I suspect that OL will claim their resin infusion process is what makes the boat "unique" unless it will come with a level of standard equipment not often seen ie radar, autopilot etc. - this one point is enough to legitimately make this claim.
To my mind the resin infusion/epoxy process makes for a super strong boat, quite excellent - but the problem of cosmetic print through never gets directly addressed by builders using this - and this is a known tradeoff to selecting this particular build process. They dodge it like the 8th grade game we all played.
When questioning this directly I was told 2 things- I was not given what I would term as a straight answer, but more of of of a "dodge."
1. That the epoxies and the curing process had been improved from three years ago and and are undergoing continual improvement.
(to me this indicates there is a acknowledgment of at least a potential issue and that steps have been taken to address it, and that three year old plus boats may have the problem)
2. That the issue of print through is less likely that micro cracking the that can be a side effect VE (vinylester resin) process.
I think OL makes GREAT boats, but there seems to be a tradeoff in everything in the boat building process, so what makes them unique also presents a potential cosmetic trade off down the road.
It my experience that guys buying 28's typically finance them so how a boat looks after 10 years in the sun (boats out west can hit 230 degrees on dark painted parts) of extremely important as after that time youll be up for a new interior and many components if not a an engine refresh - to potentially have to do a sand down and repaint 3/4 of that way into a 15 year note would be unacceptable to me personally.
Maybe this is an issue, maybe its not, but it has not been resolved satisfactorily to my mind.
That said Im excited to see OL and Hustler participating in the sub 30 category. I applaud them for taking the risk and I think the move will pay off.
Im eager to see and compare them both to whats out there today.
Uncle Dave