Pat Anderson
New member
It was clear to me in the thread complaining about the inaccuracy of the weights listed on the C-Dory website that some C-Brats could benefit from a little history lesson. It so happens that I wrote that history in a Nor'westing Magazine article in 2011. I think you will find it worth your time to read it from start to finish to understand where your C-Dory came from, and depending on the year, who built it and was solely responsible for its warranty. It may also be interesting to learn of the connection between C-Dory and Ranger through Jeff Messmer, but that is kind of a side story.
This is not legal advice - it is just a general explanation, so nobody should think I am advising them specifically. ALL sales of "C-Dory" were ASSET sales by a failing company. They were NOT STOCK sales of an on-going company. That means the new owners did not buy "the company," but only molds, tooling, inventory of materials, other tangible property, and probably some intellectual property assets. But most importantly, in an asset sale, the buyer does not assume the LIABILITIES of the prior owner unless they are specifically assumed by contract, and is not responsible for the prior owner's wrongful actions, if any.
The sequence of owners is Roy Toland, Inc. (Toland) -> C-Dory, Inc. (Reynolds) -> Fluid Marine, LLC (forgot the principal's name) -> Sea Sport (Lindhout) -> Triton Marine Industries (Lindout again) -> Northwest Marine Industries or NMI (Wrights, the original owners of Sea Sport).
NONE OF THESE PERFORMED WARRANTY WORK ON C-DORYS BUILT BY ANY PRIOR COMPANY, AND NONE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT ANY PRIOR COMPANY DID, INCLUDING THE INACCURATE BOAT WEIGHTS ON THE SO-CALLED "C-Dory" WEBSITE. The website was created by the Reynolds, and it has remained essentially unmaintained since the Reynolds to Fluid Marine, LLC, asset sale.
So the sequence above is not quite complete in this article, because it ended with Triton Marine (the Lindhouts), who had purchased Sea Sport from the Wrights and combined it with the C-Dory line of boats under the name Triton Marine. If I were to update the article (can't because Nor'westing is now gone too), I would document how the Lindhouts and Triton Marine flamed out as well.
We should all be thankful that somehow (actually we know it was litigation between the Wrights and the Lindouts), Sea Sport and C-Dory ended up back in the hands of the Wrights, Ron Wright the dad, Mark Wright the son, and son-in-law Ryan Binning, principals of the current NMI. I believe they are building the best boats C-Dory has ever built. Unfortunately, they too think they are only manufacturers not marketers, however, they are much more willing to communicate with C-Dory owners, witness their opening up the factory to conduct factory tours for the Bellingham CBGT.
So there you have it, for what it's worth, my $0.02 worth. So you will know, we have owned a C-Dory for 14 years. We bought our first C-Dory, a CD22 Cruiser from the Reynolds in 2003, and our current boat, Daydream, a CD25, from the Reynolds as well, a three-fer CD25 purchase, Andersons (Daydream), McKibbens (Anna Leigh), and Marinsons (Laurna Jo), negotiated with Jeff Messmer. Nor'Westing incorrectly identified the third purchaser as Bill and El Fiero, but the Fieros and Halcyon are a whole other history lesson!
This is not legal advice - it is just a general explanation, so nobody should think I am advising them specifically. ALL sales of "C-Dory" were ASSET sales by a failing company. They were NOT STOCK sales of an on-going company. That means the new owners did not buy "the company," but only molds, tooling, inventory of materials, other tangible property, and probably some intellectual property assets. But most importantly, in an asset sale, the buyer does not assume the LIABILITIES of the prior owner unless they are specifically assumed by contract, and is not responsible for the prior owner's wrongful actions, if any.
The sequence of owners is Roy Toland, Inc. (Toland) -> C-Dory, Inc. (Reynolds) -> Fluid Marine, LLC (forgot the principal's name) -> Sea Sport (Lindhout) -> Triton Marine Industries (Lindout again) -> Northwest Marine Industries or NMI (Wrights, the original owners of Sea Sport).
NONE OF THESE PERFORMED WARRANTY WORK ON C-DORYS BUILT BY ANY PRIOR COMPANY, AND NONE IS RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT ANY PRIOR COMPANY DID, INCLUDING THE INACCURATE BOAT WEIGHTS ON THE SO-CALLED "C-Dory" WEBSITE. The website was created by the Reynolds, and it has remained essentially unmaintained since the Reynolds to Fluid Marine, LLC, asset sale.
So the sequence above is not quite complete in this article, because it ended with Triton Marine (the Lindhouts), who had purchased Sea Sport from the Wrights and combined it with the C-Dory line of boats under the name Triton Marine. If I were to update the article (can't because Nor'westing is now gone too), I would document how the Lindhouts and Triton Marine flamed out as well.
We should all be thankful that somehow (actually we know it was litigation between the Wrights and the Lindouts), Sea Sport and C-Dory ended up back in the hands of the Wrights, Ron Wright the dad, Mark Wright the son, and son-in-law Ryan Binning, principals of the current NMI. I believe they are building the best boats C-Dory has ever built. Unfortunately, they too think they are only manufacturers not marketers, however, they are much more willing to communicate with C-Dory owners, witness their opening up the factory to conduct factory tours for the Bellingham CBGT.
So there you have it, for what it's worth, my $0.02 worth. So you will know, we have owned a C-Dory for 14 years. We bought our first C-Dory, a CD22 Cruiser from the Reynolds in 2003, and our current boat, Daydream, a CD25, from the Reynolds as well, a three-fer CD25 purchase, Andersons (Daydream), McKibbens (Anna Leigh), and Marinsons (Laurna Jo), negotiated with Jeff Messmer. Nor'Westing incorrectly identified the third purchaser as Bill and El Fiero, but the Fieros and Halcyon are a whole other history lesson!