New 31 Ranger Tug

I saw it a couple of days ago. Went to their site to take a look. They only have renderings. Nice boat but WELL out of our price range. 10' beam means special towing requirements/permits too.
 
Same beam as the current 29, and most likely the same hull, with a two foot extension--as the 27 was to the 25. This is a common practice (and not as expensive as building new molds).

I will be interested to see how the "retractable" flying bridge works.
 
We indeed will debut the R 31 in Miami . Ill be in Seattle tomorrow to ;
a. Take Anita to a great West Coast city and cater to her whims
b. See the Seattle show for the first time and attend VIP night
c. Crawl all over my R 31 in Monroe as well as the Seattle show boat inside and out with my trusty Nikon
d. See as many West Coast C Brats and Tugnuts as possible.
e. Meet up with Jeff L.and Jon L. and Scott B.from Triton and get some C Dorys marketed .
Wish we could have put the 2 boats we built for the show in , but our space evaporated unexpectedly , its a long story , but we really tried to make it happen but to no avail. Please e mail Triton or myself , as we have 2 killer show boats available in Wa. They are a 23 Venture[C Dory style] and a 26 Venture also in the C Dory style . Gorgeous solid blue hulls , rigged any way you like . Ill have listings up soon.
Hope to see a bunch of you in Wa. !
Marc
 
Hi Marc,

Solid blue hulls! Well, that's something new for C-Dory! Sorry to hear they aren't going to be shown off in the show... hope to see you and Anita in Seattle.

Best wishes,
Jim
 
WOW, Marc and Anita, and, Jim and Joan, all in Seattle at the same time. Should be a great CBGT. Looking forward to it.

Wonder if those solid blue hulls have the shear strip trip reversed out and are white.

Harvey
SleepyC :moon
 
arggghhh, I'm struggling to restrain myself - but - I can't do it...

I have expressed my reservations on another boat group, over the direction that Ranger is taking - but hey, what do I know... The Livingstons have started more boat companies than I ever will...
Anyway, Ranger has done extremely well in the midst of a global financial meltdown by building a good quality pocket yacht that is easily trailered and has all the bells and whistles at a high, but reachable, price point for their size. (the quality is good - not great and not up to a Fleming, etc.)
I was concerned about the 29 which needs a wide load permit (which is going great guns apparently)
I am concerned about the 31 (and probably wrong again)
It is a hefty price jump and puts them up there with the other high quality yacht builders who have found the big boat sales to hit the rocks, so they are going back to short boats again - where they started... Don't think for a moment they have not noticed Ranger selling boats and that they want a piece of that pie...

There is an economic rule that says competition is good for the market... But these boats have a very limited market - mostly to the nearly retired who can swing a quarter million dollar+ boat... Given that the median income in the country is less than 50K that is only a small percentage of the nearly retired... Divide that down by those who are not interested in boats and want an RV, etc. (except of course, for those who have both AND a red truck) and it becomes a low volume manufacturing business... Now add the big guys coming back to their roots - 25 to 31 feet - and the competition gets fierce... What I see Ranger doing is following the path of the other guys who built their businesses starting in the high 20 foot range and then working their up the two foot ladder to the stratosphere and million dollar boats... They are now coming back to earth and Ranger is going up the path they have now abandoned...

Ahh well, just remember this is because I want Ranger to do well and not get themselves caught with overhead the sales might not support as we enter the second dip of this world wide double dip depression (Europe is gonna tank folks - count on it)
 
I see this a bit differently than Denny-o. First Ranger has been very cautious going to a 25, modified, then the 27--same hull. Next the 29, new hull wider beam--but apparently no problems with permits. Finally the 31--same hull as the 29. The cost differential between the 25 S/C, 27, 29 and now 31 is incremental. The price listed is not that much more than a current 29 will run.

The folks buying these boats would have been buying trawler for the same price or more a few years ago (and there are still plenty of $270,000 trawlers selling). I am sitting in an RV Park on Knight's key. There are tent campers, on up to RV's worth more than one million dollars--plenty of $250,000 units! The boats here are from Sea Eagle 8 foot to a 31 2/2' Pursuit which were trailered in. These are retired folks--and do have the money to purchase some of these toys.

How big is the market? No idea--but if you built only one or two at a time, then the overhead is not too bad. Most higher end builders (including the Nordic Tug 26 (incidentally I was behind one on a railer yesterday--and it is huge)--are building to semi custom specs.
 
Seems to me that one of the problems with developing a loyal owner base is the need to give those folks something to "step up" to. Ranger seems to listen to what their customers want. And in the process of making larger options, they haven't abandoned the smaller boats (like Nordic Tugs did with the 26).

When a manufacturer makes products for the well-heeled market, but not offering an entry level product to bring people into the brand, one "bad year" can be a hurt from which they can't recover.

A misstep (like the generally unaccepted C-Dory 29 from a few years ago) can be avoided by having good communication with the owner base. Ranger does that in spades, obvious by their regular posts on the TugNuts site and the raves from their customers. I think the Ranger Tug folks are on-target with what their customers want. The niche may be small, but they own it... service it... support it... and continue to develop it.

Best wishes,
Jim B.
 
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