petem
Well-Known Member
Some of you may remember that I made a brief visit to Fairline back in February and met the new management team. They kindly invited me back for a follow up meeting and asked if I'd like to bring some friends. Not having any friends, I invited Jimmy The Builder, Deleted User, Jez and Rafiki (plus another forumite who may wish to remain anonymous) and we all made our way to Oundle today.
As ever, we had a very open and thorough chat, had a tour of the factory and were privileged (and trusted!) to be shown some of the new product designs.
Understandably, the product thinking was under NDA but I think its fair to say that we were very excited by their plans and IMO when they go into production they'll put Fairline back at the forefront where they deserve to be. Those more knowledgeable than me gave some decent sounding feedback which appeared to be well received.
We were there for five hours, Miles their Marketing Director hosted us for the afternoon, Russell Currie (MD) was there for much if it as well at Martin their Ops Director, Karl Gilding their Product Development Director and Andrew Pope their head of design. They are all Fairline fanatics, many of who worked alongside Derek Carter (plus spells at Princess and SS). I think you'd struggle to fine many people that understand the design, construction, marketing and selling of power boats better than those guys.
I didn't take minutes, but this is what I can recall.....
We jointly agreed that the market has changed over the last decade, new buyers are entering the market and jumping straight to 50ft+ and want joystick controls and the most amount of space possible for a given length. The narrower beamed boats that FL have traditionally made are no longer what buyers want. If FL are to build beamier boats then they still need to perform / handle well to be true Fairlines.
People need to be cognisant that the UK is just one of FL's markets. Historically their boats have sold well in the Baldricks, SofF, Turkey, the Far East and Florida. Each of these markets is very different, not only from customs and how business is done, but also for boat design and how boats are used (no American would ever use a lower helm).
We spent a fair amount of time discussing what went wrong in the period after Derek Carter. One interesting topic was the lacquering machine that was purchased at great expense a few years ago. Apparently it can only lacquer flat pieces of wood and that had led to a "cart before the horse" design approach where interiors were designed so that the wood could be lacquered by machine! Needless to say, new Fairline will return to lacquering the old fashioned way in the future giving the
design team the flexibility to design beautiful furniture (potentially without sharp corners) once again. A debate was had with regard to Fairline DNA and what's important to buyers. The importance of what's (seen to be) handmade appears to be more important to buyers from some countries that others!
The topic of why FL hadn't been in touch with existing owners to discuss their plans was raised. There are two barriers preventing this, firstly one around what is legal and proper with regarding to using customer details and also, in many cases, owners have not registered their boats with FL so they simply don't have owner's contact details. FL are aware that there's been criticism of them being slow off the mark in this regard.
Another interesting topic was propulsion systems. It will be no surprise that Pods give better interior space and are easier to fit. However, getting their Olesinski hulls to work well with pods has been a challenge. FL's feeling is that Olesinski's hulls work much better with shafts. Apparently one insurer is now starting to load premiums for pod propelled boats due to the high costs of repairing damage.
We also talked about boat construction. FL explain how their inner mouldings help to provide rigidity in a monocoque fashion. I hadn't realised that the bulkheads are actually fitted into grooves and are in place (to form part of the overall boat structure) when the superstructures are dropped onto the hulls. FL also explained how they vacuum bag (resin infuse) some of their models, e.g. the Targa 53. To get a perfect finish they still apply the gel coat and first layer of glass fibre by hand.
Finally we were given a full tour of the factory. Anyone who thinks this is a few guys working in a shed is mistaken. The three factory units (one of which they own) are expansive and well equipped. It was great to see true craftsmen at work, laying up hulls, making joinery, lacquering, etc. All the workers looked busy and motivated. In all, there looked to be around 10 boats under construction. In the two months since I was last there, the factory and offices have been transformed. There's still work to be done and lots of tidying up required but they certainly have the space to increase production from their 37 boats this year to a hundred or so in 2018. Currently under construction are two customer lounges where customers can choose fabrics, finishes etc. Surprising, the majority of customers do this during a factory visit rather than at a dealer's showroom. Foreign buyers expect a bit of comfort here!
No doubt there's load I've forgotten but hopefully the other chaps can correct or add what I've missed.
As ever, thanks to Miles and the rest of the FL team for their hospitality and endless patience answering all our questions. If anyone deserves success, they do.
As ever, we had a very open and thorough chat, had a tour of the factory and were privileged (and trusted!) to be shown some of the new product designs.
Understandably, the product thinking was under NDA but I think its fair to say that we were very excited by their plans and IMO when they go into production they'll put Fairline back at the forefront where they deserve to be. Those more knowledgeable than me gave some decent sounding feedback which appeared to be well received.
We were there for five hours, Miles their Marketing Director hosted us for the afternoon, Russell Currie (MD) was there for much if it as well at Martin their Ops Director, Karl Gilding their Product Development Director and Andrew Pope their head of design. They are all Fairline fanatics, many of who worked alongside Derek Carter (plus spells at Princess and SS). I think you'd struggle to fine many people that understand the design, construction, marketing and selling of power boats better than those guys.
I didn't take minutes, but this is what I can recall.....
We jointly agreed that the market has changed over the last decade, new buyers are entering the market and jumping straight to 50ft+ and want joystick controls and the most amount of space possible for a given length. The narrower beamed boats that FL have traditionally made are no longer what buyers want. If FL are to build beamier boats then they still need to perform / handle well to be true Fairlines.
People need to be cognisant that the UK is just one of FL's markets. Historically their boats have sold well in the Baldricks, SofF, Turkey, the Far East and Florida. Each of these markets is very different, not only from customs and how business is done, but also for boat design and how boats are used (no American would ever use a lower helm).
We spent a fair amount of time discussing what went wrong in the period after Derek Carter. One interesting topic was the lacquering machine that was purchased at great expense a few years ago. Apparently it can only lacquer flat pieces of wood and that had led to a "cart before the horse" design approach where interiors were designed so that the wood could be lacquered by machine! Needless to say, new Fairline will return to lacquering the old fashioned way in the future giving the
design team the flexibility to design beautiful furniture (potentially without sharp corners) once again. A debate was had with regard to Fairline DNA and what's important to buyers. The importance of what's (seen to be) handmade appears to be more important to buyers from some countries that others!
The topic of why FL hadn't been in touch with existing owners to discuss their plans was raised. There are two barriers preventing this, firstly one around what is legal and proper with regarding to using customer details and also, in many cases, owners have not registered their boats with FL so they simply don't have owner's contact details. FL are aware that there's been criticism of them being slow off the mark in this regard.
Another interesting topic was propulsion systems. It will be no surprise that Pods give better interior space and are easier to fit. However, getting their Olesinski hulls to work well with pods has been a challenge. FL's feeling is that Olesinski's hulls work much better with shafts. Apparently one insurer is now starting to load premiums for pod propelled boats due to the high costs of repairing damage.
We also talked about boat construction. FL explain how their inner mouldings help to provide rigidity in a monocoque fashion. I hadn't realised that the bulkheads are actually fitted into grooves and are in place (to form part of the overall boat structure) when the superstructures are dropped onto the hulls. FL also explained how they vacuum bag (resin infuse) some of their models, e.g. the Targa 53. To get a perfect finish they still apply the gel coat and first layer of glass fibre by hand.
Finally we were given a full tour of the factory. Anyone who thinks this is a few guys working in a shed is mistaken. The three factory units (one of which they own) are expansive and well equipped. It was great to see true craftsmen at work, laying up hulls, making joinery, lacquering, etc. All the workers looked busy and motivated. In all, there looked to be around 10 boats under construction. In the two months since I was last there, the factory and offices have been transformed. There's still work to be done and lots of tidying up required but they certainly have the space to increase production from their 37 boats this year to a hundred or so in 2018. Currently under construction are two customer lounges where customers can choose fabrics, finishes etc. Surprising, the majority of customers do this during a factory visit rather than at a dealer's showroom. Foreign buyers expect a bit of comfort here!
No doubt there's load I've forgotten but hopefully the other chaps can correct or add what I've missed.
As ever, thanks to Miles and the rest of the FL team for their hospitality and endless patience answering all our questions. If anyone deserves success, they do.
Now, where's my coat when I need it...
