Thread: Nordy 120
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Old 01-25-2019, 02:39 AM   #8
BandB
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City: Fort Lauderdale. Florida, USA
Join Date: Jan 2014
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I would say there are some good lessons for all of us in this unpleasant case.

First, to have reasonable expectations. Even contracts that are terribly one sided or unreasonable can be nullified by a jury. In business you see a huge company writing contracts for business with contractors who sign because they want the business. Often these are tossed out under a premise that you shouldn't prevail just because you had better lawyers. Ours always tried to write balanced contracts.

There's a reason new Nordhavn buyers are generally so happy. They understand the commissioning process and the time to resolve issues. I've had them say it would take a year to get everything worked out. However, they'll loyal and patient and most enjoy the commissioning and debugging process. A Westport buyer would be shocked and angry, but that's irrelevant except in this odd case.

Also, this was a first of the model. I would have still been upset, but many would have said you expect this on a new model, especially one that much larger than any they've previously built.

Second, courts are a lousy way to resolve such a case as this. Conconi got hit with PAE's attorney fees of $531,655 plus their own fees over a $700,000 dispute. That's not even counting the costs of all their expert witnesses and their own time. The best way to have resolved this would have been continuing to work with and pressure PAE and never mention attorney's or lawsuits. Would he have gotten everything fixed? No. But far more than he got fixed as things turned out. Sometimes you have to swallow hard and deal with people you don't like and try to save a relationship for your own good. You have to think, "What is in my best interests." In a case like this, a lawsuit seldom is. You have a simple and clear case on a contract and it can be. Can you imagine how confusing the jury found much of the evidence in this case? On top of that imagine how they felt about a wealthy man buying a $16 million boat and a big boat builder fighting, but appears they were most turned off by the wealthy man refusing to pay his bill.

Third, don't try to outsmart the other party and actually outsmart yourself and don't try to take advantage of a struggling company or company struggling at a difficult time. From the first steps at FLIB's, this deal was doomed. Nordhavn was saying yes, yes, yes, yes, and yes. He was pressuring them and trying to take advantage of them but what he got was commitments they couldn't live up to. If you want a 120 foot full displacement boat and you want it all done to yacht or to Westport standards, then go to Delta Marine or to Feadship. Westport won't do it and Nordhavn won't. And you won't get it for $16 million. A 125' Westport will cost you $22.5 million. I'm surprised he didn't say he wanted the 120' Nordhavn to cruise at 20 knots.
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