Experience with boat building quality

[Peter Jakszentis]

Hello all,

I'm considering to buy a BIM 18 HT javelin b. As far as I am aware there is little choice other than the ventilo 18 HT. Has anybody had a chance to compare both boats ?

As a lot of you sail in coastal waters, did you experience any material fatigue failures or weaknesses ?

How is the boat handling in the surf ?

Do you trailer your boats dismantled or is re-erection to difficult and/or time consuming ?

Quite a lot questions but I'm sure you got the experience !

Thanks in advance,

Peter

[Maurizio]

Peter,
I will try to answer only to yr first question (how the Javelin 2 compare to the Ventilo 18HT) because the US Javelin B owners are more qualified than me to answer to the other questions. I live in Italy and I am the owner of a Ventilo 20HT (a special customized version of the Ventilo 20 catboat).
Then the performance of the two different design is very very close. The main difference between the two is the taller mast (10,50 m) installed on the Ventilo, which makes it (perhaps) a more light wind oriented boat. In the past also the BIM 18HT, the old BIMARE design, was fitted with a 10,50 m mast. The Ventilo mast is somewhat lighter (4 lbs) than the RIBA which fits the Javelin 2 and of a more "round" section 150x74 instead of 145X59). Besides the Ventilo comes with big carbon beams (120 mm diameter) which are so stiff that the front one does not need a dolphin striker.
However the carbon beams increase substantially the price of the boat, which is actually sold ex factory at EURO 16,835 (the current Javelin B price ex factory with the same base dotations is EURO 12,000).