Quality Control

[jpmathieu]

I had the pleasure of attending the New England Boat Show yesterday. The new venue was amazing. I spent six hours there and I probably only viewed a quarter of the boats displayed.

For some reason my attention kept being drawn to the quality of the craftsmanship of the boats I boarded. I attribute this to having spent countless hours crawling around my lazarettes painting/plumbing and wiring.

I was very surprised to board some very expensive boats and find some very poor quality craftsmanship. On the other hand I looked at some inexpensive boats that were very well made.

One boat really stood out to me which I shall not name. It was a 33 foot traditional looking picnic power boat, with a fair amount of "real" wood trim. I think the price tag was about 500 thousand. I started looking carefully at it, opening hatches, cabinets, looking inside. I found the joinery very poor, some of the wood already had splits it, the cabinets were flimsy, it has a transom door that had a hinge that should have never passed quality control, never mind sending it out to a major boatshow and a galley table was super wobbly and flimsy.

This was a big contrast to another boat that I looked which was about the same length, with a price tag of about 150k, that was flawlessly constructed. Everthing was lined up, perfectly installed and well made.

I can't see spending money like that for poor craftsmandship.

I am wondering if anyone else attended the boatshow and spotted as much quality control issues as I did.

[Figment]

I'm there tomorrow, and now I'm psyched to have a scavenger hunt style mission!

[dasein668]

I think the price tag narrows things down considerably for you Mike! (Bring your camera man!!!)

[jpmathieu]

I'm psyched to have a scavenger hunt style mission!

6 pack if you can get the boat right.

Clue: The boat had a split in a piece of exterior wood trim. good luck

[George ( C&C 40 )]

Hii All,

Isn't the only $500K picnic style boat the one made by Hinckley -- and then made famous by Martha Stewart?

George

[Mark.Wilme]

Isn't the only $500K picnic style boat the one made by Hinckley -- and then made famous by Martha Stewart?

The jet drive one ?

[jpmathieu]

Isn't the only $500K picnic style boat the one made by Hinckley -- and then made famous by Martha Stewart?

They seem to all be getting expensive.

Fig gets a six pack he he can name the boat tommorrow night ( gotta say where the split in the wood trim is)

[dasein668]

Fig gets a six pack he he can name the boat tommorrow night ( gotta say where the split in the wood trim is)

He likes the Beertinis from Dogfish Head. Or, at least he shuffled a couple of them my way, so I assume he likes 'em!

(That's the 120 minute IPA, btw)

[Tim]

Hii All,

Isn't the only $500K picnic style boat the one made by Hinckley -- and then made famous by Martha Stewart?

George

Much to Hinckley's chagrin, no. Thanks to the uncanny success of these toys, every boatbuilder and their brother has been building clones--some of them so startlingly close in appearance that Hinckley has had to file lawsuits--for years, cashing in on the overexpensive, no-real-use-for-them-other-than-being-what-you're-supposed-to-have powerboat market that has taken off in the past decade.

These days, "picnic" boat has become an almost generic term to describe any overpriced, open powerboat with minimal accommodations. Every powerboat builder has some sort of model (or models) that approximate Hinckley's original picnic boat concept. Even Hinckley has built on its own success with any number of different versions of this craft, both larger and smaller than the original.

I don't mean to "dis" Hinckley's original picnic boat; it was, and is, a beautiful design. But at least here in Maine, these boats are almost a caricature of themselves, and are just too ubiquitous. Every McMansion on the coast seems to have one of these parked at the dock. There's no longer any originality to the boat, which is kind of too bad.

As a related aside, I should say that the last time I went to a boatshow, I found the Hinckley sailboat represented there to be a major disappointment. When compared with some of the other high-end sailboats at the show, the Hinckley looked positively poor, frankly. The joinerwork was far better in the Morris, Alden, and other boats.

And Martha should just stay in that "other" state.

[dasein668]

As a related aside, I should say that the last time I went to a boatshow, I found the Hinckley sailboat represented there to be a major disappointment. When compared with some of the other high-end sailboats at the show, the Hinckley looked positively poor, frankly. The joinerwork was far better in the Morris, Alden, and other boats..

I noted that very same thing.

[Figment]

Is Hinckley still priced in the same ballpark as Morris and Alden, or have they been eclipsed?

The "scavenger hunt" I was looking forward to was to find the exceptionally-built 150k boat. I've no patience for the 500k crowd.

[Tim]

Is Hinckley still priced in the same ballpark as Morris and Alden, or have they been eclipsed?

I don't really know, but Hinckley has been so busy making (and selling) various powerboats that the sailboat side of things has taken a distinctly back-burner priority. It's just all about the powerboats now. But in general, I believe that the price range is comparable with the Morrises and Aldens of the world.

Now, I know that Hinckley originally started as a powerboat company, so perhaps this is a return to the roots. But considering that so many of the boats we've pined for in past years have been Hinckley sailboats (B-40, Pilot, Hinckley 48, SW50, and more), I just find it somehow disappointing. I'm glad the company's doing well, but it's a very different company now than it used to be--heavily into the powerboats and the extreme high-end service aspect of things (with Hinckley service yards all over the east coast now). I guess it's a sign of the times, with all the wealthy people just being "too busy" to deal with the annoyance of sailboats.

I've no patience for the 500k crowd.

I have lots. Can't you tell? hehe

[JonnyBoats]

Now, I know that Hinckley originally started as a powerboat company, so perhaps this is a return to the roots. But considering that so many of the boats we've pined for in past years have been Hinckley sailboats (B-40, Pilot, Hinckley 48, SW50, and more), I just find it somehow disappointing. I'm glad the company's doing well, but it's a very different company now than it used to be

Yup, just not the same since they started working in "plastic snot" ;-)

Even worse, their best worker ever went out on his own :-)

[Hirilondë]

We have 2 Pilot 35s, 3 SW 42s, 3 SW 51s and a SW 59 with us this winter. It seems that just this last couple years more Hinckleys (the sailboats) are looking elsewhere for refits. We have been actively presenting ourselves as an alternative place to go for all facets of upgrade and rework. Some of our boats don't even summer near us. They come down for the indoor storage, seasonal maintenance and refit work. I like working on their sailboats. They can change their focus to stinkpots as far as I am concerned ;)

[Figment]

Right, scavenger hunt report.

As boat shows go, this one is obviously in its infancy, still figuring out how to use the new convention center. On one hand it was a really spacious facility and it was great to have the rigs up on some of the sailboats, and nice to not have everything crammed together like at most shows, but on the other hand if they take the planning beyond the bubble-diagram stage they really could make a much more effective show out of it by integrating the booth-displays with the boat-displays instead of hiding them all in a corner. C'mon guys that's the ONE thing a land-based show can do better than a floating show! Get it together! But I digress.

I didn't see the split trim, but off the top of my head I'm going to guess that it was on the MJM. I didn't spend much time on the picnic boats.
The biggest "what on earth were they thinking" moment of the show was the wood-veneered transom on the Rampage 36. It looks for all the world like someone had a sheet of plywood and a tube of 5200 staring them in the face on a really REALLY boring day. Awful. Sinful. Just pathetic, really. The floating equivalent of a 1992 black toyota land cruiser with the gold trim, including the license plate holders.

It was a rather unique boatshow experience for me, as I was accompanied by a buddy who is actually doing some serious boat-hunting. Rather that my usual wandering around checking out everything and nothing at the same time, this was a very methodical, very focused assault.

Project Brief:
18-22' center-console skiff to live on a trailer, hauled by a not-overly-stout SUV. Console must have porta-potty within. Boat must not be an outright Fishing Machine. Primary use is weekend knocking-around the upper reaches of the CT river with the wife who likes boats but doesn't know much about them, and two boys irish-twinned approx 2-1/2yrs old at the moment.

After 4 or 5 laps around the show we had our winner: Nautic-Star 20' Relatively new to the scene, but a nice simple boat with a lot of very well-thought-out details.

Such boat-hunting is a lot of fun in the last 6 hours of the show, when deals are being made left and right. The nautistar guy knocked 30% off the price and threw in a trailer at the beginning of the conversation. I quickly recognized the "man, she's going to KILL me but I don't care" look on my buddy's face and escorted him to the bar, where we met up with the rest of the gang just coming out of the ethanol seminar. The rest of the gang was NOT helpful. "Why do you think we drove up here in an F250 instead of your honda? Go buy the boat!" F250-owner/chauffer chimes in "The bumper has a 5000# rating and I KNOW that salesman will find the right size ball SOMEWHERE in this building!"

The great thing about doing this with a group of guys you've known forever is that we knew exactly how hard to push him: juuuust shy of the breaking point that would make him actually buy the boat, which of course means that he was kicking himself all through dinner and the whole ride home for NOT buying the boat. Its' not "torture" if it's done out of love, right?

[Tim]

I don't see any reason to be secretive about what boats were good and which ones were bad. Boatbuilders need to be able to withstand public commentary and criticism as warranted.

So, JP, now that the show's over, would you care to reveal the real answers to your scavenger hunt?

Thanks for the detailed report, Mike. Did they have any decent sailboats there at all?

Speaking of boats, I drove by a small dealership yesterday up near Stockton Springs and saw they have a couple lovely McGregor 26Xs out by the road. Wow, are those hideous. (First sighting in person, thankfully.)

[jpmathieu]

Tim wrote:

So, JP, now that the show's over, would you care to reveal the real answers to your scavenger hunt?

Fig Wrote:

Right, scavenger hunt report.

Valiant attempt, but its sounds like Fig was preoccupied with winding up his buddy.

Fig wrote:

I didn't see the split trim, but off the top of my head I'm going to guess that it was on the MJM. I didn't spend much time on the picnic boats

Fig didn't win the six pack.

I did not board the MJM, I did last year, and the salesman was to busy reading a book to bother with me (you never know how much $$ someone has in their pocket)

Anyway. The answer is HUNT Surfhunter 33. I was poking around on them getting ideas for my surfhunter 25 project sitting in my yard. All and all Surfhunters are beautiful boats, but for the money you pay the boats should be perfect.

Now that I,m thinking about it Fig had the answer all along and he didn't even know it: "scavenger HUNT".

I don't think that qualifies for the prize.

Fig wrote:

The "scavenger hunt" I was looking forward to was to find the exceptionally-built 150k boat. I've no patience for the 500k crowd.

I will let you onto the boat I was thinking about when I was refering to a exceptionally build 150 Boat. It was the Boston Whaler. I have three old whalers, 13, 15, 17 so I always visit the booth each year. The new whalers have lost some of the whaler appeal but the big ones are well build. I crawled around one of the big ones for a while and found some good assembly work inside the boat, ie wiring, plumbing, general layouts.

For banging around (if I ever won the lottery) I would say the Whaler would take a whole lot more abuse than the surfhunter for much shorter money (My opinion anyway)

Tim wrote:

Did they have any decent sailboats there at all?

I would to have liked to have more to say about the sailboats myself. By the time I got to the sailboat section, I let my 10 year old have his 4th $1.50 candy bar and he started having a serious suger attack. after trying to look at 5 sailboats in a row I had to let him sit down, at which point he crashed. It was time to go. I should know to start with the sailboats.

ALWAYS NEXT YEAR

[Figment]

How on earth have you managed to not lay eyes on a mac26 until now?
That does it. I'm moving to Maine.

I didn't actually set foot aboard any sailboats. I was there with a bunch of stinkpotters, and I didn't imagine that much had changed in the sailboat world since Annapolis in October. Though the show was understandably full of ski-boats and bassboats and pontoon boats and never-ever-leave-the-dock boats, there was a fair contingent of blowboats on site. Hunter brought the full line, I think Tartan brought the 36 and maybe the 41, etc, all the usual suspects. The E-33 was pretty well displayed, but that boat still rubs me the wrong way for some reason.

Speaking of which boats were good vs bad, after spending the whole day inspecting center-console skiffs, I wholeheartedly declare Roth-Built ("Bilt"?) as my favorite. Gorgeous, classy boats, even if they did Cetol all the brightwork.

Boston Whaler can bite me (I didn't look at anything over 23'). Likewise, Parker, whose salesman was quite adamant that it makes a lot of sense to have both an indoor and an outdoor helm 4' away from each other on a 25' boat.

[jpmathieu]

Boston Whaler can bite me (I didn't look at anything over 23'). Likewise, Parker, whose salesman was quite adamant that it makes a lot of sense to have both an indoor and an outdoor helm 4' away from each other on a 25' boat.

Fig, stop holding back! Tell us what you really think.

Speaking of which boats were good vs bad, after spending the whole day inspecting center-console skiffs, I wholeheartedly declare Roth-Built ("Bilt"?) as my favorite. Gorgeous, classy boats, even if they did Cetol all the brightwork.

They are nice boats, I remember talking to Chris Roth back 12 years ago when he started building them (He was the broker at my boatyard at the time. He doesn't own the boat company anymore.)

I noticed the use of cetol also. Interesting seeing it on a brandy-new boat. I am guiltly of using it on my renegade, but the exterior wood was shot when I bought it, it fills old wood grain well.

[JetStream]

For the Sailboats, I'd have to say that Sabre wins hands down. My buddy Marvin from New Wave Boats, sold the 426 that was on display. You can look anywhere that isn't even accessible on a Sabre and you'll find good workmanship. When I looked at the new Tartan, I thought their quality is really down a notch, like they are trying to compete with the unnamed production boats. It has a saildrive instead of a conventional shaft, and I think that is a step down. I was also hearing a lot of comments floated by others about Tartan being tough to deal with on warranty issues. On one of the Hunters that I looked at, they had a new kind of rig that was minus a backstay. That required some crossing sort of jumper stays that were only about 1/2" apart where the shrouds crossed. I can picture that being a bad wear point with disastrous results if it fails. Cape Cod Shipbuilding had a 12-1/2 and a Bullseye that were really sweet.

[Figment]

Fig gets a six pack he he can name the boat tommorrow night ( gotta say where the split in the wood trim is)

He likes the Beertinis from Dogfish Head. Or, at least he shuffled a couple of them my way, so I assume he likes 'em!

(That's the 120 minute IPA, btw)

Speaking of the beertinis, have you tried the Raison D'Extra? Really sweet, a bit of a palate adjustment, but pretty amusing.

[dasein668]

No, I haven't but "sweet" tends to scare me away. After all, you're talking to someone who wishes that Sierra Nevada would actually put some darn hops in their Pale Ale! ;-D