PBO Article

[billmacfarlane]

It isn't often that an article in PBO starts me breaking out in a cold sweat but one did this month. Anyone read the piece about the faulty RB Starlight mouldings ? For the benefit of those who haven't , the RB hulls mouldings were subcontracted and there appears to have been a faulty batch post 1999 resulting in a total breakdown of the laminate rendering the hulls uninsureable and effectively wrecks. The cure is to remove the hull from the inner foam lining and put on a new one. Sound expensive ? The poor owners are having to finance it themselves. The cost must be mindboggling . The reason for my coldsweat ? I put a deposit on one late in 2000 but withdrew it for various reasons - I thought it was far too expensive for what it was and went Swedish instead , the company putting up the price by 14 % after I put the deposit down which made me very suspicious as to the financial health of the company. When I was shown round the RB "factory" , basically a shed with hulls in various stage of completion , the sales manager told me that the hulls were moulded by Northshore. The reason for this post ? If that's the case is there a case for those hard pressed and pissed off owners to seek financial recompense from them ?

 

[Twister_Ken]

I've no idea which sub-contractor did the moulding, but it would be difficult for an owner to pursue them, because there was never any contractural relationship between owner and moulder.

 

[Chris_Robb]

As there was no contractual relationship between the owner and Norshore, you would have to proove negligence - they have a duty of care. Apparently this is very often quite difficult to prove.

I thought Norshore moulded under Lloyds supervision - could they have been negligent?

We have not actually heard what caused the problem - uncured resin - bad resin, damp conditions (unlikely) - may even need to join the resin manufacturer. A claim like this would cost more than the repairs.

Still, it would be interesting to know what caused it.

 

[davel]

I know something about this case as a friend of mine is one of the unfortunate buyers.
Northshore are NOT the moulders involved.

Dave L.

 

[Chris_Robb]

NOT NORTHSHORE

Previous post makes it clear that the moulders were NOT Northshore - we must all be careful when mentioning names if we are not sure of the facts - me included!

Interesting to know who was the molder!

 

[BKM123]

As one of the unfortunate owners I can tell you that we know exactly why the hulls failed and do intend to seek compensation despite the legal difficulties. For now, we do not wish to name names for fear of prejudicing our case. There is a good deal which would be of interest to the boating community arising from this catalogue of misery, not the least of which is the necessity to check out the financial health of a company before buying. This is one area which seems to be completely ignored by the yachting mags when they do their reviews. An interesting exercise would be to ask companies house for the latest set of filed accounts for your prospective vendor. Sadly, even this may not tell you much, the detail required of small companies (and even some of the bigger UK boat builders fall into this category) is very limited and sometimes non existent.
AS for the *shed* where the boats where built, mentioned by a previous post, it was in this very same *shed* that my hull was moulded and replaced by Rampart yachts. They have done a fine job, and she now sits afloat against a pontoon at Ocean Quay, stronger, better built and just as beautiful as when she was first delivered.

 

[david_e]

Pleased to hear that your new hull is fine. As for the other, good luck with your chase, what sprung to my mind reading Bill's posting was that in the US the lawsuits would be piling up thick and fast, on a no win no fee basis.

 

[billmacfarlane]

Good luck with the case and I hope it goes well for you.

 

[alanhowell]

As I'm looking to purchase a secondhand Starlight 35/39, I was wondering if there was any info on what to look out for, other concerns etc.
I guess that with my price range I'll be looking for one of the earlier Mark 1 versions.