The View from the Helm

VESSELS VERSUS VACCUUM CLEANERS

Let me take this opportunity to talk a little about “value”.  In all aspects of the production of material products, economists talk of the “economies of scale.” If you were to hand-build one of anything― let’s say for example a vacuum cleaner― machining or hand-carving its parts and assembling them using skilled human hands, that single vacuum cleaner would cost $500,000. But if you put ten times that figure into design, “tooling,” and robots, and then sell 10,000 vacuum cleaners…  presto, each one becomes affordable if not downright cheap.

The advent of fiberglass made possible a similar phenomenon in boating, though the numbers were smaller, since not everyone could make use of a boat. My business partner Tom Morris would hire me to design a yacht, put in round numbers $200,000 into the design, hull and deck molds, ballast pattern, rudder mold and other jigs and fixtures, then sell 30 to 40 yachts of that design for, let’s say, $100,000 each. In so doing he reliably recovered his investment and made a small profit. We did this together 17 times in the space of 33 years.

Now consider the ultimate object that is hand-built, one at a time—a fine art painting. Claude Monet’s paintings sold in the late 1800’s through the Durand-Ruel gallery in Paris for prices on the order of a hundred dollars or so. Those same paintings today sell for $50,000,000. Why? Because there’s only one of each, they don’t deteriorate with time given minimal maintenance, and they bring joy to every eye that beholds them.

So where does my PAINE 14 fall? Is it a vacuum cleaner, or is it a painting? I can tell you pretty accurately what it will cost to build― between $40,000 and $70,000 depending upon the material of construction. It can’t be mass-produced in large numbers, for too few people will ever buy one. It will last a long time with minimal maintenance, and will bring joy to every eye that beholds it.

Anyone who has followed my career knows how much I love my 76 year old Herreshoff 12 ½ PETUNIA.  It is a timeless shape that sails beautifully in lots of wind or next to none. My Pisces 21, Pentimento, Annie, Expannie, Anasazi, Gusto, Paine 26, York 18 and others are designs that represent extrapolations of the brilliant concept Nat Herreshoff first coined one hundred years ago.

PETUNIA

My clients know that one of my first pronouncements about yachts is that the words Yacht and Investment should never be used in the same sentence, paragraph, or month. But there is an exception—the classic, hand-built yacht. It is more like a painting than a vacuum cleaner.

When I was just back from two years in the Peace Corps in 1972 and still in my hippie phase, I decided all I wanted in the world was a Herreshoff 12½. I spent my summer weekends sleeping in the back of my VW van and looking at every available used H 12½ between New York City and Maine. I found PETUNIA in a mud creek boathouse on North Haven Island. Owner’s name was Bernard Smith but everyone called him “Bun”. Bun Smith knew an easy mark when he saw him. Asked $1300 for the leaky old bucket and this city kid hadn’t the cheek to settle for less than $1250. And dammit, everyone knows that the first H12’s sold new for $420!

Herreshoff 12½’s in similar condition to PETUNIA with the builder’s plaque intact sell today for over $50,000. I have tried stocks and never sold one for a penny more than I paid, bonds that barely kept pace with inflation, and property that is now worth a quarter what I parted with and headed south. The only investment I ever made in my life was that boat I paid way too much for. Which I bought fully intending it to be a foolish extravagance, purely for fun.

Will your PAINE 14 become an investment?  Like a Herreshoff 12½ it sails beautifully, is lovely to look at, needs no crew, is built to last, will get you home in 30 knots of wind without a tow, and will never go out of style.

So you never know. Buy a PAINE 14 purely for the fun of it and plan on leaving it to your children. You’ll feel like a million bucks every time you hoist the sails. And with this bunch in Washington printing money like there’s no tomorrow, it might just take that much to buy one in a few years!

Tomorrow’s inevitable inflation will make this worth a million bucks!

The PAINE 14 was chosen Best Boat of 2014 in SAIL Magazine’s “Daysailor” category. Come sail it and you’ll know why.

Nick and Chuck in the rain.

My son Nick and I trailered AMELIA to the Annapolis Sailboat Show last week. Upon our arrival it commenced to pour rain for four straight days! Combined with the shutdown of the American government and the impending default on the national debt, it would be an understatement to say that virtually nobody came to this show, and the few who did headed immediately for the shelter of the tents, leaving Nick and I standing disconsolently in the relentless deluge.

So, my take on all of this?  It was fantastic! The nautical press had no choice but to be there, and they were, owing to their chosen careers, real sailors, who knew a great boat when they saw it.  Look for their reaction to the PAINE 14 in their columns in the next few months.

The days when you could sell plastic consumer crap are over. The days when you can exchange mere money for a small yacht of great value that will enhance your life forever have arrived.

Stay tuned.

Art Paine tests Amelia.

Art is my greatist critic. After sailing the boat he began calling his friends, telling them to order one. She’s that good.

She floats! And right on her lines too.

AMELIA, our Paine 14 demonstrator, was launched yesterday July 24. She popped off the trailer and into her element and sails beautifully! We raced her against PETUNIA, an original Herreshoff 12 1/2, and she’s considerably faster and more nimble, at least in the light airs we experienced yesterday. This boat is such a great performer, I’ve got to get her into the hands of others.  Stay tuned.

The modern keel and rudder are what set her apart from her legendary predecessor, the Herreshoff 12 1/2.

From any angle, the PAINE 14 is gorgeous!

AMELIA from forward.

AMELIA, our demo PAINE 14, has emerged from the shop to breathe the dust-free Maine air! This photo shows her hollow bow, invented by Nat Herreshoff and perfected by Chuck Paine. Two more coats of varnish and she’ll be launched.

MOTHER and DAUGHTER

Here are PETUNIA, 76 years young, and AMELIA, yet to be launched. If one picture can tell the story, this is it. You can see how much alike the Herreshoff 12 1/2 and the Paine 14 truly are. I put a light under Amelia to highlight the biggest difference… Petunia has a long keel, and Amelia a short, NACA-foil fin keel. What they have in common is their beauty.