Eastbay 55 vs Vicem 58 Classic

vicem vs eastbay

i do not have any experience with east bays, but i have a vicem 51, which i've been using since 2001. i am a 3 boat owner, the vicem (posted here http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/g...cnic-lobster-boats-hinckley-san-juan-etc.html), a semidisplacement yacht from moonen (reviewed; Review: Moonen 94' "Nilo" - YachtForums.Com) and a sailing yacht (Xc 45 · The new Future Cruising Range). the reason i am posting these is not to boast but to give you some back ground of my experience.

vicem is still going fine and i had no problems of consideration. because she is build as cold molded wood she is very strong and i am also very satisfied with the way she handles and behaves at sea.

i believe 58 offers much more in space then the east bay. i have no experience with vicem's u.s. service, but i had no difficulties in getting response from the company. i have supervised the build closely and i can state that they try to do a good job and they have quite a number of boats in the u.s. as well. i believe the u.s. has been their major market in number of sales.

so, if you choose the vicem you may have a good experience with the boat. if you have any specific questions, pls do not hesitate to ask.

p.s.; i have no ties with the company, i am just an owner.

Have you looked at the Sabre 54?

Much bigger than ours, but I must say the fit and finish is outstanding. In addition Sabre really supports their owners and provides a great deal of information on the boats.

And the factory is a short trip from Norwalk, where we used to keep a boat at Norwalk Cove.

But the winters sure are better in Florida.

In my opinion,they are apples and oranges!

To begin with one is fiberglass and the other is wood. Cold molded or not it is wood and so are the frames. Some people love cold molded and if wood doesn't bother you, consider the Vicem but in my mind it's quality is nothing like the Eastbay.

Having been a surveyor I have had the opportunity to climb through several of each brand and I was involved with the delivery of a 72 Vicem several years ago.

Granted it was one of the earlier models but it was riddled with problems. I have pages and pages of problems and pictures documenting everything from undersized generator wiring to air handlers that were never connected to the compressors and multiple air handlers of different sizes connected to a single compressor.

The boat had 2 - 50 AMP shore cords that were paralleled directly to the switch board without the proper transformers. If they were both plugged in and the shore pedestals were not in phase the fireworks were spectacular. If you unplugged one cord while the other was energized you were holding 50 AMPS of 240 volts in your hands since it back fed from the one that was plugged in.

The rubber fuel return hoses on the generators ruptured because the wire ties used to secure them were cut with a razor knife instead of cutters. Each time they cut a tie, they nicked the hose so eventually.........

The Grand Banks/Eastbay brands are well known and well supported most everywhere.The US service for Vicem at that time was absolutely horrible. They fought the owner every step of the way. He eventually took delivery and spent over $100,000 correcting the major issues.

He sold the boat the following year and it is now for sale again.

Should you decide to get serious about a Vicem, start with a sea trial. The 72 vibrated so badly at low speed, the owner had to use cardboard wedges in the cabinet doors to stop them from rattling. There were no spray rails on the boat and a light chop covered the fly bridge with green water.

If it passes your sea trial requirements, hire the BEST SURVEYOR you can find and have them go through every inch of it. The survey will be the best money you can spend. Make sure the surveyor is SAMS or NAMS accredited and familiar with this type of construction. I would make the same recommendation for any brand.

I have been out of surveying for 2 years so I do not have any idea of what improvements Vicem has made since then. However, my past experience would lead me directly to the Eastbay between the two.

While moving some threads around, I came across a 'Vicem Insight' thread, FWIW...

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/general-yachting-discussion/15764-vicem-insight.html