Novatec Yachts for Sale

Novatec is the brand; the builder is Nova Marine, founded in Taiwan in 1983 by Eddy Tao and still led by him. The boats that show up on the American market are from the Islander and Classic Sedan years: Islanders at 48 to 60 feet drawn by the British designer Bill Dixon, Classic Sedans at 46 to 56, and the occasional Sundeck. The build is conservative Taiwanese practice of that period and none the worse for it: hand laid woven roving, a solid laminate bottom carried on fiberglass stringers and plywood bulkheads, foam coring to stiffen the hull sides, decks and superstructure, a mechanically fastened and bonded hull to deck joint, and four coats of epoxy on the bottom before antifouling. The company still builds at Taoyuan, but today's range is the Euro and Super Nova series from 52 to 84 feet, so a new Novatec has nothing in common with the used one you are looking at.

For an American buyer this is an easier foreign boat than most, because the United States was always Nova Marine's main market. Most of these were built to American specification and delivered here, which means 120 and 240 volts at 60 hertz, American shore power fittings and duty paid decades ago, so the usual European import questions do not arise. Ask for the original build sheet anyway and confirm it. What you are buying is a lot of interior volume per dollar, high gloss cherry or teak joinery, and layouts built for extended family cruising rather than speed. The survey list is the one for any Taiwan built motor yacht of that vintage: moisture in the cored hull sides, deck and house, particularly around stanchions and hardware; the condition of any teak deck and the thousands of screws under it; the fuel tanks and their inspection history; and the wiring, which on boats of this age is often a mix of original and owner added. Support in the United States is broker and yard based rather than factory based, so budget on the assumption that nobody is sending you a part from Taiwan.