What little things would you like to see the mfg's do??
 

Creature comforts, or little things to make a boat more "user friendly". I will start with a few ideas.

Bow lights, the flip up lights clean things up, but then somebody has to crawl out there and flip them up. LED strips are bullet proof and bright, it would be easy to flush mount a red and green strip into the bow, would be barely noticable but bright and trouble free.

Basic cockpit ammenities: every boat has 2 front bolsters, on the back of one a small integrated cooler. Easy to restock from the main cooler in the cabin, yet no going below to get your favorite beverage all the time. On the back of the other bolster a built in easily emptied trash receptical. no more plastic grocery bag tied to something or cans floating around the floor.

Bolster have big thick sides, make the top side flip up, not a huge storage compartment, but just enough for sunscreen, sunglasses, ball cap, a cellphone etc.

Fender holders: the billet holders are blingy in the bilge, but when it comes time to get them out, somebodies doing contortions to reach them. mold the holders into the underside front of the engine hatch, raise it a little bit when you want them and they are right there, no bending over and reachingaround running engines and spinning belts.

Pop in deviders on the back seat, you have a standard back seat for cruising, pup the big padded dividers in when doing a poker run or running hard to keep the passengers snug.

Underbolster EASILY accessible shoe compartment. Everybody takes their shoes off when getting in the boat, but then you have 5 pairs of shoes bouncing around the floor, yeah you could stick shoes in the cabin to get them out of the way, but then when you hit the dock you have 5 people all trying to fit thru a mouse hole to get their shoes at the same time.

Some good ideas there - especially the fender thing.

Also - I always loved the Cafe Racers with the bow lights integrated into the bow. The looked sleek and mean and I assume they were somewhat functional....

A built-in cooler in the swim platform. I've yet to see one and it would be nice for coving out.

Anchor lockers on the bow. EVERY boat without a windlass should have one.

A couple features I love about our 292 Islander...
1. A cabin that sleeps two adults AND the boat holds 12 people comfortably without having people crawl through a mid-cabin to get to the front.
2. Four 8"x24" fender holders built-in under the back seat. You shouldn't have to raise an engine hatch to get to them.
3. Two big storage bins inside the sunpad. They raise on gas struts and are perfect for docklines, lifejackets, etc.

I don't have a boat that really matters, but when I sit at a place on LOTO and watch the high $$ boats come and go, I see people really struggle getting in and out of their boats. Most step on seats or engine covers (and then slide over the custom paint) and look pretty awkward. If I was one of these manufacturers, I would design some kind of an electric actuated "stairs" that would somehow come out of one of the existing seats and open up so that folks could get in and out easily and safely, while not damaging the paint or interior.

I think i saw that one of the new Cats was offering that.....

having built boats the bigger question is what are you willing to pay for. all good ideas but they cost a lot in tooling and hardware fabrication. everyday I see people on here complaining about the cost of boats and all these add to that cost. this makes for a tough balancing act for the builder.

How about lower their prices!

Been looking at wakeboats lately. New Nautique G23 looks perfect except the pricetag. Same with the malibu and mastercraft. Holy moly!

Some great ideas mentioned.

However, I think when your list of wants becomes too long, a performance boat is probably not for you. People use their boats differently but my point is that a true performance boat is just that. If I HAD to have a lot of comforts, I would be in a different style boat.

My .02

Anchor locker up front......no way, unless I know for sure that the anchor/chain/ line is not going to move.

I don't like the idea of storing stuff in the engine compartment.

Cooler on the swim platform.....the way I run my rig, I can't image that being a possibility.

Large passenger capacity....that's like wishing a Corvette could seat six.

I would like to see a manufacturer install the v birth so it's actually level while static in the water while docked.

[QUOTE=Plowtownmissile;3669786]A built-in cooler in the swim platform. I've yet to see one and it would be nice for coving out.

Anchor lockers on the bow. EVERY boat without a windlass should have one.



Formula FasTech has both of these features...

The last foot or so of the engine hatch cover has a hinged storage area (with built-in drains) that flips forward from the swim platform. When I go to the beach I throw a couple of bags of ice in there and it's an awesome beer cooler!


http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...KI/FasTech.jpg


The front of the bow has a built-in anchor cabinet...

http://i1091.photobucket.com/albums/...I/FasTech2.jpg