Le naufrage des 13 "Changmai 27"

L'histoire édifiante du "Changmai 27" par son architecte...

&gtFrom: "aeromomentum" &ltaeromomentum at yahoo.com&gt
&gt
&gtMaybe I can give the group some information on the "Changmai 27".
&gtFirst off I am the designer and it is not a copy of any boat but a
&gttotally new design inspired by not only the Farrier designs made by
&gtCorsair (or the newer Corsairs not designed by Farrier) but also by
&gtthe many other designs from many different designers and
&gtmanufactures. Not one line or dimension that I know of is the same
&gtas on a Farrier design but F27 or F28 sails will fit with slight
&gtmodification. Not even the basic proportions are the same as the
&gtF27. You can stand up in the "Changmai 27". The folding method is
&gtalso a bit different and there are no "water" struts for support.
&gt
&gtThe background on this project is kind of a long story but I will
&gtgive a quick overview here. Over three years ago I approached Mr. Lu
&gtsenior to build my design in his factory on Changxing Island, Dalian,
&gtChina. I made an agreement with him, built the molds in the USA and
&gtshipped them to his factory in China. I also shipped hardware and
&gtsome other supplies for 3 boats (two for me in the USA and one to
&gtkeep in China) to the factory. My engineer and I went there in turn
&gtto help start production and one boat was built. When we got to the
&gtfactory Mr. Lu senior had retired and placed his son, Mr. Lu junior
&gtin charge. My engineer and I were each there for one month since
&gtthat was the limit of our visas at the time and the first boat was
&gtwell on its way, but not finished, when we left. This boat was then
&gtshipped to the USA and there were many problems. We then went back
&gtto China but for a longer time to work on the second boat. When we
&gtgot there we saw that Mr. Lu had made 10 boats, all of them even
&gtworse than the first. He had decided that the foam core that we
&gtspecified was too expensive so he substituted low cost very low
&gtquality core. Of course this made all of these 10 boats
&gtunacceptable. We also found out that he copied the hardware we had
&gtsent him to use on the boats he was to build for us. I expressed my
&gtdismay and I insisted that he use the supplied authentic hardware.
&gtHe even was trying to make copies of the Andersen winches I had
&gtshipped to him. He told us that the 10 boats would be for use only
&gtin China and that this is acceptable in China. Since we had already
&gtshipped him the hardware we continued to make a second boat under our
&gtsupervision. This boat is much better than the first and was shipped
&gtto the USA last summer. Still there have been problems with this
&gtboat including problems with the anodizing and acrylic windows and
&gtcompanionway boards. Some of the hardware on this boat is also the
&gtcopy hardware and not the hardware I had shipped him.
&gt
&gtBut for me the biggest problem was that Mr. Lu junior then tired to
&gtsell the boats outside of China. His agreement with me is that he is
&gtnot to sell boats made to my design except to me or for use in China
&gtand then only with my inspection and approval. The boats he is
&gttrying to sell are the 10 boats made with the wrong core material and
&gtare not approved. He thinks that by just changing the name
&gtto "Changmai 27" makes it so that he can just sell boats built to my
&gtdesign. The kayak on his web page is also of my design and he is
&gtalso not to be offering this for sale. I also understand that he
&gtjust copied text from the Corsair web page to use on his own web
&gtpage. Due to this and other reasons I have now suspended my
&gtcooperation with Mr. Lu. I hope in the future he decides to respect
&gtdesign ownership and copy rights.
&gt
&gtI am now working with another company on building a newer design of
&gtmine, the AeroMomentum 29. This newer boat is very similar to
&gtthe "Changmai 27" but longer, wider unfolded, bifolding arms for
&gtreduced folded height, all epoxy vacuum infusion construction, mostly
&gtUSA materials, full carbon fiber spars and many other new features.
&gtThe AM29 is to be sold in Europe for about 58K euros and in the USA
&gtfor $59K. The first boats should arrive in Europe in late summer and
&gtthe USA in early fall. I have worked with this different factory in
&gtChina for a few years on other projects and have not had the same
&gtsort of issues as I have had with Mr. Lu.
&gt
&gtThe first two 27 foot boats are for sale for $14K and $19K and are
&gthere in Stuart, FL. Both of these boats are somewhat of a project
&gtbut are a real steal.
&gt
&gtMark Kettering
&gt772-463-6780
&gtmantafs at earthlink.net