Tiara and Pursuit come from the same builder, S2 Yachts, and surveyor David Pascoe reviewed several of their models. He rated the detail work highly. The problems he did find are specific, and most of them are about getting at the machinery.
Engine room access
On a 1996 Tiara 3100 Open, Pascoe calls the engine room an accessibility nightmare: one large hatch with the heavy seating modules permanently mounted on it, and a small hatch within it that's all but useless because the space below is so small. On the 3500 Open in his Tiara today review, he found high quality detail work in the engine compartment, with deep hatch gutters, but too much crammed into too small a space, so things are hard to reach even with the full deck section open. On the Pursuit 3000 Offshore, the hatch lifts on electric openers, and he describes the engine space as like crawling into an alligator's mouth.
Where to look. Operate every engine hatch lift and time it. Note any lift that struggles, whether there is a manual way in, and which parts of the engines you couldn't reach.
Windshields and the hull to deck joint on the 3100 Open
The 3100's tall windshield is painted aluminium. Pascoe says the paint wasn't done right, with no zinc chromate primer, and it was starting to corrode, though not badly. The hull is screwed to the deck with a wood backing strip on the inside. He found no gelcoat cracks.
Where to look. The windshield frame for paint lifting and white corrosion, and the hull to deck joint inside for leaks and wet wood in the backing strip. See hull to deck joint leak.
Plywood under batteries on the Pursuit 2855
On a 1993 Pursuit 2855, Pascoe found some poorly supported plywood decking starting to sag under the weight of the batteries. The structure otherwise had "basically no problem", with balsa cored deck and hull sides. On the 3070 CC, the hull is cored on the sides and solid on the bottom, with fully glassed plywood stringers and frames.
Where to look. The decking and supports under batteries for sag or rot, and battery security. See unsecured batteries.
Recalls
The USCG recall list holds one record under Tiara Yachts, for the Tiara 3100 Open, and five under S2 Yachts, including the Tiara 3200 Open, the 3000 Express and 3070 Offshore, and Denali models. The public pages don't give the defect; check the hull number with a dealer.
What to check on a Tiara or Pursuit
| Area | What to look for | Source of the concern |
|---|---|---|
| Engine room hatch | Lift struggling under the weight, small inner hatch | Pascoe, Tiara 3100 Open |
| Engine room | Parts you can't reach | Pascoe, Tiara 3500 Open and Pursuit 3000 Offshore |
| Windshield | Paint loss, corrosion on the aluminium | Pascoe, Tiara 3100 Open |
| Hull to deck joint | Leaks, wet wood backing strip | Pascoe, Tiara 3100 Open |
| Decking under batteries | Sag in plywood decking | Pascoe, Pursuit 2855 |
| Recalls | Open campaigns for the hull number | USCG recall list |
Writing it up
"Engine room hatch: electric lift raises the hatch with seating module attached only partly and stalls; no manual means of opening found. Recommend the lifting system is repaired or upgraded so the engine room can be reached at sea." Grade it by what's behind the hatch: if the engines can't be reached under way, it's a safety finding.