A CHEAP Bluewater Cruiser Built in Taiwan? Ep 289 - Lady K Sailing

Interested in a bluewater sailboat like a Hinkley or perhaps a Robert Perry or Carl Alberg design? Do you want to sail to the Bahamas or Caribbean but also potentially cross an ocean? We know we need heavy bluewater sailboats sometimes and when looking for a cheap sailboat, we love Taiwan built boats, particularly int he Ta Shing boat yard. This week we take a look at the Mason 44 and Mason 43 as potential blue water cruising sailboats.

[cmstraw]

Very nice tribute to a really beautiful boat. My wife and I have owned our Mason 54, Final Straw, hull #6, for 26 years. We had the greatest adventure of our lives taking her on a Pacific crossing from San Diego to Australia. We left in 2001 and returned in 2008. It was an incredible journey and we learned a lot about sailing these magnificent vessels. We never felt unsafe in all sorts of weather situations. The comfort of having a boat with great air circulation at hot and humid South Pacific anchorages was a clear benefit over other cruising boats. The handholds located in strategic places along the main salon and hallways saved us from many potential injuries in rocky seas. We were fortunate to have hydraulics for our three main winches and our headsail & mainsail furling. Sailing double-handed was very easy with this addition. Cruising is often defined as "fixing your boat in paradise." We were no exception. But we thanked PAE every time we had to work on something because she was designed with lots of reasonable access. Crawling in the bilge might be an exception. But it got the job done. The boat is easy to handle and she is fast off the wind. We made the 2800 nautical miles from Puerto Vallarta to Hiva Oa in the Marquesas in under 17 days at an average speed of 7 knots. The engine used all of 35 gallons from the 380 gallon capacity thanks to good tradewinds and lots of downwind sailing. Enjoyed watching this video. I can say firsthand, I wholly agree with its conclusions! We're now preparing her for a second Pacific crossing in January 2025 as we pass the helm to our son and his family!

[paulkopp]

You should speak to Tom Cunliffe a highly respected British Sailor instructor and writer on all things boaty with sails, and a fount of knowledge and experience. who when he stopped sailing “ Real boats “ ( wooden things ) and couldn’t find a plastic boat that suited him here travelled to the USA and bought a Mason 44 . Joking aside I’ve enjoyed his writings and videos for years ( Although not a boat owner or sailor ) I’m sure some of your viewers would enjoy his videos.

[danstreech]

Hi Tim,

Wonderful video! You have done a fantastic job of gathering up photos and telling the Mason story. I didn’t see any errors in what you said and to the contrary was amazed at how much history you were able to uncover.

Of course I agree with all that you reported… the Masons are gorgeous boats and their bones and structure are such that they should last for 100 years.

Some more DNA history…. You showed the schooner Malabar VII. Malabar VII was owned by my family when I was in my early 20s and we cruised that boat from California to Florida in 1970/71. Alden’s beautiful sheer lines were picked up by Al Mason when he worked for Alden. That is why we looked up Al. The sheer lines and other lines of the Masons are just perfect and that is the foundation of the beauty of these classic boats. Jeff Leishman (PAE partner and Chief of Design) studied under Al Mason and subsequently did the design work as each of the “3” models (33, 43, 53 and 63) were updated to the “4” models. Jeff emulated Al’s genius and combined that with his own natural talent to design our Nordhavns (25 Nordhavn models over the last 35 years). I know.. I know.. “dark side”, but it is a surprisingly short step from a Mason to a Nordhavn.

Al Mason was in the later years of his career when he designed the Mason 43. For most of Al’s career, he designed in wood because he was suspicious of FRP. As a result, the structure of the Masons are brutally strong and overbuilt with the heavy laminate schedule, internal stringer grid system and heavy bulkheads. To my knowledge, there has never been a structural failure of a PAE/ Ta Shing built Mason.

Fast forward 48 years… Young men have become old men, but these lovely timeless Masons keep going. And something else that keeps on going is our relationship with the Ta Shing factory in Tainan Taiwan. The design is only half of the story… the other half is the skill and dedication of the builder to produce a quality product consistently over the years. Ta Shing does that and more… I can’t praise them enough. When the early Masons were built, we were fighting an uphill battle to be respected. How could 3 young guys from California and an unknown builder in Taiwan produce a nice boat? It took the perspective of time to realize how precious these boats are. Today of course Ta Shing builds Nordhavns… 48 years after we shook hands on the first Mason 43.

Your video is a great history lesson for those who are interested in learning about Masons (212 built over 20 years) and I think that it will be viewed many many times in the coming years. It is a historical document. I have some other photos that can be added to the video. Please reach out to me and I will send them to you.

Thank you for the time and effort you put into the video,

Dan Streech
President PAE/Nordhavn

[commandoclark]

Thanks for the great review! We just spent five years and over 9, 000 NM cruising the Pacific side of Mexico and the Gulf of California on our Mason 44. It’s been a safe, comfortable, and beautiful home for our cruising adventures. I can’t think of another boat that I would prefer over our Mason. We recently completed the Baja Bash from San Jose Del Cabo back to California and the range under power is closer to 800-1, 000 NM depending on conditions. The only downside to owning a Mason is having to deal with all the other cruisers complimenting you on how beautiful your boat is.😂

[Morrisfactor]

Tim - this is one of your best videos - packed with the history of PAE, a good description and videos of the factory and the Mason 44. I have never sailed on one, but did a walkthrough of a Mason 44 for sale in Annapolis last year. I was impressed, too bad it wasn't on the market before I bought my present boat!

[tomelerding]

This was my dream boat back in the day. Still looks lovely now!

[porterandmjyoung]

mason are awesome built blue water boats. spent three years blue water sailing on our 54 and weathered every weather situation but a hard core hit hirricane. never doubted the boat, only myself for taking on too much. our only issue was draft. nary a negative comment, strong recommendation.

[markcrawford]

$120, 000 you bet !! Years ago when I resided in Southern Cal. I had the opportunity to crew on a Mason 44 traveling north up the coast along the channel Islands. Very pleasurable boat to sail. Very comfortable.

[textickulartrauma]

We bought a 79' Island Trader/Transworld 41' CC during Covid site unseen- we were in northern Ont and it was in Maine- two years later we were able to get our hands on her and brought her to where we now live in N.S- hubby's first "sail" on the ocean. This year she's getting some work done/sanding- the woodwork is incredible, we have dragons carved on our doors- Taiwanese built chubby chic. Fortunately for us the previous owners had her for 20 years and put in a LOT of work, replacing the teak decks and masts and the suck- so that all the 'ehavy lifting' was done. Now we just have to sell our 34' 1986 Catalina w/ the rebuilt engine/etc in Ontario! We went 'bigger' because we realised that we just wanted the added security of being on a boat that's made for oceans/more room for guests. Thank you for another great video- :)

[UncleJoeLITE]

This is a truly beautiful boat. Thanks Tim, I look forward to Sunday mornings. ⚓

[darrinhorowitz]

Mason’s were one of the few boats with such a high level of detail from the Far East.
As a sailmaker, at a production loft, I made a quite a few sets of sails for Mason’s including the 65. I was invited to sail on the 65 with Mason on board, Interesting guy.

[charleslassiter]

thanks Tim really enjoyed this video, loved the rich step back in history such a lovely boat showing timeless beautiful lines and craftsmanship

[jeffmiller]

I am the owner of the 1983 M43 that hove to in 35kts for 8 hours. I also sailed through 20 footers breaking the top 4 feet sailing nearly downwind. The boat did want to move towards a broach if you made no steering correction in steep large following seas, but remained very steerable. The inboard rudder does have enough authority. And you forgot to mention the huge strength and protection of the rudder being attached to the keel. I've owned the boat for close to 40 years now.

PAE was one of the only Taiwan builders that employed US engineers to oversee the building of these boats. While the Taiwanese were great craftsmen, they were not yachtsmen, there is no pleasure boating in Taiwan. They had no real world experience to draw from, so any unsupervised yard would make a plethora of mistakes for an ocean going yacht. The Mason as a result is built to a far higher standard, in materials, design, and most importantly, in execution of the design.

The other tradeoffs on the 43 vs 44 are

The 43 has a much larger owners stateroom and a valuable and seaworthy quarter berth that the 44 loses. If you like teak decks, and I do, the 43 has them, just don't scrub them to death. The bad rap some express on teak decks is due to unknowledgeable owners, not a fault in construction, assuming the decks were installed properly in the first place. The 43 has teak shower stall, marble vanity, and quite a few small touches the 44 does not. The 43 Nav desk is athwartship and the 44 is fore and aft. If you move the traveler on a 43 to the cockpit right at the forward end of the cockpit well, you eliminate the narrow traveler, and improve the dodger design options. That's a great mod to do.

The 44 does have more ergonomic backrests, and a more straightforward dodger. The 44 has fewer opening portlights and metal hatches instead of teak.

I would not sell my 43 to get a 44. I would get a 53/54.

These boats were built on a nearly custom basis. Consequently there are many variations in berths, heads, galley, saloon table, hatches, winches and deck hardware.

If you are thinking of buying one, look into the owners group, currently hosted on Yahoo. The owners are a great resource, and the lead moderator has done a great job of keeping the forum going.

[shamrock]

I own a 1986 Mason 33; it’s a freshwater boat and just lovely - looks near new!

[usefulcommunication]

That's the boat you park next to so you have something nice to look at from your massive cockpit with a drop down transom.

[hourtravellers]

Our buddy owns a Maison 44 and we have had a chance to sail it. It's such a beautiful, solid classic sailboat and in Malaysia that price point even today is not considered Cheap.

[stephennowlan]

Beautiful boat for sure. This one in particular is a good find as it doesn’t have the teak decks that are typical of Masons

[Monkeywrenchmotorcycles]

Ta shing built my Baba 30 and I can attest to the fine level of teak woodwork but my next boat when/if I get one won’t have so much teak. Upkeep is a lot of work lol

[tensility]

I almost ended up with a Mason 54 that used to live in Sausalito (may still); however, the teak decks were paper thin, and it needed a full re-decking. Below, though, it was a level of finish I haven't seen on any other sailboat, not even another Mason. In the end, I found a beautiful Morris 46 (and a Tayana 52...ahem).

Anyway, to answer your question, unless there's a serious issue yet to be uncovered during survey, that vessel is absolutely worth the asking price. In fact, I think it would be hard to do better for that amount, if it's a cruiser that one is looking for.

[calprimo]

Always loved this boat. You might want to mention PAE went on to design and build Nordhavns after fully going over to the dark side! Excellent video. Subscribed.