Thorsten,
Here is how I see it. If we had not fixed the many little and few huge mistakes on our Prout Escale now, then a competent surveyor for the next owner would identify and tag them for repair later. We might as well fix them now and enjoy the boat for another 10-15 years. Hence, our reliance on premium materials, etc.
Furthermore, I take issue with the idea that I might diminish the resale of the boat via the web-site: The opposite is true. Basically, what we have is an extensive proof of maintenance upkeep, better than any mountain of paper records that only describe in the broadest of terms what may or may not have been done on the boat. It also serves as a handy reference for myself as I have a chronology of what was done when and how.
There are a number of basic safety issues mentioned on the site that any Prout owner should go over - steering system might fail because the
hatch it sits under is not watertight, whose boat might catch fire due to dangerous wiring, or who might also find themselves with a set of mild steel masthead pins for the 3 stays. To me it is unconsciable that Prout would tell a owner with significant OEM defects that they''re on their own. Even if Prout were not willing to pay for repairs, at the very least they should make people aware of the issues.
As a result of the web-site, a number of Prout owners have contacted me. The vast majority have concurred with my experience, regardless of whether they owned power cats or the sailing variety. I imagine that most owners and particularly ex-owners will have no problem with being truthful about their experiences with potential buyers. More than anything else, this will kill the brand.
So, assuming that my <a href=http://www.vonwentzel.net/Prout/index.html>Prout Catamarans experience</a> is somewhat representative of build issues and customer service, Prout Catamarans dug it''s own hole. Perhaps my site is the only one to expose the complete details... but I would think that anyone willing to shell out big bucks for a boat would contact a number of current owners beforehand to see what owning that type of boat is really like.
Sales pitches are nice but what really counts is what happens after the ink on the purchase contract dries. If our Prout Escale had only suffered from minor and/or standard upkeep issues, I obviously would not have bothered going through the expenses in terms of time and money to publish the travails we faced on the internet. Believe me, I have better uses for my time, like sailing!
At this point, the number of surprises left are minor as we have examined every inch of the boat. The motor has been rebedded, the leaks stopped. Most of the electrical work is done. The mast is about to be felled to replace the stay pins and to replace the wiring. About 200 images await processing and captioning which I will do in August...
Cheers,
Constantin
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