[jonny]

Per my understanding he's on the run from the FBI. All hearsay from other boat builders but thats been the consistent story round the campfire.

FBI is too busy planning kidnappings, insurrections and proud boy rallies to chase Hal around.

 

[jonny]

WOW
Just went to the court directly as @Rick_Hem suggested. And boy are there a lot cases open. It will make your head hurt if not a lawyer.
There was a lot of money being passed around for such a sought after boat company. I know there’s a lot of capital needed. But you would think they could stand on their own feet by 2016. That could have been for the new shop possibly. I think that was about that time could account for 1.2 mil in question.
I just happened to pick a file that had a interesting bit of information. It appears non of the design patents were ever transferred to the company. I would have to assume only one particular individual would have those under his name. The plaintiff was a large investor and found this to be of particular concern. And was actually suing Hal and George over it. But it seems George had no control over the financials from I was getting. That could be huge down the road 🤔

 

[jonny]

Well now you know why boats are so expensive. Their online info shows that is cost them $41,600 to build an Islamorada 18 and sell it for $74k making $32,400 on a boat!
View attachment 249891

That’s also shows you can build it yourself for $24k or so. Of course you will need the space, molds and several months worth of spare time

 

[jonny]

I wonder how that translates into now where they are charging $115,000 for that same skiff.

About $65k in profit 😂

 

[jonny]

Also consider that what's not listed in that boat build listing is their fixed operating cost, rent/mortgage, keeping the lights on, office personnel/sales staff, marketing, insurance etc etc....

Also they sell a lot more other models than the flagship Legacy. That model has the most labor/expense in building. The lower priced Challenger has a whole lot less in materials, labor, cost and profits

 

[jonny]

The Snakebight was listed at $27k cost

😮
Aren’t those like $80k

 

[jonny]

Lol…. These guys have been over pricing these boats with fanboy support since the beginning. And still defending it now.

I will give then this their quality and design is a lot better than some of these other builders trying to charge near those prices. And they cost a whole lot less to build compared to a Chittum. So they could be actually making more per skiff than Chittum.

 

[jonny]

Hey if you can get it get it👍🏻
Like Nike selling sneakers for over $200 that cost them $3 to make in a sweat shop. Back in the day they probably paid MJ more than they had in each pair of shoes.

 

[jonny]

Agree, I think the controversy around the brand will hurt the most. They need to explain in detail what happened and how they will move on in the future not just hit talking points. Maybe they cant due to lawyers involved but I think the sooner they explain what happened the sooner they can move forward. I think they make great looking skiffs and am by no means bashing the brand, the more high quality skiff builders there are for consumers the better it is, so I hope they can sustain this storm

There’s a whole lot of pending civil cases. So that may be why everyone is walking on eggshells with letting out the details.

 

[jonny]

🍿

You are going to need more than that

 

[jonny]

Right, I do not have a good idea on how many hours are involved in assembly or the salary rate. But just ballparking the rigging labor at $3,900. Assume a 2015 salary at $20/hr, that is 195 manhours for just rigging, which is 2 guys almost 2.5 weeks. This seems way too much just for rigging.

I removed a motor, installed a jack plate and reinstalled the motor in a day by myself and I barely knew what I was doing. Seems 2 guys who knew exactly what they were doing could rig a boat in a week.

Some pieces of construction equipment have a net margin of 40%, others much lower, but it would not surprise me if a semi-custom skiff has a high margin. Also Chittum is factory direct, so no dealer markup and their boats are more expensive than competitors with a dealer network. The guys at MBG walked away with 10’s of millions in their pocket and had private company planes, so margins are not real low for that to happen.

Fully burdened labor rates where I used to work were roughly double the salary rate, which is what made me think they might be burdened rates. I could also be wrong.

I flipped my bare hull March 4 about 8pm started rigging, put the deck on a table to gelcoat a couple of days later then assembled everything. Had it down in the Keys fishing on March 14. And that was in my spare time while working on building and repairing other boats. Although I did put in some late nights. Mostly did it by myself but had some help. But it was only 8-9 days or so to get it done.

 

[jonny]

Are you trying to say there are no patented spray rails??????? I can't believe it. Shocked.

I once had the displeasure of having to park my boat next to George and one of his Chittum yachts. I was forced to listen to him ramble on and on about those stupid spray rails

I know a guy they filed a lawsuit against over those spray rails. So it must have been protected in some way. Per him they lost and had to pay his lawyer fees. That boat is now being made in Louisiana now I believe

 

[jonny]

Hell no not me @K3anderson it’s the American dream. I want them to keep pushing the envelope of high tech. If they don’t I don’t see another manufacturer with the resources to do it. You have to admit though this is made for the internet scandalous stuff. All brought on and made public by the parties involved. So no apologies from me about poking fun and having a few laughs at their lunacy. Right down to the Crocs and socks😂😂

 

[jonny]

Sawley on Tribenwater was about like Kevin on here back in the day😂

I do miss Tribenwater I never posted but liked lurking looking at all the craziness 😂😂

It sux you can’t see any of it anymore. The entire startup of Chittum was archived on there.

 

[jonny]

No one here is near as bad as what I've seen on golf forums.

Speaking of golf
I just happened to see this dentist in Florida on a Law&Crime channel. He was getting arrested for beating the shit out of a little old man walking with his wife and dog. He kicked him in the head while he was down. And beat him with a club. Even sucker punched while he had his back to him trying to survive. He even ripped the poor guys ear nearly off. It took a lot of stitches to get back in place. All in front of his wife who is screaming for him to stop. All over the fact the were walking down the edge of the fairway in the morning. Like they have done since 2016.
Allegedly 😉
But I couldn’t help but notice his hat😂

So if any of you use him as your dentist in the Leesburg area you may want to reconsider

 

[jonny]

I remember seeing a used one for sale in BoatTrader for $6500 in 2006. I didn’t get to it fast enough. Somebody had it setup Bill Dance style with big swivel bass chair and foot controlled TM with no platform 😂

 

[jonny]

Update #2 - found another classic skiff drama image in my photobucket. Raise your hand if you remember the context of this one. If only JC Designs were around to scold everyone involved!

View attachment 250344

What about after the HB - BT lawsuit was settled and Mark Fisher was out on a skiff, holding up a check from HB? That didn't stay up long.

how much was the check?
I had the opportunity to acquire a HB in pieces many years back. On the transom was the outline of bondo and other goo where someone had built sponsons onto the back temporarily. It was obviously used to splash a mold off of it. The details were kept hush hush from the seller. I ended up passing on it. But the person that bought is on here😉

 

[jonny]

Post was in reference to previous ones about stealing other builders designs.

I remember Sawley on Triben admitting they used the HPXV as their base. Because they felt it was the best tarpon boat at the time. And they wanted to make a better version-drier,lighter,quieter,faster.
Then Chris measured all these skiffs. And you can clearly see that was the case.

 

[jonny]

Mac fixing my Pro to work in skinny water. Should have kept it was paid for LOL. Grass might be greener on the other side maybe not live and learn too late usually. I do realize this is the Chittum thread but relates to good memories and sometimes gotta be happy with what ya got no matter what name is on it.
View attachment 250480

Mac a true shade tree mechanic 😂

Mac and I have had several discussions about HB dropping the ball on tunnel setups. The way they go out the shop door doesn’t maximize their true capabilities. Where Chittum sends them out ready to roll.

 

[jonny]

Is Smack's picture allowed on the Forum?

Depends on who you are asking