New 2014 Manta 42 and OceanCat 49!

[Sand crab]

I found this ad for a 2014 Manta. Not much on details so I called the number. I spoke with John who said they have the original molds and are going to resume production in SW Florida which is near where they were made before. The molds were not shipped to China as was reported here before. They are also going to resurrect the OceanCat at that same facility and talks are underway to bring a South African cat there but he wouldn't say which one. Hope it all goes well.
2014 Manta 42 Mark V sailboat for sale in Florida

[Cotemar]

Wow, that is great news. Manta's are sweet Cats

[smj]

Good news. Funny how they were able to get molds that were pulled of boats from the same designer.

[Sand crab]

He said that they were going to splash a mold from an existing OceanCat. BTW I told him that I thought the $800,000 price for the Manta was a bit steep especially with the Alpha 42 being half of that. $400K will by lots of options. Still hope he succeeds, though.

[Manta Catamaran]

Hey Sand Crab, thanks for the plug (no pun intended) We are not going to take a mold from an existing boat, we have the original boat molds for both the 42' Manta Sail Cat and the 44' Manta Power Cat.

Hope to begin cleaning and prepping the molds in mid June and ready for production shortly after.

We are looking nice High Res photos of Manta's being enjoyed, original sales literature and brochures, specs and anything pertaining to the late Mark IV models.

We are developing a Manta Owners forum for Q&A and boats for sale.

We will over the next year or so, start looking for a Marine Architect to help us design new and updated versions of the Manta Catamarans.

As we get all the molds for parts sorted out, we will be able to offer replacement components too.

Thanks
John & Marge Lange

[Manta Catamaran]

Originally Posted by Sand crab

He said that they were going to splash a mold from an existing OceanCat. BTW I told him that I thought the $800,000 price for the Manta was a bit steep especially with the Alpha 42 being half of that. $400K will by lots of options. Still hope he succeeds, though.

Those numbers were just ticklers, we will come in way lower as soon as we get all the details sorted out.

[pbr]

Update:
Previous poster never had possession or ownership of the Manta molds nor any official ownership of the name or any assets. Nor any pervious involvement with the project or as a boat builder.

As far as I can tell he has cut and pasted everything he could get his hands on from the internet, and because the company had been bankrupted, with no patents, trademark, or corporation in effect, decided to create a web page, Facebook page, and twitter account from old pictures and brochures and announce he was in business.

The power cat mold was sold several months ago (without his knowledge) by the landlord for back storage fees, and the sail cat mold sits outside at a level of disrepair not worth pursuing, including the fact that the design is too dated to be competitive in today's new boat market.

Though the invention of the internet has offered very many positive possibilities for mankind, I am afraid this example has not been one one of them, though I guess the website he created could be viewed as a nice memorial to the project.

[pbr]

I will add for those interested, there are a few very nice used ones on the market right now, both early and late models 38-42.

[scarlet]

Originally Posted by pbr

Update:
Previous poster never had possession or ownership of the Manta molds nor any official ownership of the name or any assets. Nor any pervious involvement with the project or as a boat builder.

As far as I can tell he has cut and pasted everything he could get his hands on from the internet, and because the company had been bankrupted, with no patents, trademark, or corporation in effect, decided to create a web page, Facebook page, and twitter account from old pictures and brochures and announce he was in business.

The power cat mold was sold several months ago (without his knowledge) by the landlord for back storage fees, and the sail cat mold sits outside at a level of disrepair not worth pursuing, including the fact that the design is too dated to be competitive in today's new boat market.

Though the invention of the internet has offered very many positive possibilities for mankind, I am afraid this example has not been one one of them, though I guess the website he created could be viewed as a nice memorial to the project.

BASTARD!!!!!

[pbr]

Last I heard he was trying to sell the website address, Facebook, and Twitter for about 10k

[H2OHOBO]

Re. the Manta shuffle, does anyone know what happened to Henry and Karen ? they put so much time money and passion into getting those nice boats built and i am sorry to see that once again the business is an apparent fiasco. Manta /Ocean cat is probably the sweetest sailing cruising cat on the water.

[pbr]

While Henry and Karen with several other investors helped bring it from Canada to the U.S. They had nothing to do with the development or production of the boats built in the U.S. Last I heard they went cruising on an Ocean cat 48.

[H2OHOBO]

Not exactly, after they brought the original boat down they also brought the moulds to Florida but these were destroyed in a hurricane before they could be used.

At some point (forget the time line details ) they paid the owner of a competed cat to allow them to strip and slash his boat to get a new set of moulds.

They became involved with the endeavour factory and were building boats there, these were the Manta models, this turned int a debacle due to the personalities involved and Henry and Karen were pushed out.

At a later time the whole operation was moved to the Carolina location where Henry managed to create the Qcean 49 cat based on the original Manta LeRouge design.

They were indeed living aboard their cat and i spent a few days with them and later visited the Carolina factory.

Many details i have forgotten, but it was Henry that persevered to get the Le Rouge design in production in the US.

Henry is a crusty and infuriating man that makes a lot more enemies than friends but does understand the important aspects of boat design and construction and recognised the virtues of the Eric LeRouge design.

[smj]

The original Manta was built by Eugene Tekach in Toronto. I believe the molds were pulled of a LeRouge designed Jeffcat. I don't think Henry created the Ocean 49 instead from what I heard he paid an owner of a Freydis 46 to use his boat to splash a mold of. I also don't believe LeRouge got compensated for either the Manta or Ocean Cat.


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[H2OHOBO]

That sounds right, between Henry paying the Canadian company to build him one and then having them go bust and Henry buying the moulds and then finally getting his completed boat is an interesting and involved story that went on for years, i have heard the story from him, embellished or not i don't know, but he did start the Manta line and went on to build the Qcean as you say from a splashed Le Rouge boat.
Does anyone know if he is still around or has he gone to the big boatyard in the sky ?