We are building a boatbuilding company in Brazil. First power
catamaran designed by Paolo Lima in production.

www.brazilboats.com

Donald Brunton III has had a boatyard in Ilhabela
(http://www.ilhabela.org/english/miolosatelite.htm) in Brazil for a
little over five years, along with a ten bedroom guesthouse and
property to expand. He was born in Maine, USA and has been a
boatbuilder and master carpenter most of his life. You can see his
high level of finishing work with his Brazilian furniture company at
(http://www.capitaldavela.com.br/cor/email.html). Want to come down
for a holiday and see his operation? Talk to us.

Brunton did his boatbuilding apprenticeship with Creekmore Boats in
Rhode Island, and then headed south where he built his uncle's 68-foot
wooden Schooner in Panama. He later sailed from NY to Brazil on a
22-footer with his wife and 8 month old child over the mouth of the
Amazon (the smallest boat ever to do so) and consequently became
somewhat of a celebrity in Brazil as well as qualifying for a Guiness
Book of World Records for the smallest boat to make that trip.

He then began work on building a boatyard in Brazil and completed
Southern Cross, a 63-foot catamaran, then ran the boat for a couple of
years as skipper and mate team with his wife. He speaks and writes
fluent English, Portuguese, German and Spanish.

After the events of 9-11 and the crash of the Brazilian currency and
after selling out his interest in the "Southern Cross", he decided to
come north, to St. Maarten in the Caribbean and look at more
possibilities here in developing his business in Brazil. He bought a
boat along the way (a Formosa 36 built in Taiwan) and subsequently
sailed her back to Brazil via Bemuda and the Azores.

He is currently beginning production on a 44 foot trawler-style power
catamaran for an American client and working out details on a 45 foot
cruising catamaran along the lines of John Shuttleworth.

"The bottom line is you build a boat for half the price," quotes Don.
"There are three factors involved in that – one is the extremely low
labor costs, two is the excellent exchange rate, and three is Brazil's
large and diversified economy means we can buy top products that are
produced right there."

What makes Brazil less expensive? How about US$20 a day for skilled
labor? How about Stainless Steel subsidized by the government, which
Brazil does? How about the fact that large epoxy resin companies in
the US buy their resins from Brazil? Brazil manufactures a lot of
products and right now the Currency (Brazilian Real) is trading at
approximately 3 to the US$ dollar.

Try building a 63-foot catamaran (daycharter) licensed for 125 People
anywhere else in the world for under UUS$300,000 using Red Cedar and
West System quality resins. "Southern Cross" would have cost closer to
US$500,000 - to build anywhere in unionized France or USA. A cruising
catamaran over 60 feet rarely sells for less than US$1,000,000. We can
do way better than that!

He has a trained team (US$20 per man per day) with whom he pumped out
the big catamaran, designed for tourism and licensed for 120
passengers. Besides the low cost of labor there are MANY other
benefits to building boats in Brazil.

His purchasing contacts in Brazil are invaluable. He buys epoxy resins
from a factory that re-packages and ships their product to the States.
He is tight with Andre Rossi and Paolo Lima, renowned Naval Engineers
and Designers in Brazil. Tinned marine wire can be bought at
extraordinary prices in Brazil… as can Red Cedar, marine quality
plywood, upholstery, safety glass, kitchen equipment, stainless steel
and fabrication (chain plates, stanchions, bowsprits, biminis, dodgers
etc). All steel, (including stainless tubing), is subsidized by the
government. There is also a company in Rio called Nautec that makes
aluminum masts to a very high level. Then there is Ipe, otherwise
known as Brazilian Teak, which has all the properties of a good
Burmese teak. Dacron sails can be made in Brazil at a great price… and
toilets and sinks and chain. One can even get core products like Airex
in Brazil. And Don knows where to source. He speaks the language, has
the company, has the yard and has the will.

In terms of what we can do… For example, a 60 foot day cat depending
on design and material factors a bare hull boat (including interior
work though – cabins, doors etc) can be built for under US$400,000 FOB
Caribbean. If finished properly as a cruising cat as opposed to a day
cat, we are talking about a boat worth well closer to a million in
retail value.

Contact us for more info.

www.brazilboats.com