[needyacht4me]

Does anyone have any information that might be useful about this designer and company. From the little research I have done it seems that Mike Harling is well established in the boat design industry but I have yet to hear or find actual testimonials from people who might have had experience with his boats. From what I have found out, he is responsible for the Prowler, Flagship, and Beretta series, all designed and built by Queenship yachts (another company I would like to find out a little more about). If anyone could help me that would be much appreciated, any info would do. I am extremely interested in Mr. Harlings designs, but am somewhat skeptical for I only know what I have read, and have not spoken to anyone who knows his boats and designs from a first person perspective.

Thanks for any help
Chris Anderson

[YachtForums]

Hi Chris and welcome,

You might check with YF member “Brian” for more information on Seaforth. See this post…

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/27732-post22.html

For info on Queenship, check with YF member "Hawk". Here's a link to send him a PM...

http://www.yachtforums.com/forums/members/hawk.html

[Brian]

I have known Mike for around 7 years and have built a couple of sales/marketing models to his designs. He was originally from England where he designed for Fairline. He came to Canada where he was the designer for Cooper (headed by Forbes Cooper) which turned into Cooper Queenship (headed by Dan Fritz) then eventually became Queenship. Now he is with Seaforth (headed by Julie James) which was Seascape Marine Industries. As you have found out he has designed many boats for these companies.Mike is also an engineer and he built boats in a shop in England so he knows how they are built and how they will perform. I encourage you to contact him with any project you may have.

As for Queenship, they have been through some changes but I beleive it is still Dan Fritz behind it. They partnered up with Admiral Marine back in 2000 or so, then ran into major financial problems in 2001 with bankruptcy protection and such. I'm not sure what they are building now but they have bought Crescent Custom Yachts and are all located in a beautiful location and facility in Maple Ridge some 30 miles or so up the Fraser River. Hope this helps.

Attached is Mike Harlings' 58' Northport. Beautiful Eh?

Brian

[Loren Schweizer]

needyacht4me:

To add to Brian's wealth of good info re.: Forbes Cooper & Admiral, this from a Florida guy--- one of the last Forbes Coopers built, to the best of my knowledge, is now called "Risk & Reward" (lying Miami, FL), a 1997 80-footer. I showed a client this boat when she was first put up for sale in the late '90s and she was impressive in her design inside & out.

The current MLS listing shows Howard Appolonio as designer but perhaps Mike Harling was involved? The Northwest builders, when they near their end, require some real detective work to find out who exactly was there and doing what.

Even all the way down in this corner of the country, Admiral was highly admired for "Plumduff" (sp?), one of their last efforts. Then, sadly, Tango Uniform.

That model of the 58 Northport that Brian did shows that Mr. Harling can pen a sweet line, Hinckley-ish, in a way. And the fact that the guy is an engineer to boot would suggest he is a man who cares about his trade.

[Yachtguy]

Quick correction Mike Harling had zero involvement in the Risk and Reward Project. This was designed and engineered by Howard Apollonio Na Pe and built in Canada by F.C. Yachts Ltd. under a New Zealand classification (sorry can't recall at this time the name of the standards society) for charter in Auckland New Zealand. Original Build Captain was a Captain Patrick Foote and his mate Norm Baine eventually took over as captain until just a couple years ago. No sad demise to this company as indicated in former posts although this was one of the last builds under the original founder of FC yachts the company still exists today however since 1998 they market entirely under the new owner's name Rayburn.

[KCook]

Err, speaking of Rayburn Custom Yachts, who are they using for designs these days? Their web site doesn't give much info. Good looking yachts though.

Kelly Cook

[Yachtguy]

Current designs are created and managed in house with the Naval Architecture by Ed Hagemann and structural engineering by Peter Dunsford. Interior joinery design and fabrication drawings are by Dave Boudreau.

[KCook]

Thanks for the info Yachtguy,
Kelly

[wngnutmv]

Brian,
I couldn't help but notice the image you posted of Mike Harlings' 58' Northport is a model. My office is decorated in yachts and I would love to locate this very model OR large prints of the Northport as it is uniquely beautiful. If you or anyone else reading this knows where one might acquire the afore mentioned items, please let me know.
Thanks!

[Brian]

Originally Posted by wngnutmv

Brian,
I couldn't help but notice the image you posted of Mike Harlings' 58' Northport is a model. My office is decorated in yachts and I would love to locate this very model OR large prints of the Northport as it is uniquely beautiful. If you or anyone else reading this knows where one might acquire the afore mentioned items, please let me know.
Thanks!

Yes, it is a model.
That's what we build.
It's 1/4" =1' scale so it's around 30" long.
Sometimes you really have to look again to see that they aren't the real thing.
We built it a few years ago and I believe Seaforth has it in their office in Maple Ridge, BC Canada.
We do still have the drawings...

[wngnutmv]

That's what you do! Nice!
Do you have a web site?

[Brian]

Originally Posted by wngnutmv

That's what you do! Nice!
Do you have a web site?

It's about time we did and we're working on it.
Are you familiar with Mike Harlings' designs?
http://www.seaforthmarine.com/index.shtml
If you look under "yachts", you'll find the Northport. Take a look at the "superyachts"...really neat!
Also, if you look under "about Seaforth" you'll find a small bio of Mike in "staff"
A really talented, experienced and likeable guy!