Nordhavn Boats

[Pete]

Probably of more interest to the slow, displacement crowd, but the standard for this style boat, as declared by the manufacturer, is Nordhavn. I have seen several up close after a couple of years of use and have been less than impressed from the outside. With my impressions not matching the builders hype, I decided to look a little deeper. Nordhavn, must be a Nordic country product. Perhaps from Norway!! But Google tells all. They are built in CHINA. The US standard for rugged, long distance, reliable, quality boats; boats that set the standard are made in CHINA. Give me a break! Now I better understand why what I saw did not support the builders hype, at least in my opinion.

Pete

[spartonboat1]

Don't they have mass quantities of concrete in the bilge for weight to provide low CG...(or not)...

What they are is expensive.

[Pete]

I believe they use lead for ballast at a rate of 20 to 30 percent of the total displacement. And then you see most with active stabilizers. Wonder how much more fuel it takes to haul the ballast around?

Pete

[Pete]

I would like to add one simple question to my post. Does anyone know of any product produced by China that has a legitimate claim as the "world standard by which other competitors are judged". Anything even close to this claim would be of interest.

Pete

[captddis]

I guess it all depends who does the judging. I usually lump most together and just call them 'Taiwan boats". The name does not matter much as the importer puts the name on the boat, they all are built in a handful of plants. In general I dislike them as what you do not see can be scary and all the taiwan stainless is a pain to deal with.

They do constantly get better though. The Marlows are good boats and the Hargraves are decent as well as a number of others.They have come a long way from the 70's Marine Traders!

By far the best systems installations are done by Hatteras.

[dwaynec]

Cr@p???

[fissioneng]

I boarded a Nordhavn at the Annapolis show. I found it to be tight everywhere. I am not overly tall (5'10"), but was surprised that my shoulders seemed to brush into everything. I also do not understand the exorbitant prices these bring considering they only have one small engine and one very small engine. Engine costs really drive prices in most boats.

I think it is a bit of a broad brush to classify all China or Taiwan builders as having the same quality. Older boats started a very bad reputation (and deservedly so), but some brands appear to be quite different. I would add Fleming and Selene to the list of higher quality China/Taiwan boats. And then of course Grand Banks, that could be viewed as a "world standard". They make the Classic, East Bay, and Aleutian series, all well respected.

But then again if you are in the school of "overseas built=bad" no matter the facts, you're not going to agree with any of this. What about all our poorly made American boats? (you know the brands I'm talking about). American made is not always better.

[BUSTER]

I guess it all depends who does the judging. I usually lump most together and just call them 'Taiwan boats". The name does not matter much as the importer puts the name on the boat, they all are built in a handful of plants. In general I dislike them as what you do not see can be scary and all the taiwan stainless is a pain to deal with.

They do constantly get better though. The Marlows are good boats and the Hargraves are decent as well as a number of others.They have come a long way from the 70's Marine Traders!

By far the best systems installations are done by Hatteras.

Except for using quality propulsion systems the Chinese boats all seem to subscribe to the same theory when it comes to electric and mechanical systems. "Buy the cheapest and most available components." Some of the stuff that I have seen on these boats over the years is the most obscure crap imaginable.

You must admit no matter what vintage your Hatteras is,all her components are the best that were available to the industry at the time. Most of it is lasting a lifetime.

[Pascal]

i talked to a Krogen Express owner a year ago who gave me a tour of his boat. The boat had a very strong diesel smell and the owner memtioned they coudlnt' find the problem... he was less than happy about this and other problems... That said, i find the Krogen Express to be one good looking boat!

Grand Banks are built in Malaysia and Singapore, not China/taiwan.

Generally speaking, the problem with Taiwan boats is that quality varies greatly depending on the yard and when "importers" switch to a different yard, the name plate remain the same but quality may take a dive.

[fissioneng]

I stand corrected about Grand Banks, the early wood boats were built in Hong Kong, that is what I was thinking about.

http://www.grandbanks.com/company/info/index.cfm