Leopard question

[stewart]

Matts,

Boat looks fantastic, great choice but just wondered what else you considered (Magusta, Sunseeker etc?) and why the Leopard won in the end? How much ummming and ahhhing was involved in choosing once you'd made the decision to get the big one?

 

[claymore]

Oh God - no. Pray he doesn't see this.
Lets hope there are loads of new threads which push this one off the bottom of the page. He's simply unbearable when his ego is flattered

 

[jfm]

Re: get typing claymore

OK Claymore, you have about 6 hours. AFAIK he's harvesting customers on his company's stand at a software show in Olympia today, so get posting!

Stewart, AFAIK he looked hard at Mangusta and Sunseeker. It's easy to reject Sunseeker in this category, Leopard and Mangusta are clearly in a class above Sunseeker. Mangustas are fabulous machines but I think there's a berthing issue with them, they have massive side pods and in the med you buy your berth by width more than length, so it's harder to park a Mang. Not sure, tcm will have to explain all.....

 

[tcm]

Re: skiver responds

Yes, discounted Mangusta from the start as owner-driver boat on the basis of the side pods, v difficult to protect on stern-to mooring.

Looked hard at Sunseeker. Oily salespeople - leopard it's straight down to what yoiu want in the boat. nbot so with sunseeker. This is the wood - would you like it matt varnished or high gloss? Sunseeker do one generator, one aircon unit, no hope of wooden saloon floor, curly sofas mean less space, and "extreme" styling dates quickly imho - look at predator 80 against the 72/4 or 64(?) is it - so another point being that the replace the models too quickly for big boats. Also predators all going hardtop-only, losing the sportsboat feel completely. "At 40 knots u hardly feel that you're moving!" said the

 

[stewart]

Re: skiver responds

Agree with you about Sunseeker, never noticed Mangusta side pods before but see them now. What else was on the shortlist?

 

[claymore]

YYYAAAAWWWWWNNNN

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ
Booooooooooooorrrrrrrrriiiiiiiiiiinnnnnngggggggggggggggggg
Side Pods - what the hell is a side pod
I used to have a motorbike and side car - is that the same
Quick everyone get posting - move this thread to page 2
Personally I think Alan Titchmarsh is a very good gardner and Libby Purves was a bit scathing as far as Charlie Dimmocks bristols were concerned.
Mangusta Side Pods - oooohhhh the will to live fades and..........................

 

[jfm]

Oops Claymore

Sorry Claymore, didn't realise it was your bulletin board. Praps you make a post listing topics that you're happy for us to discuss?

imho & & <BG>

 

[claymore]

Re: Oops Claymore

OK done that - see list of topics - what do you want me to do now?
Your humble etc.etc.
JS

 

[coliholic]

Re: Oops Claymore

< what do you want me to do now? >

Tempting. Very tempting

 

[tcm]

Re: shortlist

sorry bout the abrupt stop there.

Pershing, Baia, Sunseeker. Pershing didn't like the styling, Baia preferred more room as a very low boat, crew crammed in the bows etc. Sunseeker quite limited - not "custom" to anthing like the same degree, it seemed - or at least it wasn't something with which they felt comfortable. And nowhere near the shipyard style or strength of construction.

 

[tcm]

Re: tell us about the Grand Banks trip

go on then!

 

[JohnR]

Re: tell us about the Grand Banks trip

not me guv., don't know the first thing about them.

 

[tcm]

Re: ouch

It does seem a long wait. Hope it hasn't got sidepods.

 

[claymore]

ok, ok

The Grand Banks Trip is scheduled for Wed - Sat of 2nd week of Easter Break. I'm currently polishing my slippers and the leather buttons on my cardigan. I've been asked what DVD films I would like to see and if I'm happy eating devillled mouse's ear on a bed of couscous, with a raspberry coulis and medallions of Bittern Ecossais, do I have allergies to Duck down duvets or pillows and would I be sure to bring red flannel Capt. Currey slacks.
Sounds a bit over the top for a trip from Kip to Rothesay - is this the norm?

 

[tcm]

Re: more shortlist

Praps I can now talk a bit more since claymore is having a better day.

This is turning into "why not a sunseeker?". But no matter . Sunseeker offer for fabric and decor, but ALL actual changes are extra money. So, need an extra 12V socket on the dash? Extra. Need the location of the standard ones moving? That's extra too! Okay, at a long-production model and you're number 95, I can see the point. But a 74 Predator is not such a production boat, in anyhting like the same way.

SS seems heavily locked into the design and production values of the stylists, not anyone else. From the way in which salespeople referred to changes (shudder, what, you mean, you don't LIKE this?!!) and the way in which (ok, for example the 74 (er or is it 72? whatever)) the design actually takes precedence over the function, i felt wary. Witness the central saloon of the P72, with 4 large pillary circular things - which contain the bogs and music systems - the curves mean less useable storage. Inside, those loos are small, and kneebanging. Sunseeker aren't negotiable in changing that area, yet later ones have ditched one of the pillars, for a bigger TV, which loses the dramtic effect, but still has curves all around. Sunseekers have shiny cherrywood and that's that.

The practicality seemed to be a secondary issue for sunseeker. For example, the curves mean that a lot of desigbn effort is put into concave/convex cupboard fronts, complex door arrangements, up/down little stairs. Great fun at boat shows, not at sea.

Geographically, Sunseeker also isn't ideally located to make a super-luxury boat, imho. And it shows. Poole isn't stacked with poncy hotels, flash restaurants, loony bathroom shops. Designers' wives don't lash out tons of money on Milan style and fashion. So their people simply can't have seen that sort of stuff, and somehow get it on the boat. The salesmen feel that the very height of advancement is a flat-screen TV, and look! cutlery that says "sunseeker" on it. Is it silver? Er no. Then they show the coffee table that goes up and down, isn't that amazing? Humm, not very amazing matey, it's all blimmin high gloss, doesn't have an inlaid chessboard, and the one I saw wasn't remote control.

All ancillary equipment (music, galley fitout) is to a budget, perhaps the best they could find - but not the best avaialble, and for a £1-2 million pound boat (which isn't sensitive to another £40k) that isn't good enough. People buying a predator 72 (74?) won't have chosen microwave ovens, dishwashers and music systems for their house (2nd house etc) that are quite as crap as those in a big Sunseeker. They'd have gone a bit better, or a lot better, rather than use a selection of the mid-range stuff from Comet. Did anyone see Nakamichi, Loewe, B&O music on an LBS boat for example? I didn't. They'll need to get hold of some Italians and French to show them what luxury or high quality means, and stop being quite so arrogant that their choices are the very ultimate. They aren't.

Then there's the engineering. Again, sunseeker loses out. At the obvious end , the siderails are thinner, the cleats not as big. Whilst you're poking about, remember that the leopard has two generators as standard, two aircon plants as standard, the sunseekers just one of each. And also remember that the 23m is the smallest weeniest boat that that Leopard make. For sunseeker, 70+ feet is almost at the top of their range, so lots of the engineering know-how and design values have grown up from small boats, not down from bigger ones.

Then of course there's that whacky styling, a huge lark at launch day, amazing for a one-off boat. But not such fun on a production boat when it ages quickly, to replaced by another one 2 feet longer and with slightly wilder fins or chromium-plated air intakes. Enginewise there's just one engine option on leopard 23 and 27, but lots of choices on a Predator. Firstly, this is as worrying as going into an ordinary little restaurant that has a masive menu - they just can't do all these property, can they? Secondly, with a sunseeker, you'll have to hope you got the engine choice right (and that they didn't change) when the time comes to sell.