westernman
Well-known member
What you are saying is a second hand Bavaria is like a BMW.
First time I have heard that comparison.
I would have compared a Bavaria to an Austin Maxi
and a Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter to a Jaguar E type.
Northshore in trouble???
- Thread starter l'escargot
- Start date
What you are saying is a second hand Bavaria is like a BMW.
First time I have heard that comparison.
I would have compared a Bavaria to an Austin Maxi
and a Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter to a Jaguar E type.
Whitelighter
Active member
I wonder what will happen to all the moulds north shore own.
I quite fancy a modern Trident Voyager 40 and I believe Northshore have the moulds.
I quite fancy a modern Trident Voyager 40 and I believe Northshore have the moulds.
northwind
Well-known member
I remember hearing that they brought up moulds for many boats over the years, do you think they kept them, or brought them up and destroyed them?
jbweston
Well-known member
The official notice of the creditors' meeting refers to the part of the Insolvency Act that deals with a creditors' voluntary winding up, not a members' voluntary. See my post in this thread #167.
It should all become clearer when the meeting goes ahead and one or two of the creditors are in a position to say a bit more about what's happening.
Oscarpop
New member
They are all in the yard.
If Lester is trying to get out of a divorce, Southerly will re open soon. £10 says it will be back for the September boat show. Any takers?
TimBennet
New member
They not only bought up lots of moulds in bankruptcy sales but they also did the moulding for lots of other boatbuilders and seemed to have 'inherited' the moulds when the other companies inevitably went under (as they were British boatbuilders). All three of the original Northshore lines (plus their powerboats) were designs and moulds that had started life with other companies. At one time you could walk around the field behind the building shed at Itchenor and see a history of pretty much the entire British boatbuilding world in moulds! But when I walked around there a few years back, there were car parks and new production sheds where the moulds were all stored and a few remnants were being used as landfill on the foreshore.
Northshore's original success was built on the careful and prudent acquisition of designs that were then modified (if necessary) to extend their marketability and working life. Maximum value was extracted from their tooling (really long production runs) even though it was all obtained on the cheap. Since being sold, the complete opposite has been true and they have spent millions on new designs, even more on moulds and other tooling, and a huge amount on new premises and royal visits. They had the new model 'roll-out' (ie capital expenditure) of a high volume producer but the sales numbers of a niche builder. It was never going to work unless whoever was bank rolling the company was in it for the very, very, very long term (decades) before wanting any sort of return (a hobby enterprise).
If all their current design rights and moulds come onto the market and can be obtained at a knock down price, then there is a chance that Northshore can rise again, ironically using the same economic model that made it originally a success.
Ex-SolentBoy
New member
Premises I get, but a huge amount on Royal visits?
TimBennet
New member
Have you been involved with a royal visit to a commercial operation? Cheap they are not! Everyone loses a sense of proportion and money is found to tart everything up and do things that had been on the 'maybe' list for ages. Carparks get resurfaced, entrance halls painted, the 'royal' toilet get completely refurbished, new workforce uniforms, landscaping gets finished after the new builds have been completed, etc, etc.
Every bit of expenditure is justified by repeating the mantra 'think about the PR and publicity' which is conveniently never evaluated for effectiveness after the visit.
E39mad
Well-known member
Yep there were a lot of moulds when I was there - some of which unused by Northshore. Fisher, Vancouver & MG Yachts were all "inherited" when their original companies failed. Southerly I believe was started by Northshore and the swing keel from the 95/105 onwards was Bryan Moffat's design which was patented.
Some of the moulds around were:
MG Yachts
Sigma
Freebird 50
Sovereign 40
Supermarine 36
Oddly enough when I was there (1990 to 1996) an opportunity was missed to pick up the Nicholson 476 and 58 moulds (moulded for Campers by Northshore) and an obscure motor boat tooling was bought - the name of which escapes me. Northshore also moulded for Victoria Yachts and had many outside moulding contracts at the time which were not marine relating - such as mosque domes!
Some of the moulds around were:
MG Yachts
Sigma
Freebird 50
Sovereign 40
Supermarine 36
Oddly enough when I was there (1990 to 1996) an opportunity was missed to pick up the Nicholson 476 and 58 moulds (moulded for Campers by Northshore) and an obscure motor boat tooling was bought - the name of which escapes me. Northshore also moulded for Victoria Yachts and had many outside moulding contracts at the time which were not marine relating - such as mosque domes!
Sailfree
Well-known member
Buying a house or a boat are large financial investments usually financed with mortgages. One is necessary - one is a luxury. If you buy a boat on a 10 yr marine morgage and die after say yr 9 I would suggest you are the winner compared to someone that is saving for a boat and dies before they realise their aspirations. Life is for living and enjoying yourself.
Personally I don't like debt and paid all my marine mortgages off within a couple of years but I would not preach to others how to finance their pleasures or their aspirations.
If a new 40' boat is what they aspire to (with a marine mortgage) and not save to buy a 30yr old 24' boat - its their call - good luck to them.
I bought a new boat every 3 years. I had no experience of big boats but started with a 36' then a 38' then after a 3 month sailing holiday bought our current 43' in a rush as we knew they were going to stop making them. Sensible way to spend money with marine mortgages - no way. Could I have done it cheaper say missed the 38' stage - definately. Have I and my family had lots of pleasure -yes. Would I do it again - yes as you can't ever replace the experience of doing something this year.
Fred drift - Whether I can afford it or not I can see only a few further years when I can ski so a family skiing holiday is a must to me for every year that I can - sort out the money later. Sometimes I think people forget that they only have relatively very few years to live and enjoy themselves.
Be happy!
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Ex-SolentBoy
New member
Actually I have. The Princess Royal knows a lot about boats and boat building. "Tarting" the factory for her would be a complete waste of time.
Although I did wash my boat down before she looked over it.
sighmoon
Active member
Wasn't that more of a sales visit than a handshaking visit? I seem to recall she bought one.
Supine Being
Well-known member
I seem to remember that she promptly went off and bought a Rustler... so that went well then.
Ex-SolentBoy
New member
She was interested in a new boat. She came to the Boat Show and looked at the Rustler 44. Didn't look at any others. She then bought one and visited the factory several times during the build.
A lady with impeccable taste IMHO.
sighmoon
Active member
Yes, a lovely choice of boat.
I'm curious, when she visited the factory, did you get new toilet seats etc, or was it just like any other customer visit?
I'm curious, when she visited the factory, did you get new toilet seats etc, or was it just like any other customer visit?
Koeketiene
Well-known member
sailorman
Well-known member
Or a cock-up
Colvic Watson
Well-known member
DownWest
Well-known member
Bit like some the other home build threads. We will see you in 10+ years.
Whitelighter
Active member
Who said I'd build it myself.
Plenty of custom yards around who will do a top notch job
Plenty of custom yards around who will do a top notch job
