Hatteras Swansboro Plant Closes

[Capt.Erich]

I've been out of the loop the last year with the ongoings of the Hatteras factory. A few years ago they were going like gangbusters and bought the Tiara factory located in Swansboro, NC. It is a nice factory located on the ICW. They were building the 54 Convertables there and had a couple of hundred employees. The 54 had become the mainstay of their sport fishing market. They announced acouple of days ago that they were closing the Swansboro plant. Many employees were offered positions in the New Bern plant but I doubt that all will be needed. Anyway, I guess this is an indicator of the impact of the fuel economy and the economy in general?

 

[Genesis]

Its the economy, not fuel costs.

Wellcraft folded a short while ago.

 

[Capt.Erich]

You are right. Fuel cost are a factor in the economy and a major factor in the boating industry. Fuel costs have increased by 30-40% in the last three years. This has had an impact on some owners. I didn't know that Wellcraft went "under". Too bad. They used to build a good boat.

 

[Passages]

It's my understanding the Wellcraft did not fold, just closed the Sarasota plant and moved production to a sister facility.

It's still not good. I suspect more than a few boat companies will not survive the next few years.

I recently went to the NY Boat Show was surprised by the lack of crowds compared to previous years. Sad

 

[Boatsb]

Eric they did not go under. They are moving manufacturing from Florida to other plants that alrady build other boats and maybe some wellcrafts for Genmar. It's a consolidation of resources for Genmar as the own many brands. Too bad for Florida though as we could use more jobs and less people.