Northern Marine Alive?

[Conrad]

Just saw this on the Passagemaker Magazine site.
It was a surprise to me but I do wish them all the best. Most surprising though was no mention of the capsize incident.

https://www.passagemaker.com/cruiser-reviews/kick-start-northern-marine-57

 

[BandB]

Just saw this on the Passagemaker Magazine site.
It was a surprise to me but I do wish them all the best. Most surprising though was no mention of the capsize incident.

https://www.passagemaker.com/cruiser-reviews/kick-start-northern-marine-57

New company, new location, one more time. The companies always die but the brand always lives on. Too early to tell if this one has a future.

 

[sledge]

Yes well I suppose you cannot blame them for avoiding that (capsize) topic in a publication and maybe we should give kudos to the author Arrington for not bringing it up; We know in any other field, the media love to sling mud.
I think their products have beautiful lines so I too hope they do well. In a way, perhaps that adverse incident almost ensures their customers could be getting a more stable boat now because NM will be hyper focused on it never happening again...

 

[SteveD]

I would guess dead. Their space is now occupied by San Juan Yachts. I don't think anyone in their right mind would put down a deposit on a new one, given their long-time propensity for using deposits on yacht B to finance finishing construction on yacht A. With no yacht A in process, that scheme will not work now. One must add that to the capsize, which will not and should not be forgotten. It was a remarkable show of incompetence.

 

[BandB]

The boat shown, Agave, and discussed was actually built while "Northern" was owned by Concorde. Jay then bought the boat and rights to the name and now they are in a new location. So, it's another new company. Makes the fifth to use the Northern name. They have not built a boat. The last I heard they were starting to layup up a 57'. It was not a sold boat and the layout wasn't yet firm. That was mid July and I don't know how things have proceeded since then.

There are two major challenges. First, the builders are a brand new company, building their first boat. Second, Northern wasn't selling any boats under the previous ownership. The last boat they fully completed and delivered was 2011 while anything after was finished by someone else and in the years prior to four or five years prior to that they were averaging one boat a year and selling some of those at losses.

If Jay, Stuart, and Parker show they can build and sell Northern then it will be an amazing accomplishment.

 

[Shrew]

Hopefully, the new company isn't using the same ramp and wonky launch procedure.

 

[DDW]

I would guess dead. Their space is now occupied by San Juan Yachts. I don't think anyone in their right mind would put down a deposit on a new one, given their long-time propensity for using deposits on yacht B to finance finishing construction on yacht A. With no yacht A in process, that scheme will not work now. One must add that to the capsize, which will not and should not be forgotten. It was a remarkable show of incompetence.

San Juan yachts is long dead isn't it? At least three of their former buildings are occupied by James Betts Enterprises (bettsboats.com) who make high end racing sailboats.

 

[Woodland Hills]

Just saw this on the Passagemaker Magazine site.
It was a surprise to me but I do wish them all the best. Most surprising though was no mention of the capsize incident.

https://www.passagemaker.com/cruiser-reviews/kick-start-northern-marine-57

If they mentioned the launch sinking Northern would not advertise in Passagemaker and advertisers are far more important than readers. For more chuckles watch how other publications tip-toe around that particular disaster in their stories, this is certain to happen now that Northern is shopping their new boat around and spending promotional money. You can expect each and every magazine to have their hands out for that sweet, sweet cash, followed by perfunctory “articles” that avoid the truth at all costs.

 

[mcboatface]

According to info we have received, Northern Marine will be displaying the new 57 at TrawlerFest in Baltimore this week. Strangely enough, they are not listed as an exhibitor at the Fort Lauderdale show. It's quite curious that they would get the boat to the east coast for TrawlerFest but not to FLIBS. Could be a cost issue. We do not see the NM 57 listed at any other upcoming shows, at this time...

 

[sunchaser]

The NM 57 and 64 are really nice vessels. If "whoever" becomes the builder of more of these and returns to basics they could have a future.

BTW, a bit of minutiae - the big vessel that landed on its side did not capsize, it flipped on its side before its hull was afloat when the dummies moving it tried to take it off road. Same result though, company shuttered.

 

[BandB]

According to info we have received, Northern Marine will be displaying the new 57 at TrawlerFest in Baltimore this week. Strangely enough, they are not listed as an exhibitor at the Fort Lauderdale show. It's quite curious that they would get the boat to the east coast for TrawlerFest but not to FLIBS. Could be a cost issue. We do not see the NM 57 listed at any other upcoming shows, at this time...

The boat has been on the East Coast. It was purchased by the current owner of Northern Marine from Concorde, who built it. It was not built by the current Northern Marine factory.

It is still for sale, but I get the impression until they get a 57 of their own built, they've not got much urgency to sell it, but can use it to show.

 

[Mrdi]

National Transportation Safety Board

robable cause of the accident was the combined effects of a recording error during the final vessel weigh, which resulted in an incorrect assessment of the yacht’s center of gravity, and an overestimation of the weight of installed ballast.

 

[Just Bob]

To set a couple to points made in this thread straight, as I wrote the article.

I did not know any of the people involved in the new company but certainly knew NM prior to writing this piece.

I chose not to mention the launching accident as it has nothing to do with the story and it was covered exhaustively following the incident. There was no pressure from an advertising point of view.

The owners and management involved in the past NM enterprises have no involvement in this one.

Regardless of their problems one thing was constant and that is under all of NM’s iterations, they built well designed high quality boats. The designers and crafts people responsible for that quality are part of the new company.

I’ve bought used boats and spec’d and built 4 new ones. My wife and I cruise mostly full time aboard our trawler, I think I know what makes a good boat and a good builder. Given the market and the people involved, NM has a better chance than they ever have of being successful, so instead of being critical because of their past, why don’t we all wish them good luck, and appreciate that there could be another high quality American built trawler available.

This forum is great for sharing information, but it serves no one to comment or speculate on things when one has no real knowledge of the story or facts.

 

[BandB]

A very sad update to this thread. Jay Bernstein, the new owner of Northern Marine, died in January at 59 years old. As I understand it, his death was the result of a bicycle accident. All we can do is extend our deepest sympathies to his family and friends.

It is my understanding that Northern does have a display at the Miami show. I don't know anything further about potential impact on the business.

 

[sean9c]

A few weeks ago the rumors was that they were that they were still moving forward.
Honestly the whole thing sounded iffy from the start. They bought the old NM 57 tooling that had been sitting outside for years, it was in really rough shape, a lot of the wood support structure rotten and needing replacement and I'm sure a ton of work needed on the molds themselves. A tough way to get started. Then how you find enough talented tradesmen to actually build a boat is another story.
Surprised that they bought and decided to use the N M name. It comes with a lot of baggage.

 

[BandB]

A few weeks ago the rumors was that they were that they were still moving forward.
Honestly the whole thing sounded iffy from the start. They bought the old NM 57 tooling that had been sitting outside for years, it was in really rough shape, a lot of the wood support structure rotten and needing replacement and I'm sure a ton of work needed on the molds themselves. A tough way to get started. Then how you find enough talented tradesmen to actually build a boat is another story.
Surprised that they bought and decided to use the N M name. It comes with a lot of baggage.

I've been told that they have a 57' in the build process. I think they were building it on a speculative basis. I've always felt the odds were stacked very much against them.

In Washington, the talent is widespread although generally the top talent is already employed.

They felt they could tie the name back to the boats they built 15-20 years ago and people would overlook the time since. They did once build some nice boats, but the history of the brand has had more than what I'd label as just baggage.

Jay and others certainly had the desire to rebuild. I know the others may be determined but I don't know how it can happen without Jay.

 

[Just Bob]

Very sad indeed. Jay had two sons, one of which, Ross, is committed to keeping his dad’s dream alive. Ross has two good people in Stuart Archer and Parker Bogue to help guide him. We wish him all the best.

 

[Conrad]

I recently met a very charming couple at the dock in Campbell River who were heading north for the summer in their beautiful Northern Marine 64. One of the interesting tidbits I heard was that the 90 footer that had laid over on its side in 2014 was being rebuilt. It sounded like the upper part of the superstructure was removed, plus a number of other significant changes. No idea who is doing the work.
(The working name apparently is “Flipper”.)

 

[hullothere]

Had the honor of running a great NM 81 for almost 4 years for a client. Worked with Parker on another vessel in the early 2000's and know him to be reputable. If they can get the project up and running for the shows, then there is hope for the US market for NM.

 

[BandB]

As of June they were infusing the hull of the new 57. At that time the boat was totally speculative. If a customer came along they could still select layout.

Hard to sell your first boat. Maybe they'll get it into a show eventually and have some interest shown. I hope if they do, they don't discount it too much as that will devalue any future boats. Only deep discount if it's going to be the first and last boat.