Have Fairline lost it....

[Scubadoo]

Just flicking through the MBY mag and looking at a Fairline AD, they show a picture of a white Fairline Targa#. They really look plain in white, a blue hull makes them far more appealing. Why have they dropped coloured hulls, they are look like the rest now.

RM.

 

[ToMo]

....There are..............

.........some here who would argue that they never had it.
I would hasten to add that I'm not one of them! - perhaps Fairline are following the maxim that if you can't beat em, join em!

TôMö

 

[jfm]

Re: Blue hulls

They have stopped making blue Phantoms. They would like to stop blue Targas, but might continue if strong demand. Reason is that it's too technically difficult to make blue hulls. Yes we all know that's twaddle, but that's what they say. See much more detail in a couple of threads earlier this year (one dated 23 or 24 May)

 

[ccscott49]

Re: Blue hulls

A white hull hides all kinds of blemishes in the molding process, blue shows them up. Are the molds getting old?

 

[oldgit]

Re: Blue hulls

Just an observation In the world of plastic aeroplanes (PFA)it is consider not a good idea to have composite surfaces any colour than a nice highly reflective white.Unknown effects of temperature over time I believe.

 

[KevB]

Re: Blue hulls

I think the reason they are changing to plain white hulls is because in the Med the coloured hulls fad due to the Sun.

 

[Guest]

Re: Blue hulls

They don't fade too much too early, or at least, ours didn't. And indeed, since it did go a bit manky (tho no more than a white hull imho) I started looking for a new boat. Tho not a fairline cos the 74 is miles off, and 52 a year late, and targa 60 also nowhere to be seen....

 

[Guest]

Re: oho another browser/buyer?

Just thinking, RM, if you are still fingering last months MBY a whole month later AND commenting objectively on Targas...wot are you buying eh?

 

[ccscott49]

Never had it!

 

[jfm]

Re: Blue hulls

F'line have been very clear that the reason is production hassles, not sun fade or any other reasons

 

[Scubadoo]

Re: oho another browser/buyer?

Nothing at the moment although I would love to upgrade. I work in the Travel industry and as you can imagine not a time for me to be spending. Anyway that Rusty Volvo engine has just costed me £1800, Volvo will have none of it at the moment.

If I was to upgrade I think it would be another Sealine e.g. S28 or 310. Others like Fairline, Sunseeker etc are too expensive however Princess seem very good if I was interested in a flybridge.

RM.

 

[jfm]

Re: Blue hulls

That's partly the reason. They cannot get a good enuf finish at the same cost on blue hulls, as they can on white. It's not because the tools are old, most of their hulls have only been around 4 years or so, and the phantoms are all new except 38.

 

[Scubadoo]

Re: Blue hulls

But that small boat factory call Fletcher have been doing coloured hulls since 1989, I had a red hull for 10years and it didn't fade. However I was prepared to pay more for the coloured hull.

All boats look tatty if not cleaned after one year, you just got to keep on top of maintenance i.e. cleaning and protecting.

I still feel Fline will lose customers over this.

RM.

 

[jfm]

Dont argue with me, argue with F\'line

Completely agree with you. All I'm saying is that's what F'line said, it's not what I say or think. I told the CEO and manuf director of F'line to their faces earlier this year that their reasoning was implausible, because Sunseeker et al can make blue hulls, so why not F'line, but they weren't interested and are pressing ahead with white-only policy. More detail on threads a few mths back

 

[Scubadoo]

I wasn\'t

Sorry wasn't meant to sound like I was arguing with you, just adding more points just in case one of those Fline people are in the real world and read this.

RM.

 

[KevB]

Re: Blue hulls

Yeah- product hassle like sun fade.

 

[Deleted User YDKXO]

It'll be some po-faced bean counter who's calculated the cost saving of not doing blue hulls and the management who've gambled on not losing too many customers. 'Tis true that coloured hulls fade after a few years and scratches show white thru' the gelcoat but I reckon coloured hulls are dead classy and Fairline will suffer lost sales and they'll deserve it.
What's happened to coloured hulls anyway? You used to see green ones, yellow ones, burgundy ones even black ones. Have buyers become boring old farts or is it the builders who've ordained that white is the new black?

 

[Guest]

Re: Blue hulls

So since your such a fan of blue hulls and IMHO you're absolutely right, they look tons classier, are we to assume Leopard will be first one with blue hull? Or is it going to be screaming purple leather type finish? Or better still suede?

 

[Guest]

Re: Blue hulls

I think the fairlines look really good with blue, others not so. There is an option for blue hull, but it looks somehow old on leopard. Certainly the targa 48, to which RM referred and sw in an ad (i think) now advertised in all white looks weird.

And btw I am most cheesed off that you retired from the River Wissey thread!

 

[Guest]

Re: ...yes, and another reason for no blue

fraid f'line management don't go on boats. Almost never. And all of them are owned by gosh, amazing well really rich people. So the idea that some of the boats are anything less than fabulous is a bit like one of us imagining that you could own a caribeean island that was slightly manky - and should have had that slightly better one over there for only another $5m.

the colours are difficult. Blue is good for the right boat. Some horrible foul-ups with the nasty green, imho.

the other reason for no blue: I think that it must be very very difficult to "make a start" on hull#88 or whatever if one has no clue of the hull colour. Whereas if it's white, matey, then why, here's one half started! See? If there was a real prob with blue they'd can teh lot, not just pahntoms. Some blue, soem not bluie is no goo. So Targas all blue, Phantoms all white. Maybe? or alternatively, they're all, y'know, daft?