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yeloya · 31-12-2007, 01:29

My Orana will be delivered from LA Rochelle to the south of Turkey (Marmaris) late Feb, beginning March. The distributor offered a delivery to be made by professional team and strongly suggested that I don't join them, for a couple of reasons (I am a nocive sailor and have no offshore experience at all..)
1-From La Rochelle to Gibraltar the sea conditions may not be the best. (I tend to agree with this having read some of the threads in this forum..)
2-Althought I am the owner, until the delivery destination they will command the boat and and it would be "go,go,go" rather than enjoying the trip..e.g no pizza/ wine stops in Sicilly,etc..
3-The boat would not be fit 100% (most of the final touches are planned to be made locally here) thus, the boat itself might not be very comfortable ??
4-Delivery captains, most of the time,are not the best people to enjoy the cruising with and he can not guarantee this..

My plan was to join them somewhere in Med to make the last part of the trip and learn a bit about the boat and sailing in general.

The distributor (he's an ex delivery captain and experienced offshore sailor) is also saying that they don't need sea drog, etc to make the trip safer and if it get worse, they would simply lay down a long rope from aft to slow down the boat !! (Note: this same distributor had told me that long ago when delivering a cat from La Rochelle to Spain had to quit the boat and was rescued by a helicopter nearby La Coruna

...)

Any suggestion on what to do ?? I could take over the boat somewhere in the med, but I am not sure if I can make the rest of the trip on a non proven , brand new cat ..( the med in this season can also be very hursh..)

Happy new year....

Yeloya

Jeannius · 31-12-2007, 02:07

Yeloya... Get a delivery team that works for you and goes at the pace you want. I agree it is not a good idea for a novice sailor to have his introduction to offshore being a trip across Biscay in March!!! Join the crew to sail for a few days along the coast of Portugal or Spain and then let the crew do the rest of the delivery on their own.

When my boat was new I had an excellent delivery skipper bring the boat from Les Sables d'Olonne to Porto where I joined the boat and then sailed down to the Canary Isles with the skipper teaching me about sailing catamarans. I was an experienced mono sailor but had spent almost no time at all on cats and I gained very valuable experience and knowledge from the skipper, Jean-Pierre Frery. Also he is a great cook.

MarkJ · 31-12-2007, 02:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by yeloya

My Orana will be delivered from LA Rochelle to the south of Turkey (Marmaris) late Feb, beginning March.

Hi Yeloya,

What a wonderful trip that would be for you!!!!

I have gone the other way from the East Med to Gibralter, also I have done many deliveries based out of Marmaris!

That will be a beautiful home for your new yacht with some of the best cruising grounds at your door.

Unfortuantely if you really don't have much sailing experience you need to leave it to the delivery crew, and more unfortuantely joing the delivery half way through may not be very nice as your becautiful new yacht will be messy! Delivery crews are like batchelors at university.... they don't clean up! Also if you boat hasnt done its dealer delivery work yet all the seats inside may still have plastic coverings etc.

Normally I'd say join the delivery and enjoy the cruise, but as this is a new yacht , perhaps you would prefer the boat to be presented to you in squeeky clean showroom condition.

I would love to get a new boat built! Good luck with it!

Mark

MarkJ · 31-12-2007, 02:41

Stuff it! we are just about to walk down to the Sydney Harbour Bridge to watch the New years fireworks in 2 hours 20 minutes. 2008 is our big year! we'll be buying our boat and going. If I had ordered a one new there is no way I wouldnt be on the delivery!

How many times in your life do you have a brand new yacht....

Do it

Adaero · 31-12-2007, 03:47

I totally agree with Mark.
The only way you will gain offshore experience is by doing it and I know I wouldn't miss it for the world.
Make sure you interview a few delivery skippers to see if you can work with them. You will then have a free (sort of free) training lesson all the way to Marmaris. Your confidence in your own ability will grow unbelievably during the trip as you will see every sort of weather and conditions possible.
Have fun
Adaero

ireaney · 31-12-2007, 06:43

Hi Yeloya, I agree with the others, if I had just bought a new boat I too would want to be on it's maiden voyage and learn about it as much as possible and stuff the lack of comfort if need be.
If the delivery skipper did not want me to go I would find one that would and probably be more co-operative and teach me more.
Good luck.

**Pblais** · 31-12-2007, 06:46

Quote:

3-The boat would not be fit 100% (most of the final touches are planned to be made locally here) thus, the boat itself might not be very comfortable ??

I would examine the conditions of the contract. If you and your team have problems then where will that leave you contractually when you might arrive. It sounds like once the boat is delivered all the final finishes will be completed without additional cost to you. Would using your own crew constitute acceptance of the boat? Would they still do all those things. Is it in the contract?

If you have any problems with the boat en route how will the company handle those problems. If they are saying basically the boat won't be finished until after delivery then you may be better off to hire your crew after the boat comes and do a real trip and have a fully working boat and travel on your schedule and go where you want.

Distributors don't sail boats, they don't make boats and they just make arrangements. It is of no use to believe anything they tell you - the contract is the key. Once you sign off you are letting the distributor off the hook for completion of any defects in the boat. Letting them send it with a crew they pick means they accept all the liability as well a costs for everything that might go wrong plus they have to fix all the little things that never worked from the start. New boats don't arrive with everything working - make them find the problems for you for free. It's the one advantage buying a new boat has. This is the only moment you get.

fastcat435 · 31-12-2007, 07:11

We always have different ideas on how things should be done @ African cats . we supply a certified skipper for as long as is nessecary but at least from Durban until Cape Town until the new owners know there FastCat 460 and we actuallt sign them of in the logbook .
This way the owners have a better understanding of what their yacht is all about and it makes them safer and gives more pleasure the years to come.
This is your chance to get to know your boat it does not come any better, grab the chance , the crossing from La Rochelle they will only make in reasonable good weather if the skipper is a good one , he should definately take a drogue along.
From La Rochelle in good conditions the crossing should take no longer than 36 hours to La Coruna and the rest of the trip it will only get better.You will get some pointing
and most othert conditions in this trip so go for it.

Greetings and a good delivery sail.

P.S try to live on your boat at least for a week prior to leaving , there are always issues that need to be solved and this is always harder when on the way or in Turkey.
La Rochelle has the factory close by with all technicians close by .
I am sure the factory will allow you to do so.

Pelagic · 31-12-2007, 07:25

Yelona, as Paul advised, examine the contract and if you are already listed as the Owner, there is no way I or my representative (with a camera) would not be onboard to protect my investment.
Many delivery skippers will actually push a boat too hard in order to minimize their passage time and if problems happen, then you probably will never know about it as their allegiance is to their frequent employer (the Builder)
Don’t allow them to control you. This delivery trip will tell you everything about your purchase.

Joli · 31-12-2007, 08:06

Good advice Fastcat. Your comments indicate why you are sold out of production time. You are a class act.

Quote:

Originally Posted by fastcat435

We always have different ideas on how things should be done @ African cats . we supply a certified skipper for as long as is nessecary but at least from Durban until Cape Town until the new owners know there FastCat 460 and we actuallt sign them of in the logbook .
This way the owners have a better understanding of what their yacht is all about and it makes them safer and gives more pleasure the years to come.
This is your chance to get to know your boat it does not come any better, grab the chance , the crossing from La Rochelle they will only make in reasonable good weather if the skipper is a good one , he should definately take a drogue along.
From La Rochelle in good conditions the crossing should take no longer than 36 hours to La Coruna and the rest of the trip it will only get better.You will get some pointing
and most othert conditions in this trip so go for it.

Greetings and a good delivery sail.

P.S try to live on your boat at least for a week prior to leaving , there are always issues that need to be solved and this is always harder when on the way or in Turkey.
La Rochelle has the factory close by with all technicians close by .
I am sure the factory will allow you to do so.

yeloya · 31-12-2007, 09:31

Thanks to all who contributed with valuable input.
The delivery will be done at 10.000 € which I assume is a reasonable sum.My understanding is that they will comission the boat on behalf of the distributor who hires them. The fine tuning will be done at the expense of the distributor and he wants me to see the the boat at her best when it is fully cleaned and tuned up.
Then I will take her to the sea for trial and acceptance. Wehave a good relation with the distributor and hopefully we won't have a conflict. Everone has a bad habit, mine is to overtrust people..

Yeloya

**Boracay** · 31-12-2007, 14:48

It sounds like your concerns might be better aleviated by a watertight contract and good insurance.

**Ex-Calif** · 01-01-2008, 05:51

Paul asked the right question and your answer appears to be that you take delivery at the destination. Even though you are "paying" for the delivery it's not much different than delivering as freight. You haven't taken delivery, you are not yet the "owner" I would stay away.

What if something happens on the delivery.

Maybe it's too late but you could have made acceptance contingent on a multi-day sea trial.

Even though you must be busting to "get into it", I say stay home and wait it out...

Hubec · 01-01-2008, 07:43

It seems to me in your clear interest to go, and their clear interest to stay. There are many obvious reasons they'd rather not have you there (they don't want to babysit you, they don't want you to see any mistakes they make/anything they break, they don't want you to see what might be wrong with the boat before you take delivery, they don't want to put up with a potential ignoramus who may think he has authority, etc...). On the flip side it's certainly in your best interest to go for the delivery for some of the reasons listed above but mostly so you can watch competent people handling your boat offshore. This is a HUGE opportunity!

One caution would be; are you certain you don't suffer seasickness offshore? If you might, this IS NOT the time to confirm it one way or the other!

One final note; Will they be sailing? They may just plan to set the engines at 2900rpm for the whole trip, in which case... stay on shore!