Seattle Boat Show - Such a sparse showing

At the Vancouver boat show this year, Cutwater had a big display on (as well as a few other dealers like Tug). Cutwater was my friends and family favorite.

As life would have it, a week after the boat show my son did a Coast Guard training week in Tofino. One of the other trainees happened to be from Cutwater. He told my son that pre-boat show, boat show. and post boat show sales totaled 30 boats sold this year! He said it was enough to keep the factory busy for 1 1/2 years!

Is there a lesson here on the difference a good display makes?
 
Cutwater/Ranger dealers seem to attend boat shows and display several models all over the place. Every boat show I've been to, there is at least one dealer showing these boats. The recent Baltimore boat show had 5 boats on display. They were all either straight Cutwaters or the Cutwater versions of the Ranger Tugs. There weren't any "classic" Rangers boats on display (although they did have pictures of the classics).

Last year at the Annapolis boat show the local dealer had both types on display.

The boat shows in FL that I often go to always have a dealer showing Rangers/Cutwaters.

Haven't seen any C-Dorys on display at any of the east coast boat shows I've been to. The Ranger people do seem to know what I'm talking about when I mention I have a C-Dory. Most other people sort of get a blank look.
 
mike shotwell":3t58i8yz said:
Hello Dr. Bob, We plan to have the TomCat and 23' and 26' Ventures at Hontoon. Alternates could be a 22' Cruiser and/or Angler. We also plan to have some "Special Guests" attend as well. We look forward to seeing you there!
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Hi Mike, Look forward to seeing the new boats, and meeting you. You sold my neighbor Wayne Barr the last Tom Cat 24, I believe it was in 2005. Wayne and his wife, Joyce, both have passed on, but his son Bryant still owns the boat, and I saw it a few months ago.

Just don't let my wife see the new Tom Cat-she speaks of doing be bodily harm, every time she is reminded that we sold ours!
 
chimoii":fr68b9ui said:
chimoii":fr68b9ui said:
Anyone any idea what the price is of new Venture 23 or a 22 cruiser these days?
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May I repeat the question?
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Pricing from Seattle show in photo albums at left.
Here's the 23' from this year's show and 22' Cruiser from last year's show:
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2017_SBS_11.sized.jpg
 
Well it’s been a while since I had made a post. I’ve been sitting out in cyber world but have remained a faithful reader. This thread I’ve been following & I guess don’t completely understand. C Dory is a niche boat for sure. I agree as to more marketing would definitely make us all feel good at the boat shows but if someone wants a CDory they will do what it takes to see one. I personally think it’s a good thing to only build a limited number of boats each year. Take a look at Harley Davidson... in the late 80’s & early 90’s there was a 1+ year wait to get one if you ordered it & was next to impossible to find one on the floor. You could buy a new one keep it a year or two & sell it & retain all of your initial investment if not make money. Then they started changing things & mass producing them so it’s easy to get one but the company has really suffered & so have values. Ranger Tugs are heading down that same road in my opinion. Anytime you flood the market with a product the brand will eventually suffer (values). I’ve owned a CDory 25 & a R-27 & I must say while I owned the Ranger I longed for the Cdory days. All that glitz & glamour is what I consider smoke & mirrors. It looks good but not always what it appears to be. I know we don’t buy a boat thinking it’s an investment but somewhat holding value as Cdory does is not all bad. If we want to support our brand we have to suck it up & buy NEW. This is not always easy but a manufacturer or new boat dealer for that matter can’t survive if all we promote is used boat sales. If that’s continued we’ll only have the need for boat brokers. I was glad to hear a couple new boats have had interest & have been sold. As for me I’m close to picking up a new Tom Cat here in the next couple weeks I hope & really excited about being back.
 
What Shore":las2uwvu said:
Well it’s been a while since I had made a post. I’ve been sitting out in cyber world but have remained a faithful reader. This thread I’ve been following & I guess don’t completely understand. C Dory is a niche boat for sure. I agree as to more marketing would definitely make us all feel good at the boat shows but if someone wants a CDory they will do what it takes to see one. I personally think it’s a good thing to only build a limited number of boats each year. Take a look at Harley Davidson... in the late 80’s & early 90’s there was a 1+ year wait to get one if you ordered it & was next to impossible to find one on the floor. You could buy a new one keep it a year or two & sell it & retain all of your initial investment if not make money. Then they started changing things & mass producing them so it’s easy to get one but the company has really suffered & so have values. Ranger Tugs are heading down that same road in my opinion. Anytime you flood the market with a product the brand will eventually suffer (values). I’ve owned a CDory 25 & a R-27 & I must say while I owned the Ranger I longed for the Cdory days. All that glitz & glamour is what I consider smoke & mirrors. It looks good but not always what it appears to be. I know we don’t buy a boat thinking it’s an investment but somewhat holding value as Cdory does is not all bad. If we want to support our brand we have to suck it up & buy NEW. This is not always easy but a manufacturer or new boat dealer for that matter can’t survive if all we promote is used boat sales. If that’s continued we’ll only have the need for boat brokers. I was glad to hear a couple new boats have had interest & have been sold. As for me I’m close to picking up a new Tom Cat here in the next couple weeks I hope & really excited about being back.
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Well said.
 
Regarding the 26 Venture on the 3rivers website. It lists the boat price as $123K. It also says "Twin Honda BF100s $124,600". There are a couple of ways to read this. Either you can get a 26 Venture with a set of BF100s for about $1500 over the bare boat price, or Honda BF100 engines are really expensive.
 
thataway":1ejrhd4z said:
Just don't let my wife see the new Tom Cat-she speaks of doing be bodily harm, every time she is reminded that we sold ours!
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Bodily harm is not a worry for me. Vicki will sell me before I can sell the Tomcat.
:shock:
 
ssobol":28u6g08c said:
Regarding the 26 Venture on the 3rivers website. It lists the boat price as $123K. It also says "Twin Honda BF100s $124,600". There are a couple of ways to read this. Either you can get a 26 Venture with a set of BF100s for about $1500 over the bare boat price, or Honda BF100 engines are really expensive.
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Please note that $123K includes the Honda BF200 listed above the price in the equipment/options list. That boat has not been rigged with power yet but I wanted to give prices with single or twins. Sorry for the confusion
 
mike shotwell":hiregegd said:
ssobol":hiregegd said:
Regarding the 26 Venture on the 3rivers website. It lists the boat price as $123K. It also says "Twin Honda BF100s $124,600". There are a couple of ways to read this. Either you can get a 26 Venture with a set of BF100s for about $1500 over the bare boat price, or Honda BF100 engines are really expensive.
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Please note that $123K includes the Honda BF200 listed above the price in the equipment/options list. That boat has not been rigged with power yet but I wanted to give prices with single or twins. Sorry for the confusion
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Now that Ranger has the R21 and R25 "on hold" this 26 Venture is really well placed in the market.
 
If we want to support our brand we have to suck it up & buy NEW
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wow really confused about this line of thinking. As a buyer I am not here to Support any product line. Its the Job of the manufacturer to support me the buyer. Its their job to support me with a good product that i want to buy, with after purchase support of that product and with good customer service while i own that product.

I had a co worker that hated his job. He was always put out that the customers wanted to ask him questions, get help finding stuff in the store etc. I even heard him say " leave me alone I am working" . I told him once that the customers dont come here so you have a job, you have a job because the customers come here and you better start treading them that way. He did not and got fired. I have ran into him several times over the years and he still does not get it and has never worked anywhere very long.

If cdory is not improving the line of boats, is not promoting the line as much as we are, then why would any one pay more money for a new boat that has little if any improvement over the same boat used. You can buy a nice well equipped cdory for a lot less then the same boat new with a lot less on it.

one of the great things about boats is that you can put a new engine and new technology on a old boat for far less then buying a new boat, unlike a car.

We as clients OWE the manufacture nothing.
 
starcrafttom":15ib6yzz said:
[
If cdory is not improving the line of boats, is not promoting the line as much as we are, then why would any one pay more money for a new boat that has little if any improvement over the same boat used. You can buy a nice well equipped cdory for a lot less then the same boat new with a lot less on it.

one of the great things about boats is that you can put a new engine and new technology on a old boat for far less then buying a new boat, unlike a car.
.
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I had an '07 in like new condition and just got a '17 last March. There is a big difference and to me worth the price. NWI is making a really really really good boat!
 
No argument on the quality of the boat. I have said before in this now multiply page subject that the cdory built today is better then it has been in a long time, but what upgrades and difference's are there? in the hull of the boat its self? Its the same 10 year old hull. I loved it when cdory changed the hull from a flat bottom it some what of a dead rise. Added strakes etc. Added the raised floor ( year after I bought my 22 so I added that floor to my older design ) . There was a reason to buy a new boat then. And my dealer Les made it really easy with financing that covered everything from the hull to the motors, downrigger, cover, full electronics etc ( sound Like another boat builder that is doing great today??) trailer. Everything was included in the price for 50K. ( will have to do the math to compare adjusted priced to todays boats) . les earned my business and I brought him business because of it. I gave test rides for free to many here who ended up buying boat.

I just do not see the factory or the dealers ( twin river being a exception from what I hear ) do the same today.
 
ken35216":27kfnpyc said:
starcrafttom":27kfnpyc said:
[
If cdory is not improving the line of boats, is not promoting the line as much as we are, then why would any one pay more money for a new boat that has little if any improvement over the same boat used. You can buy a nice well equipped cdory for a lot less then the same boat new with a lot less on it.

one of the great things about boats is that you can put a new engine and new technology on a old boat for far less then buying a new boat, unlike a car.
.
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I had an '07 in like new condition and just got a '17 last March. There is a big difference and to me worth the price. NWI is making a really really really good boat!
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I think you mean NMI.
 
Browsing the current version of "Power and Motor Yacht", there was an article on the Ranger 27 (outboard powered), where the price was quoted at $185,000 for the PNW version and $200,000 for the "Deluxe Version" (includes the generator and air conditioning)....a few pages later I found an article for a 42' "Cruisers" yacht at the price of $1,004,000 dollars! Of course you have to have deep pockets to afford the fuel at cruising speed of 21 knots (27 gallons an hour--which I suspect is optimistic) Lets say diesel is $4.00 a gallon, that means over $100 an hour)...Makes our C Dory's and similar boats seem like a real bargain!
 
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