The Ballad Exchange

Glad for you and your family! Good luck!
How would your compare Ballad to Albina Scumpi 30, for example this one? Scumpi has a deck-stepped mast, so one problem less, fin keel and ruder on a skeg which is good. Why Ballad is more popular?

Happy New Year to you too! That's aluminum, and I would be surprised if that was any more than surface corrosion. From that photo, that would not alarm me - wire brush it up when you get there and I'd suspect it would be fine. Things to look out for when you get the boat is thing such as Stainless ...

One more thing. On the last picture with mast I see some bad corrosion of the mast end attached to the step. Is it true? I don't quite understand what it is from the picture. How to deal with this corroded end? How to fix it?

Thanks and Happy New Year!

Many thanks, really helpful!
Do I understand right, that to drill inspection hatch I need to remove mast from the step?

There is a chain locker in the bows, so worry not, you will not need to carry anchor plus loads of chain to the bows - my Rocna 15 was always ready for launch off the bows and fitted the bow roller perfectly. As far as I know Ballads do not have chain lockers and rollers on the bow. Some people bui...

Do you know what engine she has? That will be the clincher. The 2GM20 that Triola had was awesome and well preserved. A replacement engine, or a reconditioning of the engine would be the most costly thing. If the engine looks poor, walk away. Same, probably, for sails. The standing rigging I would ...

Hello there, Welcome! I wrote that article about the truss, and so long as the boat has always been dry, then it will not be an issue... being that the mast is keel stepped, the chances of that are vanishingly small... My Ballad had standing rainwater in her when I got her, and I think that's what ...

Hi all! Thanks for joining me to the forum. I plan to buy Ballad with hull 612, built in 1974. Main questions about possible problems, how probable are these with the boat built in 1974: - The Mast Truss problem - Ballads Achilles heel? - As I understand all Ballads, no matter what year, have a sand...