unfortunate turn...

[rhonda]

Okay.. Hubby & I have been researching boats, reading about other cruisers and so forth.. Narrowing things down etc.. well I don't know if any of you have been reading bumfuzzles logs.. but a new post has been added..and I must say it is something that I think everybody should read.
It is very unfortunate what has happend to this couple.
This comes across as very disturbing, the fact that someone wants to claim it is a "act of god" ha! okay anyway, I do not know Pat & allie I am only an avid reader of their logs, but I must thank them for helping me decide where NOT to purchase a boat from.

Here is the link that I think all of you should see.. I am sure many of you will have comments and come to your own conclusions, and I would love to hear your thoughts on it.
Here is the link ~
www.bumfuzzle.com
click on logs and then go to feb 2005 scroll down and click on the link that says " Blistering and Delamination Correspondence"

[sv_makai]

When researching for our cat the Wildcat came up in the search. We read about a lot of the problems and poor quality work. Some of the problems such as the delamination have aparently not been corrected. We have seen articles in the various magizines about deliveries and several reported problems.

Our boat was delivered from South Africa from the factory which is in the same area that the Wildcats are built. The delivery captain said that the Wildcat was one of the worst built boats he has ever delivered. Per the captain all had major delamination or construction issues. As of 2003 he has refused to accept anymore for deliver.

It is a bummer to buy a boat or anything for that matter that fails to live up to expectations.

Our Voyage 380 by Maxim has actually exceeded our expections and after 2 years has been flawless (except the Heart invertor). It was nominated for Curising Worlds under 40 Cat of the the year. THough it didn't win it does show that it is up there with the top. Makai's price new was similar to the Wildcat. Now it is over a $100K higher new!

[dsprygada]

Poor product...Poor service!!!
Reading the chain of events that transcribed between the owners of Bumfuzzled and the makers of Wildcat catamarans really disturbs me.

There is no way that a 2 year old boat goes thru that much delamination without major construction issues to begin with. Their lack of timely e-mail response, not returning inquiries, claiming their super qualified surveyor stamped his approval (like they never make mistakes) illustrates that they are more concerned about future sales than satisifying current owners.

After the builders tried to blame the origional owners, the new owners with poor gel coat repairs, and then stating the repair specialist in New Zealand was next to incompetant, he blames GOD! IT WAS LIGHTNING that delaminated half of the boat!!!

You would think that a builder would like to clearly identify the problem and understand why it happened. It seems like the owners could fly all over the world trying to drum up business at sail shows but not rectify this problem. They probably already know about their production short comings and didn't want to fly to NZ to show it.

There are too many reputable builders out there that want your business, I suggest you pass on the builders like WILDCATS that don't return your call after the check is cashed.

I hope their challanges are behind them and they can get on with thier adventures.