"Top ten turkeys" any takers?

Re: \"Top ten turkeys\" any takers?

I was also amazed!

Macgregor 26! No good at sailing, not much better at being a mobo.

Phenominal example of excellent marketing though. They shift those things by the hundred in the states.
 
Re: \"Top ten turkeys\" any takers?

Which raises the question whats a Turkey?

Answer 1 - A useless boat that doesn't sell and no one likes.

or Answer 2- A boat that the builder went bust making (either not enough demand or poor management) and hence only available secondhand sometimes refered to as a MAB

or Answer 3 - A boat that 30,000 people like enough to buy but some purist or self appointed expert decides its a Turkey sometimes referred to as a Macgreggor or a Bavaria or an AWB!!
 
Re: \"Top ten turkeys\" any takers?

GM IV?

IIRC The first owner hated her & had bits redesigned halfway through his first long trip in her.

I seem to remember that hardmouthed and tender were two of his more repeatable descriptions
 
Re: \"Top ten turkeys\" any takers?

It's not the boat, it's the way some of them have been fitted out.
Poor space utilisation,
Height of seats / bunks
access to engine / fittings - sea-cocks
etc.
Boat fitters can still learn a lot from caravan fitters!
 
Re: \"Top ten turkeys\" any takers?

I would respectfully suggest it was learning too muich from the caravan fitters that did for large sections of the British boat building industry in the first place: sprayed flock hull sides and decorative strip bought from B&Q by the yard spring to mind. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif
 
Re: \"Top ten turkeys\" any takers?

[ QUOTE ]
I would respectfully suggest it was learning too muich from the caravan fitters that did for large sections of the British boat building industry in the first place: sprayed flock hull sides and decorative strip bought from B&Q by the yard spring to mind. /forums/images/graemlins/shocked.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

I think that the British boat industry suffered from the same problems as the car and motorcycle industries. A combination of high labour costs along with a laziness and lack of innovation in product development.

e.g. Colvic and others selling boring 'old man's' fishing boats whilst the French were developing sexy Peche Promenades that now sell over here by the bucketload.

In the sailing boat market the continentals brought in changes in manufacturing techniques and AWB product that, whilst people may take a high ground view of, clearly sells like hot cakes. You only have to sail J's, X's, Hanses, Jens and Bens then sail a British boat of the eighties to see the huge stepforward in performance and handling as well as room.

For me it was the same old story of poor management that damaged the British sailing boat industry.
 
Re: \"Top ten turkeys\" any takers?

I wouldnt describe the McG as a Turkey. Upside down in a force 5 breeze they look more like a whale.
 
Re: \"Top ten turkeys\" any takers?

I made no reference to the quality of the fittings. I am not a caravan'er but have looked around a few and noted that they do make practical use of all the available space, there are a few boats that do but the majority don't.
 
Re: \"Top ten turkeys\" any takers?

I absolutely agree, 'Robyn'. In regard to the major players who went under it was poor management, lack of r&d, lack of investment in new facilities and British labour malais. We collectively buried our heads in the sand for years with the excuse: 'only British boats are built properly'. But even that was only partly true and that 'part' was probably, with hindsight, over-built.

However, there were a number of smaller builders who were turning out some pretty shoddy stuff which sold well but lasted badly.

I wonder how history will judge the current state of world boat building?
 
Re: \"Top ten turkeys\" any takers?

Not fully true. Remember going to Birchwood in the early 80's to talk about supplying swtchgear. Went through a massive factory, totally deserted, due to the pound to dollar exchange rate the American market collapsed, At the time they had been supplying something like 3000 boats a year, Westerly got hit by the same thing hence the massive complex at Waterlooville. It left them with massive factories, workforces and investment, but no turnover. Same thing happened with Bosnia, all the Germans kepted there boats there, remember at the time 75% of Sealine production stopped overnight as it was for Germany, took over a year to clear, and get production back.
Did not Hurley bring in production lines, pre-made interior fittings, moulded head linning, in the 60's my Halcyon has the same from 1970, all the same build method as a modern AWB.

Things are not all bad design or build, a lot is total lack of support to English manufacture.

Brian
 
Re: \"Top ten turkeys\" any takers?

[quote

In the sailing boat market the continentals brought in changes in manufacturing techniques and AWB product that, whilst people may take a high ground view of, clearly sells like hot cakes. You only have to sail J's, X's, Hanses, Jens and Bens then sail a British boat of the eighties to see the huge stepforward in performance and handling as well as room.

For me it was the same old story of poor management that damaged the British sailing boat industry.

[/ QUOTE ]

Nothing changes. In historical terms the best and fastest Royal Navy ships were captured French ones. All British ships suffered from poor supplies due to bad management (crooked merchants and pursers) and rot as they always transfered the apparently sound curved timbers, ribs etc from old ships to new ones ensuring that any rot spores were also transfered. In design terms they just was not as fast.

Fred Drift - The one thing the RN got right was training and speed of firing broadsides until Jutland where again superior ship design and accuracy of gunnery made the RN think again with the famous comment "There seems to be something wrong with our Bl**dy ships today".
 
Re: \"Top ten turkeys\" any takers?

Dragons.

£100K for a cold molded version, no galley, no loo, no anything, accept a nutter driving it and especially if he hears a big bang ~ thereafter the ColRegs don't apply to him and he will shout things like "Can't you see I'm racing"!!

Peter.
 
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