Joe wrote:
....
So Ben, Jeff's a pretty sharp sailor, I doubt he would fib on your
davit being flawed I hope you contacted him and offered to pay for the
flaw. And now RingMaster is having problems getting parts.


I haven't heard from Mr. Atkins - he would have to contact me through
this forum. Frankly, since the event was about 12 years ago, I don't
expect anything now. At the time I felt a bit forgiving - perhaps
something had happened while I wasn't there (that was the claim of A&H:
if I didn't see it bend, I can't prove it was their fault), perhaps the
dink was too big (but it worked for the following several years with no
trouble, why would it fail in the slip?), perhaps it really did cost
$280 to replace one tube. I only got ****ed later when I expected a bit
of sympathy but was laughed at.

I'm surprised when vendors don't realize that bit of "attitude" can be
very costly. A year or so before the davit incident I talked to the
Nonsuch president and sales manager at a show. I asked if certain new
features could be retro-fitted to my boat, and rather than explaining
why it would not be cost effective, they laughed, said "buy a new boat"
and turned away. What they didn't know was that my real reason for
being there was to talk to them about the possibility of upgrading to a
Nonsuch 36, which would have been a big sale for a then foundering
company. But in that moment, I thought, "no way in Hell I'll buy from
these Bozos." As fate would have it, Prout was showing some catamarans
at the show, and being primed for a change of heart, my long range plans
took a different tack that day.