New Builder?

[SUNBIRD]

Today I received my latest DAY SAILER QUARTERLY and read some upsetting news! Our Association has decided (or so it seems) to stab Cape Cod Shipbuilding in the back and discontinue having then build the DS IV. I was especially upset with the statement that CCSB does not seem to be interested in building a "competitive boat". I'm sure that there are hundreds of owners of Bullseyes, CC Mercuries, Rhodes 18s, Shields, and Atlantics that would take major offence to that statement!! Since all these classes have trusted CCSB to build their boats for many years, in fact CCSB has been the exclusive builder of most of these classes for upwards of 50 years, I fail to see any truth to the claim about them being uninterested in building competitive boats!
A few years ago the complaint was that CCSB was not selling enough Day Sailers, well I can give a very good reason for that, I bough my DS II for $1400 w/ trailer in 1996, even the most expensive used boat was still under $6,000. A brand new DS IV at that time was close to $10,000 (and worth every penny!) CCSB was not overpricing the boat, but the fact remains that any builder of a class boat that has been around as long as the DS will find themselves competing against the used boats of that class. If we want to grow the Class, it is not going to be with $12,000+ new boats, but with $1,000-5,000 usedboats. Once a newbe has settled into the Class, then maybe they would seek out a new boat, and be willing to spend the extra cash.
Cape Cod Shipbuilding has been building QUALITY sailboats for over 100 years, they have built far more winning class boats than most builders, they have a tremendous number of the boats that they built over their history that come back EVERY Fall for Winter storage/refitting and those owners would not do so unless they felt that CCSB had built them a competitive boat!
The fact that CCSB is very willing to repair/rebuild older boats and supply parts (even for boats that they did not build!) to me is a big plus.

Now I wish that I had gone to the Nationals, so at least one vote could have been counted against this misguided change!

[Peter McMinn]

Any word on who the new builer is?

[shawn]

The proposed builder is Nickels Boat Works in Fenton, MI. The website is www.nickelsboats.com. He has the daysailer listed already. $12,000 is the approximate price for a race ready boat.

Shawn

[Baysailer]

Fear not, Nickels is a pretty reputable builder as is CCSB. They are pretty well knwon for their Lightnings ans Snipes and build Buccaneers and Rebels too. Unfortunantly its going to come at a price and $12,000 isn't cheap-at least in my house.

[jpclowes]

Personally, I'm pretty excited about the move. Nothing against CCSB, but I think that moving the builder to the Midwest, an area where the DS is kind of rare, is a great idea. Raising your profile in an untapped market can never be a bad idea. Plus they won't have to compete with nearly as many used DS' out here. If they can make a boat that is really fast, I think a lot of the serious racers will jump at it. In my opinion that was the biggest problem with the CCSB boat. Fair or not, it was percieved as a slow boat. The serious racers didn't want it, and the new DSers and "crusers" didn't want to drop the cash on it when they could spend a quarter of the asking price on an old one. So, it didn't really have a target market. I have raced against the boat they used for the model for the new molds, it was fast. If the new ones go out and clean up in LaCrosse, this summer I think the demand will be there.

[calden]

Cape Cod Shipbuilding has renovated their website - at least since I've seen it a month or two ago. Much better, and more information about the DS. Perhaps this is a competitive response to a new builder on the scene. In any case, it looks great.

Carlos