Reginald P. Smithers III wrote:
HK wrote:
Capt John wrote:
On Nov 3, 6:29 pm, HK wrote:
Just read that Albemarle was bought out by Brunswick. Another famous
line goes in the crapper. Cabo was sold last year. Sad to see the
independents disappearing, since they build the best boats.

I can't say I blame them, with the price of fuel, the future is very
cloudy. Powerboating was very much a middle class activity. Sure, the
really big boats are owned by the wealthy, but the vast majority of
boat owners are middle class. Crazy fuel prices are starting to push
the middle class out of boating.

If I owned a business that was very much dependant on middle class
incomes. And the business started to change, pushing the operating
cost of my product beyond that which my customer base can afford,
driving increasing numbers of those customers away. And someone came
along and offered me a good price for that business, I'd probably take
the money and run.

John


Oh, I don't *blame* Albemarle for selling out, but the likelihood is
that the product that emerges in the years to come will no longer be
an "Albemarle." It'll be the product of the MBAs and accountants, and
therefore the probability is, it will be crap, because that is what
MBAs and accountants produce.

Some decades ago, an ad and pr company I worked for had a client that,
at that time, was the largest and most successful FHA-VA mortgage
banker in the country. We liked the company and its management a lot,
so much so that the owner of the company and I (I was the chief
account exec and writer) bought some stock. It was traded O-T-C at the
time, for about $4.00 a share.

Lo and behold, a giant NY-based financial institution offer the
founders $35 a share for the stock. Too good an offer to turn down. We
all cashed in to the limits of our holdings, of course. I made a few
bucks and was happy to do so.

Well, the new owners simply didn't understand the market for the
acquisition and in a few years, it sold the company off to someone
else, after most of its value (which was mainly in good will and very
competent staff in about 20 U.S. markets). The company disappeared,
along with the service it had provided. The big institution's MBAs
turned the mortgage company into crap.

The family that started the mortgage company, the guys who cashed out,
stayed active in business. A large regional bank in our market was
about to be shut down by the FDIC, and the guys, over the course of
ONE weekend, put together enough cash to take over the bank with the
FDIC's blessing. Bank opened Monday with a new name and new management.
No MBAs involved.

Hatteras no longer is a premier manufacturer of top-end sportfishing
boats. Cabo no longer has its edge. Albemarle is going to become just
another nameplate.

Sad to see, whatever the reasons.



Who is the premier mfg'er of top-end sportfishing boats who has retained
it's edge.



There are top-end sportfishing boats in just about every size category.
If I were in the market for a large Atlantic Ocean "battlewagon,"
though, I'd be visiting the independent Carolina builders.

There are some builders in the Maritime Provinces of Canada who build
some really serious fishing boats.