New Nordic Tugs 26 Announcement - A post from SENTOA

dmcinfo

This is from a post on the South East Nordic Tug Owners Association board:

"On the front page of the July 29th Skagit Valley Herald, Nordics Tugs announced they will be starting to build the 26 foot NT again and it will be unveiled at the January 2009 Seattle Boat show. They expect it to sell for about $200,000 well equipped. The reason they state is they are receiving more inquiries for smaller model NT's including the 26 foot model and of the economy issues which are effecting the sales of larger models. Also noted is the better fuel economy of the 26 footer.
Maybe NT should work on hybrid options for its larger models next. "

GxK

Zelpha · Guest

dmcinfo, Perhaps "Sails". Sorry, Zelpha

patrick and linda · Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 3:27 pm Post subject:

i love how economy is now regarded as $200,000.

Alasgun · Guest

In regard to "economy" some folks are just further off bottom than others.
How do they compare, for me the extra 50K for a Nordic over the Ranger would not even be a comparison. Look inside the Nordic.
Mike

Doryman · Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 6:25 pm Post subject:

I ran into Skip Cress on the Cap Sante dock this afternoon. I asked him about when we would see the Nordic 26 and he said at the SBS (which I had forgotten about.) I asked him if the new 26 would be the same as the old 26 and he said it would be popped from the same molds but it would be finished much plainer on the inside than the old ones due to the increased cost of labor and materials. I asked him how he felt the 26 would line up against the Ranger 29 and he said that the Nordic was built much better and that the Ranger was designed to appeal on the basis of its lines rather than its quality. I know that Skip is related to the Nordic builder family, so a certain amount of bias towards the Nordic is understandable but he's also a Ranger dealer, too!

Warren

thataway · Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 7:16 pm Post subject:

I wonder how a comparison can be made, since the Ranger 29 is not completed(If the hull is even molded)--and will apparently also be revealed at the SBS?

The statement seems to show a bias by that specific dealer. I think it would be very difficult to compare a 29 foot boat with a 26 foot boat, even if both were built.

Roscoe · Posted: Wed Jul 30, 2008 11:30 pm Post subject:

Seems to me Nordic Tug must be spending a fortune on advertising. Every boating magazine I get has big ads in every issue.

I have relatives who bought a big beautiful NT new a couple of years ago and have had nothing but trouble with it. It's the engine rather than the boat, but it's a real example of Murphy's Law. They can never be sure they're going to get where they're going, and it never gets fixed no matter how much time mechanics spend on it. Beauty is as beauty does, and if ever a boat was a lemon ...

Sometimes, you don't get what you pay for Rolling Eyes

. I feel really bad for them, because they're experienced boaters of many years and nobody could have predicted this fiasco.

Pat Anderson · Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:41 am Post subject:

I wonder how Dave and John Livingston, Jeff Messmer, and Andrew Custis feel about THAT remark from one of their dealers! I am pretty sure that the Ranger is built every bit as well as a Nordic. I visited the Ranger factory numerous times when were going to buy one, and I also visited the Nordic factory once. I think what Cress said is a classic case of "open mouth, insert foot"! The extra cost of the Nordic 26 over the Ranger 25 is ALL eaten up by Nordic's incredible advertising budget, there is nothing left for putting it into "higher quality"...

Yellowstone · Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 6:52 pm Post subject: New Nordic Tug 26 announcement

Folks - In Sept of 1997 I joined a fellow who owned a Nordic 26 for an extended cruise up to Desolation Sound. I was a widower at that time, retired, and had been in power boating for about ten years - my first real live -aboard was a 1996 C-Dory. We, including my faithful Brittany Spaniel, K.C., left Anacortes and spent about three weeks going around the San Juans,Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and further north including Princess Louisa and the Octopus Islands. It was a slow trip. I believe the diesel was a John Deere or Luger one lunger. Top speed was about 7 knots. We cruised at about 5 knots and put in long days on the water just traveling. The skipper was a good guy, but a bit of a Captain Bligh (food was rationed, and I lost weight on the trip). He purchased the tug for $50,000 in 1997 used) and it was well-built and very comfortable. Only in the Strait of Georgia during a bit of a blow did we experience the rolling that is absent in the C-Dory. If I lived on the coast and was confined to one marina, the 26 Nordic would be a very nice boat to have. I believe it weighed about 9,000 lbs., so trailering would be a dicey situation. I can attest to its robustness. We hit some nasty floating logs off the B.C. coastline and one time managed to get "high centered" on a rock shelf. It was low tide and we had to wait a bit for the tide to change. The heavy keel and protected prop remained undamaged. Just some paint and scratches. $200,000 seems like a lot of money for a new one, and I believe the new ones lack the detailed craftsmanship of the older ones. Just an opinion. I examined a Ranger in the factory and it appeared less massive. For a couple with plenty of time and not interested in speed, the 26 Nordic Tug is a dandy. John

westward · Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 8:08 pm Post subject:

My observation on the Nordic v. Ranger comparison is that Cress is absolutely right. Nordics are built robustly like a workboat whereas Rangers fall clearly into the recreational boat category. This isn't at all controversial: the Rangers are much less expensive and their lighter weight makes them trailerable. I'll bet the owners and managers of Ranger tugs would readily agree with Skipper Cress. Cheers, Mike.

Pat Anderson · Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 9:52 pm Post subject:

Sorry. Mike - total BS. I am pretty sure the Livingstons would NOT agree that Nordics are "built much better" than Rangers. I will however let them respond for themselves if they care to.

westward · Posted: Thu Jul 31, 2008 10:48 pm Post subject:

Hey Pat: In this life I've found a few people who are completely honest in their assessment of matters, even in the face of possibly stepping on the ego of their own business associates. Les Lampman is an example of such a person: he will candidly discuss the weaknesses as well as strengths of the products he sells, and he holds his suppliers accountable for the quality of their products. That honesty is why people respect his opinion so much. Let's be open to the possibility that Skip Cress is also such a person. Why is it controversial for him to observe that one boat line he sells is of higher build quality than another, particularly if they are at different price points? Could a BMW/Volkswagen dealer not openly say the same thing? I don't see any reason for him to slight the mfg. of one of his lines. Seems like he was caught in the act of giving an honest assessment of two different boat lines, an assessment I happen to agree with. His advertising budget also includes space for the Ranger tugs he sells, does it not? I don't believe he said that Rangers were defective or pieces of crap, just that they were more about lines and cute looks than real shipbuilding. (ironically a charge that's been leveled against Nordic more than once). Let's not start a scrap where a scrap doesn't exist. Mike.

CatyMae n Steve · Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 8:46 am Post subject:

Ahem.....life's too short, guys Wink

Caty

westward · Posted: Fri Aug 01, 2008 4:20 pm Post subject:

Caty: Right, sorry, thanks for the perspective. I suffer from "need to get in the last word-itis". Apologies to Pat and the forum. Mike.