New Boat

Whitelighter said:
Is the reason just the market won't buy an unknown brand???
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IMHO yes. The UK Botnia dealer has been around for a long time and has obviously put a lot of time and effort into establishing the brand in the UK to the point that, if you buy a new Botnia, you know you're going to get nearly all of your money back when you sell it and you'll get their support if something goes wrong. Thats a powerful selling tool. As far as I can see from the Viking Marin website, they don't even have a dealer in the UK so if you buy one, you have to ask yourself where the warranty support is going to come from. Also IMHO there is the issue of where the boat is made. Most buyers are going to feel more comfortable buying a boat built in Scandinavia than Turkey despite the fact that Turkey has a long boat building history
 
mmm, I smell an opportunity. One only has to look at the fit and finish to see that it is of good sturdy quality. No idea on competitive pricing, but if comparable, and if there was more of a presence it could sell well.
 
They did have a U.K. Dealer, in fact a U.K network selling the range of boats. Or should that be trying to.
They were at at least 2/3 sibs and I think one LIBS. As I say, the MBM article was very favourable in very uncompromising conditions. I can't remember who the dealers were but the main one at least was an established UK marine business ess
 
BruceK said:
mmm, I smell an opportunity. One only has to look at the fit and finish to see that it is of good sturdy quality. No idea on competitive pricing, but if comparable, and if there was more of a presence it could sell well.
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Been there. Done it. Still got a lot of t shirts (and brochures, magazine copy, flags, stand boards etc) - let me save you some trouble and quite a bit of money.

DONT DO IT
 
That bad :D Thanks for the heads up. I'd do just about anything to get out of IT, but broke isn't one of them
 
Whitelighter said:
They did have a U.K. Dealer, in fact a U.K network selling the range of boats. Or should that be trying to.
They were at at least 2/3 sibs and I think one LIBS. As I say, the MBM article was very favourable in very uncompromising conditions. I can't remember who the dealers were but the main one at least was an established UK marine business ess
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It was Boat Showrooms @ Shepperton marina. There were also a few sold out of Boat Showrooms @ Harleyford.
 
matt_lake said:
It was Boat Showrooms @ Shepperton marina. There were also a few sold out of Boat Showrooms @ Harleyford.
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Thanks. I thought it was someone like that but couldn't remember for certain. I half though Cambrian Boats got involved as a sub dealer at one point.

Anyway, BS know what they are doing and are a very established dealer so it wasn't for the want of trying.
Just interesting that the more expensive out drive powered Botnia out sold them 10 to 1.

And in fairness 2 of the 4 'sold' in the uk were demonstrators sold as used boats with a significant discount
 
Deleted User said:
Selling boats isn't one of them either. Not sure anyone got rich doing that:)
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I gathered as much. But then I'm not exactly rich now either. Comfortable, it's such a nice word too. Whitelighter stood on that thought before I had chance to stop dreaming. Ahh well. C'est la vie
 
:encouragement: ahh no I've made some godawful decisions on missed opportunities in life that would have set me up for life, made some that nearly broke me too. I'm used to the heel kicking disappointment :p
 
Thanks for all the kind words and help, that's you Bigwow and Brucek! Seems that the boat has proved pretty popular on the forum which is great. Boat is now in Caernarfon after launching in Conwy and an idyllic trip down on flat calm seas.

Here it is arriving in Conwy, coming out of the tunnel...



Coming off the truck, A1 Transport were brilliant and kept me updated all the way from Essex...



Going in...



Once launched I had to manoeuvre off the pontoon, having never driven a twin engined boat at docking speed I was apprehensive to say the least. It was a tight spot I had to get out of but it really was a doddle, even with the breeze blowing me on. When it came to getting my 'old boat' in to the same spot, I couldn't manage and actually ended up coming alongside the boat you can see in the pictures with the dinghy on the back and warping in.

Here is the 'old boat' coming out and going on its way...





And finally some pictures once the shakedown trip was completed...







As you can see from the photos, the weather has been amazing all week. It was so nice yesterday morning we slipped out of Caernarfon and had breakfast on a buoy at Rowans Bay just up the Menai Strait. Thanks again to Bigwow and BruceK and also Boats.co.uk who have been excellent all along, I have a few minor problems which need sorting but with their reputation I can't see it being a problem at all
 
It's been said already but I'll say it again. Seeing those side decks and the foredeck from above brings it home what a good design it is. Having had a quick look on the web you get the added bonus of good separation between the fore and aft cabins too. What a lovely boat.
 
Lovely boat and interested to hear about the handling so will store as a potential next boat. I see you were in a MF 855 before (think anyway). What were your views on the 855 and what were the main reasons for the change (not that we need reason ;-))
 
It was an Antares 8.80 but very close. The main reason was the walk around decks for the family. I also wanted heating, I had looked at a propex system for the Antares but went off the idea, with 400l of petrol on board, I just didn't fancy it. Something that was better in the north wales choppy seas also appealed. We loved the Antares but I had my eye on the Viking for a while until one came up for sale at Boats.co.uk
 
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