Beware the Albin 25:
Don't Buy an Albin 25 Until you Read This
What they don’t Tell you about the Albin 25
Owners of the classic Albin 25 and Albin 27 are passionate about their boats. But the little Albin 25 has an especially vocal ownership. Stands to reason since the boat was in production nearly twice as long and with three to four times the number of boats produced and sold in Europe and the Americas.
Unfortunately spend any time looking over that other website and you will be flooded with the same silly Albin 25 owners talking about how great their plucky little motorsailer will trailer here and there. One annoying owner from Arizona will give you daily weather reports and repeat himself ad nauseum. You'll probably think these guys have it all in their Albin 25. But I ask you to think again.
Sure Albin 25 owners are quick to espouse the boats classic cult-like status, its robust 70's construction, and it purported ease of trailering since its lighter than the Albin 27. But in many regards the Albin 25 feels like a very very small boat. In fact it is a small boat from the 1970s.
Albin 25 owners have a dirty little secret. Can you guess what it is? Hint: it's like the little man, who's little in more ways than one, if you know what I mean.
You see most Albin 27 owners would argue it’s not just a matter of “two feet extra space.” The Albin 27 is two feet taller, one foot wider, twenty one inches longer overall, and weighs 2,500 pounds more than the Albin 25. Oh and you can stand up inside the Albin 27 virtually everywhere you can't in an Albin 25...No way?? Wayyy...
Unfortunately spend any time looking over that other website and you will be flooded with the same silly Albin 25 owners talking about how great their plucky little motorsailer will trailer here and there. One annoying owner from Arizona will give you daily weather reports and repeat himself ad nauseum. You'll probably think these guys have it all in their Albin 25. But I ask you to think again.
Sure Albin 25 owners are quick to espouse the boats classic cult-like status, its robust 70's construction, and it purported ease of trailering since its lighter than the Albin 27. But in many regards the Albin 25 feels like a very very small boat. In fact it is a small boat from the 1970s.
Albin 25 owners have a dirty little secret. Can you guess what it is? Hint: it's like the little man, who's little in more ways than one, if you know what I mean.
You see most Albin 27 owners would argue it’s not just a matter of “two feet extra space.” The Albin 27 is two feet taller, one foot wider, twenty one inches longer overall, and weighs 2,500 pounds more than the Albin 25. Oh and you can stand up inside the Albin 27 virtually everywhere you can't in an Albin 25...No way?? Wayyy...
If you search the internet, if you peruse all the owners forums, if you watch all the YouTube videos you can find about the Albin 25, you will notice an absence of actual information on the interior accommodations of the Albin 25. Albin 25 owners are a very vocal lot, and they love to promote their boats, but for the life of me I can't understand why they never mention a few negative points. Here's 10 things the little Albin 25 doesn't want you to know.
#1. The head (toilet) is a closet. There's no standing headroom in the head. Its a cubby- hole. Most Albin 25's actually have a port-a-potty for a toilet. You can barely close the door, and original boats had no pressure water let alone plumbing. Have you ever tried to pee in a bucket in the trunk of your car? How could such a vital piece of information be glossed over in the brochure? Who is kidding who? Imagine paying $20,000 for a boat that you can’t stand up in the bathroom. Or being on a weekend cruise and having to convince your partner to pee scrunched over in a bucket in a closet...
#2. There's no standing headroom in at the helm. Wait...what? That's right. Ever notice it’s rare to see photos of anyone standing under the hardtop at the helm of an Albin 25? That's because you get to crouch down and sit at the helm. Like a clown stuffed in a clown car. Or a tough guy jammed inside a British sports car. If you want to stand up and stretch, you can put your head through the roof of the cockpit, "tank-style." Did you know the original Albin 25's came with a fabric hardtop? You can tell other owners its so "unique" and "weirdly Scandinavian" while secretly hoping it's not raining. Right, no thanks.
#3 The v-berth also has no headroom. I sense a pattern here. If you're anything other than a small woman or a very tiny man-child, there's no room in the Albin 25 to stand up below decks. I like the stories of Albin 25 owners who think banging their head everytime they go below is a "unique design feature." Don't worry you can hunch over in the v-berth though. Its really really really fun to be stooped over and think about how great it is to trailer your Albin 25. (Are you kidding me??)
#4. There's no room for ...anything. How about air conditioning? Extra stores? Extra batteries? Extra fuel? Nope, nope, nope. How about extra water tankage? Nah, you don’t need it cause you don't really have a head....How about sitting up in the aft cabin? No. NO. NO.
#5. The aft cabin bunks are six inches off the floor. You may not realize that the aft cabin bunks are basically on the floor of the aft cabin. This means to lay down in one of these bunks you have to bend down and crawl into the bunk coffin-like….on the floor. When you sit up in your bunk your knees are in your face, because you are essentially sitting on the floor. There is less than 36" of headroom sitting on the bunks. You are not sitting in a normal berth. The cabin is so small that it’s really like sleeping inside a daysailer sailboat.
#6. There's no top hatch to get into the aft cabin. Unlike the Albin 27, there is no top hatch for the aft cabin. Which means to get into the aft cabin, you must hunch over or crawl into the cabin, and then later crawl out. This "doorway" is less than 36" tall and 19" wide.
#7. The Albin 25 is an Old small boat. The Albin 25 was produced in Sweden in the 1960s-1970s so anyway you look at it this is an old small boat. Many of these boats were sold as a “kit boats” meaning the owner received a basic hull in various stages of completion, often finishing out the boat interior themselves. This explains the very rough interior and the workman like finish details. Small boats lend themselves to simple and spartan systems. Unless the boat has had a full refit every system on the boat will be outdated and substandard. Albin 25 owners will tell you this makes their Albin 25 “wonderfully simple and basic.” I say it makes their Albin 25 outdated and substandard.
#8. The A25 windows don’t open. There are no opening portholes in this boat. It’s just a piece of plastic or glazing stuck inside a windshield gasket holding the window in place. Very vintage? Very impractical. Anyone who has cruised extensively knows this is a terrible feature.
#9. Towing this Boat is not Magical. Despite what owners say, the Albin 25 while small for extended cruising, is still a large fiberglass boat. It weighs 4,000+ lbs unloaded. By the time you provision and put it on a trailer you need a vehicle capable of towing 6,000 pounds or more. You need a deep ramp to launch and retrieve. And at 8’ 6” wide it still takes up an entire road lane. There’s no magic fairies playing Magic flutes to make this any easier.
#10. The Cockpit Scuppers drain into the bilge. From the factory the Albin 25 cockpit scuppers drain directly into the bilge and not overboard. This is perhaps one of the most serious issues with the Albin 25. Because what this means is that any water that enters the boat is stuck in the boat. Unless modified by a previously owner the boat is not self draining and can be flooded and sunk.
None of this is to suggest you should never buy an Albin 25.
But be sure to do your research.
But be sure to do your research.
pdate January 2024
How does someone measure ease of trailerability? I often get questions about choosing an Albin 27 vs an Albin 25. After all the hand ringing, the question usually comes down to price and trailerability. Albin 25 owners love to bring up "trailerability" as the final argument that defeats all common sense. I call this the "Trailerability Sophistry." A sophistry is a false argument made to decieve you, and any time an Albin 25 owner brings up this argument they're pulling the Trailerability Sophistry to distract you from what really matters.
I don't know how to measure "trailerability." But I can measure the ease of sleeping in a berth, using a proper head and galley, or having standing headroom. I know how hard it is to climb into a berth 6” off the floor or one where there is no hatch to stand up. Or a helm with no headroom.
Towing a big boat is towing a big boat. What's that like? It’s like towing an RV. Or a giant horse trailer. Despite what people say, the Albin 25 is still a big boat for what you get inside. I suppose someone would argue that the Albin 25 is like towing a small RV. vs towing a slightly bigger RV?? I would respond: Yes, but what do you get in the bigger RV??
If you think about it, the Albin 25 is little more than a camping platform. It's made up of unusable spaces for a normal sized person, let alone 2 people. It's like buggy camping. This is probably a good analogy. Staying on an Albin 25 is like camping in a pickup truck camper or maybe a poptop camper. Contrast that with staying in an Albin 27 is like staying in a towable RV. If you're going to buggy camp why not choose a C-22 or a Rosboro 245 or a Nimble 25 motorsailer? People will say oh those boats cost so much more! But now they’re just arguing in favor of cheap buggy camping.
Albin 25 owners are quick to point out that towing an Albin 27 is "much more difficult" than towing an Albin 25. This is where the trailerability sophistry displays as what-about-ism. They say things like "I can town my Albin 27 with a much smaller truck" or "I don't need permits or "I can drive my boat to the local lake every weekend and launch it."
To me the real difference between towing the A27/A25 is the vehicle you need to tow and launch it. You do need a bigger 250 vehicle to tow a fully kitted Albin 27. And maybe 4x4. And you might have to for-go frequent self launching in favor of a marina launch. But that's $200-$300 piece of mind for your boat and vehicle. Self launching a 4,000 pound boat is no joke, no matter what brand. It only takes one mistake, one time, at one ramp to ruin your tow vehicle or damage your boat. How lucky do you feel?
Now I will admit, due to the Albin 27s width, you may need permits to haul the boat. Permits are not difficult or nor expensive to get. Towing an Albin 27 boat is no different than towing a large RV. Or a Glacier Bay boat or any other big yacht. In fact, the Albin 27 is a yacht. The Albin 25 is not. The Albin 27 is a real long term, possibly live aboard, pocket trawler. To me the Albin 25 is just big old overrated waterborne camping platform. Albin 25 owners love to talk about how often they trailer their boats. But don't fall for that argument.
In no part of the definition of “trailerability” does it say anything about frequency of trailering. This is a construct of the dishonest Albin 25 community. Trailerability means the boat can be trailered by a personal non-commercial vehicle without the need of a special trailer or lowboy trailer. I owned a classic Alberg 30 sailboat. It weighed #10,000+ pounds and needed a special lowboy trailer and commercial truck to tow. It could not be self launched due to a 3’+ full keel. That’s not trailerable nor pocket. But that's not true with the Albin 27. You can tow it on a twin or triple axel trailer with a modern 150 truck or older 250 gas or diesel truck. You CAN self launch and retrieve.
If a person anticipates launching and recovering their boat every other weekend —and that's their priority--they would be an idiot to choose an Albin 27 or an Albin 25. They should instead be choosing and hauling a C-22 or a 20ft cuddy cabin boat. Don't fall for the Trailerability Sophistry.
How does someone measure ease of trailerability? I often get questions about choosing an Albin 27 vs an Albin 25. After all the hand ringing, the question usually comes down to price and trailerability. Albin 25 owners love to bring up "trailerability" as the final argument that defeats all common sense. I call this the "Trailerability Sophistry." A sophistry is a false argument made to decieve you, and any time an Albin 25 owner brings up this argument they're pulling the Trailerability Sophistry to distract you from what really matters.
I don't know how to measure "trailerability." But I can measure the ease of sleeping in a berth, using a proper head and galley, or having standing headroom. I know how hard it is to climb into a berth 6” off the floor or one where there is no hatch to stand up. Or a helm with no headroom.
Towing a big boat is towing a big boat. What's that like? It’s like towing an RV. Or a giant horse trailer. Despite what people say, the Albin 25 is still a big boat for what you get inside. I suppose someone would argue that the Albin 25 is like towing a small RV. vs towing a slightly bigger RV?? I would respond: Yes, but what do you get in the bigger RV??
If you think about it, the Albin 25 is little more than a camping platform. It's made up of unusable spaces for a normal sized person, let alone 2 people. It's like buggy camping. This is probably a good analogy. Staying on an Albin 25 is like camping in a pickup truck camper or maybe a poptop camper. Contrast that with staying in an Albin 27 is like staying in a towable RV. If you're going to buggy camp why not choose a C-22 or a Rosboro 245 or a Nimble 25 motorsailer? People will say oh those boats cost so much more! But now they’re just arguing in favor of cheap buggy camping.
Albin 25 owners are quick to point out that towing an Albin 27 is "much more difficult" than towing an Albin 25. This is where the trailerability sophistry displays as what-about-ism. They say things like "I can town my Albin 27 with a much smaller truck" or "I don't need permits or "I can drive my boat to the local lake every weekend and launch it."
To me the real difference between towing the A27/A25 is the vehicle you need to tow and launch it. You do need a bigger 250 vehicle to tow a fully kitted Albin 27. And maybe 4x4. And you might have to for-go frequent self launching in favor of a marina launch. But that's $200-$300 piece of mind for your boat and vehicle. Self launching a 4,000 pound boat is no joke, no matter what brand. It only takes one mistake, one time, at one ramp to ruin your tow vehicle or damage your boat. How lucky do you feel?
Now I will admit, due to the Albin 27s width, you may need permits to haul the boat. Permits are not difficult or nor expensive to get. Towing an Albin 27 boat is no different than towing a large RV. Or a Glacier Bay boat or any other big yacht. In fact, the Albin 27 is a yacht. The Albin 25 is not. The Albin 27 is a real long term, possibly live aboard, pocket trawler. To me the Albin 25 is just big old overrated waterborne camping platform. Albin 25 owners love to talk about how often they trailer their boats. But don't fall for that argument.
In no part of the definition of “trailerability” does it say anything about frequency of trailering. This is a construct of the dishonest Albin 25 community. Trailerability means the boat can be trailered by a personal non-commercial vehicle without the need of a special trailer or lowboy trailer. I owned a classic Alberg 30 sailboat. It weighed #10,000+ pounds and needed a special lowboy trailer and commercial truck to tow. It could not be self launched due to a 3’+ full keel. That’s not trailerable nor pocket. But that's not true with the Albin 27. You can tow it on a twin or triple axel trailer with a modern 150 truck or older 250 gas or diesel truck. You CAN self launch and retrieve.
If a person anticipates launching and recovering their boat every other weekend —and that's their priority--they would be an idiot to choose an Albin 27 or an Albin 25. They should instead be choosing and hauling a C-22 or a 20ft cuddy cabin boat. Don't fall for the Trailerability Sophistry.
Update July 2023:
Albin 25 owners on the Facebook owners group recently expressed great outrage that I would dare to publicly criticize their boat. By way of background, I had written this article some 5 years earlier in response to a different group of owners who were publicly advocating that the Albin 25 was superior to the Albin 27 in every way.
The Facebook owners had re-discovered this article and collectively lost their minds. In one of the longest running threads yet they rushed to defend the Albin 25. Over days and days they raged against my essay. But ultimately they deleted many of their posts when their online conduct was challenged.
One owner called this web page an “attack” on the Albin 25 and it’s owners. Another claimed any comparison of the Albin 25 and Albin 27 was “silly and absurd” and went on to accuse me of building “propaganda against the Albin 25.” While another owner said I had “alienated everyone” (in the universe?) while they simultaneously publicly admitted they dreaded taking a shower inside their make do “shower tent” because their Albin 25 didn’t have a proper head. When I explained why I wrote the article and rebutted their claims some called me names and used profanity.
I am not making this up. This is what I told them. Lets be clear:
I do not hate the Albin 25 or Albin 25 owners.
I wrote this article because many folks want an honest opinion about the difference between the Albin 25 and the Albin 27. And I feel they can’t get that because of how the Albin 25 is consistently presented on the internet.
Web forums and owners groups often dump the Albin 25 and Albin 27 together in a sort of extended family — that has no real bonds! Webmasters do this for many reasons, all of which are ill informed. It has to do with web page traffic, building a following, and ego.
The truth is these boats are apples and oranges. They are in different classes. They should not even be in the same forums.
Albin 25 owners like to promote their boats as a better option to the Albin 27 but I feel they are not 100% honest about what’s really going on. They overlook a lack of some really important and basic amenities in favor of tow-ability. Because there are 4x as many Albin 25 to Albin 27 owners, when posting online they collectively overpower any conversation about about the two boats.
There are lots of sub 25 foot boats that are easy to trailer but have no real head, no shower, no headroom. They are little more than water born camping platforms. But these boat owners never claim to rival or challenge the Albin 27– because frankly it’s obvious they are in a lesser class. But Albin 25 owners don’t see reality that way. They equate Albin 25 and Albin 27 as two like boats (except when someone starts asking real questions….)
Albin 25 owners on the Facebook owners group recently expressed great outrage that I would dare to publicly criticize their boat. By way of background, I had written this article some 5 years earlier in response to a different group of owners who were publicly advocating that the Albin 25 was superior to the Albin 27 in every way.
The Facebook owners had re-discovered this article and collectively lost their minds. In one of the longest running threads yet they rushed to defend the Albin 25. Over days and days they raged against my essay. But ultimately they deleted many of their posts when their online conduct was challenged.
One owner called this web page an “attack” on the Albin 25 and it’s owners. Another claimed any comparison of the Albin 25 and Albin 27 was “silly and absurd” and went on to accuse me of building “propaganda against the Albin 25.” While another owner said I had “alienated everyone” (in the universe?) while they simultaneously publicly admitted they dreaded taking a shower inside their make do “shower tent” because their Albin 25 didn’t have a proper head. When I explained why I wrote the article and rebutted their claims some called me names and used profanity.
I am not making this up. This is what I told them. Lets be clear:
I do not hate the Albin 25 or Albin 25 owners.
I wrote this article because many folks want an honest opinion about the difference between the Albin 25 and the Albin 27. And I feel they can’t get that because of how the Albin 25 is consistently presented on the internet.
Web forums and owners groups often dump the Albin 25 and Albin 27 together in a sort of extended family — that has no real bonds! Webmasters do this for many reasons, all of which are ill informed. It has to do with web page traffic, building a following, and ego.
The truth is these boats are apples and oranges. They are in different classes. They should not even be in the same forums.
Albin 25 owners like to promote their boats as a better option to the Albin 27 but I feel they are not 100% honest about what’s really going on. They overlook a lack of some really important and basic amenities in favor of tow-ability. Because there are 4x as many Albin 25 to Albin 27 owners, when posting online they collectively overpower any conversation about about the two boats.
There are lots of sub 25 foot boats that are easy to trailer but have no real head, no shower, no headroom. They are little more than water born camping platforms. But these boat owners never claim to rival or challenge the Albin 27– because frankly it’s obvious they are in a lesser class. But Albin 25 owners don’t see reality that way. They equate Albin 25 and Albin 27 as two like boats (except when someone starts asking real questions….)
I think they do this because everyone wishes they had the “better model.” When you put the two boats together like siblings, well they want to compete for attention. And Albin 25 owners want to assure themselves their older smaller model is ok.
They usually start their forum comments with sayings like “We love our little go-anywhere boat…it’s the Swiss Army knife of boats…no other boat can compare…this is the perfect little cruiser…no other boat has these features and does it better …it’s just amazing and fantastic…”
I feel they probably also do this because they long for the $20-30k+ selling point which a completed/restored Albin 27 commands in today’s market.
So I wrote this article and now I’ve created the Albin 25 Challenge.
To date, not a single Albin 25 owner has accepted.
They usually start their forum comments with sayings like “We love our little go-anywhere boat…it’s the Swiss Army knife of boats…no other boat can compare…this is the perfect little cruiser…no other boat has these features and does it better …it’s just amazing and fantastic…”
I feel they probably also do this because they long for the $20-30k+ selling point which a completed/restored Albin 27 commands in today’s market.
So I wrote this article and now I’ve created the Albin 25 Challenge.
To date, not a single Albin 25 owner has accepted.
I challenge you Albin 25 owners —Just be honest.
Stand at your helm on video and show the headroom. Show videos climbing into and out of the aft cabin. Show us videos of laying down in the berths and sitting at the helm in a thunder storm. Show us a video of the engine blocking the cockpit and the real headroom in the v-berth and the real space of the Albin 25 head.
I will dedicate an entire YouTube episode to your videos. I will give you equal time to advocate for your Albin 25. We will have a fair and balanced discussion about the merits of these boats. We will inform and let the public decide which boat is for them.
This article will remain in place until someone accepts the Albin 25 Challenge and my YouTube episode is published.
Stand at your helm on video and show the headroom. Show videos climbing into and out of the aft cabin. Show us videos of laying down in the berths and sitting at the helm in a thunder storm. Show us a video of the engine blocking the cockpit and the real headroom in the v-berth and the real space of the Albin 25 head.
I will dedicate an entire YouTube episode to your videos. I will give you equal time to advocate for your Albin 25. We will have a fair and balanced discussion about the merits of these boats. We will inform and let the public decide which boat is for them.
This article will remain in place until someone accepts the Albin 25 Challenge and my YouTube episode is published.
Albin 25 vs Albin 27: What's the Difference?
Many prospective buyers ask about the differences between the Albin 25 and the Albin 27. The Albin 25 and Albin 27 are unique in that they are boats having characteristics typically described as: average cost $20k; trailerable; fuel efficient diesel cruiser; with a galley and head; and provide aft cabin accommodation. There are virtually no other boats that better exemplify these features. Given that the Albin 27 descended from the Albin 25 almost a decade later, it’s reasonable to compare these two boats prior to purchase.
However when talking about the pros and cons, it’s important to remember that these two boats, while related by design, were not manufactured by the same boat yards.
I have nothing against the Albin 25 but I do think there’s a trend of Albin 25 owners being less than honest about the shortcomings of their boats. If we’re all honest, the reality is there are serious size and finish differences between Albin 25s and Albin 27s. A person can not reasonably compare the systems between the two boats.
Taken in their totality these differences totally outweigh any benefit that comes from ease of towing.
Further detailed discussion of the differences between between the two Albins is contained in the Albin 27 Buyers Guide at the link below.
However when talking about the pros and cons, it’s important to remember that these two boats, while related by design, were not manufactured by the same boat yards.
I have nothing against the Albin 25 but I do think there’s a trend of Albin 25 owners being less than honest about the shortcomings of their boats. If we’re all honest, the reality is there are serious size and finish differences between Albin 25s and Albin 27s. A person can not reasonably compare the systems between the two boats.
Taken in their totality these differences totally outweigh any benefit that comes from ease of towing.
Further detailed discussion of the differences between between the two Albins is contained in the Albin 27 Buyers Guide at the link below.