MBounds wrote:
In 1988, Coleman Co. sold the Hobie Cat Co., which included at that time the manufacturing facilities in France.
As part of that sale, the European component was split off - thus the genesis of what is now Hobie Cat Europe.
The market for fiberglass boats in North America is very, very small. A business plan of making boats you can't sell is unsustainable.
You want to make a million dollars in the boat building business? Start with 2 million (or more).
First.. I am still pretty wet behind the ears in comparison to many in the Hobie game... and Sailing in general.... and personally... Probably never the type of guy to buy things new.. even the things I wish to afford new I generally enjoy restoring.. and I am also generally kind of an idiot.
So my opinion on this may not be worth much...
But I have heard this argument I highlighted in Bold quite a damn bit... I understand what people are trying to say.. and they might very well be right..
but damn... "No market"
Then frign create one.. How much of a Market was for these boats in 1975..... AND WHY???
It isn't like Hobie Cats don't turn heads on the lake... I promise there are more than a couple pictures of me and my antics taken by unknown fellow boaters floating around the web.... I know I can't be the only Hobie out there who draws a crowd every time the wind kicks up over 12mph...
Sail boats are not only "Green" they are "Extreme" if you know how to do it right...
NBC is putting Big Cats racing the America's Cup on TV... HEck.. We offer the chance to race with some of those sailors,(don't we??) having damn near as much (if not more fun) for a tiny fraction of the price... On the very boat which brought the beach cat to the masses in the first frign place...
How frign hard can that be to sell????
You guys almost make me want to figure out what is required to open a dealership just to prove you wrong...