March 10, 2010 Newsletter
The last two months have been a whirlwind GoGo period for our team. Here's a quick update.
Boat Show News
This year, we again displayed at the Seattle and Miami 2010 boat shows. The mood and attendance at both were very positive. Attendance was up 10-12% from the year before, but the big difference was many attendees were actively looking for that next boat that's "just right". Our C90 was very, very well received by both boaters and the trade press. At Seattle, we had over 4,000 visitors on the boat (my estimate). Some were just there to see the new technology and to learn about how it works and see how the space was used. There were, however, a solid group who are actually in the new boat market right now or will be soon. Aspen's appeal for this group runs on many cylinders. The boat is BIG yet trailerable, its appointments and detail finish work is up scale and yachty; visibility is excellent, seating's "just right" and the efficiency is outstanding, while still delivering cruise speeds of 18-20 mph. We are very pleased with sales so far and actually only have 3 build slots remaining this spring.
Many have asked if we "Made Miami" the answer is yes, but a little late. Nick and our delivery driver Sam made the drive Non-Stop in 58 hours 21 minutes arriving on Thursday, the day the show opened, at 5:00 pm with a boat that was actually not "that DIRTY". We gave her a major bath and put our display up that night to open for press testing at 7:00 am the next morning. We have stories brewing with Motor Boating, Sea, Yachting, Passage Maker, Sportfishing, Boating World, and several other magazines from overseas. Miami attendance was way up over the prior year even though the weather was very cold; i.e. I was buying hot chocolate every morning to stay warm. While we were chilly, the northeast was getting slammed by huge snow storms. Many customers who had planned to fly down were snowed in.
Miami Boat Show
Seattle Boat Show
With the completion of the first C90, came a lot of activity for our promotional materials. We have a new brochure along with a technical DVD; shot on the boat. New price sheets are available online. Be sure to take a look at our web site. This week, we are uploading a Virtual Tour of the C90; which is a 260 view of the cockpit, saloon, helm, head, and stateroom. Very neat technology because it gives you an extremely detailed view of the cabin. When using the virtual tour, if you double click the photos, they go to full screen. Also, if you see a camera Icon and click on it, there are detail photos under each camera Icon. This system allows you to swivel and zoom in just like you would if you were to walk through the boat. The printed materials are available upon request; just call or email.
Company News - ABYC/NMMA Certification
We completed our certification testing and inspection March 3rd for the ABYC (American Boat and Yacht Council) certification. The inspector was pleased and I think impressed with the very short list of adjustments he found. In total, 6 items, mostly stickers for various safety requirements. He did want additional looming in certain areas. of our wire harness and additional ventilation in the lazarette's when we do certain options. These have been modified at this time; our certificate should be available in t he next week or so.
Speed - Prop Testing - Cummins Certification
The preliminary performance numbers were run during early testing with a Bronze 15Px17D Acme prop. Our top RPM's were slightly under Cummin's recommendation. Last week, we switched to a 14Px17D and hit the recommended RPM's during Cummin's engine certification testing. Top speed picked up about 5% and economy came down just about 3%; so basically, no change. Interestingly, the second boat built for Miami which had less equipment no bottom paint and no kayak ran 2.3 mph or 1.5 mph faster on the Cummins 150 (a7% improvement).
The Cummin's certification team also was out last week. They reviewed our installation for service access and function, they then instrumented the engine and ran the boat. This was a fairly involved process measuring temperatures and pressures in the exhaust, turbo charger, intake system and many additional areas gathering info at each RPM setting. In the end, we passed with flying colors.
Price Change
Some of you have noted the change in price recently to $179,900. This was difficult; we had hoped to avoid this increase. But when the final tally came in for the components we buy, our vendor components and our in house labor, combined with new standard equipment, we really had no choice.
The biggest single change came from Cummins, but there were many other details that added to the boats total cost. We added features in many areas, more teak doors for storage, more items to the zinc bonding system, more curtains, a finished panel to the underside of the hardtop in t he cockpit, tip up helm seat for more galley space, tip up storage under the master bed, smarter battery chargers.....the list goes on, but rest assured, the increase was only to cover the added features made standard. Some of this change can be mitigated for the next three buyers, but after that, we get another increase from Cummins and will have to finish very near the list price.
C90 Puget Sound Demonstrations - Test Rides
Our next boat finishes the week of March 15th, we plan to complete sea trials by Friday morning, the 19th. We then will have her available for demonstration on Friday afternoon and Saturday, the 20th, in Everett, WA. We will be running the demonstrations from the guest moorage at the new Everett Marina. (Just 300ft. south of the 12th street launch ramp.)
The Everett launch is on the very north side of the marina off Marine View drive and is well marked. It's a 12 lane launch ramp with 40 acres of blacktop parking. If you're coming up from Seattle, Exit at Broadway off I-5, go to Pacific, turn left; go to Marine View Drive, turn right. it's about 9-10 minutes from the freeway. If a week day demonstration is better, please call. We can likely set up a test with the first C90. Please call Nick Graf at 206.948.5090 or email at nick@aspenpowercatamarans.com to make an appointment.
C90 Oregon/California Demo Tour, March 22-27
Our first stop on Monday (22nd) will be Portland at the Hayden Island launch ramp (approximately 4 miles up from the I-5 bridge) at 11am. We will be available until all have seen and ridden the new boat.
The next stop, Tuesday (23rd) will be Alameda, CA at the Grand Marina, 2099 Grand Street, Alameda, CA; we will launch there and be next to the Harbor Master's floating office. We will be doing demonstrations from 3:00-6:00 pm, again call Nick; 206.948.5090 or email nick@aspenpowercatamarans.com to schedule an appointment.
Next, it's Dana Point, Thursday (25th). We will get in Wednesday night and plan to show the boat throughout the day on Thursday. We looked into Newport Harbor, but found the dockage available was way back in the harbor and the time to get into open water was 45 minutes each way, plus parking was very limited. At Dana Point, it's only 10 minutes off the freeway (Dana Point Exit) then 3rd left into Embarcadero off Dana Point Harbor Road. We'll demo from the dock near the launch ramp, next to the Jolly Roger Restaurant, 5 minutes to open water. Again, Nick will schedule.
Final stop is San Diego on Friday and Saturday (26th and 27th), here we will be at Harbor Island guest moorage near their office (slip #1004). Harbor Island is just south of the san Diego airport off Harbor drive at 2040 Harbor Island drive. The Boat House Restaurant has a day dock and we may use that for convenience vs. the slip. Again, please call Nick to schedule an appointment. After Saturday, the boat will stay with our partner, Roger Deweese, in San Diego until the Newport Boat Show, April 15th-18th.
Trawler Fest - Anacortes, WA
We will be displaying at Trawler Fest again this year. The show opens on May 20th and runs through the 22nd (Saturday). the show which is unique in the industry for its extensive seminars for learning the art of comfortable cruising long distances is based at the Cap Sante Marina in downtown Anacortes. We have not yet received our slip assignment, but we will update you when we get it.
East Coast Demo Days
We are in the initial planning stages of a Demo event at Gulf Shores Marina in Naples, FL, but have not set a date yet. I hope to attend. In the meantime, Ken and his team are available to show the sparkling new C90 they have in stock. Gulf Shores Marina 239.774.0222.
That's all for now,
Please call if you have any question; bus: 360.668.4347.
All the best,
Larry and Nick
Optional Equipment for the C90 Cruiser
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| 8'9" Zodiac w/Weaver Davit System |
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| 2 HP Honda on Storage rack in Port Lazarette |
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| Aft Throttles |