Who's Going To Annapolis 2015?

[indimini]

Got to the show today and got to check out some of the new cats. Quick impressions follow. These are my opinions - feel free to agree or disagree

1. Alpha 42 - Beautiful boat, looked to be very well built (if perhaps a bit on the heavy side talking to one of the owners.) Headroom in the saloon was surprisingly limited. (My 5'11" son hit the ceiling the forward-most sections of the saloon. Staterooms seemed on the small side to me for this size boat.

2. Fusion 40 - Nice to see one of the Aussie kit boats make it to Annapolis. Love the flexibility building from a kit would offer, but the time it would take is a definite no-go for us. Expected total price to splash doesn't appear to be saving any money over a production built cat, but you do get to make every decision.

3. Bali 4.3 - Conceptually nice design, I'm sure this boat will be a darling of the BVI charter fleets. Features definitely seem aimed at the week-long charterers (myself included.) I was shocked by what I considered to be very poor build quality - joinery and trim not well fitted, missing hardware, poor and excessive use of caulking, etc. This was the one boat I was most looking forward to seeing as my wife and I have discussed the potential merits of putting one into charter for the years until retirement and therefore my biggest disappointment of the show. After what I saw today, I don't think I would want to take the boat back after 5-6 years in a charter fleet.

The rest of the time was spent trying to find some deals on desired electronic upgrades for our current boat (didn't find any) and cross shopping some monohulls to see if we just stick with half-a-boat for the next 5-7 years.

Hope everybody else who got to the show had as much fun as I did.

[Saleen411]

Originally Posted by indimini

Got to the show today and got to check out some of the new cats. Quick impressions follow. These are my opinions - feel free to agree or disagree

1. Alpha 42 - Beautiful boat, looked to be very well built (if perhaps a bit on the heavy side talking to one of the owners.) Headroom in the saloon was surprisingly limited. (My 5'11" son hit the ceiling the forward-most sections of the saloon. Staterooms seemed on the small side to me for this size boat.

2. Fusion 40 - Nice to see one of the Aussie kit boats make it to Annapolis. Love the flexibility building from a kit would offer, but the time it would take is a definite no-go for us. Expected total price to splash doesn't appear to be saving any money over a production built cat, but you do get to make every decision.

3. Bali 4.3 - Conceptually nice design, I'm sure this boat will be a darling of the BVI charter fleets. Features definitely seem aimed at the week-long charterers (myself included.) I was shocked by what I considered to be very poor build quality - joinery and trim not well fitted, missing hardware, poor and excessive use of caulking, etc. This was the one boat I was most looking forward to seeing as my wife and I have discussed the potential merits of putting one into charter for the years until retirement and therefore my biggest disappointment of the show. After what I saw today, I don't think I would want to take the boat back after 5-6 years in a charter fleet.

The rest of the time was spent trying to find some deals on desired electronic upgrades for our current boat (didn't find any) and cross shopping some monohulls to see if we just stick with half-a-boat for the next 5-7 years.

Hope everybody else who got to the show had as much fun as I did.

We liked the Bali 4.3...very interesting design features and a NICE fly bridge.....didn't make the cut though.

Had a good time inspecting all the Cats,..... except we didn't much like the wet socks thing in the morning. We also enjoyed spending time talking with everybody including Phil Berman, who gave us a very informative tour of the Balance yacht.

Also was a bit surprised that some of the Cats we fully expected to like, but didn't. Good news is, the comparative inspections confirmed our decision on the Cat we intend to purchase.

A fun day....

PS. For accommodations we stayed at the Hilton on Kent Island. There are 3 hotels to choose from with lots of choices for great seafood in the immediate area.

[Tellie]

[QUOTE=Saleen411;1934326] We also enjoyed spending time talking with everybody including Phil Berman, who gave us a very informative tour of the Balance yacht.



Did you see that BeeeeUtiful Spectra watermaker on the Balance? Tight squeeze to fit it all in there but that's where the owner wanted it and we aim to please.

Halden Marine Services | Marine Watermakers, Solar Panels, Wind Generators

[Tellie]

PS, Nice hurricane weather for the boat show.

[Kenomac]

We'll be there next year. Had a good time last year.

[EllisElectric]

The show has a Royal Cape 53 catamaran with a dive platform that they claim raises and lowers to a level 3 foot below waterlevel. Also they claim to be able to carry dingy secured to it. Has anyone seen this in action?

[Saleen411]

Did you see that BeeeeUtiful Spectra watermaker on the Balance? Tight squeeze to fit it all in there but that's where the owner wanted it and we aim to please.

YES...port hull against the wall....fit like a glove.

Phil pulled the panel back to show us....was very proud of the installation.

Pretty sure I remember it right...saw sooooo many boats. Was this a 24 volt system?

[zerompg]

We spent a great bit of time on the Bali 4.3. We thought it was a great layout, awesome lounging area up front instead of a tramp. Great vis from the flybridge and the back door was very cool.

After sitting on it for almost an hour everyone commented on the full size fridge, very first thing. Seems intuitive but may break down more frequently, however should be a simple replacement.

Great VIP party afterwards!!!

Anyone have any info on the charter programs from Dream Yacht Sales? Or is there a sub topic here specifically for the Bali 4.3.

We loved the boat over the Lagoon 39, Lagoon 400S2, Alpha 42. This just seemed to fit great!

Love to hear from some more experienced folks who went onboard!

Thanks

[Saleen411]

Originally Posted by zerompg

We spent a great bit of time on the Bali 4.3. We thought it was a great layout, awesome lounging area up front instead of a tramp. Great vis from the flybridge and the back door was very cool.

After sitting on it for almost an hour everyone commented on the full size fridge, very first thing. Seems intuitive but may break down more frequently, however should be a simple replacement.

Great VIP party afterwards!!!

Anyone have any info on the charter programs from Dream Yacht Sales? Or is there a sub topic here specifically for the Bali 4.3.

We loved the boat over the Lagoon 39, Lagoon 400S2, Alpha 42. This just seemed to fit great!

Love to hear from some more experienced folks who went onboard!

Thanks

The electric back door was awesome. We asked to see how it would work manually if the electrics quit.....nobody knew how. But they say there is a manual back up.

I asked about the lack of a tramp.....said they tried to stuff the boat in some big waves..... delivery skipper said that there were no issues....said they were totally dry, much better than water coming up thru the tramps.

I agree on the Lagoons.....we tried to like the Lagoons, esp the Lagoon 39.....just couldn't. We liked the Leopard 40 much better, but don't like the front door. Some of the old salts I spoke with thought the front door was "stupid". Said off course green water is going to slam up against it.

[BVIme]

I too was initially turned off my the build quality for the Bali 4.3 and after a quick tour decided it wasn't for me. On day two, I boarded her again I decided there were so many things I like about this boat that I might be able to look over flimsy shower doors and the such. I think I like the sliding front window more than the garage door that everybody likes to talk about. It really sets itself apart from the competition in regards to features and maybe more boat for the $$ also.

I think I left the show with more questions than answers as I am searching for a single handed cat that fits well in the "boat as a business" concept.

It's still FP40, Logoon 39/42, or the Bali 4.3.

Would love to hear others viewpoints.....

[Factor]

Originally Posted by Saleen411

I asked about the lack of a tramp.....said they tried to stuff the boat in some big waves..... delivery skipper said that there were no issues....said they were totally dry, much better than water coming up thru the tramps.

Yeah - wow, carrying extra weight and windage forward in a cat is now a good thing? Like small mainsails and very heavy boats ala lagoon?

I agree on the Lagoons.....we tried to like the Lagoons, esp the Lagoon 39.....just couldn't. We liked the Leopard 40 much better, but don't like the front door. Some of the old salts I spoke with thought the front door was "stupid". Said off course green water is going to slam up against it

I have the answer get one of these boats with a solid front deck and then no green water will ever get near the door.

I honestly despair about the direction of the industry and I despair about the ******** being spoken by some in the industry that clearly and unequivocally defies the laws of physics.

[SeaKing]

Did anyone go on the new Voyage. They totally redesigned the boat basically, modified the old mold. Made many improvements, the most important was raising the bridge deck clearance from 15 inches to 30 inches.

[BigBeakie]

Factor,

👍👍👍 on your comments. The 4.3 is just so clearly a charter design that you would think it was obvious. Buyers are driving the cat industry away from good sailing performance and seaworthiness to such a degree that there is a rush to the bottom going on.

One vendor at the show told me that the number of people who asked him questions about performance, handling, build quality, anchoring system or sail material in the last 2 years was....wait for it.... 3 people! No wonder we are getting what we are getting.. The manufacturers are getting the message that Corian is more important than Construction, that pretty fittings & bling is more important than sailing characteristics, etc ad nauseum.

I was shocked to see display boats with cooked gel coat (Helia 44), halo rings everywhere and joints peeling (Fusion 40), large composite panels hollowed (Balance 451), poor fit & finish (too numerous to mention), power panel switches where they can be bumped, boats with bulkheads not tabbed to hull, and so forth.

The best execution I saw were the Alpha 42, the Neel 45, and the Outremer 51 outshone the others as a real cruising boat. These had good equipment levels, good construction, good SA to DWL Displacement, well thought out deck layouts, and nicely finished. Quality boats for sailors.

I was underwhelmed by most of the boats, and second Factors comment about the direction the industry is taking with the charter design ethic of cattlemarans. This was my first U.S. boat show, and from talking to many of the other potential buyers there, as you do, it seems like an education course on what is important in a good cruising cat would be a great contribution. I heard such rubbish from some of the boat sales staff that they should put Buyer Beware signs up. Just my impression, mind you.


Sent from my iPad using Cruisers Sailing Forum

[zerompg]

I finally got my attempt at capturing the boats we looked at on video. Enjoy if you missed the show or missed one of the boats.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=po-9GQLaDEw

[Clamdigger]

Originally Posted by Tellie

PS, Nice hurricane weather for the boat show.

You must have been at a different show Tellie! The weather was great Sunday and Monday while I was there. For the life of me I could not locate you, try as I might for the 2 days I walked the place. I did'nt locate Chris Rudlett from LTD Sailing either but lots of folks I inquired about looking for him said he's a great chap! Was even up on the PainKiller Deck a couple of times (enjoying the view) and could'nt scratch up a CF member up there at those times either. Got pretty busy looking at boats and all the vendor booths. Did come across a really nice guy whose a vendor and CF member from 'Annapolis Cruisair'. I chatted him up about h2o makers and he steered me in the right direction for my upcoming needs. Took his card to give him kudos, but his name isn't on the card He owns a 50ft mono though, so he might chime in.

Really enjoyed the show, but was disappointed that some vendors were packing it in at 3pm on Monday afternoon, a few hours before close, so there were'nt any bargains forthcoming from those departing vendors. Should be fun next year!