Dream Boats 



BY NANCY DAVIS 



Photo from Hatteras Yachts Inc. 



For sale: luxury home complete 

 with living room/dining area, 

 kitchen, three bedrooms, two 

 baths and a deck. Amenities include air 

 conditioning, heat, stereo in each room, 

 video cassette recorder, washer and 

 dryer, and a kitchen complete with 

 dishwasher, trash compactor and ice 

 maker. 



Sound like the home of your 

 dreams? Well, if you like the water and 

 you've got a little extra cash, you could 

 be in luck. This luxury home is actually 

 a 53-foot cruising vessel built by Hatte- 

 ras Yachts Inc. in New Bern. And, if 

 you have to ask how much, well, it's 

 probably out of your league. 



Each year North Carolina boat- 

 builders turn out hundreds of pleasure 

 custom- and semicustom-built boats. 

 Some are cruising yachts or sailing 

 yachts. Others are top-of-the-line 

 sportfishing boats. Whatever their 

 mission, these vessels have a reputa- 

 tion in the boating world for their qual- 

 ity and craftsmanship. What's more, 

 their construction in this state contrib- 

 utes millions of dollars to the economy. 



In a sharp contrast to the state's tra- 

 ditional wooden boatbuilding indus- 

 try, these luxury vessels, usually made 

 of fiberglass, attract customers looking 

 for a little something extra in the boat- 

 ing experience. They also have plenty 

 of money to sink into a boat. 



At Hatteras Yachts, 750 employees 

 turn out 80 to 100 cruising yachts each 

 year. "When somebody orders a boat 

 from Hatteras, it's like ordering a Mer- 

 cedes Benz," says Baird Paschal Jr., 

 manager of production control at Hat- 

 teras. "You have all of the options, and 

 then we take it one step further and 

 customize it." 



The smallest boats built at the New 

 Bern plant are 53-footers. Their base 

 price, before the extras, is about half a 

 million dollars, says Paschal. (If you 

 choose to make a purchase, you'll need 

 to travel to New Bern to cruise away 

 on your boat; the highways just aren't 

 big enough for such a delivery.) 



For those recreational fishermen 

 who like to fantasize about that special 

 boat, stop in at Davis Yachts Inc. in 

 Wanchese. There, workers complete 

 one 47-foot sportfishing boat every 

 four weeks and a 61-foot boat every 

 eight weeks. The base price for the 

 47-footer is $400,000. With extras, it 

 retails at about $465,000, a price that 

 includes electronics and fishing equip- 

 ment, says Buddy Davis, owner of the 

 company. His 61-foot boat completely 

 outfitted, costs an average of $1 

 million. 



Davis, once a charter captain, has 

 combined a knowledge of sport fish- 

 ing with his boatbuilding know-how to 

 create vessels tailor-made for his target 

 market, which he describes as "afflu- 

 ent sport fishermen." He adds, 

 "They're simply avid fishermen. It 

 doesn't matter if they're from Texas or 

 New York. Their demands are the 

 same." 



The majority of Davis' sales are in 

 New Jersey, southern Florida, Texas 

 and Alabama. Most of his North Caro- 

 lina customers are residents of the 

 Research Triangle area, he says. 



If you prefer the power of the wind. 

 Bob Yunaska of Sunward Yachts in 

 Wilmington may have the boat for 

 you. There, his 16 employees turn out 



two 48-foot sailing yachts each year. 

 The hull and deck are standard; after 

 that, only your imagination, and per- 

 haps your pocketbook, will limit your 

 options. His boats start at $340,000 

 with no extras. These days. Sunward is 

 best known for constructing Walter 

 Cronkite's boat. (See story, page 4) 



Prices of yachts constructed in 

 North Carolina vary according to the 

 amount of custom work in the boat. 

 Some of the boats are completely 

 custom-made; others start with a 

 standard hull and offer variations from 

 there. And although their markets dif- 

 fer, each of the boatbuilders agrees 

 that communication between builder 

 and buyer is central to the success of 

 the luxury yacht business. 



Much like building a custom home, 

 the customer must be in touch with the 

 builder at all times to make decisions 

 about the interior design, types of 

 masts and sails, and even styles of 

 steering wheels. 



Although there are some dreamers 

 with the cash to back it up, most boat- 

 ers have more aspiration than income. 

 But take heart. Folks who can afford 

 these yachts are by no means typical 

 boat owners, and it is possible to buy a 

 boat without spending your life's earn- 

 ings. 



According to a National Marine 

 Manufacturers Association survey 

 taken in 1981, boat owners in the 

 United States were most often 35 to 40 

 years old with a working spouse and 

 children living at home. The boat 

 owner was a blue collar worker, and 

 his median household income was 

 $30,000 a year. 



The average boat owner only 

 dreams of owning a 50-foot yacht. In 

 reality, he most likely buys an out- 

 board motorboat averaging 15.8 feet 

 in length which, complete with motor 

 and trailer, costs under $5,000. When it 

 comes to a luxury yacht, that's only 

 small change. 



