New Sweet Melissa!

[SKYCHENEY]

Just wow....absolutely beautiful!

So, could we actually hold a HOF reunion on a non-Hatt?

I think we could just sell all of our boats and have the rendezvous on Byron's boat. He's obviously got the room.

 

[Mambeaux]

The Hell with the Captain's Gig. I signed up to hang out on the aft deck and have Boat Drinks with the Ladies!!

 

[Passages]

Okay, pictures:

You sir, are my hero.

 

[Brian Degulis]

Yeah, she looks like a lot of boat for the money, but I wasn't aware of the chronology where Cheoy Lee was concerned. I've never heard of Trident (not that this means anything of course), but Cheoy Lee has been around for quite some time.

So is there a TOF (Trident Owner's Forum) out there? This might be your big chance.

Trident is or was in Tampa we did some metal work for them around 1997. Very high quality yard that believes in building heavy and strong. IMHO comparing them to Cheoy Lee is a non comparison kinda like comparing a Hat to a sea ray the Cheo lee being the sea ray. Cheo lee isn't a bad boat but nothing like the stuff I saw being built at Trident.


Brian

 

[sgharford]

There is nice and then there is Sweet Melissa! She's the real deal - Thanks for sharing with us and Congratulations on the purchase of a life time.

 

[SKYCHENEY]

There are/were some great craftsmen in the Tampa/St Pete boat building business. My dad bought a 49 Gulfstar MY new in 1983. I visited the factory when she was being built and watched some of the best workworkers and cabinet makers. After they sold to Viking and closed that plant, some of the workforce ended up at other local yards. I'm sure some followed the Lazarra's and others ended up at Trident, etc. There is a long history of quality boats from that part of the country.

I'm not sure if Trident still exists as they filed for Chapter 11 back in 1999. They may still exist, but I have not heard much about them since. Others in the Tampa area may know more.

 

[David Fayard]

Byron & Melissa:

What an absolutely beautiful boat!!! I know ya'll will enjoy it for many years...can't wait to see it in person. Congratulations!!

David

 

[ThirdHatt]

Trident is or was in Tampa we did some metal work for them around 1997. Very high quality yard that believes in building heavy and strong. IMHO comparing them to Cheoy Lee is a non comparison kinda like comparing a Hat to a sea ray the Cheo lee being the sea ray. Cheo lee isn't a bad boat but nothing like the stuff I saw being built at Trident.


Brian

Brian, thank you for summing it up so nicely. I couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[Vincentc]

Thanks for sharing the pictures and experience.

That is a beautiful boat.

 

[garyd]

Awesome now maybe when a boat goes past you at speed you'll quit complaining about the wake. lol.

When are you leaving for the Bahmas mon?

garyd

 

[ThirdHatt]

There are/were some great craftsmen in the Tampa/St Pete boat building business. My dad bought a 49 Gulfstar MY new in 1983. I visited the factory when she was being built and watched some of the best workworkers and cabinet makers. After they sold to Viking and closed that plant, some of the workforce ended up at other local yards. I'm sure some followed the Lazarra's and others ended up at Trident, etc. There is a long history of quality boats from that part of the country.

I'm not sure if Trident still exists as they filed for Chapter 11 back in 1999. They may still exist, but I have not heard much about them since. Others in the Tampa area may know more.

That's correct, Sky. Unfortunately, Trident went out of business because of a lawsuit stemming from a ~125' build where the original design was modified by the owner after the construction process had already begun and he made the yard move bulkheads and tankage, etc. without consulting the proper naval engineers and architects. The build turned out bad (for obvious reasons) and the owner had unlimited funds to sue the yard and the yard did not have deep enough pockets to fend off the suit, so that was the end of Trident. Very sad, but it shows what a well-heeled individual can do to a small business if he tries hard enough.

From what I understand, WestShip was right across the bay and took most of the craftsmen and equipment and basically morphed into what we now know as Westport Yachts. Wetport is now one of the premier builers of large composite yachts.

 

[ThirdHatt]

Awesome now maybe when a boat goes past you at speed you'll quit complaining about the wake. lol.

When are you leaving for the Bahmas mon?

garyd

Hey Gary, I never complain about wakes unless they are unreasonable for the area. Maybe I should pass you in your 39'er while I'm @ 25kts and see if you complain? LOL!

 

[Sparky1]

That's correct, Sky. Unfortunately, Trident went out of business because of a lawsuit stemming from a ~125' build where the original design was modified by the owner after the construction process had already begun and he made the yard move bulkheads and tankage, etc. without consulting the proper naval engineers and architects. The build turned out bad (for obvious reasons) and the owner had unlimited funds to sue the yard and the yard did not have deep enough pockets to fend off the suit, so that was the end of Trident. Very sad, but it shows what a well-heeled individual can do to a small business if he tries hard enough.

Sounds to me like Trident shot themselves in the foot when they allowed a customer to dictate how they built his boat. No offense to you or your boat Byron, but I would have to question the credibility of a company who would make structural changes based on the whim of an uneducated customer. Sounds like they were more into dollars than sense.

Looks like they would have insisted on an architect signing off on the changes. If nothing else, they should have had the customer sign a release of liability. Even with that, they would most likely have lost in court as they were the professionals in this dispute. Sort of like telling your doctor how to do brain surgery on your kid.

 

[ThirdHatt]

Sounds to me like Trident shot themselves in the foot when they allowed a customer to dictate how they built his boat. No offense to you or your boat Byron, but I would have to question the credibility of a company who would make structural changes based on the whim of an uneducated customer. Sounds like they were more into dollars than sense.

Looks like they would have insisted on an architect signing off on the changes. If nothing else, they should have had the customer sign a release of liability. Even with that, they would most likely have lost in court as they were the professionals in this dispute. Sort of like telling your doctor how to do brain surgery on your kid.

Randy, try as you might you just can't rain on my parade. Trident definately shot themselves in the foot with that last build and it ended up costing them their business. As I understand it, the owner had been funneling lots of his cash out of the country to a big plantation home that he had recently purchased somewhere in Central America, so he did not have the funds to defend his company properly. No big deal, he filed for bankrupcy and began another boat building company. The owner of the company was amazing at building extremely high quality boats (and is still doing so with another company), but was not the best businessman and obviously made some bad calls on that particular build when big dollars were waved in his face. None of that really matters because it took place nearly a decade after my boat was built. Of all the boats Trident built, it was only that very last one that ever had any issues, so it has absolutely no bearing on my purchase.

I was well aware of that boat that gave them legal troubles as I had gone on board it several times at the 2004 FLIBS with someone who was seriously interested in buying it. The boat had been trhough the Panama Canal and up to Alaska (a picture in the wheelhouse showed her in front of the icebergs) and back so she was still quite seaworthy. She had a Don Starkey interior that was incredible. I've been on $80M 200'ers before and this boat was the finest boat that I have ever boarded. After looking into it and learning about the engineering issues, we passed on the boat but it was amazing nonetheless.

My due dilligence was to investigate fully the build of this boat before I made a run at her last summer because I was fully in the know about that last boat that had some issues. I've spoken with nearly everyone involved in the build of my boat from project manager, design manager, composites engineer, electrical engineer, head master crafstman, etc before I convinced myself that this build was the world class blue water boat that I had suspected. There is absolutely NO doubt in my mind that this boat was the very best that could be done in the early 1990's. I did my homework on this one.

Now, shouldn't you be learning how to plot a course or something right about now? LOL

 

[Sparky1]

Seriously Byron, I'm not trying to rain on your parade. I'm happy for you and would love to be in your shoes where owning that Trident is concerned. Unfortunately, I'm just a dumb ole' safe salesman.

She's a beautiful boat, and I'm sure she was very well built. It just struck me as odd that a builder would put themselves into such a position as they apparently did.

 

[ThirdHatt]

Seriously Byron, I'm not trying to rain on your parade. I'm happy for you and would love to be in your shoes where owning that Trident is concerned. Unfortunately, I'm just a dumb ole' safe salesman.

She's a beautiful boat, and I'm sure she was very well built. It just struck me as odd that a builder would put themselves into such a position as they apparently did.

Thank you for that, Randy. You and I have alot of fun poking fun at each other, but this is quite serious in that it is the biggest decision that I have made in my life so I researched the hell out of it before I considered leaving my safe and secure comfort zone with Hatteras.

I totally agree that it was a huge mistake for the yard to put themselves in that position. It's a shame but thankfully that was many, many years after my boat was launched and cruising happily ever after.

 

[Sparky1]

So does this mean I get to go for a ride at the next rendezvous?

I'm actually headed to Lauderdale on February 6th, so if you're still around...

 

[Trojan]

Congratulation Byron on your getting a new boat. What a beauty. I envy You. I can only wish that I could be in your shoes. I'm too old now to invest in something as big and beautiful as your new boat. I wish you all the luck on the water. Maybe someday I'll see it in person. What a beauty. Good luck!

BILL

 

[MarioG]

Hey Mario, she was built for the Bahamas with a max of 4'6" draft at full load (2450 gal fuel, 500 gal water, 200 gal holding tank). The owner was building his dream house in the Bahamas and actually used this boat to power the construction of his house! There are two 30kw Northern Lights gensets on board (John Deere 4-cylinder normally aspirated 1200rpm engines) and one would power the boat and there is a shorepower connection on the aft deck that is for sending power off the boat which he used to build his house.

Just think, if any of my friends have genny problems while we're rafted up, I can offer them up to 100A service!

I really don't have any good engine room pics, but here is what was in the listing for the boat. What I really love is that both engine room accesses are OUTSIDE of the boat, so I do not have to lug dirty oil or parts through the interior of the boat. The genny room is all the way aft, then forward of that is the engine room.

4'6" draft! WOW! I love it! Now that is a great engine room! and I love the generator setup. just wow...

 

[Finalee]

Very nice! Always wondered what a $2,ooo,ooo,ooo wake looked like. Beautiful...