BUYING USED: HAINES 32
IN BUILD 2014 ONWARDS PRICE RANGE £130,000 - £220,000
This spacious family cruiser makes a great buy for either river or coastal use
Perhaps the biggest clue to the bespoke hand-built nature of the Haines 32 in either Sedan or Offshore guise is found in a small discreet locker low down alongside the helm. Open it and you’ll find the main battery isolator switches and the electrical distribution panel. And on the inside of the wooden door, a neat oval brass plaque which states the manufacturer, the model, the build number and crucially, the names of the five-person build team that crafted this actual vessel. Mass production this is not.
“There’s no doubt that many of the Haines customers are buying more than just a boat at times, many choose our products because of the bespoke nature of the build that we offer and because of the whole experience of having a new boat hand built,” says General Manager and Director, Justin Haines.
In fact, that synergy between builder and client runs far deeper than just the build of the end product, it runs to the design ethos too. “I probably should also
explain how we arrived at the final design of the 32 Sedan,” continues Justin. “Back then we asked several existing Haines customers what they would hope to see in this new product and many were forthcoming with lots of suggestions, almost all of which were then integrated into its final design. We’ve always had an open minded approach to design, utilising our good relationships with our customers and then integrating their wishes or requirements within the designs. To be honest, lots of them focussed around the practical issues such as access, safety and whether the boat was easy to use.”
The result of that synergy is evident right from the off. When it launched at the Southampton Boat Show in 2014, this neat but conservatively styled 32ft inland cruiser was shot through with the sort of intelligent detailing that comes from downloading many years of user experience. A chunky step is built into the topsides, allowing easy side boarding if you can’t reach the bathing platform due to being bow in on a short finger pontoon for example.
FAULTLESS FITTINGS
Useful, if not spectacular in itself you might think, but how about the built-in lights that discreetly illuminate it at night? Or how about the fact that those and the deck lights can be lit by remote control from the key fob to help you come aboard in the dark? Or the fact that they’re hard-wired to the batteries so that even if you’re approaching for the first time and the battery isolators are off, they’ll still work?
Step aboard and that innovation, quality and sheer fit for purpose-ness keeps on coming.
Eight-inch wide side decks with chunky access steps, flush-bonded saloon glazing (heavily tinted, although the windscreens are clear), the fact that just about every fitting from the engine vents to the navigation lights to the windscreen wipers is stainless steel, and neat tricks like the fabric section in the cockpit overhang that concertinas away or the settee backrest that flips to create rearward seating. But perhaps the most intriguing trick is the way the saloon doors open. Double glazed and in three sections, the first section hinges open conventionally to lie neatly against the cockpit
side. Slide the next section across and it then hinges in the same way to nestle against its triplet, as does the third. They’re German-built, well engineered and they transform the main deck into one connected area or seal the saloon off against the weather in a matter of moments.
In theory there are two internal layouts. When the boat launched, buyers could choose between a single or two-cabin layout, the second cabin taking the place of the galley on the lower deck (the galley shifting up to the cockpit behind the helm seat). In reality however, every customer has opted for the single cabin version you see here, which puts a central double bed in a forward cabin, the heads to port and U-shaped galley opposite it on the lower deck. The two-cabin version has since quietly disappeared from the options list. If you do need more sleeping than the generous double berth in the fore cabin offers, look for a boat fitted with the sofa bed arrangement in the saloon.
Other choices available to the first owner include the woodwork, with the light oak finish you see here standard and cherry or walnut available at extra cost. And in fact there is a lot of bespoke tailoring to customer preference
– a perfect example being that Haines keep tooling for every popular brand of spirits so that the drinks locker cut outs can be specific to the customer’s tipples of choice.
SUPERB BUILD QUALITY
This customisation service is something Judy and Malcolm Emery, owners of the boat you see here, were able to take advantage of. “We wanted a freezer in the saloon cupboard, a larger fridge, a built-in microwave, an inverter and a few other choices so we had the boat built to our specification. It took about nine months and we were invited to the factory to see it in build. It is superbly built, the finish is particularly good.”
It’s a point echoed by Alistair Fischbacher, who traded up from a Viking 24 to a Haines 32 four years ago to get more space. “The quality of build is excellent, and there’s a real sense that you’re somebody of value and not just a number when you buy a Haines,” he tells me. “It’s a good step up from a 24ft boat, not just in terms of sheer space but also stability – the boat barely rocks as you move about.”
Alistair’s boat is powered by a 59hp Nanni N4.65, the largest of the three engine options and good for an 8-9 knot top speed. “It’s a good size for the boat, powerful enough to punch against the stream yet very economical, we
only fill the tank once or twice a year,” he says. Smaller engine options are the Nanni N.40
40hp and the Nanni N4.50 47.5hp. “The 43hp engine is popular on the Norfolk Broads,” says Justin Haines, “But a Thames boater may prefer a little more hp.”
Or occasionally, a lot more. In response to demand from customers wanting to head out to sea, Haines launched a 32 Offshore version in 2014. Bobbing up and down on its berth you’d be hard pressed to tell the difference. Eagle eyes might spot that the freestanding helm seat of the Sedan has been swapped for a thick fixed telescopic base that allows the seat to lower and swivel to join up with the saloon seating, but keeps it firmly in place whilst at sea.
It’s under the waterline where you’ll find the big changes. Haines commissioned Andrew Wolstenholme, who designed the original deep-keeled displacement 32 Sedan, to come up with a planing hull. A pair of Yanmar 4BY 180hp diesels were on the options list, but almost all buyers opted for single engines, either the 200hp or 270hp Nanni T4, the 320hp Yanmar 8LV or the 270hp Volvo D4. Dep ed
Jack Haines (no relation) tested a 32 Offshore fitted with the 270hp Nanni which maxed out at 18 knots with a comfortable cruising speed of 14 knots. Interestingly, the boat behaved more like a semi-displacement vessel. “With a stubby keel at its core, the feeling on the water is one of a semi-displacement shape, where you push through the water as opposed to skimming over it,” Jack reported.
Both versions of the Haines 32 are still in production, with 45 boats sold so far. An update in 2018 included an optional side door next to the helm and a flip-over double crew seat which faces forwards under way.