Hardy 62 - delivery trip from SIBS to Ipswich.

jfm said:
The boat could potentially be fantastic but the video, pictures and mini report in the new MBY suggest that the interior finish is one huge disappointment all round and completely off the pace for a £1m++ boat. You'd have to spend quite a bit of time checking Hardy have the skills to do better before you could consider buying one of these. Such a shame and I hope they get it right with hull #2
Click to expand...

I think as you mentioned earlier, it is a marketing weakness. Having only a boat from a cancelled order to show to the world means the offering is lacking; doesn't necessarily mean that they can't deliver.

However, as I said, it's a rough tough boat and I would love that, but with a sumptuous (whilst still workable) interior. This boat is rough and tough throughout. It seems Hardy is on a journey, but they haven't arrived at the final package yet. What they need is a bespoke customer to step up, so they can produce something that works in the £1m+ marketplace.

It reminds me of Hummer when they were moving from military to consumer markets and beginning to get celebrity customers.
 
jfm said:
The boat could potentially be fantastic but the video, pictures and mini report in the new MBY suggest that the interior finish is one huge disappointment all round and completely off the pace for a £1m++ boat. You'd have to spend quite a bit of time checking Hardy have the skills to do better before you could consider buying one of these. Such a shame and I hope they get it right with hull #2
Click to expand...
The interior finish is traditional and basic rather than 'off the pace' IMHO and I wouldn't say its out of keeping with it's intended target market. For example, it's not a whole lot inferior to the finish on the Aquastars or Nordhavns at the show. A very modern boutique hotel style a la PrinFairSeeker would be inappropriate for this type of boat. Having said that, a lot of the detailing was poor and a prospective owner would definitely have to pay attention to getting that right
 
Firefly625 said:
if you have a look at some other interiors made by Windboats... those with the sticks and flappy things.... they do have the skills. That is one reason I believe Hardy have fallen on their feet. This 62 was well under way when Windboats took over...and being built to an owners spec. Can't wait to see Hull 2
Click to expand...

Wow! Yes.
 
Firefly625 said:
if you have a look at some other interiors made by Windboats... those with the sticks and flappy things.... they do have the skills. Can't wait to see Hull 2
Click to expand...
You have made the point very well Firefly. Those interiors do indeed tell us Windboats can make nice interiors. I hope they do on hull #2, and as said elsewhere I hope they end up making a great 62 series and then a 70-something

Deleted User it wasn't and absence of "modern boutique hotel style a la PrinFairSeeker" that I disliked. It was the acres of vinyl wrapped plywood especially the headlinings, the foam-backed vinyl pincushioned by the window frames on the lower helm mullions, the ugly gapped fiddles, etc. See also the freeze frame on MBY's video on the page Jack links to above. Look at the overhead dash panel at the lower helm. WTF? Who chose to make the plywood panel that shape? See especially the right hand end. It's just miserable design work and I doubt that is the owner's spec. See other ugliness on this panel on mby pictures in the mag. The blue fabric didn't do them any favours, and that must have been a Hardy decision not owner's choice
 
jfm said:
You have made the point very well Firefly. Those interiors do indeed tell us Windboats can make nice interiors. I hope they do on hull #2, and as said elsewhere I hope they end up making a great 62 series and then a 70-something

Deleted User it wasn't and absence of "modern boutique hotel style a la PrinFairSeeker" that I disliked. It was the acres of vinyl wrapped plywood especially the headlinings, the foam-backed vinyl pincushioned by the window frames on the lower helm mullions, the ugly gapped fiddles, etc. See also the freeze frame on MBY's video on the page Jack links to above. Look at the overhead dash panel at the lower helm. WTF? Who chose to make the plywood panel that shape? See especially the right hand end. It's just miserable design work and I doubt that is the owner's spec. See other ugliness on this panel on mby pictures in the mag. The blue fabric didn't do them any favours, and that must have been a Hardy decision not owner's choice
Click to expand...
Then we're talking about the same kind of things. Fundamentally I thought the finish was OK in terms of the quality of the timber used, the execution of the woodwork and the standard of most of the fittings. Yes I agree some of the panel work was appalling. There were areas in the saloon which had been so badly done that somebody had filled the gaps with sikaflex or something, some of the hatch handles were laughably undersized and the side door was a joke. What the boat needs is an experienced and discerning buyer to work with the yard to elevate the standard of finish to a level commensurate with the price and looking at firefly625's pics, this should be possible
 
If this was going to be a semi working boat that was actually built to do a job praaps to provide lodgings while keeping an eye on ones gold/oil/gas fields in Outer Zagistan,doubt that shiney shiney veneer and 300mm white shag are going to last long when your head of operations comes aboard in his survival suit.
Have you seen the mess the grease from a AK47 leaves behind on your Yak wool rugs.:)
 
Deleted User said:
Then we're talking about the same kind of things. Fundamentally I thought the finish was OK in terms of the quality of the timber used, the execution of the woodwork and the standard of most of the fittings. Yes I agree some of the panel work was appalling. There were areas in the saloon which had been so badly done that somebody had filled the gaps with sikaflex or something, some of the hatch handles were laughably undersized and the side door was a joke. What the boat needs is an experienced and discerning buyer to work with the yard to elevate the standard of finish to a level commensurate with the price and looking at firefly625's pics, this should be possible
Click to expand...
Yup, all agreed
Do any of the Hardy connected folks on here (Fierefly625?) know Hardy's longer term plans? Is a 70-something on the drawing board?
 
Deleted User said:
The interior finish is traditional and basic rather than 'off the pace' IMHO and I wouldn't say its out of keeping with it's intended target market. For example, it's not a whole lot inferior to the finish on the Aquastars or Nordhavns at the show. A very modern boutique hotel style a la PrinFairSeeker would be inappropriate for this type of boat. Having said that, a lot of the detailing was poor and a prospective owner would definitely have to pay attention to getting that right
Click to expand...


I can't help feeling that its interior is actually quite a bit wide of the mark in attracting would-be buyers with almost £2 million to spend. To me,at least,it seems to be crying out for an injection of a similar level of style and prescence to match what is clearly a beautifully classic exterior but,why does it have to be traditional? Sure,copying some of the latest offerings from other mainstream builders would be naff but,how about something a little more upmarket such as the interior of the Monte Carlo 65,which is of similar size and price and exemplifies the clever interplay of style and materials to produce a modern classical feel. Isn't the alternative a bit like filling a barn conversion with pine furniture? On a similar point,why are there still so many boats,the Taiwanese/Chinese makes in particular,being lined with wall-to-wall teak? This may have been popular 25 years ago but,as with house interiors,things have moved on. The US Passagemaker magazine recently carried out a survey of its readers who are typically Nordhavn/Selene/Fleming type owners and discovered that 80% would prefer anything to a teak interior.

On the subject of Monte Carlo,the 50 footer is featured in this month's MBY and,although not of the same quality fit out as the MC65 it does have a rather brilliant promo video which shows how easy it is to put them together. Though I'm not clever enough to give the direct link,this will take you to it.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzMamNU-_fo
 
Hi jfm, I'm afraid I have no idea if they intend to go larger... seems the natural progression however I do know they are still keen to be known for building smaller Hardy's. In fact they are much keener than Mark Funnell was to ensure the small range 24, 26, 32 does not get forgotten and indeed you will see from their adverts in MBY etc they are pushing the range, but I do know they are keen to give them a makeover. Oliver James did show me Andrew Wolstenholme design drawing for the new 50 DS, a larger and TBH even better looking version to the 40DS. I just hope they get the interior designs right, Windboats have the skills to build Oysters but these are boats they don't design...and they need to get the team at Hardy concentrating on where the 62 is lacking... lets hope they read this thread.

a small but interesting factoid, in the mid 90's Windboats made around 10 Nelsons
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Top