Albin 31 tournament express or 28 t.e.

[Brent]

go fast or trawler speed?

 

[snowdevil]

Glad to see someone else is in the same boat as me. I was able to sea trial a 2003 albin 31 te Monday and see what is all about. The boat is big... for a 31
and was powered by twin 315 yanmar diesels. the boat is nice and pilot house is huge , and plenty of room for cruising , sleeping or fishing. My problem with it is the finish of the interior and speed of the boat for having twins. The underneath is cheap looking and not very appealing for that kind of money.
the cruise speed is about 18 knts and wide open @ 3400 rpm was only about 23knts and I know I would have it at the higher end of the operating range for the most part and it uses 20+ gph at that speed. The diesels at Idle will choke out anyone in a 50 foot range of the back of the boat and would make trolling not very much fun at all. Takes the seas very well and the difference is extreme to what we are use to with the xl 2520 , the ride is real nice.
All in all it is a nice boat ,but for 150,000 dollars i don't think it would be right for me. For $ 100,000 or under the are some nice express style boats with all the features or back to an outboard boat like a pursuit 335 or something of that style. back to square one. I guess the parker is a great all round boat and I am happy to have it, after doing some looking of what is out there . I will not he heart broken if I have to run her another season while I figure this all out...

 

[Elysium]

Did you run the 28te as well when at Standish?Curious how the ride was on that-have heard very positive feedback and like the look of the 28 a whole lot better.

 

[snowdevil]

No I didn't run the 28 te as well. Ken has a new 28 newport edition for sale there as well as a brokage 31 te he is storing and servicing for winter. I thinking about the 28 te but was able to spend some time on one this summer @ block island and I was not real impressed with the over all layout and how cheap everything looked. I fell it would be a lateral move from my Parker vs and upgrade.
The Albin owners group is a great source of info on all the albin boats. They are nice boats and I also like the look of the 28 but I realy
like having the solid doors to close and lock when the day is done,and the room on the 31 is a huge difference from the 28 it is big...
Ken is a great guy over at standish and I am sure he would be willing to take you out for a test ride if you are interested.

 

[Cecil Marine]

Great feed back about your Albin test ride. I would like to stick with outboards and have room to sleep at least four people overnight. Most express style boats under 30' only have a single berth. The Robalo 305 looks really nice, but its not a piolthouse boat.

 

[lorikay2]

Shamrock Mackinaw? might be too small? but nice boats.a lot like the albin but better i think.

 

[snowdevil]

I also think I am going to stay with the outboard set up. I checked out the rabalo 305 and it is a nice set up , also the pursuit 335 is a nice boat. I wish there where more pilot house options as I love having cabin and doors. I guess we will have to wait till the 3420 gets a little older and some used ones become available...haha