I don't know that I can give you specific examples, but I can give you a bit of history of Selene that contributed to some of their reputation, good and bad. I do not own one, have never owned one and have no desire to own one, but, for various reasons, had occasion to look into them some years ago. Selene is an interesting synopsis of the boatbuilding industry in the PRC. The Chen family, from Taiwan, have a long manufacturing history on the mainland of China producing flatware and cutlery, IKEA being their biggest customer. Howard, a son of Jet-Tern's founder, was more interested in boats. They set up manufacturing in southern Guangdong Province, in Dongguan, in 1998. At the time, there was virtually no infrastructure and no experienced workforce, so they were truly starting from scratch. From what I learned, there were two issues early on-first-what kind of boat to build, many of their early models were what they called a "Modified Displacement Hull" known to us all as semi-displacement, and a lot inconsistency in the build. Somewhere around 2003 or so, they did bring in a very experienced and pretty well-known builder from Maine as a consultant to help get the build process straightened out and to train their workforce. He also got them more focused on true, full displacement, long range trawlers (Apologies-Marin!). Up until about 2011 or so, they contracted out their pre-delivery work and their warranty work here in the PNW to Port Townsend Marine. I spent a fair amount of time talking to them about the Selene. The issues, to my knowledge, never revolved around the hull build or the basic seaworthiness of the boat. The issues revolved more around consistency of build and attention to detail. Things like sighting down a hull and being able to see mat print through the gelcoat. The electrical systems tended to be totally inconsistent from boat to boat, where wires ran in one boat, they ran somewhere else in the next boat. Plumbing tended to be the same way. A lot of ancillary and component stuff, mostly metalwork and parts, were substandard (compared to top quality competitors). The guys I know a Port Townsend would pretty much get a chuckle out of whatever they would find on the next Selene. At the time, Selenes ran about 30-35% cheaper than comparable Krogens and close to 50% less than comparable Nordhavns. At the time, a familiar business model for China produced goods. Slightly less quality produced by cheaper labor and sold at a lower price. Over the years, from what I have learned, many of those problems have gone by the wayside. I think Chen and Jet Tern learned that while price is a component for many buyers, it is often not the motivating factor in the large trawler market. In the intervening years, Jet Tern has improved quality and build consistency. The price difference has narrowed considerably and while still less expensive than Krogen or Nordhavn, they are not sold nearly as much on price as they used to be. Unfortunately for Selene owners, and fortunately for those interested in them used, that initial impression has stuck around and there used prices are generally not comparable to either Krogen or Nordhavn. All that said, if I were interested in another boat, would I categorically exclude them? No. like looking at any prospective boat purchase, I would do all the normal things, surveys, sea trials, etc. and if the boat passed those tests and met my needs at a cost acceptable to me, I would buy it.
I haven't had the death roll trouble.
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