Distressed Sadler 290 owner. Tea and sympathy required

[Boat44]

Ouch, sorry to hear that.

Sounds like you are left with two options:
1) walk away, drink some whiskey and start saving again!
2) your contract should give you legal title to what has already been produced, so that the administrators can not get there hands on it. Belive it is called a vesting clause? Get "this" moved to another yard/marina/barn whatever, plus whatever parts had already been bought for your boats outfit. From there consider your options in slower time, e.g. sell it (somebody will buy it), get some quotes to have it finished (there are a few yacht builders with not much to do at the moment).

For me I would do option 2. What is there is yours, you paid for it. Ok you have lost money, but better you get something back rather than nothing.

What ever you do, best of luck and you have my sympathies. Dont' forget that the RYA have a legal department for advise.

 

[fastjedi]

........ but we tried option 2 and got BADLY BURNT again! The definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different outcome?

I guess you can imagine how much I trust the british boat building industry (and what I said when I saw Alan Sugar suggesting we should all buy british) The only way I could move forward is to pay labour in arrears and buy the parts myself (on a credit card)

 

[nct1]

Sorry to hear about your problems, must be quite heart wrenching, they looked like a fantastic boat when viewed in the magazine and I was tempted.

As others have said, this is a problem you will need to step away from before you can make the right decision for you.

I have faced similar decision with a lot of structural and/or mechanical work needed on vehicles, that if I got proffessionals to work on them, it would have been financially better to walk away.

However, I rolled up my sleeves and did the work myself, welding and mechanically reconditioning and got the vehicles back on the road. I view the experience gained and the tools purchased, have saved me a considerable sum over the years, however, I must note that I work in a job that has little tangible skilled output, so I got a lot of enjoyment out of the fruits of my labour.

Of course, structural fibreglass work is not something to be undertaken lightly, you would need to consider a cast iron way of ensuring any insurance company would be happy with the result, ( for example hiring a professional boat builder on a consultancy basis), but people have gone round the world on boats they have built themselves.

It may not be for you, but it would be the cheapest way of finishing the boat.

All the best whatever you do.

 

[misterg]

Can't think of any constructive suggestions, so all I can offer is my sympathy to you and eastcoast(t)ony.

If I understand correctly, you've got a hull & deck (un joined), some joinery, but no keel, rig, deck equipment or electrics?

You've paid a wadge of money over to someone else to finish it off, and they've also gone bump - any chance of rescuing that situation?

You've now got to find & pay for somewhere to store a large, shiny and expensive lump of fibreglass?

If you owe the second mob anything, how about offering the bits as payment & walking away? (Even if you don't, I'm sure someone will take it on as a project). Yes you'll have lost money, but at least you get to move on & live your lives.

Can only suggest that you take time out until you can think about it rationally (not saying that you're being irrational, but these sort of things have a habit of preying on people and making it difficult to think clearly.)

I would be absolutely gutted to be in your situation /forums/images/graemlins/frown.gif

Do you want sugar in the teas?

Andy

 

[Twister_Ken]

I know it's no consolation, but if you hadn't put the money into a boat, you might have bought HBOS shares. Or a buy-to-let property in the Thames Gateway. Or on deposit with an Icelandic bank's Isle of Man branch. Or invested it with Madoff. Or gone short on VW shares. We are living in extraordinary times.

And yes, I agree, there is something very rotten at the heart of the BMIF, and I don't understand why the boating media aren't creating an enormous fuss.

So, has Hillyards also gone bust or does it just want too much money to finish it?

 

[Danny Jo]

To help draw a line under your losses, think about it like this - in a way you are better off than the banks in possession of "toxic" debts, because you should be able to establish the existing value of the asset you are left with, if any, and whether the proceeds will buy you something in which to get on the water for the coming season.

 

[tyce]

I notice two part completed 290 hulls and decks have gone on B&O today.
I am guessing the first listed one is yours.

 

[rwoofer]

One of the ads suggests Hillyards have ceased trading, so that will also bring Broadblue to an end as well.

Another sad british boatbuilding story.

 

[Alfie168]

The only other route to retrieval might be to seek to sell a half share, or even split the ownership three ways to bring some fresh capital in to finish the boat.

You will still suffer financially, as the price will have to reflect its unfinished state but you will end up with a boat you can use, probably almost much as you would if you owned it outright, as most yachts are vastly underutilised.

Its not all bad as all the running costs will be split as well.

Probably not practical, but thought i'd mention it anyway if you had not thought of it yourself. I wish you luck whatever happens as it must be weighing heavily.

Tim

 

[fastjedi]

Agreed, Splitting into 2 or 3 fractions has gone through my mind..... Anyone fancy it based on her lying South Coast or South Devon?

 

[snowleopard]

I take it from your posts that you have been able to establish title to the part-completed boat. In cases where a company goes into liquidation owners of goods on the premises can find the liquidator won't let them go as they have a duty to maximize the assets and anything they can lay their hands on is fair game to them.

I had a friend who was trading with a company that went into liquidation. He owed money to them for goods and they owed an almost exactly equal amount for work done. The liquidators demanded he pay his debt but said he would have to take his place in the unsecured creditors queue for his money. In the end they didn't get the money but they got quite threatening.

As I see it, you have 4 options:

1. DIY completion. Only for those who like a big project (like me). You don't have to worry about the RCD as you are exempt as long as you don't re-sell within 5 years of completion.

2. Sell it for someone else to complete. You won't get anything like what it's worth but a lot more than you would get for walking away.

3. Move it to another boatbuilder. The problem is that it becomes a one-off rather than a production job so much higher costs.

4. Walk away. The loss of money and dreams will smart but at least it puts an end to the stress.

I had a boat stolen. It was eventually found in non-seaworthy condition in the Baltic. In the end I sold it very cheaply but putting an end to a very stressful 2 years
made it worthwhile.

 

[Richardwinder]

Sorry to hear this. Would you consider selling?

 

[Richardwinder]

Soory to hear of your woes. Would you consider selling?

 

[snowleopard]

REMW - if you look at the dates on the posts on this thread you will see that all this discussion took place 4 months ago so a lot of water has flowed under the bridge since then. If you are going to continue using the forum you will find it easier to use if you go into User Options and select to list threads in date order.

Fastjedi - if you're still around we'd be interested to hear how it panned out.

 

[Sailfree]

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