Roll on August!

[The_Bean]

Greetings all
We are totally new to sailing... never had time to get involved due to the pressures of running our businesses... BUT...our dream becomes reality in August when we take delivery of our new Owners Version Admiral 38 Catamaran in Cape Town. The plan is to do what so many have done before us... and that is to circumnavigate, cruise... have fun... and hopefully lose ourselves in the breathtaking beauty that many parts of the world have to offer.

We have read many posts on these forums slamming the South African Catamarans... and in a way quite rightly so... due of the quality of the Charter Cats (Bumfuzzles Wild Cat and the Jaguar)
Please don't allow one stupid person's greed be the reason to generalise and think that all S.A. Boat Builders are the same. Since money does not grow on trees and the fact that we are spending a small fortune on a new cat, we have done our research and can assure you that Admiral Yachts are one of the best built and highest quality one can buy in the world today. I also read the emails from Bumfuzzle. We actually went to Durban and by the time we got there, Charter Cats had been closed down anyway. They no longer exist. I am not a nasty person, but THAT makes me happy... because the way I see it, they were playing with peoples lives by skimping on construction and they deserved to be shut down.

Anyway... as I said... we are novices and have much to learn... but we are learning and will be back to chat, share etc.

Wishing you all just the right amount of wind in your sails at all times to make your journey practical, enjoyable and magical

Dave & Desiree

[GordMay]

IDEAS THAT FLOAT ~ By Sasha Planting
Financial Mail, July 2006
”... South African-made yachts have won or have been nominated for Boat of the Year Awards in the US every year since 1997 ...
... Among the companies that are flying the flag for SA is Robertson & Caine, a Cape Town-based manufacturer of cruising catamarans which has exported more than 500 yachts and catamarans in the past 10 years and is no stranger to international kudos.
Last year its Leopard 40 catamaran was Best Overall Import Boat in the US and its Leopard 45 won the National Marine Manufacturers' Association innovation award. ...
Robertson & Caine is not alone in flying the flag for SA boat-building. This year (2006)Cape company Charter Cats won the Boat of the Year: Cruising Catamaran division award from Cruising World magazine.
Together, Robertson & Caine, Charter Cats, Voyage Yachts and Southern Wind Shipyard accounted for about 75% of total industry turnover in the Western Cape ...”
Goto: Financial Mail Innovations

SA boat builders triumph in US ~ by Simon Barber
SA boat builders triumph in US - SouthAfrica.info

[The_Bean]

Hi GordMay

Thanks for the reply.


bumfuzzle sept 2006

september 27 2006 : en route

"We did receive an e-mail from a friend of ours that brought a big smile to our faces. It was concerning Charter Cats and here is what he told us. "Charter Cats was shut down by the Marshal in South Africa, and they had taken approximately five clients money with them as their boats were far from completion. The sheriff had to cut the doors open to remove the boats, as Eric did not want to let them go. Apparently they took $3 million of clients money with them down the drain." Obviously we don't like to hear that people have lost their money, but just hearing that they've been shut down does brighten our day."

I have tried to access all of the Wild Cat and Jaguar websites, which used to be available, as we were once looking at them, but alas... they are all gone now.

My reason for mentioning this in the first post is that the feeling I got somewhere on the forums when I was browsing yesterday was that most are shying away from SA Cats at the moment, primarily due to the Bumfuzzle story. I have been searching to find the post that gave me that impression and cannot seem to find it at the moment, but I will keep looking.

[SkiprJohn]

Aloha Dave and Desiree,
Welcome aboard!! I did see that in a post as well but it must be buried.
Hope you enjoy this forum and get to complete your dreams.
Kind Regards,
JohnL

[GordMay]

Charter Cats ~ a Riches to Rags story ...

[The_Bean]

Hi Gord May

The "Riches to Rags" story will unfortunately also apply to some of those people that lost money too... and that is what is really sad.... dreams shattered... start all over again.... if you can... kind of thing.