Nautitech Open 46

[Sami]

Thank you
There are some small changes and there is no dramatic change
The biggest change this contract with B & G
The kitchen remained the same with all the problems they had
They say they have increased the winch
It is possible to upgrade the mattresses and it is possible to add LEDs to the general lighting
Hopefully, we will continue to report progress on the project

[LeeV]

Thanks for the update. Enjoy the boat and let us know how things go, what you love and what you'd like to change as you get to know her!

Best regards,

[brainmaker]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G8q4oXIcU8g

[brainmaker]

... I took the liberty of creating a thread specifically for the Fly 46 .. see bavaria nautitech fly 46

any thoughts welcome

[Kalisea]

Originally Posted by n46uk

Hi Gary,

I've been following your journey looking at the Nautitech Open 46 over the last 18 months or so and I may have met you at the Grande Motte show last year 2016.

After lots of research we took the punt to buy an Open 46 off plan, placing our order in December 2015 and took delivery in July last year. We've now got 10 months under our belt and around 1100nm sailing on her. Our current cruising grounds are the fairly breezy, lumpy and tidal conditions of Brittany, the English Channel, the Solent and the English coast.

....

I hope these notes help. I understand that Nautitech have sold more owner 46's than charter boats. We feel the Open 46 is definitely more of a sailors boat than the higher volume cat alternatives. We've been pleased with our choice so far.

Hi N46UK

Very good report of yours !
I'm in the process of ordering my own Open46 as well, for a delivery early 2019.

I'm quite experienced in catamaran , after owning an outremer51 for one sabatical year, from France to Caraibs a couple of years ago.

My new project is a cat to sail extensively in the med sea and i don't need the outremer performance ( it was great though ! ) , i'm happy to trade a little less performance with more equipment ( like air con/ heating system , generator ) .

I'm wandering about the sail plan.

What do you have and what are you missing ( in sails and options ) maybe , now that you know your boat very well?

[Sami]

Can you send more details about the anchor, just how you solved the problem
Could you please send pictures of the solution, thank you very much

[danielamartindm]

The helm stations seem especially exposed to sun and weather?

[iliohale]

Anyone know yet how the liquidation of Bavaria is going to impact Nautitiech?

Gary

[rabbi]

According to german news Bavaria is undergoing financial restructuring (like chapter 11) and production continues for now.
The order book is full and the business itself is profitable, what is killing them is old debt at high interest rates so this restructuring may actually work.



Nautitech is said to be the most profitable part of Bavaria, so maybe the catamaran production can get through this storm without damage.

Lots of "maybe", I would not place any bets on them at this point in time.

[JohnyV]

This is Key Yachting's view

Nautitech Catamarans and Bavaria Yacht-BAU 23rd April 2018 - Key Yachting

[iliohale]

Originally Posted by JohnyV

This is Key Yachting's view

Nautitech Catamarans and Bavaria Yacht-BAU 23rd April 2018 - Key Yachting

When I took a tour of the Nautitech factory a year or so ago it was clear that the majority of the materials and parts, including all the interior furniture, were being sourced by Bavaria. So if Bavaria is having issues with their suppliers then this would likely also impact Nautitech.

Gary

[yeloya]

Well I have ordered a Nautitech 46 3 months ago and paid already one third. The dealer says that there is nothing to worry and that the cat business is going as business as usual. Hope he's right


Cheers


Yeloya

[Cano46]

Same here. I have one under construction, expecting delivery in May. They already have a good chunk of change from me. I’m trying to figure out what’s going to happen through my dealer in La Rochelle, France.

[Steel sails]

Me too, delivery promised for September. We are doing the Arc so I hope they don’t slip too far.
Thinking about a factory visit in a couple of weeks to get some comfort level.
Regards
Paul

[SFer]

This is pretty astonishing news given the size of Bavaria.

Having lived through private equity investments that load the balance sheet with debt, it's not hard to understand. It can only take a couple of mediocre years to create a problem and it appears that the Bavaria mothership was struggling for a while. I don't know if this is the case here, but the banks that loan the money to help fund the acquisition (in this case by Oaktree) put covenants on the financials so if certain financial targets aren't met, it triggers very aggressive payments of the debt, which can crush a business. It's basically the bank's last ditch effort to get anything back on what might be perceived as a potentially failing investment.

I've been involved with a business that came damn close to bad problems along these lines even though the company was very profitable. The convenants will require you keep a certain ratio of profitability to debt, so you can be making money and still get hit with this - because you simply weren't making enough to avoid the triggers. Typically only the executive team know about these issues - and it may even be limited to the CEO and CFO and Board. Don't expect anyone else to know what is really going on.

This will always be a problem when you buy anything from a private company because you can't see the financials - and they will always give you a rosy picture - they have to in order to stay in business or everyone will just panic. Just like Oyster, it all looked great until it didn't. And it's always a surprise because you can't see the debt load, overall P&L, and know the bank convenants. It will certainly be more of an issue with companies with PE investors vs. family-run companies because it's the PE firms that pile on the debt and set aggressive targets. At the very least, you can probe on how a boat company is financed - who is backing it and what kind of organization they are.

Having said that, everything about Nautitech makes it sound like a successful business, so at the very least, it could be sold off or spun off - which would get shareholders and banks something back and keep owners whole. It sounds like Bavaria proper was building losses, so it could be contained by simply selling Nautitech. It would be pretty logical. I hope so. I'm rooting for that outcome and it's definitely possible.

I also did this (bad) Google translation of a German article on Boote, which seems optimistic related to Nautitech.

"The takeover of the French catamaran brand Nautitech in 2014, driven forward even by Henkel's predecessor Constantin von Bülow, is rated as a success. This company's tenderloin could be exempted from the process, given the continued boom in the cat market and the location of the La Rochelle shipyard on the French Atlantic coast, as the operation is highly profitable. He would also be a good to divest company part, should not find a buyer for the entire company construct."