I looked at this boat and for those that were curious, here's my thoughts, prefaced by this being the first E38x I've set foot on, so I can't make any comparisons with other examples, and although I'm enthusiastic, I've only owned a couple Thunderbird's and crewed a bit. I did have with me a friend who has owned a couple of classic wooden yachts and provided good insights. The following however is not an expert opinion...
Overall, I'd say it looks like a 40yr old boat that was sailed, rather than tied up at the dock, so probably good bones, probably would sail away from the dock just fine but probably everything should have some attention over the next few years, and you shouldn't be surprised if some things needed repair/replacement. AFAIK, that's how anyone should look at any boat purchase, ever, regardless. Still, Bristol she ain't.
I'd assume that somewhere along the line, the PO wasn't able to keep up with it and it suffered a bit of neglect. The CO says it sails fine and I'm sure it does. We did not take it out.
I believe the CO said the PO was ex-military and single, and it could be said the boat is outfitted/upgraded in a military-ish manner: good gear; over spec'd/sized; utilitarian installations; function first, aesthetics not a priority. This is evident in the pic of the exposed wiring and rough carpentry of the instrument installations.
Regarding the 55hp Yanmar repower that piqued my curiosity, the extra inches in the dimensions take up space that was tight to begin with. Cramped engine bays are a pet peeve of mine: it's a design choice, maybe exemplifying the disdain for powerplants in sailboats but at the expense of the mechanic who keeps you from crashing into things when you're not wafting about under a cloud of sail. The PO opted to accommodate the 2" extra length of the engine by bolting a chunk of 4x4 to the sill to move the ladder forward. I don't think there was any room to shorten the shaft in back, so the engine had to protrude forward but this is good example of the utilitarian installations. I know it would drive me nuts to not fix that, and I'd be tempted to yank the engine to 'do it right' and rework the whole space but to each their own.
There are also a number of other systems/upgrades packed in the vicinity, so for example, the palatial spaces in the lazarette shown during Christian's steering repairs (haha) are mostly non-existent here. I would probably consider each carefully and delete or move any I could.
Other notables are the massive (maybe 8"), powered winches on each side, and a powered winch on the cabin top for the main. Nice kit but also more expensive stuff to go wrong.
Another utilitarian example was the Li-Ion battery for the powered windlass, which was installed exposed on the bookshelf above the V-berth. Other similarly utilitarian modifications/repairs were evident.
And a question came up about some rot under the port lights: I assume the interior cabin sides are plywood but is it plywood that was glassed into the original construction, and thus a PITA to get loose to repair/replace, or was it placed there afterward so potentially easier to pull out and splice in a repair? In one spot the lower deck headliner was loose, and you could just get your fingertips behind the bottom edge of the wood, which was loose there, but I don't know if that was because it was just totally rotted loose or if the wood was never integral to the cabin side construction process. There were also different vertical seams on each side, one between lights, the other above one of the larger Ericson windows, so it seemed like someone had maybe done a repair before by just piecing in whatever bit was necessary. Is that ok on these boats? Any thoughts on whether the cabin sides interior wood is more cosmetic than structural?
There were other problems, if someone else here is thinking about looking at it, but no need to bring them up here unbidden. This boat is not a chick magnet in its current condition (unless it's a particularly salty chick) although as long as things work, who's going to complain about powered winches, or making it to the anchorage before dark?
FWIW, about E38x's in general, I'm 6'-4" so I was immediately disappointed to find the claimed 6'-4" headroom apparently means at the actual cabin top, not at the headliner, or the ribs and fasteners that lurk above it (ouch). Any other 6"-4" sailors thinking about one, take note. Also, about my personal perspective/attitude that may come through in this, I'm looking for more of a full-time sailing/living configuration than a weekender or a month in the summer. In general, I prefer things to be minimal, simple and reliable, although I have to acknowledge that functioning powered winches could be pretty nice for single handing in our variable conditions.
