Beneteau Antares 7.80 – SOLD

I’ve never met anyone who bought an enclosed wheel house boat and came to regret it.

Actually…. I tell a lie. There was one local guy who owned a Quicksilver pilot house boat for use around the coast of Donegal. When he decided to buy a summer place in Croatia and do most of his boating out there, he loved his Quicksilver so much that he took it to Croatia with him. Now this was one of the smaller models with no opening side windows and a roof hatch the size of a postage stamp; so to say the wheel house was a little stifling in 40 degree heat is a bit of an understatement. After about 2 seasons sweating like a pig in a sausage factory he finally gave in and sent the Quicksilver back to Northern Europe where it belonged….

Apart from that guy, everybody loves them. Granted, if you are boating in sweltering heat and unbroken sunshine all the time then this boat is probably not for you. But if you’re used to the lovely mix of sunshine and showers that we get around the British Isles, then read on….

The shear joy of having a hard top boat comes from the fact that you just step on board, open the sliding glass door and you’re inside and comfy, no mater what the weather is doing. No messing around with intricate canvas, or studying the sky in detail before you leave the marina to try to decide whether to leave your covers up or down. Just turn the key and go. If it’s a nice day, open up the big roof hatch, side windows and doors, to get a pleasant flow of air through the boat, or if it’s raining just close everything up. And the big bonus for me comes when it’s time to go home – especially if, like me, you’re the one who’s left putting all the covers on the boat, while everyone else strolls leisurely back down the dock. Well, not on this boat… just shut the door and walk away.

Now that we’re agreed hardtop boats are fabulous, why should you buy this one?

Well, as ever it comes down to Value and the specifics of the boat. It’s my humble opinion that not only is this the best value Antares 7.80 on the market right now but she’s also probably the best value of any similar style boat that you could buy right now.

‘Why is that?’ you might ask….

As I see it, there’s 4 big factors with this boat that count for great value in my book:

1. It’s Virtually New… – The boat was built in 2012, has had only one owner and has seen less than 20hrs use. It’s practically new, all except for the price.
2. Warranty – the Holy Grail of used boat sales. Usually if you want a warranty when buying a boat you have to cough up to buy a brand new one. The great thing about buying nearly new (and it is fairly rare to find one) is that you get save a ton of money and still get manufacturer’s warranty. In this case the Suzuki DF150 engine came with a 5 year warranty in 2012; so you’ll get the balance of that when you buy now.
3. Trailer Included – if you’ve every tried to buy a trailer for a boat of this size you’ll know just how valuable these things are – not only because it’ll cost you at least Four Grand to buy a new one (and around £3k used, for anything that isn’t literally hanging together), but the real value comes from how much it’ll save you in maintenance and storage costs over time. Having your own trailer means no expensive lift out costs every time you need to do a little maintenance, you can easily move the boat to new cruising grounds, and you’re not at the mercy of the yards for winter storage.
4. History and condition – I can never stress enough how important a solid history is when buying a used boat, because there is always the real danger that you could be buying someone else’s problems. Not here though! I personally have probably spent almost as much time on this boat as the owner has, because although the owner hasn’t used the boat very much, he certainly has not skimped on care or maintenance. Since he took delivery of the boat last year, we have literally done everything to, from the first engine service, winterising maintenance, antifouling and storage. I don’t even think the owner has ever launched or recovered the boat himself… we’ve done it for him. The trailer has been in indoor storage with us from new and any time the boat has needed anything done, we’ve done it and the receipts are there to prove it. Hand on my heart I can say that this boat package has wanted for nothing and is as clean as they come.