Thanks all for the further suggestions - annoyingly work got in the way yesterday so missed the ones ending
We had a look at the Searider on eBay yesterday evening
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Avon-Searider-...d=p3286.c0.m14
Boat is in reasonable condition but the Valient console has been screwed direct to the deck and not sealed in an way that I would be happy with, the wooden backing to all the seats is very rotten and will need replacing soon - I'm sure this is sortable though.
My main area of concern is the state of the engine - it leaks water from all over when running - the gear box has a large crack that runs from the prop back along the casing about a third of its length - stopped with a drilled hole. To be fair he did say this was a common fault with lots of coverage on line, with the drilled hole a recognised fix - we just felt the overall condition of the engine was poor and would need replacing fairly soon
The tubes were in good nick although one chamber had a leak - possibly from the valve.
The trailer looked okay. Looking at the amount of seaweed still stuck to the trailer I'm pretty sure neither the boat, engine or trailer have been regularly washed down after use.
I guess if this does'nt go for silly money it could be good to strip back and replace the engine - transom was sound but the hull seeemd to have some fibreglass repair.
It's already at £2500 - the chap believes he should get around 3k but sold his last one for 6k.
One other odd observation is that the Avon plate states SR5 - does this make it an early or late SR5.4
The seller seemed a really nice guy and honest - maybe the true state of the engine could have been better described but the actual boat apart from the inner console seems very good
The hunt continues .....