To whom does one talk to in order to get Blade 16 pricing?
Matt McDonald of VectorWorks Marine.
mail him at :
MMcDonald@VectorworksMarine.comTo get some more info on the company go to :
http://www.vectorworksmarine.com/
Will Vectorworksrmarine sell the hulls direct or complete boats only?
They will sell complete boats, ready to go, however this does not answer wether they also sell the hulls/platforms seperately. I think you will have to put the last question to Matt himself. Personally I wouldn't know why they wouldn't sell any combination of (spare) parts. But again, only Matt can give you the final answer on that.
Who has financed the manufacture of the molds?
Vectorworks Marine (VM). Actually this is a company of some size :
http://www.vectorworksmarine.com/about.aspThey can do up to 70 feet laminate stuff.
They created a computer based (CAD-CAM) copy of the Blade F16 hulls as designed by Phill Brander and Ian Markovich and produced their own mould from this. The first serie of 5 boats is currently produced by them using this mould. All is financed by VM.
Anyone know what current pricing for the Taipan F16 is FOB
westcoast?
No but try to get it factory direct, saves money. You are gonna get git by the weak dollar though. The Aus$ to Euro exchange is pretty constant and we all know what the Euro to US$ has done over the last period. Like Eric says contact Goodall Yacht sails at
AHPC@ahpc.com.au and ask them.
One option you may want to consider is Jeff Woodards Taipan 4.9 + spi :
You can see his add in the classified section of catsailor.com :
http://www.catsailor.com/cs_classifieds.html2001 Taipan 4.9 USA216 -- Sloop sails and spinnaker. Guck snuffer. $7500 with cat wheels, cover. $8500 with trailer. Please call Jeff at 404-593-3549 or email at
jeffreyjwoodard@yahoo.com (ga)(jan)
If you want a Taipan then this is the best USA deal you can get by far !
You will have to pick it up in Georgia but you wouldn't be able to get such a young second hand boat for that price any time soon. Not even when getting one from Australia.
Don't wait too long as Taipans never last long in the classified sections.
Trying to get the lay of the land and discover options to the Nacra/Hobie route of cat sailing here in the lower central plains states.
Good luck.
P.S. I think Kirt Simmons and his Taipan spi are pretty close to you in Arkansas. So if you want a test ride before deciding I would advice you contact him. Beware though, the old saying has proven to be as potent in modern times as it was in the 90's. "Don't test sail a Taipan unless you are prepared to buy one". Only thing that changed is that the Taipan has competition in its own field now. Going on the comments by test sailor on the Blade it appears that the saying holds when replacing "Taipan" with "Blade". Not really surprising though, they share the same wingmast rig and that is at least halve of the pleasure in sailing these boats.
Wouter
