your opinion/advice

[MLBURGE]

your help please,

I am in the early stages of starting a business that i intend to running by the end of the year. My business will be the manufacture of high quality fibreglass componants specifically for marine applications.

I am at present researching how well my componants would sell in the marine environment and this is where i ask for your help.
Could you please let me know which of the following componants would most interest you as a boat owner and which would not, for whatever reason. This is by no means an advert so i ask if you could think of them on a general basis and not necessarily specifically for your boat.

1. grp raked radar arch can be lowered and fit boats 25-33ft ?
2. grp upright radar arch " " "?
3. grp raked yard high mast can be lowered and provisions for fixing radar,lights.
4. grp one and two tier boarding steps with lockable compartment and locked to the pontoon' without causing damage'.
5.grp rectangular and oval tables can take four plates and universally fit to production legs.
6. gpr moulded w/c sink with counter top which could be cut to fit corners with moulded soap holder.

If you have no time to write a message could you just type what numbers you think would be useful and which would not.

I have already had some replies from the chat forum and what ive seen it looks a good idea to mould a range of grp componants for specific makes and models of boat / arches,seating,bathing platforms etc.

If you have any comments or suggestions then please let me know.

Your time, personal opinion and any input is extremely valuable to me and is very much appreciated.

Thanks.....

 

[snowleopard]

goalposts could be a problem as the width and means of fixing would vary a great deal.

don't know about folding mini-masts- try asking the question on the stinkies' forum

pontoon steps: yes, a good idea, a lot of people need them (including us). in our case we would prefer something we could take with us that stowed easily.

i made up my own sink/worktops for the heads when building my boat. i doubt whether ther would be much demand for an off-the-shelf item as few existing boats would need one and have room for it.

tables are a reasonable idea though most people prefer the looks of the readily-available teak grating type.

for my money the big hole in the market is deck hatches: i don't want to pay lewmar prices for a deck locker lid and the available plastic moulded jobbies aren't waterproof or strong enough.

Other possibles are galley drawers, instrument pods

i wonder who your target market is? professional builders would mostly have their own custom moulds, amateur builders like me are generally too mean or independant to buy what they can make themselves. that leaves professional and amateur post-fitters for whom the ability to get a good looking result for little effort might be a decider.

having built 3 boats from scratch in grp i'm always interested in techniques and have occasionally thought along the same lines myself.

good luck

 

[steve_cronin]

Have you thought about instrument pods (across the top of the hatch ) and maybe (due to the British climate) hard top (like sportscars) replacements for canvas sprayhoods?. Also on deck fender lockers for the larger boat and maybe O/D gas bottle lockers?

My personal choice would be a "Dock Locker" to take folding bikes, barbecues etc. about six feet wide by 30in high by 24in wide with a hinged rainproof, padlockable lid but thety wouldn't be ever so popular with UK marina operators due to lack of space.

Steve Cronin

 

[yoda]

How about self contained gas bottle lockers. Seems to be an ever present subject of discussion on the forum. Nothing flash or too expensive mind.

Yoda

 

[Strathglass]

Why not look at making spiniker poles somewhere between the normal alloy ones and the exotic lightweight high tech carbon fibre ones. If you could find a way of making poles the cost of the alloy ones but with a weight somewhere between alloy and carbon fibre there is a vast market.

Iain

 

[jwatson]

Steve
All depends on where they are situated I suppose??

 

[extravert]

There is a need for replacement bow sprits for boats with asymetric spinnakers. The composite ones are carbon fibre. I know it is not easy to produce in this material, but they are fairly small and a simple shape (compared to Team Phillips' hulls anyway). They are easy to break and the cost of genuine spares is unbelievable. A spare from a 9m boat of someone I know was about £1000, a lot of wonga for a pole with a few fittings.

 

[jimi]

Have you thought about valise type containers for deflated dinghies?