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Olson911s "Elusive"

G

Gurney35Alani

New member
Any information about history, condition, sailing attributes, successes and not-so-much success of the good ship Elusive against other boats is greatly appreciated.
 
Olson 911s a very good small racer cruiser. Sails well to its rating. There have been a few that did multiple Hawaii races. Ash Perrin and her brother won the Around Great Britain (?) race in one, probably over 10 years ago. They are getting up in years so get a good survey of whatever hull you are looking at.
 
Elusive has been quite competitive in the SF Bay 30 fleet, as I recall. If you're unfamiliar with the fleet, it's a group that includes a few 911s plus the odd Tartan 10, J/30, J/29, Laser 28, Capo 30, and occasionally my Martin 32. The class is struggling a bit to keep numbers up and recently started to admit asymmetricals e.g. J/32. There's a Yahoo group for the class - sf30s - in case you want to ask more questions. I think the current owner of Elusive is in the Yahoo group, if that makes a difference to you.
Max
 
Thank you. This one is a Pacific Boat Works build so is also a cored hull. So I will need a very top notch Bay Area surveyor to check for problems in the hull, plus the rest of the boat given her age and use as a racer. These boats seem perfect for our winds in here Hawaii if I cannot get a Pogo 30 for the same price (Ha Ha If wishes were horses, beggars . . . .) So any recommendations on surveyors would also be appreciated as I have not been a Bay Area boater since the mid-1990s.
 
Thanks Max. I'll check with him and check out the fleet as I am not familiar with it. Owner is a San Rafael architect - sounds like a good knowledgeable owner.
 
I would expect a Pogo 30 to cost 5X what a 911s goes for. If Elusive is for public sale I can't find it on Yachtworld or Latitude.
 
Ho boy. Sit down for this. Pogo 8.5s are 80K to 135k or so. 30s are 120K to 180K (more than 5Xs) and a new 30 gets you close to or over $200k, especially with a lifting keel, and an almost 2 year wait - hence the beggars would ride comment.
As I said in another post I wish I could afford the gorgeous Wylie Lightspeed. But no. Four of us delivered the Wylie War Spite to Honolulu back in '93. Tom built/builds beautiful fast rides. Take care.
 
Unfortunately I started talking with Charlie last night after finding Elusive on that godforsaken website. We exchanged some emails and as a surprise a little while ago I learned from him that Norm Davant at Sail California picked up the boat this afternoon to list. Que lastima.
 
Well, you can still buy it. He is selling my boat. I doubt if the price will be much different than that listed at S/A.
 
I do not believe Charlie was straight with me when we started talking yesterday and then today. I think the boat had already been promised to Norm to list a while ago. So who knows the actual condition of the boat and the truth of other stuff he claimed. The dealer Norm may be a fine guy, but in my life and work honesty and complete disclosure so there is a level playing field/meeting of the minds in a friendship, deals and the like is paramount. Did not happen. Maybe its a Maui thing. Because of the above now have no interest in that boat nor enriching the prior owner. A good 911s still sounds like a good boat. Congrats on Temerity selling if the deal goes thru.
 
Gurney35Alani said:
I do not believe Charlie was straight with me when we started talking yesterday and then today. I think the boat had already been promised to Norm to list a while ago. So who knows the actual condition of the boat and the truth of other stuff he claimed. The dealer Norm may be a fine guy, but in my life and work honesty and complete disclosure so there is a level playing field/meeting of the minds in a friendship, deals and the like is paramount. Did not happen. Maybe its a Maui thing. Because of the above now have no interest in that boat nor enriching the prior owner. A good 911s still sounds like a good boat. Congrats on Temerity selling if the deal goes thru.
Click to expand...

If it's the right boat for the right price, go for it. Norm is a great guy with a reputation, he will tell you exactly what you will get with this boat. Better to deal with Norm than directly with the owner of the boat (as you already experienced).

Dirk
 
OTOH, I'd hate to see a good boat like this leave the Bay, especially a Schumacher boat. jamottep should take a look at it.

You're buying the boat, not the PO, and there's not much on these boats that can't be fixed. It will sell pretty quickly.
 
BobJ said:
You're buying the boat, not the PO,
Click to expand...

Yeah that is what the pre-purchase survey is for.

A broker can perform a useful function of turning an emotion-laden situation into a business transaction. You are exchanging money for some object you want.
 
Yup. All is true. And maybe it will be available for over night sleeps when you are over here. . . . Silver lining ya know. Thanks for all the ideas, info and comments. Elusive is not yet listed on Norm's brokerage site. I sent him an email and will see what he says about his wants/needs and ambitions. Pleasant weekend wishes to all.
 
I missed buying O-34 Culebra when she was for sale. She was on the sales dock for only a single weekend. My boat is essentially sold after about a month. Just sayin'.
 
I think the Nesbits' RAZZBERRIES sold pretty quickly too, and it hadn't been sailed in awhile.

Was that when Paul bought CULEBRA or did he sell it after the SHTP (etc.) and I wasn't aware of it? CULEBRA is a nice one - carbon mast, beefed up keel, etc.

Especially here on the West Coast, only the doggy J/92's appear on the brokerage market. Owners sell the nicer ones directly.
 
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Yes that was when Paul snapped up Culebra. He got a super good deal. Razz was put on the market at a quick-sell price of $30k. Ouch. I bought my boat a few months after the Cuelbra sale, which was a few months before the stock market crash, which also had the effect of crashing the used sailboat market. I had decided that the O-34 was the right boat for my (then perceived) needs, so I approached the owner of OZONE (now Temerity) for a private sale, and paid a fairly premium price.

Unlike the stock market, the used boat market never really came back, at least for boats >15 years old.
 
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