BoatBanter.com - View Single Post - Another quality boat manufacturer sells out.

HK

wrote:
On Nov 4, 7:30 am, HK wrote:
Chuck Gould wrote:
On Nov 3, 4:29?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.
Where have you been, Harry?
Brunswick has owned Albermarle for quite while now. Basically, they
are built by the same group that makes Hatteras. Many of the upper
tier
trademarks built by Brunswick are pretty darn good boats.
I'm sure they were better boats when the companies that built them were
independent. The newest model Albemarle, for example, is wider and with
less deadrise than the model it will be replacing. That's corporate
conglomerate think for you...take a line of fishing boats and turn them
into something less.

People often think that just because something is made by small
independents that it automatically means better craftmanship and
quality, but that just isn't always true. Larger companies have money
to use for R&D and testing, plus the tools to ensure quality control.

It's entirely dependent on the builder. The "larger companies" in the
boat business seem to blow their R&D and testing budgets on ways to make
their boats cheaper.

I prefer fiberglass boats built in the old, traditional ways. Proper
mold prep, hand layup of the proper cloths by experienced workers,
correct amounts of chemicals properly applied, enough time in the molds,
quality inspection by old guys who know what to look for, heavy
hardware, heavy construction, et cetera. Hell, a Parker family member
personally took and forwarded to me photos of my boats every couple of
days while they were under construction.