Sealine for sale again

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Gentlemanracer said:
Deep breath... Boat manufacturing is, by comparison to popular automotive, a cottage industry. The volume just isn't there to refine every element of design or manufacture. Faults are pretty much assured, makes used buying arguably the smarter option? So now its warranty that separates the selling propositions. How to drive out cost, easy, have a new option. Take a look into any marina; compared to a car park (no, not airport ones!) it's like still life! I've managed a few trips out in the Solent so far, billy no mates time and complete freedom. Perfection, to be honest! A solution to a fuel and boat cost challenge to me is blinking obvious... Offer a no power train option, moor it up and enjoy boating & pontoon life with loads more room, no fuel etc, etc, etc bills. Sure don't suit me but it would be low money and there's always the charter blaster option to chase away left over funds and inevitable cabin fever!!
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Nice idea but a boat is the romantic notion that you can cast off and go...anywhere. Whether you do isn't the point. It's the fact that you could, if, if if.
Without engines it would just be a floating box: might as well buy a house or a caravan.

OTOH you could attach one of those sticky-up pole things and tie the washing to it and call it a sail boat maybe. :D
 
Many boat builders have gone pop though haven't they?

Some of them made good boats, Birchwood, Stevens, Scand, and some of them came back to life again!

Most spares are still obtainable, or can be fabricated, such is the cottage industry that is boats.

There's a fair chance Sealine may come back though...
 
No Regrets said:
Henryf, I did actually comment on how sad I was for the owners on the forum, or are you blind too?


It's an opinion I'm quite entitled to, and frankly, if you don't like it Henry, you can do one.

This is like being in a locked room with one retard after another coming along saying the same thing, without knowing what the hell they're talking about.

Seriously, read the fricking post, it's not offensive in any way.
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Ordinarily I would use this space on the page to respond to you comments.








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Gentlemanracer said:
Deep breath... Boat manufacturing is, by comparison to popular automotive, a cottage industry. The volume just isn't there to refine every element of design or manufacture. Faults are pretty much assured, makes used buying arguably the smarter option?
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That is what Sealine did, bought volume production methods to boat building, everything was done to reduce production time, Tom was a production engineer not a boat builder. That's why originally everything was standard, be it nav equip or AC power, all boats were run on test tank, water spray tested for leaks, maximum output for plant, at minimum labour cost. They introduced the use of a professional designer, Roger had production car knowledge, he designed the Metro.

Boats left the production lines in 1995 every 6 days 210, 240 :7 days 270, 310, 330, :8 days 360A, :9 days 360S in Jan 1995 they made 29 boats in 3 weeks, record was fitting out a 450-002 from bare hull in 2 1/2 days.

Brian
 
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I wasn't too impressed with your original crass response because you misunderstood a clearly worded post either.

Lets move on indeed...
 
halcyon said:
That is what Sealine did, bought volume production methods to boat building, everything was done to reduce production time, Tom was a production engineer not a boat builder. That's why originally everything was standard, be it nav equip or AC power, all boats were run on test tank, water spray tested for leaks, maximum output for plant, at minimum labour cost. They introduced the use of a professional designer, Roger had production car knowledge, he designed the Metro.



Boats left the production lines in 1995 every 6 days 210, 240 :7 days 270, 310, 330, :8 days 360A, :9 days 360S in Jan 1995 they made 29 boats in 3 weeks, record was fitting out a 450-002 from bare hull in 2 1/2 days.

Brian
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Brian, you knowledge is fascinating about sealine, I do hope they don't owe you too much. Last year I went on a factory visit with a friend and his father who are both in small time manufacturing, we discussed many angles on or tour around the factory and asked many questions, what we did see was innovation at a high level but we also saw why in our view the standard of finish is what it is, please anyone I'm not knocking sealine at all but in a short view the modular build, the time they gave the staff to build a boat along with extras required at point of order didn't allow any extra time in the build slot.
This in both our opinion is why the finish is what it is plain and simple, my friend also owns a sealine f43 so by no means is he against the product. What I'm getting at is ther was little or no time for snagging and boats just went out on the day the bean counter said it had to, where it ended up for example at hamble point or hamble yacht services when ancasta were dealers, they were presented with an unfinished boat with poor wiring and leaky windows. Moody ff this forum had a new sc35, the windows leaked, even the water inlet hose on the drive was not connected to the drive, now that's just a joke and in my view has contributed to where they are now, you can't build and sell a product at that level and expect buyers to be happy.
 
volvopaul said:
Brian, you knowledge is fascinating about sealine, I do hope they don't owe you too much. Last year I went on a factory visit with a friend and his father who are both in small time manufacturing, we discussed many angles on or tour around the factory and asked many questions, what we did see was innovation at a high level but we also saw why in our view the standard of finish is what it is, please anyone I'm not knocking sealine at all but in a short view the modular build, the time they gave the staff to build a boat along with extras required at point of order didn't allow any extra time in the build slot.
This in both our opinion is why the finish is what it is plain and simple, my friend also owns a sealine f43 so by no means is he against the product. What I'm getting at is ther was little or no time for snagging and boats just went out on the day the bean counter said it had to, where it ended up for example at hamble point or hamble yacht services when ancasta were dealers, they were presented with an unfinished boat with poor wiring and leaky windows. Moody ff this forum had a new sc35, the windows leaked, even the water inlet hose on the drive was not connected to the drive, now that's just a joke and in my view has contributed to where they are now, you can't build and sell a product at that level and expect buyers to be happy.
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Thats what I heard. Shame is, earlier smaller Sealines seem to last quite well, but used examples of slightly larger boats have cupboard doors falling off, wobbly hinges and so on. Look at 40 year old brooms, and they may be looking jaded and worn, but the things hang together! Didn't stop Broom going down though did it, in fairness!

Some manufacturers ought to look at making smaller faster moving boats to 'pay the xx's'
 
volvopaul said:
Brian, you knowledge is fascinating about sealine, I do hope they don't owe you too much. Last year I went on a factory visit with a friend and his father who are both in small time manufacturing, we discussed many angles on or tour around the factory and asked many questions, what we did see was innovation at a high level but we also saw why in our view the standard of finish is what it is, please anyone I'm not knocking sealine at all but in a short view the modular build, the time they gave the staff to build a boat along with extras required at point of order didn't allow any extra time in the build slot.
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I used to get the build sheets, and found Jan 1995, taking 330-019, this was time allowance to complete and sort out faults

Finished build Fri 06/01/95,
Clean Mon 09/01/95
Repair Tue 10/01/95
Fault & Rectify 11/01/95
Pool test 12/01/95 includes water spray for window leaks

The boat was 1 of 7 that went to Spurkel Germany, that month.

You did not want to be around if Tom found a fault, either in your equipment or the boat build. After Brunwick took over production methods went down hill, special and odd things came, all adding labour, but more critically it reduced the number of boats built at Kidderminster, thus it's profitability.

Brian
 
Thundergod said:
Regarding No Regrets. i read his post and i was´nt that upset about it i must say. Maybe he could have been writing it in a kinder way but i read it as "sorry for Sealine and the owners, but i was never a big fan of their boats" correct?
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yeah, you just have to remember that 'no regrets' is a huge brand snob, so you shouldn't be surprised by his attitude.
 
When someone has a different opinion to you on a forum, it is either exactly that (in this case) or the person is a troll (which he obviously isn't). Either way, people responding endlessly about it only exacerbates everyone and gets in the way of the real subject, what you are all crazy about; boats!

Stop bickering and get back to the subject....or start a new thread in the Lounge away from this one, and bicker about this point as much as you like.
 
Looking at the discussion here I think its worth debating the business model element for any boat builder....I haven't worked in the boat industry for a while, but having been away from it the situation is obvious for all in it.

On the business model side a couple of things have happened since 2008. The size of the market has reduced significantly and is continuing to weaken. This over time puts all the brands under pressure, irrespective of the product design philosophy and their quality reputation. The business model requires large amounts of capital continuously put in for new models against profit margins at the wholesale end in the 20-30s. Fundamentally, all the boat builders of the world are dealing with a business model that in the main doesn't work, alongside overcapacity on the supply side. All of the British brands have the same challenges. Demand is what is really needed to match supply, or supply capacity needs to come out.

For example, Hatteras in the US are up for sale, they have a very good reputation for quality and make mainly largers yachts. The only escape is to find a niche at the top end (and hope there are enough customers in it) or to go for volume-price at the bottom. With the changes in society around the world, Sealine being positioned more alongside the wealthy middle class is a harder deal than chasing billionaires for fewer bigger boats per year. Both ends of the motor yacht market are difficult. The Italians are struggling and they were the powerhouse for larger yacht sales in 2004-2007.

The skills the people have in all 4 of the UK brands is very impressive. We should remember that in context of the remarks made re Sealine. We should also remember they are making hand made products, more like houses than cars. All of the brands have challenges in this area as the volumes are so small. The issue is not a lack of skills or the ability to build really nice boats.

All of the UK boat brands have lost much more money than they have made in the last few years. So nobody is really having a good time on the business side. Unfortunately, some owners have different views on the financial side over time. It's an industry where the owner needs very deep pockets and is in it for the long term, no matter how painful.

Fingers crossed Sealine finds a very wealthy enthusiast or an investor that wants something to join to their portfolio of other businesses. The owners and the staff are really passionate and it would be nice to see them doing what they love, building boats and enjoying them.
 
We went on a tour of the Sealine factory early in 2011 and it certainly was an eye opening experience to see how the boats were built, assembled, tested and shipped. We met many of the staff along the way who all seemed happy in their roles. Several of the staff we met would have worked on our boat way back in 2003 as they were long term members of staff.

I really do feel for the people who have lost their jobs through no fault of their own. Sealine has been brought to its knees by a series of bad managerial decisions. Hopefully this will be an eye opener to the remaining british boat builders who might see that building ever bigger and more expensive boats just doesnt fit with todays financial markets.

I really do hope that a buyer can be found for what remains of Sealine. It will be a sad day if they finally close the factory doors for good. Over the years Sealine have introduced countless hundreds of people into boating through their range of boats for all budgets. It is just a shame that they lost sight along the way of where their loyal customer base started :(
 
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