I have admired AT boats for a while. The company is responsive to it customer base and puts out a quality product. They have also been flexible enough to survive some very bad times and are still building boats. This latest opportunity is just another example of AT thinking outside the box. I like that. I am retired, with manufacturing management background and of course performance boating. If I lived in Florida or wanted to, I would be contacting Pat and listening to his ideas. It would be challenging and fun.

Pat, don't count out retired or semi retired people. There are a lot of talented people out there. They may not need to work but may look on your opportunity as not work.

Padraig

Brian,

I don't think I am negative on anything AT? I like the brand, would love to buy a 33 or 37 and have even discussed triple OB builds. Please post me a link to being negative on AT!

That being said, the boat business is hard so while I give Pat credit for putting his product out there I am also a realist. Don't sugar coat a deal with "partnership worth millions" if the molds are idle then the company is worth very little. If you owned a car wash with 1 million in parts but not a single car getting washed then the parts are simply used parts ready to be wholesaled. If you owned a bar but it is crickets on Friday night or a pizzeria that has the best ovens but no pies being made then.......used restaurant equipment looking for a new owner.

AT's success long term needs new builds.......While it doesn't need capital (Pat notes this in his ad) it still needs to build boats. Most likely everything is paid for and the "capital" would come with the expectation that it needs a ROI. Sweat equity is a less defined ROI. Even if you found the best boat salesman ever and sliced margins razor thin I still think you would have trouble finding a couple dozen buyers a year to build their dream "sport boat." This is not an AT problem, it is an industry problem.

Let's say this "super salesman/project manager exists".........Would he want compensation based on actual sales (paid commission upon every delivery) or a minority stake in a small boat builder? Me personally, I would rather have a defined compensation plan that pays good when sales are good. The minority stake is only going to payout when the company is sold, if it ever sells. Market has shrunken to just a few players, don't see 2004 production levels ever returning.

Just finished laying up a 37 outboard boat, finished laying up a 33 hull and starting the deck this week. Started another 29 with 2 more behind it. You will finally see the 29 open bow in the next 2 weeks. Painting it now. Got a new 22 in the mold, unsold however.

As I am sure you saw we just delivered a 37 with 540s and sportmasters and a few months back a 33 with 350 Verados.

If you want to paint a picture of my business why don't you get your facts straight.

By the way I never said "partnership worth millions".

What I said was : "The candidate can get a piece of something that has cost millions for effort and time." I am sure of ONE million. TWO might be an exaggeration.

So, are you going to submit your business plan to Pat? Or perhaps a Mission Statement?

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Maybe you will be happier if you have the opportunity to go boating again.

Wait,,,,,,,,,, you said 37 with OB's!

Come on more details.

Why not?

I find it odd people are commenting and don't know what the actual details are.

If I lived in FL I'd be calling!!!

Only ever read good things about AT and Pat so this is a general comment towards the tough performance boat market.

Is anyone seriously tapping the overseas markets or is it just too hard?

We have members from overseas and read stories about performance boating, particularly in Europe where they have offshore racing. Are there U.S. manufacturers with any real presence there or is it only local boats with a handful of private imports? Huge population, some significant pockets of wealth and austentatious luxury toys, sounds a good place for high end sports boats.

Sadly, I can speak for Thailand and say the performance boat market is a definite 'no go' zone and I would suggest leaving it that way. I'd love to see it differently here but it just ain't the case. If it were any different, I'd be talking to someone about establishing a network here.

Take Thailand out of the mix, what about other parts of Asia such as Hong Kong and Singapore?

Just thinking out loud......

RR

Can't think of a reason why not seems everyone wants OB's now. Heck there are how many new OB cat builds right now?

Soooooooo twin/triple? What motors?

With all the extra space what's the plan,,,,,,,,,,

I do have one tech question, when you go to OB's on a hull originally designed for I/O what things get changed to help with the COG change?

One word.

Sunsation