Pacific Seacraft at the Annapolis Boat Show

[LittleWingCA]

Hi all Pacific Seacraft well wishers:

Anyone see the new company at the Annapolis Boat Show? I couldn't attend, but would be interested in hearing from those who stopped by to see the new company.

[Sapperwhite]

Brodie was a nice guy and intelligent (seemingly ). The rest of the reps there were the brokers from Crusader. All the boats at the show were built in NC, and the 34' didn't even make it to the show because it was bought a few days before. They said that they had made about 8 finished boats (if I remember correctly) since moving to NC.

The boats looked great, I couldn't tell any difference in craftsmanship. The biggest thing I noted was a change in the vendor they are using for spars. The new rigs are "Charleston Spar". Maybe this isn't such a new change, I haven't been on many new new PSCs.

[ralopata]

We went onboard the 40 and thought the boat looked pretty good. I noticed a few changes -- the switch to Charleston Spars as cited in a previous post, and, though I don't know the manufacturer, they looked sound and well finished; hatches and ports are now all stainless Hood units and looked excellent, slightly larger ports let more light into the main cabin; the new company has tried to find ways to reduce the number of hours required to produce the boats and lower costs, but I didn't see any real evidence of corners being cut.

Steve Brodie and his wife were onhand and he seems like a really nice, earnest gentleman. His interest in the boats and their reputation was obvious and genuine (yes, I was impressed).

I haven't heard much "buzz" from the show as to whether folks were buying boats (PSC or otherwise) this year, but I suspect the gyrating economic news has given more than one prospective buyer pause. But as a PSC fan, I guess I'm pulling for Brodie and the new company as long as they keep doing it right (and it appears to me that they are).

Fair Winds,

Roger Lopata
JUNO
PSC 40 -- #46
(note Avatar is a photo taken of her this summer off Block Isle)

[JohnRPollard]

Ditto the above comments.

I only went aboard the 31. Compared to the previous new 31 I went aboard (several years ago, when the company was apparently on the brink), the fit and finish was much better.

The most remarkable hardware difference was the Charleston Spars mast. It didn't look quite as beefy as our LeFiel mast. It had more prebend too, as well as what looked to be narrower, slightly raked spreaders, and internal halyards. It also seemed to have a better masthead/crane arrangement, with plenty of space for antennae, wind instruments, etc.

Our boat has a more earthy, warmer tone belowdecks, with more and richer wood trim, etc. The new boat was much "brighter" feeling, more white laminates and lighter wood etc. Aside from some different hardware and color choices, I didn't notice anything that I considered to be significantly different from our boat, quality-wise. That is a compliment, since I consider ours to have been built during the heyday of PSC quality construction.

I met Brodie and his father/partner -- they seem like nice folks.

P.S. Roger, I love your avatar photo -- must have been a great trip!

[MC1]

I also noticed the change in spars, and I'd be interested in seeing a comparison between the LeFiel and Charlston spars from the standpoint of their robustness. It'd be ashame to have "costal" spars put on these boats given their applicability for serious offshore use. Perhaps the new spars may also be great for offshore use, but I think its worth looking into to confirm. Otherwise, I thought the boats looked top-notch and its encouraging to see the companies' ability to turn these boats out so soon after the move and restart. I've had a couple chances to interact by phone and email with PSC, and having now also talked with them at the show, I think they have a winning spirit.

[LittleWingCA]

Very glad to hear the above good news. I have spoken to them via email as well, and they mentioned they had the Orion 27 molds. Did they say anything about bringing that model back at some point in the future? Anyone pick that up at the show?

[arisatx]

Here's a Picasa Web Album I stumbled upon with pics of the 40, 37.

Picasa Web Albums - Kent - NEW Pacific S...

[svjobeth]

Charleston Spar has been around a while. They build spars for numerous builders, ranging from Catalina and J to Island Packet and Cabo Rico.

I'd be interested in seeing the spars on PSC boats and I don't know that I would have too many concerns simply because of the MFR change.

It may be part of the "cost-effectiveness" measures to switch, as Charleston Spar (despite the name) is located in Charlotte, N.C., much closer to PSC than any other spar builder I know of.

Said FWIW -

[MC1]

A few of us noticed the mast bend of the boats at the show because the previous spars were of a sufficiently thick gauge of aluminum that it was difficult to put any bend in. This, and the relatively short height and wide stance (relative to the narrow beam of the PSCs anyway) of the LeFiell rigs gave the impression of a quite conservative rig for blue water use. I looked up some information on the Charleston Spars web site, and as with any spar manufacturer, they offer masts in various thicknesses / heights / widths, and with various hardware options. So, these paramaters are likely a matter of how PSC spec's them out with the vendor, and we certainly can't fault them for wanting to go with a vendor that is close by to save on the transportation costs.

Perhaps PSC would be interested in some feedback from owners on desired rig characteristics, assuming there were some general consensus on this. PSC owners may want to chime in on their preferences here in this thread (i.e., would we trade off some robustness for the greater performance of a taller and/or more bendable rig?). If there is a consensus of opinion, perhaps Steve B. may be interested in hearing the feedback.