Offshoreonly.com - looking to develop large race cats eventually

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Once you learn about the boat business , take a week off and then quit - haha.

Irwin Jacobs, the bilionaire owner of Genmar (which is the world's largest privately owned boat company), gave his key to succes:

"Fill a need."

Is there a great need for another line of large racing/pleasure catamarans? No.

That said, follow your dream. But do it with your eyes wide open. As someone else pointed out, your proposed cat line will be up against Skater and MTI. You'll be fighting for market share top-flight "newcomers" like Mystic and Doug Wright.

Your customer base, though well-to-do, is tiny.

Is your goal to get rich? If so, find another business. (And fill a need). Is your goal to create an amazing catamaran. If so, follow your dream knowing that it might not make you rich, that it might well go the other way, but that you are doing what you love.

My goal is to build a world class cat, that is competitive with the likes of skater,Mti etc... I want to develop this boat company based on my passion for offshore boats. Getting rich would be great, but my goal is like i stated before to develop an awesome offshore cat(s) and follow my passion and love for offshore boats.

There are lots of boat building forums out there and lots of info available. Start scouring the web and you'll find tons.

The best way to learn how to build big boats is to start building small boats- bigger one's are basically just a matter of scale. Modells, as suggested are an excellent place to start too. Build something in your garage that's 18 or 20' long and move up from there. many of the smaller-boat racers build their own hulls so there's probably alot of info available there.

Quote:

Originally Posted by offshorecatcrazy (Post 2293891)

I thank you all for your encouragement and words of advice. As to building cats for pleasure/poker runs I'd be up for that also. Almost every company that has race cats has a pleasure version and I think if i could get established and off and running I'd persue this avenue.
What I plan to do is graduate with a very respected business degree, get a job with Skater,MTI, Mystic, Nor-tec etc...then once I learn about the boat business and gain some friends through the industry I will try to break away and start my own company.
Ideally I just need two things Money lol and recognition in a product that people will want. My goals for my company are Craftsmanship,Performance and Innovation. I plan on producing three models in the future, a 34' Race cat, light with capacity for some big engines. 44' Race/Pokerrun cat with class leading performance and a 55' Race cat for the European offshore Racing series. Most of this sounds like a pipe dream, but Im really going to try and make it work.

I still have a dream to produce a nice 28-30 powerboat, but I wasn't going to starve trying right out of school. I just work hard and try to keep my eyes open for oppurtunities while I make enough to enjoy boating. I've heard most people who work in the boating industry no longer enjoy "boating" because its like going to work. IMO - I don't think that MTI or Nortech gives two chits about a business degree. I think they would be more interested in someone with a technical education in fiberglass, composits, or marine technician. I looked into all and they are very cheap and can take from 6 weeks (fiberglass) to 1 year (mechanic). I did go to school with a guy who installed stereos in cars, who then went on to installing stereos in bajas, who then went on to installing stereos in fountains, who then went on to selling fountains, who then went on to operating/managing a dealership and becoming the biggest fountain and formula dealership in north Texas (LegendMarine).

Do a search on the Forum for "splashing", it's certainly worked for a lot of companies! :D

Something you might want to consider is taking a tour of the Formula plant in Decatur, Indiana. It is an incredible example of craftsmanship and detail run by family and integrity. The employees enjoy their jobs and are very enthusiastic from top to bottom. They may not build cats, but I think they would be very interested in accommodating someone with potential such as yourself. Maybe you could integrate a trip into one of your class projects. I could give you names to contact and a personal reference if you are interested.

Another person you might want to contact is Phil @ Lipship in Miami. Very highly respected and a very personable gentleman. He arranged a tour of the Cigarette plant for me and a buddy even though they were closed preparing for the Miami boat show last February.

Here are a few more boat hulls I came up with in sketch form though

http://i20.tinypic.com/v7tfo4.jpg
http://i20.tinypic.com/2afn9f4.jpg
http://i20.tinypic.com/10cn913.jpg

Man, nice drawings. You seem to have some talent there kid. If this is what you want I say stick with it. I have thought about the same kind of idea's before also. It's really a long shot though as I haven't gone to school so I'm a little shy on the design part. Sometime in the near future I would like to open my own fiberglass shop and plan on having a "special" part in the back corner for my own build. I plan on building a small, 18' or so outboard cat and just see how it goes from there. I'm kinda like you, I have a passion for high performance boats/race boats but had kids right out of school and it kept me from going into college. No regrets though. Just gonna take some time. I suggest you also start out by designing and building a small 18' or so, get that dailed in just right and move up from there. BTW... those sketches look really cool.

Brandon

Looks like you should be in the business of doing boat illiustrations more than boat building.