God bless the French

Twister_Ken

Twister_Ken

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Browsing through the sailing titles in a French newsagent, I came across Voile Magazine. The edition covered their yacht of the year, and the winner is as pure-frog as they come, the Django 7.70. Why isn't there a UK manufacturer doing this sort of thing?

You need to speak the lingo to get very far into the www, but the English is 'charming' and the pix are pretty illustrative.

http://www.mareehaute.fr/index.php?lang=en

http://www.mareehaute.fr/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=48&Itemid=61

MH_PH_Django20.JPG
 
Twister_Ken said:
Why isn't there a UK manufacturer doing this sort of thing?
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Because all UK manufacturers have been sucked into the idea that a 'proper' boat has no visible GRP inside and resembles a library in an Agatha Christie novel. All of which requires countless hours by craftsmen and costs a large fortune to build and a bigger one to buy.
 
Love the options...

"Three versions:
Single keel, Twin keel or Lifting keel.
Just make your choice!!"

The single keel option has a 1.6 meter draft, on a sportboat of 7.7 meters.

Carbon fibre available for mast and spin pole. Flotation foam.

And it has a a deck saloon view from the settee.

Nice. Modern. Even the graphics on the side of the hull are cool.

And you are right...no one in the UK makes a boat like this.
 
I do love the way the French design small boats to go like stink, cope with drying out and sail biscay - sadly I don't know of any uk builders who do this
 
Nice boats, and love the way they print franglaise. Always amazes me that people don't get a proof read by somebody who actually knows the grammar. Not as if there is a shortage of fluent speakers in France. Japanese motor bike manuals come to mind as well. Used to be a great read, but not much use if fixing a bike.

I need to get out more, but only on a pedal bike. Because there isn't any fuel in the pumps around here. Bl++dy strikers!!
A
 
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Why would you want to build boats in the UK? Got to be cheaper to do it in E Europe.

In France it helps sales if the boat is made in France but no-one here is going to pay a penny more for anything made in the UK. If indeed they will pay as much.
 
Succeed to sell

Arfa,

Sadlers, Contessa's and Andersons did; you explain to me why they're not still going, Andersons moulds are available and I suspect Sadlers' are too while Contesssa's struggle on - succesive greedy governments perhaps, this current lot beating the rest by a wide margin unless one's a banker ( rhyming slang seems appropriate?) !

Down West, I used to know a Japanese assistant in a motorbike salesroom who wasn't the sharpest tool in the box, he was affectionately known as 'Nippon Denso' ! ( only afficionados of Japanese bikes will get this ).
 
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Isn't it something to do with profit? I understand FWIW that it's cheaper to build a bigger boat per foot than it is a small one. Therefore people are led into the idea that bigger is better by the salesmen and that we "trade up" to get a better boat.

It's a shame really, as a trick seems to be missed here - if people realised that you can buy a 24' boat with decent headroom and 5 berths that goes like the clappers then they'd probably have a lot more fun, use it more and pay less in a marina. Given that the vast majority of us are daysailers or occasional weekenders, something that manageable, less expensive to run and maintain and is still fun should be a no-brainer argument for the things.

But what do I know - I ain't got a boat.

Maybe they just smell of cheese?
 
Seajet said:
Arfa,

Sadlers, Contessa's and Andersons did; you explain to me why they're not still going, Andersons moulds are available and I suspect Sadlers' are too while Contesssa's struggle on - succesive greedy governments perhaps, this current lot beating the rest by a wide margin unless one's a banker ( rhyming slang seems appropriate?) !

Down West, I used to know a Japanese assistant in a motorbike salesroom who wasn't the sharpest tool in the box, he was affectionately known as 'Nippon Denso' ! ( only afficionados of Japanese bikes will get this ).
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Because the £ was too high for too long! Westerlies, Moodys, Sadlers, they were all exported in big numbers until the £ went up and made them uncompetitive. And then the Bavs., Bennies and Jenns etc. were available here at bargain prices. So they went bust!
The story of most UK manufacturing I regret to say.
There is just a glimmer of hope. What firms are left are doing better now with the £ at the present level. Hopefully w'ell all accept that cheap foreign holidays are a thing of the past!
 
arfa said:
I do love the way the French design small boats to go like stink, cope with drying out and sail biscay - sadly I don't know of any uk builders who do this
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The Sadler 290 would (is) a strong contender to fit that criteria. sadly only made in a short run of production. But, for the money Mr boat buyer could buy a much larger French (funny that) or German boat.
 
Because French buyers have more open minds about design and don't have the same hangups as over here that only like ancient designs, long keeled heavyweights and regard anything newer than a Contessa 32 as totally unsuitable to go out to sea.
 
Robin said:
Because French buyers have more open minds about design and don't have the same hangups as over here that only like ancient designs, long keeled heavyweights and regard anything newer than a Contessa 32 as totally unsuitable to go out to sea.
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Spot on.

In France they build cruising versions of class 40s. Now that's how to go cruising - here for breakfast, 100 miles away for dinner and with big grins all over your faces!
 
Why isn't there a UK manufacturer doing this sort of thing?
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I don't know, but I do know where you can get the moulds for a grand and well respected 22 foot lift keeler, should you want to enter the business.

On a more serious note, 35 grand will get you a very nice Twister, or AW accommodation cruiser for that matter.
 
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doug748 said:
Why isn't there a UK manufacturer doing this sort of thing?
------------------------------------

I don't know, but I do know where you can get the moulds for a grand and well respected 22 foot lift keeler, should you want to enter the business.

On a more serious note, 35 grand will get you a very nice Twister, or AW accommodation cruiser for that matter.
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UK manufacturer's aren't doing it because the UK public has no belief in anything modern or stylish coming from UK manufacturers. It's a perception problem...although there are occasionally glimmers of hope. My Landie dealer just emailed me pics of the new Range Rover Evoque, and it is nearly identical to the show car they brought to the shows a couple of years ago - stunning, and bold. Hope they sell a lot and that I can buy a used petrol one in three or four years. But I digress...

No, the English love for traditional and safe usually trumps style and innovation. Even clothing is "anti-style" as a rule - dull business suits, preferably rumpled, and women in clothes that clash styles and look appropriate for an Oxfam rummage. Compare the way the women dress in London to New York, Paris, or Rome (not to mention Moscow), and you really can't help but feel that the UK just does not like style. This is not necessarily meant to be judgemental - just an observation, and god knows there are many, many cute women in London. But the overall style and finish is a lot less done than the other cities mentioned...and I've lived in a few of them to compare.

What's that got to do with boats? Well, designers design towards the taste of the masses of their largest market, and with a strong pound that was always going to be the UK. So we get recycled 20 year old designs, because they "look solid". They look proper. They look like they could have taken troops off the beach at Dunkirk...

I believe there is a huge opening in the UK market for fast, cool sports boats in the 27 to 34 foot range - the Solent is the perfect area for them. The recession will last a few years...but in 3 - 5 years I predict a lot of the damage will be repaired, and sales of near luxury goods will return...maybe not to bubble levels, but to levels that could support a new UK boat company or two.

I also predict that the recent America's Cup decision to transition to cats will likely affect the sportboat market over time...and again, that is a huge French strength...
 
Is this thread really on Scuttlebutt? Here we are, with people praising light weight French boats, French boats I ask you! People asking "why aren't we building boats like this in the UK?"

Maybe if the UK manufactures had been a bit more forward thinking, as the French seem to have been, then we would still have a boat building industry. Its not just the value of the pound, its deeper than that.
 
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