I have just aquired a lancer 28, its just as bad as any other boat, unless you have money to spend on a pacific sea craft, a southern cross, or a halberg rassy. You get what you pay for, the lancer i have, has a keel i dont like, which is a fiberglass keel, filled with ballast, it has no reinforcing under any of the deck fittings, the forward hatch in the coach roof is a joke, it is held closed with one little hook, the companion way is way too big, (but some people like that) their is berths for what is claimed seven people, but their is no way, two adults can sleep in the forward v berth, one small adult would be all, with the table down, it has five six foot berths, which is way too much for a boat that size, and the result is, a lot of lost storage space. No nav station, no chart table, more a sort of floating trailer, my wife likes it though, but she isnt planning on any sailing, she is planning to stay at a marina, and invite friends down, so i guess it suits her. A lot of the components, are very good, well made, but just slapped on. The freshwater tank is only fifteen gallons, smallest of any boat i have ever owned. the hull and deck seem quite solid, though i have heard other people say this is not the case. I have stripped mine, taken the toe rails off, i am going to glass the hull deck joint, (would recomend that on just about any production boat) I am going to re bed all the fittings, replace the bulkheads. Their are no proper chain plates for the stayes, just a plate under the deck, that holds another plate that passes through the deck, onto which the stays are secured, i reckon if i sailed it hard enough, i could break that plate through the deck and lose the rig. I am replacing the hull deck self tapping screws with bolts, which with that and glassing the hull deck joint, and re bedding the deck fittings and toe rails, should get rid of all the leaks, the pulling of the deck by the mast transfering weight through the stays, loosens the hull deck seal, and you get water in.
I swapped a porsch i had for mine, i am quite happy with it, as i knew what i was getting when i got it, the previous owner had spent money on her, but he didnt do work, I dont have to spend a lot of money, i just have to do work, he put a new rig on her, new sails, new and very expensive covers on all the cushions, new foam, new stove, new toilet,new liner in the the cabin, but he didnt bother stopping the rot, so the nice boat he had is now stripped.
Will take me to about april to finish her, upgrade the electrical, probably cost 400, (solar panel double the batteries etc) glassing the hull deck and bedding in all deck fittings, probably, 200, bulheads, could be about 400, depending on whether i use marine ply or exterior. re painting the hull after the crap job he did, maybe 200, but i will spray that myself. I willl use the old marine ply from the bulkheads to re-enforce the fittings, probably use several gallons of fiberglass resin, and forty dollars a gallon, even the original hatch covers, under the cushions, handnt been seriously protected from moisture, i took those out, sanded them,and varnished them, maybe half hours work per hatch cover, the ones i have to replace due to rot, maybe an hour per hatch cover.
I am happy with the boat, lot of good sturdy components, but looks like they gave all these components to one man, and said "build it as fast as you can" Like i say, only thing i dont like is the keel, and that is because, i dont understand it.
