More bad news at Hatteras

[Pete]

Everybody knows first hand the economy is in the tank, and the new boat business is among the worst. Just saw a local TV report that Hatteras has laid off another 330 employees, and now employs 297 persons. Their peak employment was over 1400 a couple of years back. They also reported that the order/production rate is down 60%. Not sure what the base number is in their calculation. Employment is down 79% from its peak. Numbers are interesting, but every Hatteras employee I have ever met has been a nice person. Really sad, when you know there are no jobs for them to find. One person interviewed during the TV segment had 37 years with Hatteras. The following is a link to the local TV internet site with a little more details. http://www.witn.com/home/headlines/37584244.html

Pete

 

[administrator]

Here is another link with story as of today.

http://www.wnct.com/

People I have worked with for decades are no longer with the company as of today.

 

[Genesis]

It is very unfortunate, but the opportunity to stop the idiocy in Washington DC both in Congress and at The Fed has expired.

The last true chance to avoid a horrific economic outcome ended approximately in January of last year. We can still make a difference and avoid an all-on catastrophe, but it will still be horrible, as opposed to merely bad.

I'm sorry; I and a number of others have made an incredible effort, and will continue to do so for as long as possible.

Do not assume "it will be ok." It almost certainly will not.

 

[krush]

"Obama will save us"


Translation: We are F*@KED

 

[garyd]

If we all believe the doom and gloomers then no businesses will survive period.

The government will collapse and we will be left to live off the land and sea.

So why worry get in your boat go fishing, make sure you have some fruit and vegtables and firewood. All easily obtainable here in Florida.

So we are back to being indians hmmmm... what's so bad about that?

Don't worry be happy.

garyd

 

[Sparky1]

I hope this isn't off-topic, but would someone please explain to me why I see on the news that retail sales are down a "staggering" 2% when we see all these types of numbers?

 

[ThirdHatt]

This is very, very sad. My thoughts and prayers go out to those at Hatteras who are impacted by this. We are in turbulent waters, but Hatteras can handle it.

 

[Genesis]

I certainly hope so. Hatteras has survived the other "problem times", including those that bankrupted most of the other brands.

 

[67hat34c]

Correct Craft has been in Bz in Central FL since 1927, they have been bankrupt 2x in their history. Just a couple of years ago they moved out of their original location which I am guessing was paid for and moved into new multi mm$ location that is suspect is not paid for. Well they are now at 50 employees as of monday, down from 250. They only build 2 days a week and other 2 days the guys x train at 7.50/ hour. Therefore they only work 20 hours at regular pay. The guy I know has been there 23yrs and is the factory foreman. He is now xTraining in Human Resources since he already knows how to do 100% of the production. Well at least he has a job for now but the future doesnt appear to be that great.

Regal Boats has been here for a long time also, In the last few years they spent countless millions on factory and development of the Woody Wood Pecker boat, 53' MY. This is also a family owned company and who knows how long they will be able to make it. At least they dont have the corp beaners dictating their future.

 

[Walter P]

Well it really has hit home for us in my hometown yesterday. Two very old family owned businesses bit the dust. A Chevy dealership that was founded 4 generations ago (mid 1920's) and has operated at the same location all those years, with several building improvements and expansions and a very highly regarded restaurant with lounge that is now in it's 3rd generation also at the original location. In each case they claim that the drop in business volume happened quite suddenly over the last couple of months. We are diminished..... I hate to think that Karl (Genesis) is right (he probably is) because his scenerio is pretty scary.

I guess there's not much we plain folks can do about it except to be ready for the worse, while hoping for the best.

Walt
Guppy - '82 Series 1 MY
Long Branch, NJ

 

[Maynard Rupp]

I listen intently to what Karl says, both on economics and Hatteras maintenance. I don't know much about economics, but lots about mechanics, so I know that he is very sharp about boat work. After listening to him for the last 2 years on the subject of our economy, I now know that he is very well versed on that subject also. I was very skeptical of his predictions 2 years ago, but alas, they have all come true. I took his advice and got out of the stock market, thanks Karl. It wasn't hard, for those who live in Detroit, to watch this economy fold. Although all areas of the country, and also the world, are hard hit, Detroit is the epicenter of the whole mess. How's that for a typical analysis with no answers? Just listen to Genesis!!!

 

[ThirdHatt]

Some may not like what Genesis has to say, but wise folks listen and take note. We are very fortunate that we have someone who knows so much about boats and economics!

 

[GaryNW]

OK, back to the Hatteras situation for a second... as a 75' Hatteras owner, I really respect what they accomplished. Frankly, I did not realize that the south could pull something like this off. My bad. Having said that, a corporate stategy that seems to say a 2 million dollar clorox bottle was going to trump the 1 million dollar clorox bottle in the market-place was dumb. A clorox bottle is a clorox bottle. Perhaps Hatteras needs to start buying their old classics, cheap in today's market, refurbing them and reselling. What, a 53' motor yacht probably carries a replacement cost of at least 2m. They could but them at 200k, refurb and sell with some kind of warranty at 1m. Maybe in the process, the current design & marketing staffs would wake up. Don't laugh-other boat builders have done exactly this in down markets, Hell, the airplane company I retired from broke out their repair certificate and did mod/ refurb work on classics until the 747-400 saved the day (mid 80's).
Gary

 

[Pascal]

take a look at the buzz that Lazzara is generating with their new LSX 75 and 90 footers... like them or not, and personally I think they are a little over the top, but this is one American builder capable of inovating and thinking out of the... chlorox bottle. This is what Hatteras used to do years ago, leading with quality and good design... Interestingly, Lazzara has been around for almost as long as Hatteras and come a long way since their early Gulfstar days. From what i've seen, they also had some layoff but much fewer than Hatteras.

Just like you can't pull in a large marina and find at least one classic Hatt, it now looks like almost every large marina on the east coast has at least one late model Lazzara at its docks.

 

[captddis]

They also made Columbia sail boats before Gulfstar.

 

[TopHattandTails]

...and check out what Hinckley did between sail and the picnic boat...

 

[Sparky1]

Remember Bertram?

 

[ThirdHatt]

and Broward.......

 

[SKYCHENEY]

Vince Lazarra, Dick's dad, was the founder of Gulfstar. He grew up in Chicago and learned to sail at White Lake Yacht Club in Whitehall, MI. We keep our boat at White Lake now and my dad bought a new 49 Gulfstar from Vince in 1983. That's how I have heard these stories. I remember watching our new boat as it moved down the factory line in St. Pete. It was really fun to see and I was inspired to get into naval architecture, which I never fully pursued. At that time, Dick and his brother were doing all of the design work. After they sold out to Viking, Dick moved across the bay and started his own company. The rest is history, as they say. I wish them the best.

 

[captddis]

Vince Lazarra, Dick's dad, was the founder of Gulfstar. He grew up in Chicago and learned to sail at White Lake Yacht Club in Whitehall, MI. We keep our boat at White Lake now and my dad bought a new 49 Gulfstar from Vince in 1983. That's how I have heard these stories. I remember watching our new boat as it moved down the factory line in St. Pete. It was really fun to see and I was inspired to get into naval architecture, which I never fully pursued. At that time, Dick and his brother were doing all of the design work. After they sold out to Viking, Dick moved across the bay and started his own company. The rest is history, as they say. I wish them the best.

I might add that after selling to Viking, Vince Lazzara bought a 54 Hatteras MY.