bigwow
Well-Known Member
The catamaran is now sold as well
Where are they now?
- Thread starter longjohnsilver
- Start date
Aardee
Well-Known Member
I enjoyed his contributions but wouldn't want him as a customer.
Bajansailor
Well-Known Member
Definitely!
I had a survey job on his (still fairly new) St Francis sailing catamaran in Grenada some years ago - not content with waging war on the builders of his previous boats (Trader and Marlow), Gludy was now going to town with an all out assault on St Francis Marine.
Amongst his many complaints at the time was that he had delamination in one of the hulls - he was going ballistic about this.
I opined that there was no delamination, and I got barbequed by him and his loyal expert disciples at the time on his Forum Multihulls 4 Us.
Multihulls4us Forums
Eventually he grudgingly admitted that I was right, but only after getting a second opinion from somebody else.
I later told the Builder of his catamaran the story of Gludy's previous arguments with Marlow and Trader, and he was astounded - he said that if he had known about Gludy's previous track record he would have politely refused to have any dealings with him.
The Builder would have lost a sale, but it would have been worth it in the long run, as he probably lost several subsequent sales as a result of Gludy's smear campaign against him.
AndieMac
Well-Known Member
Wow, interesting comments M!
Greg2
Well-Known Member
Very interesting!
I remember the Trader saga well and some of the described defects were incredible. In fact, I remember the boat being at the London Boatshow and it looked mighty fine so the subsequent saga came as a bit of a surprise.
DAKA
Well-Known Member
I stopped posting as much for the same reason, I remember posting one short 20 second tutorial video showing how to overtake a sailing boat in a narrow channel and a few took it the wrong way .
Best wishes to all who remember me and just wish to add GC1 and Tim B to the list of AWOL
Pete
Bajansailor
Well-Known Member
@DAKA (and everybody else who is still reading, but not posting) - please don't worry about what other folk think or say - if you have something to say that you think will be a useful contribution please do go ahead and say it.
If somebody gets offended, then you can always 'ignore' them.
If somebody gets offended, then you can always 'ignore' them.
Firefly625
Well-Known Member
Best wishes to you Pete, & I do remember that thread.
BartW
Well-Known Member
Please do Bart, such a fine ship, and I‘m sure the forum members who have been fortunate enough to cruise aboard will be keen to see the mod process.
I’ve noticed on FB you are considering a move back to the Adriatic again?
Anyway, all the best for 2021, and please pass on our regards to the gorgeous E
not sure what you saw on FB,
might have been this; we go there every now and then
Genieten in Kroatië
nothing todo with Blue Angel,
not on short term, but on long term we might go back to that region with BA,
for now, we like it too much in Sardegna
pls return our best regards to your family !
D
Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
I always thought that he picked his boat builders almost as if he was spoiling for a fight right from the beginning. Trader, Marlow and St Francis were/are builders who allow a higher degree of customisation than mainstream production builders and thats a surefire recipe for ending up with a boat that has initial teething problems which the new owner and builder have to work through
If he had just gone out and bought a Princess or a Beneteau he might have had a far happier buying experience ?
petem
Well-Known Member
He had a big Squadron before the Trader and was very happy with it IIRC.
D
Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
Didnt know that!
Bajansailor
Well-Known Member
Exactly.
I find it amazing that he obviously learnt nothing from his experiences with Trader and Marlow - surely the obvious thing to have done with St Francis would have been to appoint his own project manager to oversee the construction? This would have cost a tiny fraction of the final build cost (which was significant with so much customisation).
The atmosphere on his Forum at the time when he was really laying into St Francis was similar to Trump in the Capitol, but instead of Trump egging on his followers, it was the other way around, where the disciples were egging on their leader to go to town on his Builders - I did get the impression that they really wanted him to destroy St Francis.
Paul did admit that he managed to talk potential customers out of buying a St Francis cat.
Yet later on he also admitted that he had a very fine vessel and was singing their praises to the roof tops - but the damage had been done already to the St Francis reputation.
I had a few long Skype chats with the St Francis founder, Duncan Lethbridge, and I got the impression that he was an utterly decent gentleman and honest to a fault - sadly he was murdered in his home a year or two ago.
And I am pleased to see that Gludy did not manage to destroy St Francis - they live on.
St Francis Catamarans | St Francis Bay
They even build a very neat little 20' powercat as well -
OVERVIEW | St Francis Marine
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BartW
Well-Known Member
Do you really think that? I had the impression that this guy was alway’s searching for the smallest point of discusdion or dispute..and never looking for or open for a compromise ..
D
Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
Jeez didnt know that. Who's running the company now?
D
Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
Yes but with a production line Princess, there would be fewer points of dispute precisely because the boat will have been designed and built as one of a large number of production line boats with little or no customisation
Bajansailor
Well-Known Member
I don't know.
I met their then Production Manager Jaco at Grenada Marine when I went to have a look at Suliere, Gludy's cat - Jaco had just flown from South Africa to London and then on to Grenada to attend to all the 'defects' that Gludy had found. That poor lad worked very hard for about 4 or 5 days in stifling heat - he was a star.
And he obviously liked Grenada, as he later upped sticks in South Africa and moved with his family to Grenada, where he is now the Yard Manager at Grenada Marine.
Duncan was murdered in August 2019.
Man arrested in connection with death of St Francis boat builder
D
Deleted User YDKXO
Guest
Thats horrible. Was the suspect convicted?
Bajansailor
Well-Known Member
I don't know, but I hope they threw the book at him.
Zing
Well-Known Member
I doubt it. Cops are bought. Politicians don’t fight it. A country on the edge of disaster. My S African friend was telling me only today how he shot intruders to protect his family. On another occasion was in a gun fight to prevent his car from being jacked. A violent place, especially in the bush:
Hate crime and latest attacks - LIVE feed from South Africa
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