Moron boat builders...

[gran398]

Hey, no problem...and for sure no apologies needed.

A lot of junky crap gets made. The unfortunate thing is...this country doesn't even get the chance to make much of anything any more.

[Mcdiver]

Although, I do understand your frustration with the pull string in the leg.  I have wires in one side of mine, but not the other.  I am not sure why someone would build a t-top, drill the holes, and not pull a string.  Someday, I will get a string down that tube.

[MarshMarlowe196]

"I accost an American sailor, and I inquire why the ships of his country are built so as to last but for a short time; he answers without hesitation that the art of navigation is every day making such rapid progress, that the finest vessel would become almost useless if it lasted beyond a certain number of years."  -Alexis de Tocqueville , 1840

Seems that all Manufacturing companies everywhere have adopted, or at least considered, the concept of planned obsolescence.  For a lot of smaller companies who sell on price point, its just plain cheaper to build something that works for the here and now, instead of investing that money into the engineering required to make something that will last as long as we do.  Making a boat that's easily serviceable does no good for a smaller boat MFG'er, especially when many of the people buying boats have disposable income (or a mild mental instability  ), and will likely be back in the Market within a few years.  On the other side of this, companies that build boats with the price tag of a SouthPort or Yellowfin aren't expecting the sales volume of Sea Fox, and have customers that expect much more, and build their boats accordingly.

Boeing came to Charleston for cheap, and it was made cheap for them in return for reducing the rising unemployment rate and employing local contractors that have historically struggled to stay in business.  Not to scare anyone, but a lot of the mechanics building this cutting edge Jumbo Jet were previously line cooks at Fast Food Joints, Detailers at Car Dealerships, Delivery Truck drivers, etc.  The company invested in these employee's, and is producing a high mileage aircraft projected to last 50 years... for the low price of $150 million.

So- you get what you pay for, no matter who made it.

[RickK]

Bob - are you are talking about the Chris-Craft plant in Kings Mountain, NC - the one that closed and laid off all their employees in 2009?  That closing had nothing to do with the quality of the boats - and that plant was supposed to build the smaller boats - not the 600K yachts.  The simple reason for closing was lack of orders.  Chris-Craft opened the plant in 2006 with production beginning in 2007.  Initially they were going to build 33-40 footers there, but later only built the 24-29 footers.  Then, in 2008, as we all know, came the
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in the economy.  Chris-Craft laid off half the work force in 2008 (40 employees) and closed the plant and laid off the rest in 2009.  Manufacturing moved back to Sarasota, where they also laid off about 50 employees in 2008.  The Kings Mountain building was recently sold to an electronics firm.  

Info on the 2008 layoff:
http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/st ... ily51.html

Chris Craft is hiring here now.

[seabob4]

Bob - are you are talking about the Chris-Craft plant in Kings Mountain, NC - the one that closed and laid off all their employees in 2009?  That closing had nothing to do with the quality of the boats - and that plant was supposed to build the smaller boats - not the 600K yachts.  The simple reason for closing was lack of orders.  Chris-Craft opened the plant in 2006 with production beginning in 2007.  Initially they were going to build 33-40 footers there, but later only built the 24-29 footers.  Then, in 2008, as we all know, came the
d
o
w
n
t
u
r
n
in the economy.  Chris-Craft laid off half the work force in 2008 (40 employees) and closed the plant and laid off the rest in 2009.  Manufacturing moved back to Sarasota, where they also laid off about 50 employees in 2008.  The Kings Mountain building was recently sold to an electronics firm.  

Info on the 2008 layoff:
http://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/st ... ily51.html

Chris Craft is hiring here now.

And that is what we want to hear!