i can’t believe the prices for this iom. call me new, but wow, i mean, come on.
are they made from moon dust or something.
i hope that footies don’t get like this.
go to current projects iom
http://www.malmstenboats.nu/
well, the are in sweden dollars, so th 4559 comes out to about 781 USD, but still, my goodness, and the IOMers wonder why new people don’t come into the class!
my mistake. i thought is was in euros.
Come on guys, welcome to the real world. An IOM is not some mass produced vac-formed or injection moulded kit produced in a low labour cost far east country. Each is virtually hand made from start to finish. A fully finished Bagheera will have many days intense work work put into it, with no chance of a massive production run to be able to benefit from the economies of scale. Time is money. Oven baking of laid up epoxy mouldings is money. Purchase of small numbers of merchantised parts is money. Time taken to build and polish off the moulds is money. Would you like to build and give away the product of your labours for nothing in return. Have you ever hand made a hull and deck and fully fitted it out yourself. If so and if you could add up the hours taken and then multiply that with the current technichian hourly rate you will maybe get an idea of what I am getting at. The builder of my ISIS can only have made about $10 an hour after he took into account the cost of raw material and purchased parts. It took me 15 hours just to build three rigs for it. The parts and sails cost $200 per rig, plus my labour. So what value should the total be? Unfortunately the US dollar is at the lowest value for decades and no doubt has dragged down the Canadian dollar with it. We on the east side of the pond are now benifitting from a high currancy rate but at the expence of most of our manufacturing capacity being lost to the low cost countries. It is only because of the cheapness of labour in the Far East that the Americas have been cushioned by low prices, or you would really be feeling the pinch.
Cheers
Ralph
i know what’s involved in custom hand built composites. there is a evil trend of charge what ya like, because ya can. i remember when titanium everything was hot. it was sky’s the limit as well. it’s mellowed a bit now though. i explain to people to help them get an idea of what i’m talking about, this: if you make a carbon fiber ash tray, and put it in walmart, you could sell it for max $10. put the same ash tray in a glass case, in a ferarri dealership, you could probably get a cool $1000 fer it.
We have four or five commercial model yacht builder/manufacturers in the UK and none of them are able to ‘Charge what ya like’, because they can’t. You get what you pay for so long you pay for what you get. I havn’t seen any flashy sets of wheels being driven by these guys. They give quality service at a fair price.
Ralph
I am sure there are custom builders out there who would be more than happy to have someone just do the sanding on their plugs and coverings for $4-$5 (US)
When we were building wooden 18 Square Meter cats, the fellow doing the wood work often said to potential buyers who were shocked at his costs … “Well - you can spend the hours sanding the boat prior to final finish - or I can do it for you. If I do it - you ‘will’ pay me !” A few tried and word soon spread - it’s a part of the buld that has no return. Kind of like hauling your own shingles to the roof of a two story home - or hauling wallboard/drywall to the second floor of the house. In some cases, it really does pay to have someone else do it.
That said, it is also recognized that building it yourself “is” a legitimate way to save money. Just have the necessary building skills and desire. Experience will eventually be there - and by that time, having built more than one boat, you will come to realize the amount of labor you have invested.
In the UK the minimum wage paid to an employee, by law, is £5.35, about $10 US. plus employers National Insurance contributions and with other overheads, gas at $7 a gallon etc, and b***busting taxes, there is not much left for a profit margin. I have heard that in Sweden the cost of living is even higher than here. Ouch!
Ralph
i am a IOM sailor and desinger. I also make my own molds and pull hull for friends. this idea of a IOM costing $100+ is just driving people out of the division. I for 1 went out and got an epoch off climate boat works. now this boat does not have a metal mast. it has a carbon fibre mast. and you know what? it works real good. the kit also came with rod carr sails. and you know what ? they are good also. I only paid $599 for the complete boat. and it does work well. now for all those who say " you have to pay yourself" I agree. but if this is something i like to do? and i will be making a few boats for friends. I have never EVEN come close to $500. and that included sails,bulb, hull,mast.
the first hull sure it cost me more than $500. after all it is mine. i will have made a plug then a mold. then then boat. but now. each hull i pull from my mold is only going to cost me 1) partall#2 ) pva) #3 resin and glass. if that comes to more than $100. i would be greatly surpised.
now i for one do not consider myself in the same league as a bantock or a ts2 league. both of them are top notch. but for the person just getting in . lets have a beginner IOM. like an epoch. epoch is a very good boat. i have never had water in it. and even my wife can drive it. she perfers my old design. but she like what she likes
this IOM price of $2000 . is just nuts.
i say we make some rule changes. you want to cut some cost. i know cf mast only cost around $30. and that is mast and booms. you go aluminum, and you are going to be paying $80 cdn ,Just for the mast. last time i checked it was $230 cdn for the mast kit. mast, booms spreaders boom vang. mast head crane.
i say we go and make to class alittle more cost effective. we go to a cf mast?:zbeer:
IOM’s are a little bitty boat with a great big price tag. They are highly competitive and that means as a manufacturer, you really want to put your best foot forward. There is an amazing amount of work in putting these boats together as I have found out the hard way. The good news is that molding the parts is probably the easiest boat I have ever produced. Getting them together, they are probably the most difficult I have ever tried. Perhaps I should rephrase, getting them together properly
I have been told that the waiting list for those considered to be THE best, is now over 2 years and the boat is topping out just over $3,000 complete with all 3 rigs.
The times, they are a changing. One thing though… that remains constant throughout the classes… there will always be the group that wants to buy that trophy. You see it in an every competition that you can name, from Bass Fishing to Turtle racing… and you will also see the guy that shows up with basic equipment, no special gear, and does so much better than you thought he would… because he lacked all the gee whiz go fast gear.
MY personal favorite was watching the Datsun 240-Z’s beating the Porsches at the auto-X because they were driven well and came prepared. 1/10th the price tag and clicking down those lap times.
The best go fast item you can find for your boat is a buddy that feels the same way, and can make time to meet you for an hour or two twice a week. Your performance will ROCKET UP in improvment.
its FUN TOO ! :zbeer:
what larry said is true.
the fastest boats are the most expensive. btu 1 thing to consider. the guys who buy these boats are the ones who are making them. are the ones who sail them often. you cannot just buy a fast boat and expect to win. anybody can make a good boat go fast . but a good sailor can make a fair boat go fast. and laying up the hulls are getting easier. for me it was tough to do at the start. but now putting the deck on the hull and making sure it is striaght and strong. is tough. my new deck if i can figure out how to mold it. will be easeir to do . but this still regiures time. a $3000 boat is not the norm for this class. a $1000 is. and for that price you can get a good boat . and with a good boat and practise. you should win some event
:zbeer:
It really is all in the hands of the skipper. There are so many ways to show that… the old rotate the boats around and notice the same guys are still on top. Put a 6 oz weight on the lead guys boat and see if there is a difference… gosh… what a shock… no there isn’t.
The IOM is unlike any other boat I have worked with, in that the assembly is not a “given”. You can really screw up a boat with small errors. Believe me, I would take the 6 oz penalty over an incorrectly aligned boat any day… unfortunately that is not even an option. It is not as if to say that you can go another route, and pay a penalty and get the boat more correct. Then, once you get the beast all correct and proper… you are only as correct as the rig and sails that are on that particular boat. Mast position, you can adjust… keel position… is back to the old drawing board. Rudder foil, keel foil… yak yak yak… you can lose a lot of time just studying… but it is akin to eating peanuts… atleast for me. I get to reading and playing (and computers don’t help… they let you simluate all kinds of goofy things that you would not otherwise and the next thing you know it’s 3 days later and you have nothing to show for it save for another well examined bunny trail)
One aspect I do enjoy on the IOM is it really needs to be a tough little boat. BLOWOUT coming up next month in Dallas is a good test of a solid boat. I don’t think I am going to make it this year again, just too much to do. I am hoping that I get to Lubbock though to test. I was at Texas Tech there and I have never seen winds such as those coming off the high plains anywhere else (that had water) As Frank said… “I we can make it there, we can make it anywhere”
Ol Cougar is telling you the way it really is. A fast boat is the one in the hands of the guy that makes it that way. Money spent is just that, and truth be known, the IOM’s are actually very close, with the basic two tier hull design which is the planing high wind conditions… and more narrow driving to weather light wind hull. If you attend the events, you will see the boats perform as they should in the correct hands.
I’m building a US1 Meter from scratch and have hull molds, the first hull out of them, and are beginning to build the bulb and keel fin molds. I have thoroughly enjoyed the process thus far but have been SHOCKED by the amount of time, energy, and resources it has required to get to this point. I thought $1600 for a mostly pre-assembled boat was ridiculous before now. Yes, the individual components that make up a high quality boat are relatively low cost but it is not easy or quick to build.