John a few years back I remember someone telling me of a guy who came to you for a 30 foot hull. He made a new top deck for it because he wanted a center console. I saw the boat he did a great job on it. I think it was called Colorblind. I was never sure whether the hull was new from you or he found an old one. I just mention the story to show you what lengths someone wll go to inorder to custom a boat to their specs. The question of whether to stamp your name on the kit is a tough one. I would only sell them in stage 2 form as Avanti has it. Motor package to be installed by buyer and hardware like cleats and such also.

Financing would not be available on an incomplete boat.

Insurance may be abother issue.

It's a bad idea. The possible dilution to brand recognition offsets the potential short-term sales increases. Additionally, the inherent risk of being sued due to someone else's mistake in rigging is pretty high in this rather litigious society. You could arrange to sell unfinished boats to a select group of rigging shops or race teams the way that Skater does if you want and let them finish it. Otherwise, there is too much downside.

I think its a great idea. Just like bulldog said --change the top deck to set it apart, possibly offer seat frames--let them pick uphulstery and get done. As far as the x dimension and locations you could have templates included in with the kit, let them cut it out and mount everything. I would think you would want to keep it as generic as possible so that you could have some 'stock', and they could make it as custom as possible. The wiring harness idea probably isn't bad if you're going to be making them for the Superboat line anyway. I can see where this would be great for the racers and poker runners. The legal/insurance issues I think could be overcome with the right waiver in the sales contract. but a good question for a good lawyer still.
What sizes would you be looking at offering??

I get all that brand dilution, safety, whatever stuff, but: All Long Island boat builders, John included, would sell me (more or less gladly) just the hull. It's pretty common in the industry. I don't see what's special here.

What might be special is the marketing idea: Selling a hull with a new twist: As a "kit." Low pricepoint (say, less than 50K for a Y2Kit30), and the possibility to upsell the prospect. Same hull, different positioning. A plain hull targets the dealer/rigger, a kit targets the end user. Who might never finish his project ...

Come to think of it, you can buy a brand new Kryptonite hull right on Ebay: http://www.offshoreonly.com/forums/s...threadid=51634

kit boats
 

there is a good market for a kit boat provided that the manufacturer can offer a package that is easy to complete....i think a boat manufacturer could sell quite a few 26-28 foot single engine deep vee boats as a "turnkey minus" package (to use a term from the kit car industry) meaning a complete boat minus the engine and exhaust....this would be an especially attractive package to many of us that can do our own engine build up but don't want to do the steering, electrical, upholstery, or glass work... the boat builder should sell the boat with a B-max drive already installed, hydraulic steering already plumbed, electrical harness wired back to the engine compartment, so all that the buyer would have to do is drop the engine in, bolt up the mounts and transom assembly, terminate the engine ignition, starting, charging, and insturment sending units, install the exhaust, plumb the fuel system and fire it up...a lot of us have the capability to build and install the engine but don't have time to engineer all of the remaining systems to finish off an offshore powerboat....just my 2 cents worth...from mike at c.t. marine inc.

Litigation Lottery:
If you manufactured the hull only and an injured person subsequently decides to sue, THEY WILL sue! Regardless of who did the rigging.

The question would be the outcome in regards to the degree of liability, which I think would probably be less if the boat was rigged by an individual.

BullFrog:frog: