Triton now Northwest Marine Industries?

Marc, Matt, and Les too. We appreciate all of your input here. You all have a tough job, and at times made tougher by the mfg, but just want to say thanks for your participation and for sure, want to wish you all the best in dealing and dealing with our boats. Would just hope that the brand will come back and shine. The boats are worth that, the Brats want that, and you would benefit from that outcome.

Harvey
SleepyC:moon
 
ssobol":yr38k59l said:
There are 2371 C-Dorys registered on the "Our C-Dorys" list (I didn't count tugs).

There are 6 22 center consoles, 86 22 Classics, 200 22 Anglers, and 1038 22 Cruisers. This gives a total of 1330 22' boats.

Some boats may be counted twice if the previous owner did not unregister.
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good summary, although that is just of those who are registered Brats, right?
 
Marc, who is the new owners? I was given the impression last year that Way point boats was going to take over building of the C-dorys and Sea sports from the lindouts. Is that true or does some one else own it?

I always had the feeling that the lindouts were just using the c dory as a support to get back to building sea sports, which are great boats. I hope the line continues and they really embarrass this site as a way to sell boats. Its really a no brainier that having a presence here will help you sell boats.
 
DuckDogTitus":y0agq2gx said:
ssobol":y0agq2gx said:
There are 2371 C-Dorys registered on the "Our C-Dorys" list (I didn't count tugs).

There are 6 22 center consoles, 86 22 Classics, 200 22 Anglers, and 1038 22 Cruisers. This gives a total of 1330 22' boats.

Some boats may be counted twice if the previous owner did not unregister.
Click to expand...

good summary, although that is just of those who are registered Brats, right?
Click to expand...

Yes. I'm sure that there are some entries in the registration that are out of date and probably some boats that are not registered there. I would expect that the boat manufacturer would have a complete list of all the boats they made. However, since the company changed hands several times this inventory may be lost of incomplete.

I also think that building 1300+ units of the same model (pretty much) is a very good run for a boat line from a smaller company.
 
Provided to me by a long-time C-Brat:

Go HERE

Enter the following case number: 122006870

Then read to your collective hearts' content. The latest document pretty much sums it all up, at least insofar as documenting the latest in this ongoing saga.
 
I'm waiting for the denouement in this case.

I've never heard of Carsten Leasing. International Composite Design appears to dba as Triton Marine, the Lindhouts/Boysens. Heard of Fluid Marine. Who are Ron Wright and Buck Fowler? The case appears to be a fight over who owns the molds. However I would love to hear how that involves Carsten Leasing. Is Carsten Leasing dba as Northwest? And can anyone build C-Dories without being sued?

Is there a timeline of this cliff hanger? What precipitated the Triton to Northwest change? After all, Triton just leased the molds. Who owns Carsten Leasing? Good Heavens!!! An established fact is that a large part of the C-Dory price goes to lawyers.

A key question is how did Bill find out about the case? That's a remarkable piece of work.

Boris
 
journey on":3klktfjw said:
I've never heard of either Carsten Leasing or International Composite Design. Heard of Fluid Marine. The case appears to be a fight over who owns the molds. However I would love to hear how that involves Triton Marine or Northwest Marine Industries.
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If you read the original complaint (second document), International Composite Design does business as "Triton Marine". In June 2009, Triton Marine bought the assets from Fluid Marine. Fluid Marine had a clause that stated if Triton "ceased to operate or otherwise conduct business in the ordinary course", Fluid Marine could buy back the assets for $1.

In June 2009, Fluid Marine assigned all of its interest in the asset purchase over to an individual (named in the complaint). In Feb 2010, the individual partially assigned his interest over to Carstan Leasing.

In summary, Carstan Leasing has exercised the option in the agreement to buy back the assets for $1 by proving Triton "failed to conduct business in the ordinary course."

It's all unfortunate. Just like in a divorce, the ones to really suffer are the kids.
 
And, Rob, thanks for straightening that out. I did wander through the documents and updated my post, though I missed the $1 buyback. There are a lot of documents there.

Now who is Northwest and how are they involved? Is it any wonder that Chuck/Two Bears was steered to a Sea Sport? It's a mess.

I certainly pray that all this infighting, etc. doesn't ultimately destroy the C-Dory line. It's be a shame if a great set of boats went down the tubes because of legal issues.

Boris
 
Carstan Leasing seems to be an entity owner/operated by Stan Palmer. Palmer's primary business looks to be construction and engineering (http://www.stanpalmerconstruction.com/). Notably, he also is involved with several boat companies through Palmer Marine. A quick look on Google indicates Palmer Marine owns (at least partially) Defiance Boats, Shamrock Boats, and Arima Boats.

See this article about Palmer's acquisition of Arima last year: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2012/...builder-hopes-to-get-bigger-by/#axzz2SpVOJhj3
 
The line will survive this B.S. The boats are just too good to disappear. Hopefully, whoever and whomever comes out on top and gets the molds and has the capability to build boats, has some deeper pockets, a marketing Director that knows his stuff (Think Jeff from Ranger) and the will to continue a great line! I know we will all support a builder that has these attributes.

Charlie
 
One additional interesting piece of the puzzle from one of the docs:

In Feb 2012, Carstan Leasing (Palmer, part owner of Defiance boats) spoke with Wright & Fowler (owners of Northwest Marine). Wright & Fowler indicated they were negotiating with Triton to buy the assets. Carstan then informed them they had just exercised their option to purchase the assets.

So with that, it would seem Carstan stopped Northwest Marine from obtaining the assets back in 2012. However, the Triton Marine (C-Dory) website now redirects to Northwest Marine. Northwest Marine domain name was just registered in March of this year.

Northwest Marine and Carstan must have come to some kind of agreement or sale.
 
Huge mistake closing the doors before selling the business - $150k+ mistake. Without that 2 month out of business time, they'd own the molds (after the earned out period) in June 2014.

The company that bought the rights to the earn-out period made out like a bandit. Business is business, contracts are contracts, but seeing they continued to produce boats after those two months the leasing company was just waiting to jump.

Explains much of the lack of marketing, etc - can't spend what you don't have.
 
Here's how I understand what happened:

1. Lindhout brothers (through International Composite dba Triton Marine Industries) bought the C-Dory and Skagit Orca molds from Fluid Marine. They paid $100,000 cash, plus several years of royalties to Rich Finlay(Earn-Out).

2. Rich Finlay, of Fluid Marine, sold or otherwise conveyed the Earn-Out to Carstan Leasing (Stan Palmer). The Earn-Out included a security interest in the C-Dory/Skagit Orca assets and required that Triton continually engage in boat building. If they did not, Carstan could claim ownership of the collateral, meaning the C-Dory/Skagit Orca molds.

3. Triton was undercapitalized. Suppliers weren't getting paid and they stopped sending parts. Triton couldn't pay WA state taxes, the state seized Triton's bank accounts. Triton stopped production 2/2012.

And here's where it gets messy...

4. Carstan wanted to collect the C-Dory/Skagit Orca molds in 2/2012 (since Triton had allegedly ceased operating). At that time, Ron Wright and Buck Fowler (owners of Waypoint Boats and Motors and SeaSport) were trying to buy the C-Dory/Skagit Orca molds from Triton. Palmer didn't want Wright and Fowler to have the molds, since they're a competitor to his Defiance brand. Triton wouldn't turn the molds over to Carstan. That's when the litigation began.

5. Court orders that Triton has to turn over C-Dory/Skagit Orca assets to Carstan immediately (3/2013).

Now it appears Carstan may have sold the molds to Wright and Fowler (aka Northwest Marine Industries, SeaSport, and Waypoint).

And the future of C-Dory is still unclear. Somebody must see value, though, since they've been paying lawyers for a while!
 
Ryan Binning, one of the owners of Northwest and another factory person will be at the Friday Harbor gathering on Saturday afternoon. I have invited them to take the microphone and tell us all what is going on. He told me the Lindhouts are completely out of the picture. "Wright" is the Wright of Sea Sport boats. That's about as much as I know about the saga right now.
 
20dauntless":3kz2pf1e said:
Now it appears Carstan may have sold the molds to Wright and Fowler (aka Northwest Marine Industries, SeaSport, and Waypoint).
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what leads you to that conclusion.

Carsten is owned by Stan Palmer, who is the owner of Defiance Boatworks, which owns Defiance. They have recently purchased Arima. I have been told they are building Sorrenson dinghies. I don't know if they own the brand or not.

Defiance Boatworks is also a dealer for Raider boats and Starcraft Aluminum boats.

It is all very interesting.
 
journey on":3qsxp6ae said:
A key question is how did Bill find out about the case? That's a remarkable piece of work.
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Nothing nefarious I assure you. It's all public record.

Just a tip from a little C-Brat birdie who has been following the case.
 
Matt Gurnsey":14hwrhuf said:
20dauntless":14hwrhuf said:
Now it appears Carstan may have sold the molds to Wright and Fowler (aka Northwest Marine Industries, SeaSport, and Waypoint).
Click to expand...

I'm not sure what leads you to that conclusion.

Carsten is owned by Stan Palmer, who is the owner of Defiance Boatworks, which owns Defiance. They have recently purchased Arima. I have been told they are building Sorrenson dinghies. I don't know if they own the brand or not.

Defiance Boatworks is also a dealer for Raider boats and Starcraft Aluminum boats.

It is all very interesting.
Click to expand...

Matt, the promotion of C-Dory boats on the new Northwest Marine Industries website is what prompted my statement. Upon further review, however, Northwest Marine Industries may have set up their website prior to the conclusion of the litigation with Carsten.
 
The C-Brats has to have earned the "Blog of the Year" award. Where else can you go that has in-depth information (3 pages of posts on anchoring, etc.,) unmitigated opinions ( a lot of posts,) humor (and I'm not counting the Daily Laugh,) pathos ( boats for sale, each one a tragedy,) entertainment (twins or singles,) and now a real life Soap Opera: As the Molds Turn. And our own Sherlock Holmes.

This thread is the most interesting since the legal battle over the Cape Cruiser molds. And yet they still keep churning out C-Dorys, Tom Cats and a few Orcas. If that doesn't prove the appeal and demand for C-Dories, nothing will.

The only downside is that product improvement has ceased. An Armstrong bracket for instance. And, Matt Gurnsey, count yourself lucky that you couldn't reach an agreement with Triton.

I love it, as long as they keep churning out C-Dories. Though it's definitely not a SoCal boat.

Boris
 
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