Custom Boats Dead?

[OCMerrill]

How I see it.

Custom - Choice of gel scheme, interior colors, power, gauge style, controls, stereo, axles on the trailer.

Kustom - Fuck you Money

Money can move builds in either direction with the same builders for the most part.

 

[Lavey5150]

Lavey (since you named them) is more or less dead,

You should do some homework before making a claim like this..........

 

[Xtrmwakeboarder]

You should do some homework before making a claim like this..........

Does Lavey have a place to build boats now? I thought there was a thread that said they closed up shop for the most part.

 

[tunnel vision]

Not at all, we have a 10 year back log!...Reconcraft.com

 

[Bpracing1127]

In 2000 how many boats were produced? From the west coast guys? How about now? Arugably the same amount of money in people’s pockets too.

let’s face it, west coast is dying. Will it go extinct? No but numbers will continue to decline as they keep building only 200+ boats.
Next recession will tell all.

 

[Done-it-again]

In 2000 how many boats were produced? From the west coast guys? How about now? Arugably the same amount of money in people’s pockets too.

let’s face it, west coast is dying. Will it go extinct? No but numbers will continue to decline as they keep building only 200+ boats.
Next recession will tell all.

And a 1+ yr wait.

 

[petie6464]

I don't know what the margins are, but I'm not crying for them, they are doing fine. The problem with having more molds, is you need more people, and I think the labor is the bottleneck?

The bottle I widespread, people materials, and engines. Basically everything and if even one is missing the boats do go out the door. Rough business to be when the pieces and parts are available, today. .

 

[Big B Hova]

3 year wait??? Sounds to me like a lot of people are going to lose their deposits. I mean what could go wrong?

Biden will tank the economy in 3 years... so yes they might loose their deposits

 

[traquer]

Maybe west coat boats will be like the vintage Porsches in the future? Everyone wants one, and those that service them and restore them will always have work?

 

[HCP3]

You should do some homework before making a claim like this..........

Lavey started building boats again?

 

[Warlock1]

My team could build a 39 foot center console in 350 hours depending on the number of engines and electronics involved. This was a running boat minus the rub rail and upholstery. So basically 3 weeks. I guarantee that building a cat would be much quicker since there is no bathroom, no upper console, frame, anchor, etc.

The cheapest boat we built started at 400k and that would be a stripped down 34 foot with twins and no radar and small screens. The markup is high..maybe not so much now. We had a two year wait 3 years ago. I can't imagine what it is now.

 

[Ace in the Hole]

Biden will tank the economy in 3 years... so yes they might loose their deposits

Biden won't be president in three years...his latest press conference confirmed that for even his supporters. His brain is gone. We will be stuck with KneePads Kamala, and we've all seen her absolute incompetence over the last few months. She must have given out of this world dome in her day climbing up the ladder...but sucking dick isn't the only skill the leader of the free world needs to have.

 

[rivermobster]

Biden won't be president in three years...his latest press conference confirmed that for even his supporters. His brain is gone. We will be stuck with KneePads Kamala, and we've all seen her absolute incompetence over the last few months. She must have given out of this world dome in her day climbing up the ladder...but sucking dick isn't the only skill the leader of the free world needs to have.

Again, said like it's a bad thing...

Some of you guys are scaring me!

 

[Dirtbag]

Was in Shockwave last week and I just have to say I dont think custom boating is dead with all the builds they are doing and a massive line waiting to build.....Just hope the parts world can catch up and help all the boat builders out.

 

[SixD9R]

Again, said like it's a bad thing...

Some of you guys are scaring me!

Just for the record, I wouldn’t let that nasty c**t anywhere near my most prized possession. And that’s even after an H20 toie night

 

[Ultra912]

Saw this on Facebook a few days ago. Nordic
View attachment 1018225

I saw the same for Ultra. Hiring every position required to build.

 

[LBZRCKS]

Saw this on Facebook a few days ago. Nordic
View attachment 1018225

Nordic is delivering close to 1 boat per week!

 

[Ultra912]

Maybe west coat boats will be like the vintage Porsches in the future? Everyone wants one, and those that service them and restore them will always have work?

Here's my 69

 

[McKay]

Nordic is delivering close to 1 boat per week!

That's impressive. I wish there was more posts form them on IG and other Social Media on what's leaving the factory. What's their top selling models these days?

 

[LBZRCKS]

That's impressive. I wish there was more posts form them on IG and other Social Media on what's leaving the factory. What's their top selling models these days?

I agree it's really impressive! They've got their manufacturing pretty dialed in and quite a bit of raw materials along with power to keep production going.

I'd say 26FT and 29FT deck boats are their top selling models. I have a new build with them for a Carbon Kevlar walk-thru Thor with twin outboards that's almost complete, they're pretty excited about it and so am I. I'll be starting a thread for it soon.

I think most builders are just too busy to post build threads and keep up with them.

 

[DWC]

Biden will tank the economy in 36mos…
so yes they might loose their deposits

Fixed it

 

[petie6464]

I agree it's really impressive! They've got their manufacturing pretty dialed in and quite a bit of raw materials along with power to keep production going.

I'd say 26FT and 29FT deck boats are their top selling models. I have a new build with them for a Carbon Kevlar walk-thru Thor with twin outboards that's almost complete, they're pretty excited about it and so am I. I'll be starting a thread for it soon.

I think most builders are just too busy to post build threads and keep up with them.

How long ago did you order it?

 

[RVR SWPR]

Interesting and mostly incorrect. A three year wait From Howard is false.

The market is contacting like many others. This niche market is exactly that, now demand is high as supply is low brought on by the obvious factors. The supply will increase and the demand will decrease, from new boats being made and the other being people's interest diminishing, It's basic economics.

As a whole the custom boat market is shrinking, many of the would be custom boat buyers are buying roll bar boats and pontoons, they are certainly spending in the price range, however changing social trends and habits make these a boats a better fit. Younger buyers do have the desire to go fast as their generation is more of just being a poser and being the guy with the bad as hot rod just doesn't register on their Fitbit.

You gotta be 65 years of age or older. Most in + 65 age bracket misjudge the constant population explosions.The population that is out of work etc are media fodder. Millions and milions of people are working and incredibly successful. . On top of that the fucked up politians in both parties have made themselves totally irrelevant towards successful business.

 

[petie6464]

You gotta be 65 years of age or older. Most in + 65 age bracket misjudge the constant population explosions.The population that is out of work etc are media fodder. Millions and milions of people are working and incredibly successful. . On top of that the fucked up politians in both parties have made themselves totally irrelevant towards successful business.

That would be incorrect also. You must be a Millennial.

 

[hallett21]

That would be incorrect also. You must be a Millennial.

Lol how old are you.? “Register on a fit bit”


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Bobby V]

That would be incorrect also. You must be a Millennial.

Ha Ha. RS kids are probably to old to be Millennials..

 

[LBZRCKS]

How long ago did you order it?

End of December

 

[old rigger]

At the moment, custom high performance boat demand is running at an all-time high. How long that will last is anybody's guess. There are shortages of just about everything slowing down production thanks to Covid and a few other factors including a lack of skilled craftsmen. Still, custom high performance boat manufacturers haven't learned much about how to streamline their production process. Boats are still being made basically the same way that they were back in the 60s & 70s. Plant expansion has essentially been stagnant for this same period too. The majority of builders are still turning-out low to mid-level double digits annually. Compare that with the wakesport industry (Nautique, Malibu, Mastercraft, Supreme, Tige, etc.). Those manufacturers are working from modern plants in excess of several hundred thousand square feet with well over 150 employees. Eliminator was headed in that direction in 2006 with their impressive new Perris facility only to have the economy take its sharpest dip since the Great Depression. Hope I live long enough to see at least a couple of the performance guys be able to fill custom orders, start to finish. in four to six weeks. Dare to dream.

I remember back in the late 80s when I was advantage, Harry was in the habit of inflating the numbers (a trait of ALL manufactures) of boats we were building. He would say 300 boats a year. We were talking and I told him no way in hell we were building that many. First of all if we were he owed me a ton of money because I was getting a small % of every boat built/sold. So we sat down and crunched some numbers. 300 boats a day is roughly a boat a day for every 5 day work week. When I told him that, he was a little surprised because at that time we were probably doing between 150-200, I can't remember the exact number, probably closer to the 150 mark. It's amazingly hard to keep any type of quality level putting out a boat a day. As an example at Hawaiian a decade earlier we were doing, at our peak, 9 boats a day. Those numbers were rare but we averaged 6 a day for years. Quality control was almost nil. But we had dealers across the nation and 3 trucks that were on the road all the time delivering. It was also the most fun I had building boats. I wasn't a rigger though, that came late in life for me. I worked in the glass dept. there. Roger Weiman taught me to rig when I was 24.

Bayliner at the same time in the late 80s was building 52,000 a year. That's when you could go to costco ad buy one, fully rigged and on a trailer for about the cost of a case of booze and a side of beef.

Makes me smile when I see Nordic is looking for employees, that's a great sign. Wish I was younger but I can't imagine building boats in Havasu heat.

 

[farmo83]

My cousin is the Gel Coat Department Manager at Malibu boats, he told me at Xmas they were doing I think 22 or 24 boats a DAY. I have a mid 90s Schiada, I showed it to him last year and he went over it with a fine tooth comb and commented "You can't imagine how much time it would take to do this type of work."

I do believe go fast stuff is dying in general, when I was younger you'd see several go fast boats at the lake and a race or two a weekend, now it's maybe several go fast boats a season and race or two a year. Look at the decline at motorsports in general.

Also technology has opened up options to people. 30 years ago if you wanted to run over 100 mph, you could get a flatty, river cruiser, or a big cat or deep vee.

Now you can dang near get a pontoon boat there and deck boats running well north of 100.

Boostpower re rigged my boat over the winter, Alexi was telling me about his efforts to find quality help to keep up with demand, it was shocking to say the least.

 

[twocents]

I remember back in the late 80s when I was advantage, Harry was in the habit of inflating the numbers (a trait of ALL manufactures) of boats we were building. He would say 300 boats a year. We were talking and I told him no way in hell we were building that many. First of all if we were he owed me a ton of money because I was getting a small % of every boat built/sold. So we sat down and crunched some numbers. 300 boats a day is roughly a boat a day for every 5 day work week. When I told him that, he was a little surprised because at that time we were probably doing between 150-200, I can't remember the exact number, probably closer to the 150 mark. It's amazingly hard to keep any type of quality level putting out a boat a day. As an example at Hawaiian a decade earlier we were doing, at our peak, 9 boats a day. Those numbers were rare but we averaged 6 a day for years. Quality control was almost nil. But we had dealers across the nation and 3 trucks that were on the road all the time delivering. It was also the most fun I had building boats. I wasn't a rigger though, that came late in life for me. I worked in the glass dept. there. Roger Weiman taught me to rig when I was 24.

Bayliner at the same time in the late 80s was building 52,000 a year. That's when you could go to costco ad buy one, fully rigged and on a trailer for about the cost of a case of booze and a side of beef.

Makes me smile when I see Nordic is looking for employees, that's a great sign. Wish I was younger but I can't imagine building boats in Havasu heat.

In 1980, the Glastron Carlson plant on Grove Street in Anaheim got to 13 boats a day (some were outboards shipped without engines) and broke the 3,000 unit mark for the year. The Glastron plant in Austin, TX cranked-up production for a few weeks during the same time period and did 100 boats in a day which was their all-time high.

 

[Gelcoater]

My cousin is the Gel Coat Department Manager at Malibu boats,

That’s in Tennessee, isn’t it?

He hiring?

 

[farmo83]

That’s in Tennessee, isn’t it?

He hiring?

Yeah it's in Loudan which from what Robbie said is pretty much in the middle of nowhere. I keep telling him to open a fiberglass repair shop and he's always on the fence about it.

 

[petie6464]

End of December

Sounds right, there getting almost a boat a week out.

 

[River Dirt 2]

Still some custom work being done!
But ya gotta be patient