Gunboat 72V

[MR.CLEAN]

PJ Is a rat bitch who uses these forums to troll for people to threaten. He likes to pretend he is a rich guy so he threatens defamation suits like the bargain basement Peter Thiel wannabe he is

 

[Ruminator]

Obviously a painful (and well documented) history here.  I for one remember how excited most folks in NC were when GB arrived in Wanchese.  The Admiral would fly us up in her Cherokee 235 so we could watch the molds and equipment being installed in the building.  And of course, how upset everyone in the NC marine industry was when things did not work out...  It's an understatement that folks I knew in NC (public and government sectors) really wanted GB to be successful.

Met the original owner of Thirst (GB 55-07 I believe) and his family during Antigua Race Week in '17.  Friends helped crew for them and they did very well (for their first big race).  In discussions during the awards ceremony the owner struck me as a man of incredible character.  He wasn't mad or disillusioned; he was merely disappointed how it all played out.  Of course money helps, as he admitted that the vessel cost him another $1+ million after he got his hands on his hull...

So (especially for those in the industry or have had inside knowledge) what should be the next step for GB?  If not the "V" line, then what?  I'm not a believer that the 80 is going to fill the factory any faster than the 68 (due to sheer cost alone).  But if there is potentially room for the 68, 72V, 80, and another - what should it be?

What say everyone, should GB (under GLY leadership) go: smaller?, less exotic?, less complicated?, or something else?

Been grinding fiberglass for 4 hours inside a cabin.  Got to go find a beer.  Cheers!

 

[Boogie with Stu]

They should go small. The 48's are like unicorns, super rare and highly desirable. GLY seems to be in a mindset of go big or go home; we'll see how that plays out for them. Going small would open up new customers to them that aren't so uber-wealthy. I hope they're successful whatever direction they go.

 

[Wess]

If PJ has the kind of money it takes to try to intimidate someone with a bullshit libel suit, there are probably some trustees, creditors, and BK judges who want to chat with him about where that cash came from.

Such a fucking rat bitch move. The kind of thing people who screw their vendors and customers over repeatedly would do. 

What is that in reference to?

 

[eastern motors]

I was going to say that a flybridge Gunboat model feels like a desperate act. Outremers are selling like hotcakes so why mess with a successful business model? The new O55 seems like a winner on the water and in the marketplace. 
 

Launching one Gunboat per year, on the other hand, doesn’t seem sustainable. I assume 68 sales aren’t wildly outstripping the build pace, so time to recalibrate. 

Aren't Gunboats and Outremers all designed by VPLP and built in adjoining sheds?   So it's just like Chevy and Cadillac.  They could build one GB every 5 years and it wouldn't really matter.

 

[drakeborer]

What is that in reference to?

Yes, very interesting.....

 

[drakeborer]

They should go small. The 48's are like unicorns, super rare and highly desirable. GLY seems to be in a mindset of go big or go home; we'll see how that plays out for them. Going small would open up new customers to them that aren't so uber-wealthy. I hope they're successful whatever direction they go.

could not agree more

 

[Wess]

Yes, very interesting.....

I think (?) Soma had a quote up that was critical of GB but it was aimed at the current ownership if I understood it correctly and not PJ.

 

[Se7en_speed]

They should go small. The 48's are like unicorns, super rare and highly desirable. GLY seems to be in a mindset of go big or go home; we'll see how that plays out for them. Going small would open up new customers to them that aren't so uber-wealthy. I hope they're successful whatever direction they go.

I think they are unicorns because they don't economically work.  By going smaller you save in materials, but most of the cost of one of these boats is labor, and you don't save that much by making the boat shorter. The systems are still there, the fit and finish work is the same, so you wouldn't have as big of a discount from a 68 as you would think to justify going with the smaller boat.

I'm sure if you asked GB they would politely point you at the Outremer 45.

 

[NZK]

I think they are unicorns because they don't economically work.  By going smaller you save in materials, but most of the cost of one of these boats is labor, and you don't save that much by making the boat shorter. The systems are still there, the fit and finish work is the same, so you wouldn't have as big of a discount from a 68 as you would think to justify going with the smaller boat.

I'm sure if you asked GB they would politely point you at the Outremer 45.

Agreed. With the evolution of the Outremer range I think the O45 is too close to what a smaller Gunboat would be if it were to fill the 'owner operator' caveat and that doesn't make sense for the GLY group (the new 68s are far more 'integrated' than the earlier models so access for servicing and maintenance of a lot of the systems is arguably trickier and likely needs more skills and time than mast OOs can muster).

The larger/luxury multihull market, that Gunboat helped to create, is growing - with Laidlaw picking up 68.01 and building the 80 I think there's going to be an increase in interest and ownership from current large monohull owners who are starting to appreciate the extra speed and comfort available on a multihull platform. Where one goes other follow...

With the 72 GB are responding to market interest which I would argue is critical to the longevity of the company. We may not all like the result but we aren't the ones writing the cheques....

 

[MR.CLEAN]

PJ deserves whatever horrid sewage flows his way.  Fucking rat. 

 

[Wess]

There seems to be a list of people that are ex-GB employees that have run other companies into the ground and/or left buyers high and dry. I don't mean everyone but geeze if somebody as GB experience on their CV I would be veerrryyyy careful.  If I read Soma's prior post right I would think hard about the current company as well.

 

[spike]

There seems to be a list of people that are ex-GB employees that have run other companies into the ground and/or left buyers high and dry. I don't mean everyone but geeze if somebody as GB experience on their CV I would be veerrryyyy careful.  If I read Soma's prior post right I would think hard about the current company as well.

I think that is disingenuous, or more precisely, an uninformed statement. I can think of maybe one individual who attempted to piggyback off the PJ/GB failures....I dont consider the Holland Composites thing one of those....and I refer specifically to the Daedalus shit show. 

 

[Wess]

I think that is disingenuous, or more precisely, an uninformed statement. I can think of maybe one individual who attempted to piggyback off the PJ/GB failures....I dont consider the Holland Composites thing one of those....and I refer specifically to the Daedalus shit show. 

Not referring to Holland at all. You named one and there are more. A reborn catamaran name that was a classic…. and so on. Too many of my friends lost a lot of money to those ******.

 

[mpenman]

I like the French yard and the French boats in general. I think they are trying to make a dollar as well as do what is in the best interests of the sailors buying their boats.

No on can argue their sailing process.

The 68 is one sexing looking boat and it performs well.

On the US side I like Lyman Morse as I think that they did a good job with Mala Conductor. Saw her at 'Rob The Rich' when I was there for a survey on our 57.

I think that Aquidneck Custom has the best group of builders right now in the US. Their boats come in light with very little faring. Hull #1 on the 72 was right at 43,000lbs in cruising config medium load. Hull #2 should be about the same (maybe slightly less, 3% maybe) with a totally different and heavier house.

 

[mpenman]

Heh heh, even more so with a fly bridge!!!!

 

[Mordoc]

I'm sure if you asked GB they would politely point you at the Outremer 45.

Anybody around who’ve sailed an Outremer 45 and still believes it is a ‘Performance Cat’? Are all Outremer Cats still build in Polyester?

 

[eastern motors]

Anybody around who’ve sailed an Outremer 45 and still believes it is a ‘Performance Cat’? Are all Outremer Cats still build in Polyester?

 They built at least one 5X in carbon.  Not sure of the resin,  So they would probably build you a 45 in carbon.  But it might be cheaper and get your a faster boat to just buy the next size up.

 

[HotCarNut]

I think they are unicorns because they don't economically work.  By going smaller you save in materials, but most of the cost of one of these boats is labor, and you don't save that much by making the boat shorter. The systems are still there, the fit and finish work is the same, so you wouldn't have as big of a discount from a 68 as you would think to justify going with the smaller boat.

I'm sure if you asked GB they would politely point you at the Outremer 45.

Agreed, especially since they did a carbon 4X for Puffin using the GB technology for the hulls.  Seems like GLY and Outremer are perfectly content to let Outremer handle the sub-60’ market.

 

[Boogie with Stu]

So smaller doesn't have to equate to the same level of tech. Think iPhone Pro and iPhone SE. GLY could introduce that kind of tiering, and pricing. Maybe it dilutes the brand, but as with Apple, I don't think so. I think it lets them sell more boats.