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When I bought my S25 I was well aware of the issues that John Fassero went through. You can see his write up, which is linked now on this page:
http://www.okbayou.com/SeawardLinks.html
I sent this information to my surveyor, who called me with an interesting story on my boat. Local knowlege is a great resource. The previous owner of my boat had a survey done by this particular surveyor when he bought the boat. A few months later this owner pointed out that the surveyor had missed the cabn top/compression issue as the boat was now a mess. The surveyor looked at the boat and took pictures of the issue and came to the conclusion that the new owner had dropped the mast sideways while trying to step the mast. A court battle ensued, but in the end the boat was repaired and reinforced quite nicely. The surveyor gave my boat a clean structural OK and noted that the bulheads had been reinforced against this happening again.
I bought the boat knowing this history and it did not bother me one bit as I firmly believe that a boat is not an object to be kept new or unmodified, but a boat is a vehicle to freedom...no matter the condition, we can all get there!
As for why this was never reinforced better, well, the Seawards were built trying to keep weight to a bare minimum. The mast is also offset a little from the arch tath crosses the cabin roof, and somewhere along the way, maybe when Mr. Hake sold the company teh first time, things were cheapened up a little. All along, however, the rig has been recommended to be no tighter than hand tight. I believe this is a recommendation that has held through the S24 line to the S25, and still on the S26, even through the keel trunk acts as a support.
All in all it is interesting that you state you want the biggest boat with no more than a 25" draft...the S24, S25, and the S26 are marvels at this target! You will not go wrong unless the cabin top is drooping! Would I buy the S25 again? In a heartbeat! Good luck!
Dan
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Trailer Sailor Discussion Forum
Re: Origo Stove for swap. -- BGatto S23 -- 3/25/09 8:50a.m.
I find 
-- Rodger 2002 S25 "SanDee" -- 3/28/09 5:04p.m.
-- Paul 1989 S23 "Half Moon", NJ -- 3/30/09 7:00p.m.
re: compression/cabin top -- Dan Eggert - 1995 Seaward 25, Rosslyn Treasure, SE Michigan -- 3/29/09 2:48p.m.
-- Al -- 4/6/09 5:18p.m.
