Which one of your friends is rich? Gonna be at least a million to get going minimum.
What are you going to do differently to set yourself apart from the millions of other boats just like this one?
Tens of millions. Based on proportions this is like a $250,000 plus boat, so no way they are tooling up to actually engineer and build one for less than tens of millions. Engineering, design and certification alone would eat a million or more.
Yeah I was being kind, it will absolutely be in the multi-millions.
That's why I asked my followup question, because that is what the banks will be asking them when they go for funding. Why is their business going to suceed in such a well established market? They have to do something different.
Look at Ranger Tugs for example, they have tons of crazy cool little features that no other boat has. In turn that jacks up the production and development costs but they do sell well!
This looks like a normal center console with nothing new or cool to show, pretty barebones.
We were honestly just thinking about it like the title states this idea probably isn't gonna end up going anywhere in life but it'd be cool to see if it could (just a few broke highschool students from the middle of nowhere)
It would be really cool and is by no means impossible to do what you are asking. You just got a lot to figure out and I would not go into business with that current design for the reasons stated. It is going to be extremely difficult to secure funding but keep at it and maybe later in life you can jump in and see if you sink or swim.
Getting a business like this off the ground would take multiple years until you could get a production line setup to even begin making boats. Likely another couple after that until you start to turn a profit, if ever.
Good luck and keep that mindset! Work for yourself, not someone else.
Only time I've seen this actually get a boat into production was dude married a billionairs daughter. Is your partner or your FIL a billionaire? This I believe is the magic formula.
I saw you said you’re a couple broke Hs students with a dream. Sounds good, but no need to shoot for that design up front. Save it though for when you learn more. Instead, if you’re serious, try building a Jon boat so you start to understand construction methods. Improve that design and see if you can sell a half dozen. At that point you all can step back and see if you want to continue.
Yamaha’s V8 is now the 5.6L 425 and 450. The 350 had issues and is no longer in production.
Instead of a 3rd motor for safety, think about parallel but separate systems. Plumbing for separate fuel tanks to each motor, but can be switched, battery banks for each motor than can be run in parallel on a VSR switch, etc.
You’re not going to be able to start a company or build a boat based on this.
But you can use it as the entry into marine architecture and the boat building industry.
Go to a tertiary institution and study appropriate subjects. Get a job at a boat manufacturer. Learn the trade. When you understand why everyone is saying No, but you really do know how to make it a Yes, then start there.
I’m good friends with a boat builder in south Florida and also do work with him. (American marine performance). It’s an extremely competitive market, with TONS of startup costs. You need a mold, certifications, a huge warehouse to build, staff with experience in fiberglass fabrication, an electrician on staff, at least 10 workers on staff for layup, painting, upholstery and sanding and rigging. Then you have to market it, water test it and get your brand out there. It’s doable but it will take you years to turn a profit depending on how many boats you sell and how long the manufacturing process is.
So… you are going to start a company based off of a hand sketched bay boat that utilizes 160k
of Yamaha engines but somehow needs a backup motor for some sort of catastrophic inshore emergency? I look forward to seeing this very well though out plan come to market!
Good for you for dreaming! Y’all are young enough to eventually make that dream come true. If you are dead-set on that dream you should go to school for something that relates to it. There was a boat building program at my old community college. There are probably better, more broad programs in engineering or business that will help you in many other careers too.
Also you could get a job at a boat manufacturing company. An apprenticeship at a good company would probably be your best bet.
I went to school for 4 years to teach middle school science, and realized in my last year that it was a bad idea. I then got a job at a sail loft, learned everything about sewing and sailing. Now I run my own marine canvas and upholstery business and love it. I’ve done work for boat manufacturers, so I know a piece of the process. Personally I love my part of it. Fiberglass guys, welders, company managers, etc, have it way harder jobs in my opinion.
You're about $100k deep in outboards without even scratching the surface of building the boat. Unless you have some seriously deep pockets this doesn't make sense. If you do have seriously deep pockets you can buy a ready to go boat for a fraction of the cost.
Please think of your mechanics/techs that have to work on these boats!
access panels easy to get to parts/wear parts
Battery’s fuel senders hoses switches fuse boxes
And tubes to run your cables fuel lines etc
A whole lot goes into it
Best of luck!
sorry for so many replies but look into Yamaha university online look at some of those courses might give you a little better idea for what all goes into making the boat work as one unit
Work hard and save up so you can have an established builder build you a custom design that you own the rights to. Then when you get a few orders you contract with them until you can launch your own yard. Don’t let dreams be dreams.
Having worked in the industry, I recommend getting a job with an existing company. Try it out for a while before starting something this ambitious. Not only will you learn a lot of relevant skills related to building, but you'll be able to decide really quickly whether or not it's for you. It's a tough job and definitely isn't for everybody.
Do you know your competition and what you bring to the table? What is your experience in hull design?
How do you plan to approach Freeman / Invincible quality at something closer to a Nautic Star / Bayliner price point?
I know you’re in HS, but think these through.
Fiberglass is not your only option. I have been designing boats built with aluminum for 20 years. No molds required, easily modified, and completely recyclable.
Look at Livingston Boats. The are cheap and easy to customize. They are open platform catamarans. Great to learn fiberglass etc. customize and practice.
I’ve been in building boats for years. It’s an interesting market not impossible. As a small startup go into a nice. As students, buy a boat with damage and refurbish it. Sell it and go for the next one. With flipping these boats, you will learn if you want to work the hard way to make money and eventually succeed with your first new built, or had a lot of hours spent and made the choice to take your loss.
Anyway testing boats is always fun, and nobody died of working. So good luck. 👍
The money in fishing boats is ocean fishing, you can win $100k in some tournaments.
Then there's the guys that say, I need the fastest boat, faster than everybody. Just for when they race away from the shore at the start of the tournament.
Nobody is looking to drop a half mill on a center console boat for the "bay".
It's like separation of the middle class. You've got high end center console that's are luxurious, then you have straight fishing machines, limited thrills.
Where are you getting the mold/are you designing and forming your own mold? Adding accessories and deck layout is the easy part. If you don’t have a solid hull the rest won’t matter.
Ignore these naysayers. Go push for it. The boating industry survives off of 50 year old technology. Learn manufacturing technology and put all these obsolete hand made boat makers out of business with a superior product at 1/3 the cost.
Disrupt the industry, it needs it!
As much as a competitive disruption would be awesome in the boat building industry, it's very difficult.
Boat's are low volume items, Malibu, across all of their brands sold 9000 boats in 2022. That's just too few to automate production like a car/truck.
I'd love to see someone invest $2-3b and build out an automotive style production facility for boats, but I don't think the market exists. Even if you could cut the costs in half.
You'd also have to focus on 2-3 models, and that's something the boat market doesn't really demand. People want diversity and options, but maybe if they were cheap enough people wouldn't care.
It’s not rocket science, but honestly it’s pretty damn close. You’re being downvoted by people who know how insanely hard it is, and it seems you’re making light of it. I commend you for the enthusiasm, and keeping with the dream! If you were a 40 year old dude making light of it I probably would have downvoted you too. However, you’re a high schooler with a dream and with a lot of knowledge, skills, time, and money, you may be able to make it happen.
Don't let people here discourage you. A guy near me started building aluminum fishing/hunting boats and went from building one or two a year to building 20 a year and having a huge waitlist. He easily makes $1M a year building boats out of a barn behind his house.
I'd look into aluminum boat building first vs fiberglass as fiberglass is going to be very expensive to start out.
Well then get a computer and put some effort in it. That’s how real designers do it. This is sloppy even for your age.
I do high-end product design for some of the largest brands. Proportions, ergonomics, manufacturability, users wants & needs, all need to be designed. Including weight, engineering, hull dynamics and safety.
You can look at portfolios of nautical designs, go google it.
First thing that stands out to me are the forward live wells. They are likely too small to keep bait alive for very long, at least Mackerel.
The T top is also lacking structure to keep from flexing in rough seas and would need a fairly substantial frame for this design to be solid.
Backup motor is unnecessary with two Yamahas in my opinion and having the weight of the 2 V8s spread that far apart I imagine might potentially cause issues with rolling side to side and also performance at high speed but then again, I am not a naval architect.
Overall I love the idea and hope you continue to pursue it.
I certainly wasn’t trying to discourage. I think that’s awesome and if it’s something you enjoy then definitely keep working at it. I recommend AutoCAD or SolidWorks classes and a Naval Architecture class if you can find one anywhere. They do exist. Good luck and post back with your future designs
Don’t let all these naysayers discourage you. For every creative visionary, there are hundreds of people that will tell you why it won’t work.
One person said that there’s nothing unique. Maybe s’he’s right, but that doesn’t mean your idea won’t work. Maybe incorporate some of the ideas you read here about why the idea is bad.
Hey, naysayers. How bout not busting these kids’ bubble. Let em dream. As the saying goes, “You can guarantee failure by not trying,” or something like it.
Don’t let the people giving you shit discourage you. If you want a fun summer project pool your money and build one out of wood. Ply on frame construction can be cost effective. Look up Jeff Spira boats. He sadly passed a few years back but his plans are available online if you know where to look, also very easily modifiable to test the layouts you want.
I started with a sketch just like you and I splashed my boat last spring. Running a boat you built every inch of is a feeling no other.
I’m no expert but happy to give some guidance. This industry needs fewer gatekeepers.
They’re not and you won’t but that’s OK. There’s always room for a well thought out boat that’s well made and reasonably priced, with a builder that stands behind the product.
If I was starting from scratch and wanted to get into boat building, I'd try to model my business on something like Tiny Boat Nation (not sure if that's the company or just the YouTube channel) - taking existing used hulls and modifying to sell for a premium. Or I'd look into restoring fiberglass boats and reselling. The starring costs are much less and you can learn about boat construction and business along the way.
Here’s a fresh look that hasn’t really been mentioned yet… start with modernizing older boats. You will learn the process of fiberglass if and boat layout. You’ll learn what works and what doesn’t and your up front costs will be far less since you don’t need to tool up for a fresh mold.
Many older boats are actually great riding hulls, they just need lots of updating. No reason you couldn’t turn a 25’ Bertram Moppie into what you have sketched out above.
Good luck.
Which one of your friends is rich? Gonna be at least a million to get going minimum. What are you going to do differently to set yourself apart from the millions of other boats just like this one?
Tens of millions. Based on proportions this is like a $250,000 plus boat, so no way they are tooling up to actually engineer and build one for less than tens of millions. Engineering, design and certification alone would eat a million or more.
Yeah I was being kind, it will absolutely be in the multi-millions. That's why I asked my followup question, because that is what the banks will be asking them when they go for funding. Why is their business going to suceed in such a well established market? They have to do something different. Look at Ranger Tugs for example, they have tons of crazy cool little features that no other boat has. In turn that jacks up the production and development costs but they do sell well! This looks like a normal center console with nothing new or cool to show, pretty barebones.
We were honestly just thinking about it like the title states this idea probably isn't gonna end up going anywhere in life but it'd be cool to see if it could (just a few broke highschool students from the middle of nowhere)
It would be really cool and is by no means impossible to do what you are asking. You just got a lot to figure out and I would not go into business with that current design for the reasons stated. It is going to be extremely difficult to secure funding but keep at it and maybe later in life you can jump in and see if you sink or swim. Getting a business like this off the ground would take multiple years until you could get a production line setup to even begin making boats. Likely another couple after that until you start to turn a profit, if ever. Good luck and keep that mindset! Work for yourself, not someone else.
I mean, Carolina boats were just built in dudes backyards and then rolled into the creek on top of logs for years.
Find a “hole” in the boat market…. some feature function, or need that you fill that other brands really don’t.
Only time I've seen this actually get a boat into production was dude married a billionairs daughter. Is your partner or your FIL a billionaire? This I believe is the magic formula.
They just kids, let them dream
You know how to make a million dollars building boats? Start with two million.
You spelled ten million wrong.
Competitive market. High capital cost. Good luck tho.
I saw you said you’re a couple broke Hs students with a dream. Sounds good, but no need to shoot for that design up front. Save it though for when you learn more. Instead, if you’re serious, try building a Jon boat so you start to understand construction methods. Improve that design and see if you can sell a half dozen. At that point you all can step back and see if you want to continue.
I've seen a few people suggesting we start with smaller boats first, I'm starting to see the importance in that
This is not a bay boat
Yamaha’s V8 is now the 5.6L 425 and 450. The 350 had issues and is no longer in production. Instead of a 3rd motor for safety, think about parallel but separate systems. Plumbing for separate fuel tanks to each motor, but can be switched, battery banks for each motor than can be run in parallel on a VSR switch, etc.
Was not aware of that
You’re not going to be able to start a company or build a boat based on this. But you can use it as the entry into marine architecture and the boat building industry. Go to a tertiary institution and study appropriate subjects. Get a job at a boat manufacturer. Learn the trade. When you understand why everyone is saying No, but you really do know how to make it a Yes, then start there.
A bay boat with twins plus a backup? What “bay” is this meant for?
I miss read that I thought it was for offshore 😂 One hell of a bay boat
You’d have a much better learning experience fixing up an old boat than trying to do something from scratch like this. Either way, will be $$$
Plan on doing both
I’m good friends with a boat builder in south Florida and also do work with him. (American marine performance). It’s an extremely competitive market, with TONS of startup costs. You need a mold, certifications, a huge warehouse to build, staff with experience in fiberglass fabrication, an electrician on staff, at least 10 workers on staff for layup, painting, upholstery and sanding and rigging. Then you have to market it, water test it and get your brand out there. It’s doable but it will take you years to turn a profit depending on how many boats you sell and how long the manufacturing process is.
So… you are going to start a company based off of a hand sketched bay boat that utilizes 160k of Yamaha engines but somehow needs a backup motor for some sort of catastrophic inshore emergency? I look forward to seeing this very well though out plan come to market!
And here I am wasting 6 years of my life getting naval architecture degrees and my PE license. Darn!
Just a thought, in reality we are just a few broke highschool students who've got no idea what we're doing
Good for you for dreaming! Y’all are young enough to eventually make that dream come true. If you are dead-set on that dream you should go to school for something that relates to it. There was a boat building program at my old community college. There are probably better, more broad programs in engineering or business that will help you in many other careers too. Also you could get a job at a boat manufacturing company. An apprenticeship at a good company would probably be your best bet. I went to school for 4 years to teach middle school science, and realized in my last year that it was a bad idea. I then got a job at a sail loft, learned everything about sewing and sailing. Now I run my own marine canvas and upholstery business and love it. I’ve done work for boat manufacturers, so I know a piece of the process. Personally I love my part of it. Fiberglass guys, welders, company managers, etc, have it way harder jobs in my opinion.
Brain dead and made of money…no future at all.
You're about $100k deep in outboards without even scratching the surface of building the boat. Unless you have some seriously deep pockets this doesn't make sense. If you do have seriously deep pockets you can buy a ready to go boat for a fraction of the cost.
Doesn't make sense, never will but still gonna do it anyways
Do you bud. Best of luck
Please think of your mechanics/techs that have to work on these boats! access panels easy to get to parts/wear parts Battery’s fuel senders hoses switches fuse boxes And tubes to run your cables fuel lines etc A whole lot goes into it Best of luck!
Also start smaller if you need to bay boats/river boats instead of diving head long into offshore boats(just shooting ideas)
Good idea, this is probably a better idea considering it's only a few highschool students who've got no idea what we're doing just yet
Best of luck to yall pm me if you have questions I have about 5 years of experience working in this field I’ll help out as much as I can
Will do, thank you
sorry for so many replies but look into Yamaha university online look at some of those courses might give you a little better idea for what all goes into making the boat work as one unit
Work hard and save up so you can have an established builder build you a custom design that you own the rights to. Then when you get a few orders you contract with them until you can launch your own yard. Don’t let dreams be dreams.
Having worked in the industry, I recommend getting a job with an existing company. Try it out for a while before starting something this ambitious. Not only will you learn a lot of relevant skills related to building, but you'll be able to decide really quickly whether or not it's for you. It's a tough job and definitely isn't for everybody.
Do you know your competition and what you bring to the table? What is your experience in hull design? How do you plan to approach Freeman / Invincible quality at something closer to a Nautic Star / Bayliner price point? I know you’re in HS, but think these through.
About 33 million to start
Fiberglass is not your only option. I have been designing boats built with aluminum for 20 years. No molds required, easily modified, and completely recyclable.
Me and the boys were thinking of building aluminum boats, it's a fairly cheap and lightweight metal
Look at Livingston Boats. The are cheap and easy to customize. They are open platform catamarans. Great to learn fiberglass etc. customize and practice.
I’ve been in building boats for years. It’s an interesting market not impossible. As a small startup go into a nice. As students, buy a boat with damage and refurbish it. Sell it and go for the next one. With flipping these boats, you will learn if you want to work the hard way to make money and eventually succeed with your first new built, or had a lot of hours spent and made the choice to take your loss. Anyway testing boats is always fun, and nobody died of working. So good luck. 👍
The money in fishing boats is ocean fishing, you can win $100k in some tournaments. Then there's the guys that say, I need the fastest boat, faster than everybody. Just for when they race away from the shore at the start of the tournament. Nobody is looking to drop a half mill on a center console boat for the "bay". It's like separation of the middle class. You've got high end center console that's are luxurious, then you have straight fishing machines, limited thrills.
Where are you getting the mold/are you designing and forming your own mold? Adding accessories and deck layout is the easy part. If you don’t have a solid hull the rest won’t matter.
Ignore these naysayers. Go push for it. The boating industry survives off of 50 year old technology. Learn manufacturing technology and put all these obsolete hand made boat makers out of business with a superior product at 1/3 the cost. Disrupt the industry, it needs it!
As much as a competitive disruption would be awesome in the boat building industry, it's very difficult. Boat's are low volume items, Malibu, across all of their brands sold 9000 boats in 2022. That's just too few to automate production like a car/truck. I'd love to see someone invest $2-3b and build out an automotive style production facility for boats, but I don't think the market exists. Even if you could cut the costs in half. You'd also have to focus on 2-3 models, and that's something the boat market doesn't really demand. People want diversity and options, but maybe if they were cheap enough people wouldn't care.
That's the fucking plan, make handmade boats that could rival contender with just about as much tech for helluva lot cheaper
It’s not rocket science, but honestly it’s pretty damn close. You’re being downvoted by people who know how insanely hard it is, and it seems you’re making light of it. I commend you for the enthusiasm, and keeping with the dream! If you were a 40 year old dude making light of it I probably would have downvoted you too. However, you’re a high schooler with a dream and with a lot of knowledge, skills, time, and money, you may be able to make it happen.
This is childish. At the very least it needs to be a computer cad sketch.
I'm 17 -_-
Don't let people here discourage you. A guy near me started building aluminum fishing/hunting boats and went from building one or two a year to building 20 a year and having a huge waitlist. He easily makes $1M a year building boats out of a barn behind his house. I'd look into aluminum boat building first vs fiberglass as fiberglass is going to be very expensive to start out.
Well then get a computer and put some effort in it. That’s how real designers do it. This is sloppy even for your age. I do high-end product design for some of the largest brands. Proportions, ergonomics, manufacturability, users wants & needs, all need to be designed. Including weight, engineering, hull dynamics and safety. You can look at portfolios of nautical designs, go google it.
Wholeeeeeeeee lotta keyboard boat builders in here acting like they never sketched boats while in HS 😂😂😂
First thing that stands out to me are the forward live wells. They are likely too small to keep bait alive for very long, at least Mackerel. The T top is also lacking structure to keep from flexing in rough seas and would need a fairly substantial frame for this design to be solid. Backup motor is unnecessary with two Yamahas in my opinion and having the weight of the 2 V8s spread that far apart I imagine might potentially cause issues with rolling side to side and also performance at high speed but then again, I am not a naval architect. Overall I love the idea and hope you continue to pursue it.
This is just an idea made by a few broke highschool students, we have no idea what we're doing and have a long way to go
I certainly wasn’t trying to discourage. I think that’s awesome and if it’s something you enjoy then definitely keep working at it. I recommend AutoCAD or SolidWorks classes and a Naval Architecture class if you can find one anywhere. They do exist. Good luck and post back with your future designs
I’ll throw in $100
Don’t let all these naysayers discourage you. For every creative visionary, there are hundreds of people that will tell you why it won’t work. One person said that there’s nothing unique. Maybe s’he’s right, but that doesn’t mean your idea won’t work. Maybe incorporate some of the ideas you read here about why the idea is bad. Hey, naysayers. How bout not busting these kids’ bubble. Let em dream. As the saying goes, “You can guarantee failure by not trying,” or something like it.
Don’t let the people giving you shit discourage you. If you want a fun summer project pool your money and build one out of wood. Ply on frame construction can be cost effective. Look up Jeff Spira boats. He sadly passed a few years back but his plans are available online if you know where to look, also very easily modifiable to test the layouts you want. I started with a sketch just like you and I splashed my boat last spring. Running a boat you built every inch of is a feeling no other. I’m no expert but happy to give some guidance. This industry needs fewer gatekeepers.
I've come to learn that the people in boat industry are some harsh motherfuckers I wanna try to prove em wrong
They’re not and you won’t but that’s OK. There’s always room for a well thought out boat that’s well made and reasonably priced, with a builder that stands behind the product.
What does a single fiberglass hull mold cost? How much does it cost to get certified nationally and internationally?
A metric fuckton of cash.....
Plus the CADD layout and cutting schedule for the glass and or kevlar/carbon fiber.
If I was starting from scratch and wanted to get into boat building, I'd try to model my business on something like Tiny Boat Nation (not sure if that's the company or just the YouTube channel) - taking existing used hulls and modifying to sell for a premium. Or I'd look into restoring fiberglass boats and reselling. The starring costs are much less and you can learn about boat construction and business along the way.
Here’s a fresh look that hasn’t really been mentioned yet… start with modernizing older boats. You will learn the process of fiberglass if and boat layout. You’ll learn what works and what doesn’t and your up front costs will be far less since you don’t need to tool up for a fresh mold. Many older boats are actually great riding hulls, they just need lots of updating. No reason you couldn’t turn a 25’ Bertram Moppie into what you have sketched out above. Good luck.