In 2008 we were working with several clients that were all searching for a catamaran with good performance and classic aesthetics. Surprisingly we found that there was nothing in the marketplace that addressed these criteria. After much research and input from current and past customers a preliminary plan was written and presented to our clients and this led to a commitment from one client to build a boat.
Thus the Journey forth began.
Neil Riley, our in-house catamaran specialist, started searching the web for boats, designers, and builders. Slowly our boat started to take shape. Our experience told us there was no long-range production cruising catamarans on the market and the custom-built ones were extremely expensive. This is when we came across “Water Wizards” – a custom-designed and -built 50-foot catamaran with wave-piercing bows built to cruise in the ocean at 30 knots and film sailboat races. This design was not only sea-worthy and stable but extremely fuel-efficient – an eco-friendly platform. It was time to contact the designer.
We then met with Tim Kernan, NA, (company information is in the appendices). We had two major design criteria:
- We wanted a long-range, very fuel-efficient cruising catamaran and
- We did not want it to look like most other catamarans, boxy and square.
As you can see, we got just what we wanted. We then contracted Kernan Design to complete the boat drawings, so we would be able to present them to builders for the purpose of obtaining a quote for construction costs.
Since plans were being drawn, it was time to find a builder and conduct more research. We found numerous qualified and receptive builders in the US, as the boating market was in a depression. However, the cost for them to produce the boat would place her well above our targeted market price.
Hence, we turned overseas. Again, with a depressed, US boat market we figured we could find some eager builders and we did. We were preparing packages to send to builders in order to obtain quotes for the tooling and building costs when we had a stroke of good fortune. While contacting a model builder in Hong Kong to get a quote, we discovered his consulting service for Westerners in China.
He is William Baycroft of Yacht Consultants, Asia (particulars in appendix). As we discussed needs for a model to display at boat shows, we informed him of our project. He then offered his services, which we gladly accepted. Having a lifetime of experience building boats and many years doing so in China, he was the perfect person to help find a builder.
Neil made numerous trips to China to visit different builders with Mr. Baycroft. We finally settled on one: Jet Tern Marine, the builder of Selene Ocean Trawlers. Not only was the owner, Howard Chen, very enthusiastic about the project, he was sure he could sell a fair number of the 47-foot Journeys in China plus develop a larger version or two.
Backing up a bit, while all of the above was working, we started marketing the boat in January of 2010. We had done a lot of research as to where we should spend our marketing dollars and where to introduce the boat. We decided to go with PassageMaker magazine, as their reputation in the long-range trawler market was superb. They also sponsor numerous Trawler Fests and boat shows for only trawlers across the country. One other reason was that the builder of the 47-foot Maine Cat had invested his marketing dollars in the magazine and sold 6+ boats over a 6-month period.
By attending numerous Trawler Fests (in Ft. Lauderdale, San Diego and Anacortes) with our model, we received high praise for the project and learned a lot about what a buyer for this boat wanted. This helped us refine the boat and equipment she would include.
