To find out just what it’s like to buy or sell a boat through BoatBid I caught up with Steve Booth of Boatshed Essex who is now in the process of finalising the sale of the Stewart 24 Quarter Tonner from the last BoatBid auction.

Why did you enter this boat into the BoatBid online boat auction?
The boat had been on the market for quite a while and I thought the auction would be a good way to help with the marketing of her.

When did you start to see an increase in interest in her?
From the moment the catalogue was released.

Did you watch the bidding closely?
Yes it got quite exciting towards the end, especially as it went into extended bidding, which is one of the unique features of BoatBid and ensures that everyone gets the chance to place the winning bid. The extended bidding means that if a bid is placed within the last 10 minutes of the scheduled auction close the bidding automatically extends for 10 minutes until no more bids are placed.

What was the vendor’s reaction to the bidding?
He was happy, in fact more than happy as he has another boat and so needs to sell this one.

How is the sale progressing now?
It’s going along great, the deposit has been received; we did have a problem regarding the engine but that has been sorted now and the boat is all booked in to have her survey next week.

These Quarter Tonners are very popular and have their own class at several big regattas in the UK including Cowes Week; did the vendor race her much?
No he didn’t but she has certainly done a bit of racing in her time and the new owners hope to race her. She is a very interesting boat, when I first went on her to photograph and prepare the detailed description and inventory you could see the sailing pedigree, I bet she’s a really fun boat to sail.

Do you have any similar boats for sale with Boatshed Essex?
Unfortunately I don’t, I did have a Robber 3E Quarter Tonner but she is under offer now. My colleague at Boatshed Torquay does have a David Thomas designed
Quarter Tonner

Whereabouts does Boatshed Essex operate exactly?
We cover the whole of Essex, the majority of our business at the moment comes from Maldon, Burnham on Crouch, Fambridge, South Woodham on Ferrers and Heybridge basin but we also have boats in West Mersea, Brightlingsea, at Titchmarsh Marina, Walton on the Naze and further North towards Colchester. We are currently looking for agents to help with the workload in the Northern half of the county, particularly in West Mersea and Brightlingsea.

What sort of boats do you normally sell?
Boatshed Essex has the full range of used boats for sale, motor boats and sailing boats. We are very conveniently placed for buyers from the continent with good transport links via the Ferries into Harwich. One third of our boat sales since Christmas have been to continental buyers, some have used road transport to take the boat home, one chap took a Leisure 23 back to France, almost 500 miles south of Calais and I managed to get him a very good deal with a local transport company. Others sail or motor the boats back across the channel, it’s only a 12 hour sail to France or 15 hours to Holland in an average yacht.

Have you got a list of boats you are going to enter into the next BoatBid boat auction
Boatshed Essex have 4 very different boats entered in the next BoatBid auction, two sailing boats, for the racers a lovely Beneteau First 300 Spirit which has won a few races since she's been in Burnham and a Sunstar which is a lovely if rather old girl just right for someone who wants a cheap boat for pottering round the creeks. We also have 2 great motor boats, a Fairline Turbo 36 and a Glastron GS 249

If you would like any information about these boats or would like to arrange a viewing then please contact Steve Booth of Boatshed Essex