Am I dreaming or what?
 

I finally got a chance to read my new Powerboat today, only to find an incredible article called “DRAGON FLIES”. When I say incredible, I mean incredible in the sense of the most outrageous form of stupidity and ripoff combined in modern day times!

It seems that the buyer of a brand new and very expensive boat was not satisfied with the performance he was promised, so he went and forked out ANOTHER $200,000.00 (that is another two hundred thousand dollars) to a speed shop to make it right so he could get the performance he was orignially promised.

The situation is so ridiculous that I don’t even know where to begin to address the absurdity of it all. It would seem that the buyer never drove the boat before he bought it or he would have absolutely noticed the lackluster performance. Perhaps the gorgeous model that Cigarette employs, you know the one in the thong bikini with the incredible sex appeal... adorned with diamonds around her naval, switched teams and became a salesperson for Dragon. This is the only reason that I can think of on short notice that could possibly induce a seemingly intelligent buyer to fantasize to this extreme. Based on this alone, this magnificent boat should perform to the buyer’s expectations! After looking at the pictures in the article, I myself was duly impressed with the paint job. Therefore, this boat must really perform!? Why go for a test ride, the buyer read the brochure, the boat is the newest technology, the statement on the homepage of the Dragon Powerboats website even encapsulates the excitement to its zenith, “It’s here….. the performance powerboat you were promised….”

Re: Am I dreaming or what?
 

I read that also and could not beleave that the boat only did in the 70s to start with. and the guy didn't just return the boat to Dragon and tell them to stick it you know where. and then spend another 200k and his wife was happy!!!!!!!!! where can I find one of those. There is something very wrong with that picture. I also find it odd that Dragon has let it be told in power boat. do you think anyone will buy one now?

Re: Am I dreaming or what?
 

You might want to read this thread :bunny:

http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...ghlight=dragon

Re: Am I dreaming or what?
 

Ooops, I forgot to mention that on Dragon's website on a page called "Principal Characteristics" it emphatically states -

Re: Am I dreaming or what?
 

so very sorry did not see that other thread and just read the mag today out on the boat, a friend gave me the mag to read. I don't have a sub. sorry

Re: Am I dreaming or what?
 

Thanks for the heads up Racegirl. I just read the entire thread and I can't stop laughing. It makes my initial post even more realistic. We as a group had better wake up and smell the coffee!

Re: Am I dreaming or what?
 

No problem. Just tryin to help :bunny:

Re: Am I dreaming or what?
 

Yeah pretty amazing (in a bad way). :eek: :rolleyes: I just shake my head and move on. :cool:

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Who was the original installer of the 525's? CanDo

Re: Am I dreaming or what?
 

Guys! The owner of the boat purchased the boat new from Dragon and was NOT rigged by Dragon. I believe (not 100% sure) that the original riggging was done by Tres Martin. Apparently there is alot more to this story than we know.

Let's cut the owner some slack here....he bought the boat of his dreams and maybe it wasn't all he expected or what Dragon promised. He did have the boat re-rigged by Bob Teague and put in some big power and 6's and now the boat rocks to say the least. It is an unfortunate situation, but do any of us know all the facts? No we don't.

In the end, the owner is a very happy customer and that's what is important :D

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I hear you Semper Fi, except for one thing you said, "that's what is important."That is not what is important! What is important is the fact that the buyer screwed and he let the manufacturer off the hook, the rigger off the hook and finally got his a** reamed by a speed shop to the tune of $200K. If we as a group continue to let the marine industry treat us like second class citizens, then this type of thing will become commonplace.

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I see your concerns, however, we don't know if Dragon and/or the original rigger made some kind of restitution or not. i can only assume that there was some king of compensation to the owner of the boat. He seems to now be a very happy camper and he doesn't say anything negative about the situation.

It is already "commonplace" that we are treated like sh*t from the marine industry as a whole. I am getting out of boating for awhile myself and moving on. That's what is important to me. :D

Re: Am I dreaming or what?
 

No bash intended or directed at anyone in particular, but I find it confusing that this has caused such a commotion here on the boards.

The boat in question did not deliver the speed it was supposed to. The owner, instead of letting it "ruin" his life, decided to upgrade and achieve more speed yet. It is an ongoing quest for most in this addicting hobby to gain more speed. How many times do we see boats delivered with moderate power, upgraded and "boosted" to deliver more speed. The owner in question took an unfortunate situation and turned it into positive accomplishment, IE. MORE SPEED.
Who knows, maybe he really doesn't have much more money tied up in it if he had commissioned it with the HP1000s and Sixes.

And to flame a person for spending money on this quest for MORE SPEED??? There are many boats out there with prices attached that are just ludicrous. IMO opinion he shouldn't have to justify to anyone the money spent on his boat (except maybe his wife, lol).

Again, I am not pointing a finger at anyone in particular, the other thread had many contributors, just seems strange to bash a guy for putting together a boat that delivers serious performance. Kinda like raining on ones parade. I can see the concern from those stating the manufacturer should be held accountable, but like Semper has stated, the owner is HAPPY.

I'm off my soapbox now.

Sam

Re: Am I dreaming or what?
 

Very well put SAM, I couldn't have said it better. Jeff

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I agree with Gerrard. The only thing important is that Eric is happy. I'm sure if in the end he wasn't then maybe the info would've been explained in detail. But I can tell you this about Eric, he wouldn't talk sh!t about someone if his mouth was full of it.

*You say Eric got screwed and let the manufacturer off the hook....However, this is not the case. Craig and the crew at Dragon took every mesure to insure Eric was happy in the end.
*You say the rigger got off the hook...Well, as stated before Eric chose not to go the route of bad mouthing a well known rigging shop who does not rig for Dragon anymore, which settled that issue.
*You say he got reamed by Teague...Eric did a lot of searching before going with Teague. He got a full reimbursment for the previous motors/drives. I don't think it's anyones place to say how someone else spends their money.

And in the end, Eric got a CUSTOM (that's the key word in all of this) boat that runs in the low 100's for under the price of other high end manufacturers boats.

Re: Am I dreaming or what?
 

That`s exactly what I got from the article.

Gee, who runs that speed shop and what magazine does he work for ??? Pretty good advertisement, if nothing else...

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Well, from what I have heard and read is that Dragon is supposed to be a custom premier top of the line builder and Tres Martin is supposed to really know what he is doing with boats from his past rigging and racing experiance. So what I'd like to know is why did this advertised 90mph boat not even come close? What went wrong and why did Dragon or Tres not try to fix this problem? Not bashing just wondering why they were not given the chance.
thanks, Mike

Re: Am I dreaming or what?
 

I think the owner wanted the boat re-rigged here in California--since he lives in California. I think Dragon stepped up to the plate and did something to make the owner happy. As far as the original rigger is concerned, there is apprently alot more to this story than we know.

Re: Am I dreaming or what?
 

If I were Dragon, I wouldn't want a different shop to rig a boat, just for this reason. Put out a beautiful boat, and have it not live up to it's potential is bad press for the builder.

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Thank you. Finally, someone who understands what I have been driving at since day one, "WE ARE GETTING SCREWED BY THE MARINE INDUSTRY AS A WHOLE!" The tragedy is that we keep taking it on the chin and do nothing about it!

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We, "the consumer" arer screwing ourselves too by paying the rediculous prices of boats. It is partially our fault.

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There does seem to be an abnormal amount of shady characters and horror stories in the marine industry. But I've never personally had a bad experience with a mechanic. The two mechanics I"ve ever used have been nothing but up-front, honest, reliable, and cool people that I actually have hung out with after meeting them through them working on my boats. Never had a bad experience with a boat company either, of course, I don't buy new boats...I don't buy new cars either. I don't like the 25-40% hit you take the instant it leaves the showroom. And I've dealt with many aftermarket sales personel (that also sell new) and have become good friends with them with great results on purchases.

Does anyone know the actual mark up on a Cigarette, Fountain, Donzi, Outterlimits, Skater, Nor-Tech, Spectre, etc. etc. I don't think they are "cheap" to build. Not defending the prices, I too wish boat prices were less. But you have to look at build percent/profit margin. Do you agree that Lamborghini's or Ferrari's are overpriced? They are limited edition super cars that are rare and hand built. Just like our beloved speed boats.

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I don't know why this situation has not come to light into the public "eye". For some reason this is being kept quiet, as far as the owner goes, he kept his moth shut and wanted the boat fixed---and that's what he got. :drink: He got a full credit for the engine and drive package originally purchased for the boat and moved onto bigger power.

I recieved a PM from Tres Martin today. He basically told me "his side" of the story. I want to make it clear that I was just telling the story of what I knew about the situation. My aplogies to Tres, it was in no way to harm him or his business. I actually met Tres at a OSO party a few years ago during the Miami show and he was a cool guy to talk with. His reputation from what I know is exceptional. What I will also say is that this is a public forum and maybe the people involved, Tres, Dragon, etc... can tell their side of the story. My ONLY intention was to say that the owner, EricT, is now a very happy customer with his boat and that's what really does matter. It's his boat and his money.

Here's a few things Tres had to say. (I will not "aire out" the rest he had to say.)
"Boat #1 goes well over 95 after I set it up. Boat #2 runs 98 with 525s. Ther are a lot more to this story that what people know. I have been watching OSO very closely with desapoitemnt, I take a lot of pride in what I do."
"Dragon # 2 is very elegantly rigged and becasue I got to do it my way, it is in Ocala and it runs well over 95MPH"
"boat #3 was started by us in Fort Lauderdale when it had to go to the interior shop and stayed there for 2 months. In that time we moved to Ocala. I told Craig to bring it to me so I could finish and I would also dial it in when it was finished. They said they did not want to bring it here and they would do it there and deliver it to the customer. "

Re: Am I dreaming or what?
 

I have been waiting for Tres to mention this...I think we all know the man knows his stuff.

Here's a few things he had to say. (I will not "aire out" the rest he had to say.)
"Boat #1 goes well over 95 after I set it up.Boat #2 runs 98 with 525s. Ther are a lot more to this story that what people know. I have been watching OSO very closely with desapoitemnt, I take a lot of pride in what I do."

Re: Am I dreaming or what?
 

I think it basically boils down to this:

1) if you're in the market for a Dragon, I don't think this one instance is going to affect your desision after going and looking at them and reviewing their history so far.
2) We all know Tres has been around a long time and has a very successful career with performance boats (rigging and racing). This issue isn't going to hurt his business. Maybe a mistake was made, maybe there's more to the story. But I'm sure if you were looking for someone to rig your boat and Tres was an option and you brought this up he'd sit you down and explain it to you. Again, look at his history.
3) Eric did what was right for him. He went with Teague to rig it, it came out awesome. Do what is right for you.
4) Unless you think you're going to be directly affected by any of this. It's none of our business. And if it is, then call the above people and find out.
5) End of story.

That's how I see it.

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I will only post this once, and I will not get into answering the drama. Erics boat was slated to show up at my shop to be rigged right after the 04 world championships, but it never showed. Everytime I was told it was coming, it never came.When it did, It had to leave again for reasons not to be said.When I received it someone else had started rigging it, so I started with cutting the transom where they wanted, and got motors in with some stuff run to the engines, then It had to go to the interior shop. It stayed there for several months, because it did not fit like boat #2. By then we relocated, so when it was ready they did not want to bring it up here to me. They had someone else to finish and they did their own testing and set up. I never saw the boat.I offered to help dial it in but they said they did it. Its easy to blame someone after they have left the area. Thats why I left south Fla. Too much BS.

Re: Am I dreaming or what?
 

:eek: ...how's it going Tres...hope you and the fam are doing well

mike