Anyone have an invoice for...

[Dude! Sweet!]

A big aluminum Cougar or CUV? I'm totally fascinated by the amount of labor and expense that must have gone into building one of these boats and I'd love to see what one would have cost new.

 

[Rik]

It is actually less expensive and quicker to build (from scratch) in comparison to a composite hull as there is no mold or plug to build and such.

A lot of boats are built from Aluminum today and they are not as expensive as one might think. With the use of the computers and water jets they are easy to build today.

Call Lanier or Brownie. they might know what Cougar or CUV charged for the hulls back in the day. I wonder what the Wooden one cost.

 

[Offshore Ginger]

A few years back on the learning channel they had a special on cougars that were made out of Auminum featuring Steve Curtis and his father, i was suprised how fast they could slap one together and how much room there was for human error. Rik is right how less expensive it is to build a boat out of Aluinum opposed to composite ,no plug ,endless hours of tooling , and then make the mold and the list goes on .:rofl:

 

[Brownie]

I don't think so, Tim! In 1980/81, you could buy a state-of-the-art 37.5' Kevlar Cigarette for $24,000. A 38' Cougar, in wood or aluminum, was $85,000 for an unpainted hull and fuel cells. What you seem to be missing is the empirical curve of knowlege that grows with the ability to make each hull, better that the last. Without a mold, one may make as many changes as the designer or client wishes. We made some lulus!

 

[Dude! Sweet!]

Wow, 3x plus more expensive! I'm impressed. I'd seen some photos of the inside of a CUV V hull and imagined how much time had to be spent fabricating all the bulkheads and stringers. Cutting, on the break, drilling, riveting, etc...

Attached some...

I hadn't been thinking about the R&D cost, plug cost and mold cost... Maybe becuase so many boats now are splashed off of other boats... ha ha ha.

Brownie, thanks for that. Very interesting to extrapolate the cost of a new Skater race boat into an aluminum boat at that multiple...

 

[Steve 1]

I am partial to the Plastics (Epoxies and Foams) A Custom designed One Off Moldless Composite boat can be built pretty Quickly.

 

[T2x]

Conquests were more a bit expensive than Wood or Aluminum Cougars because we laminated so many layers of Akoume/aircraft plywood with bi and tri axial fiberglass.

T2x

 

[Offshore Ginger]

I am partial to the Plastics (Epoxies and Foams) A Custom designed One Off Moldless Composite boat can be built pretty Quickly.

I agree Steve and when i was employed at Skater i assisted in the building of the plugs , molds ,final sanding puffing & waxing of the 28,36,40,46 and these progect's seemed like they lasted for years and the tooling alone would break the bank .

 

[DollaBill]

What do you mean "invoice"? Boats bought from a mfg, via dealer or direct, just usually show year, model and power with HIN and engine serial #'s. Then options or option pkg's. Thats it.

 

[Dude! Sweet!]

Maybe I'm thinkin Purchase Order? I would have thought a final invoice might give an accounting of payment, but F if I know... Never bought a new boat. Either way, I pretty much have an understanding. I was mostly curious about seeing what an Aluminum race boat from the '80s cost to purchase new at that time. The comparison to the Kevlar boat was unexpected but that much more helpful. Just random curiousity really...

 

[Offshore Ginger]

Dude sweet , sorry DUDE , but do the math Aluminum can be purchased just about anywhere and when you start talking all that is involved using composites which some builders have been forced to buy fabric from Europe or the tooling and the countless man hours involved makeing a plug and then the mold or how much is vested in a person with good laminating skills who knows how to vacume bag or use fusion or all composites from epoxy ,kevlar,carbon fiber ,S&E glass . DUDE dont get me wrong but the real boat builders are the guys in the trenches , breathing the fumes , dust , doing custom fabrication , grinding , laminating , long boarding for days ,trimming decks and hulls along with just about any dirty job that goes with the job .

 

[Dude! Sweet!]

I hear ya... Sorry man, I was thinking of Spectre and Eliminator...