Trojan Boat Forum

New to Trojan boats and new to the forum.
I looked at a lovely 1986 F27 but I'm confused by what the broker told me about the engine and speed;He said that it doesn't go more than about 12MPH.
Now I know it's a heavy boat (the listing says 6000lbs) but the 1996 MerCruiser 260 ought to move it a little faster than that, right?
I have not driven the boat yet but we did start it up and the engine sounds great and look great. The broker says it's serviced by the same mechanic at start and end of the season and I have no reason not believe that so I'm a bit confused that he says it doesn't go above about 12MPH.

Any thoughts on this most welcome.

If that is true something is wrong ' . top speed should be in the 20s . The F27 is the same Boat as the later F26 fwiw .

I’ve got a 1977 F26 with single Chrysler 318 @225 hp and it’ll get up to 22 mph 4200 rpm WOT. Easily cruises at 8-10 mph at 1800 rpm.

Thanks Prowlerfish and Boppy, that was gut instinct so good to have it confirmed. I’ll talk to the broker, it seems like a bit of disconnect since the boat seems well cared for.

Broker could be mistaken or the owner just putted around . Maybe a dirty bottom ?

Add a few more variables to the mix: Dirty bottom, mis-tuned engine, 6000 lbs seems heavy, levelers working?, fuel filter clean? Get some records, take it out and it should get up to 3200 rpm easily and stay there without bogging down, slowing down, hesitating, etc. If that Merc has 260 hp it should get over 20 mph at WOT. Get mechanic’s records if available, and finally get a marine survey before you buy. Good luck and I hope it works out.

AND FINALLY....walk around on the deck and be aware of any soft spots. The hull is solid fiberglass but the decks are fiberglass over balsa core. Lots of places for water to get into that core over the years from unsealed fittings. If you can do repairs yourself you’ll save beaucoup bucks. Is this the one in Yachtworld in South Yarmouth, MA? If so that hardtop was added to an existing Express model. Here’s what the 1977 F26 Hardtop looks like before Bertram bought Trojan

Boppy wrote: ↑Thu Aug 13, 2020 9:36 pm AND FINALLY....walk around on the deck and be aware of any soft spots. The hull is solid fiberglass but the decks are fiberglass over balsa core. Lots of places for water to get into that core over the years from unsealed fittings. If you can do repairs yourself you’ll save beaucoup bucks. Is this the one in Yachtworld in South Yarmouth, MA? If so that hardtop was added to an existing Express model. Here’s what the 1977 F26 Hardtop looks like before Bertram bought Trojan464DCDBA-981C-4B3A-A782-11A6EBB0E2A2.jpeg

Good info , less 1 thing . Bertram never bought or owned Trojan . Both Trojan and Bert were at one time owned by the same corp . Whittaker .

For clarification Trojan Yachts was never a division of Bertram.

Both company’s always remained completely separate.

The only connection between the two company’s was the capital venture company that brought both boat company’s in mid 1985.

(Invest Corp, an Arabian Investment firm, purchased both company’s for approximately $35 million dollars, which was significantly more than their combined book value. Bertram and Trojan continued under separate management within a newly created company by the name of Bertram–Trojan, Inc)

The confusion comes from the name the capital venture company called the new group the name of Bertram–Trojan, Inc)

For more details and a behind the scenes look see this link.

http://trojanboat.com/refining-the-revolution/

Thanks everybody for the comments and suggestions. I may ask the broker for a copy of the service records (or I may just back away completely).

Yes Boppy, it is the F27 for sale on Cape Cod - well spotted! Also, your photo and link didn't come through but I'd love to see it. Could you retry?
https://www.yachtworld.com/boats/1986/b ... 7-3502226/

Regarding the weight; The original spec sheet for the 1979 F26 (seen elsewhere on this forum) lists it at 5450 lbs so the 1986 F27 is probably similar. With the wood-rich interior on this boat, 6000lbs seems a reasonable weight estimate.

Regarding the speed; The broker has said several times now that the owner doesn't push her, so maybe he doesn't know (if it can go faster) or maybe he's not comfortable pushing 3500-4000 rpm. Then again, the owner holds a professional maritime license (it's framed on the wall of the cabin) so he should certainly know and understand the limits of his boat better than most people.

It just strikes me as a bit off that the attitude of the owner is a shrug and "gee it's an older boat and just doesn't go that fast". That was basically the response from the yesterday via the broker when I asked him again about the speed and how some current F26 and F27 owners easily get 20+ mph from their older boats. I am tempted to take a test ride and see how she runs and drives (including at WOT) but the real question is if I want to spend $800 on a marine surveyor. I can see and feel some items that would need to be addressed but this "inconsistency" is bugging me and makes wonder what other issues (I can't see) there are.

Naturally, there are some items and areas that need to be repaired or replaced but it seems like he addressed some soft spots on the deck towards the bow and installed a new windlass. The top of the hardtop badly needs paint (at least), some of the rails have a little give, one windscreen doesn't seem to close properly and the captain's chair probably needs replacing(the back is coming apart and it's coming away from the side mounts inside.

I do appreciate your help working through some of my questions and concerns.

Very clean looking

some boats of this age will have issues, caused by NEGLECT

quite frankly, many boats of this age haven't "aged too well" and as a result are not good candidates for purchase

Trojan has an exceptional quality standard, putting this BRAND into a different category than a SeaRay or similar production boat

Suggest a seatrial and a survey on ANY BOAT UNDER CONSIDERATION

RWS

A survey is a good idea on any boat and you may need it for insurance . However I would resolve the speed issue first . A sea trial would be in order but will the owner let you or the broker open it up ? Normally with a broker a deposit is needed for a sea trial and refundable if not satisfactory .

Oh yeah...and one more thing, based on my recent stupidity and accompanying posts and pictures of my gas samples from old and new fuel water separator filters.....BE SURE THE RUBBER O RING ON THE GAS FILL GAP IS NOT LEAKING!! Seriously, I’d get a survey done if you want this boat. Old Trojans are like old soldiers. They don’t die, but they do fade away if they’re not cared for. The 12 mph top speed is not a warm and fuzzy for me. My ‘77 had original galvanized 75 gallon gas tank that started to rust on the inside and gummed up the fuel system so I could never get over 3000 rpm, and it would bog down to near stall speed. Previous owner never ran it over 2000 rpm and used to use only a 5 gal Gerry can and dry-gas to keep it running. Replaced old tank with poly 50 gal tank in 2000 and it’s run fine ever since.....until my most recent episode of brain death.....if only I’d thought about changing the full fill cap o ring...........

My 1971 Trojan F26 with a Chrysler 318 engine (225 hp) would cruise at 18 mph at 3000 rpm. The ad states the engine was replaced in 1996 with a 260 model (Mercruiser 5.7 L, 260 hp). With 260 hp the engine should be able to easily reach a cruising rpm of 3000 to 3200. The ad doesn't say how many hours are on the engine. If the engine has a high number of hours it may be a compression issue. My Chrysler 318 engine was rebuilt 4 years before I bought it and ran strong. A 24 year old engine with a high number of hours may need to be rebuilt/replaced.

The NADA value for this boat/trailer combination is $12,050. $15,900 seems very expensive to me, even with the interior remodeling. There's always things on a boat this old that will need to be repaired/replaced. The price needs to reflect that.

If you are still considering this boat I would recommend starting with an engine survey. If the compression is low then either walk away or figure the cost of an engine replacement into the purchase price. I would also be starting with a purchase price of no more than $13,000. $15,900 is too much for this boat.