

Here is a data page on the Feeling version

http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=4552

 

[Jerry Johnson]

Here is a data page on the Feeling version

http://sailboatdata.com/viewrecord.asp?class_id=4552

Thanks for taking the time to look up this but I have seen it. I know the specs of the boat but would like to hear some first hand experience on the handling and any problem areas associated with them. Thanks to all for the replies.

 

[Jerry Johnson]

Ok, found some production numbers on these boats. It said there were 173 boats made from 1982-1992, is this a good or bad thing? I realize this means less parts if things need replaced but being such a low volume boat, does this mean that the build quality is better? The information stated that this number was for the Kirie Elite 25 and the Feeling 720 combined so I would think this was a very low production number for a boat. Any thoughts on this? I found this information here:https://www.boat-specs.com/kirie/elite

 

[Gunni]

I sailed a Kirie Feeling 44 all around the Windward Islands, probably not relevant to the smaller boat but the 44 was a great fast sailing boat, very well built. She was a regular race winner in the open ocean competitions. Pretty too!

 

[Jackdaw]

I've been on several of the Elite models around 30 feet. They are indeed French-build and of a high quality, both in construction and design.

Like Jenneau and Beneteau models of the same age, they often will have worn deck hardware that is no longer produced. Often (but not always) Beni and Jenni will have these parts in stock for their boats; for Kirie you will be on your own because the yard was sold around 2000 and another company sprung up in its place.

Most of the rest of the boat is straight fiberglass construction and can be sorted out like any other.

 

[Jerry Johnson]

Thanks for the replies. Should I be worried about the production numbers being so low on these boats over a 10 year span or does that just show that the quality might be a little above standard?

 

[Jackdaw]

Thanks for the replies. Should I be worried about the production numbers being so low on these boats over a 10 year span or does that just show that the quality might be a little above standard?

It think it's fair to say that in their home (French) market, Kirie lost favor (and market-share) to her two larger domestic competitors. And there were not along in this regard. This does not necessarily reflect poorly on the product, which as I stated are nice boats. Boat companies typically build as many boats as that can sell. In this case they built few because they sold few.

 

[Gunni]

If the boat checks out you get a good deal because there isn't a lot of buyer-buzz to drive pricing.