Hatteras no longer building yachts?

We have seen this happen in many areas - remember that BlackBerry invented the smart phone, but Apples design and software ran them out of business.
Too bad in this case because Hatteras made many great MY’s. Unfortunately their years and years of tradition were unencumbered by progress.

Do any of you know what the last...final...model year was for the 80 MY. It looks like Hatteras introduced the 80 MY in 2003/04....but I cannot seem to find what year was the final year of delivery.

McKnew's Powerboat Guide shows the 80 Hatteras MY years: 2004-2013

I see that viking seems to have dropped their Motoryacht lineup as well, atleast according to their website. I quite liked the looks of their 82 cockpit motoryacht

I believe this is what your after.

https://everythingaboutboats.org/powerboat-guide-mcknew/

There was a 2014 for sale that I looked at for a buyer a year or so ago.

Found this somewhere, comes from Ferretti but looks reasonable.

Hey all,

I come from the Sportfish community and fish on from the NE to the islands up and around to Cabo. Private Equity got involved with Hatteras years ago and drove the brand into the ground. Viking has pretty much been taking over. There are well-known fishing teams who ordered new-model Hatteras’s and they despise the company. For one, check out Fish Tank. They are either selling their Hatteras or have sold it and are building a Viking. These Hatteras owners are taking baths on resale values because nobody wants them.

You discounted the value of your opinion with your very first post. Hatteras values will hold up quite well. Simple economics: supply and demand.

I don’t know what happened to my post as it’s not what I typed fully. It asked me to state my profession and then only submitted part of my post. Anyway…

On new-model Hatteras’s they do not hold value because no one is paying premiums ($4MM+). If someone has $4MM to spend on a used boat, they probably don’t have a liquidity issue. I’m not talking about a year 2000 Hatteras for $600,000. The new models are junk. Visit a sportfishing tournament and you’ll notice the Hatteras Demo boat sitting at the docks for one reason or another. Again, I’m referring to the newer models.

The profession is asked for in the registration process which is completely unrelated to posting a new thread.

Correct. When you sign up it asks, and won’t let you submit a registration until it’s filled out. Upon responding to this post, when I clicked submit, it said my profession was required and then only submitted part of my response. That’s irrelevant. My point is, I’m referring to new boats since manufacturers survive on selling new inventory. The new models Hatteras have been pumping out have been atrocious. Hatteras has screwed numerous buyers. Go to any tournament where owners spend $50k, $100k per week and you’ll see new Vikings and older Hatteras’s. Owners of new Hatteras’s are taking a bath on resale value because people who can afford a used $4MM boat can go buy a boat elsewhere without the lesser quality. Which is my point. The drop in Sportfish sales probably plays part to why there may be less money for motor yachts, and as previously mentioned, Viking and Hatteras offered a more premium offering than competing companies. And as I mentioned, most people who already own a 52-70, even 80 or 92, now 90 Sportfish, aren’t buying a motor yacht from Viking/Hatteras.

The new Hatteras' are built more solid than Vikings, the bridge sides and other things don't flex in a sea. Hatteras quality is slightly better. They also ride better. I ran a 59' GT back from the Panama Canal a year ago, not talking about heresay that you heard on the dock from the cockpit of the local charter boat you work on. No issue with any of the build quality or ride on the new Hatteras throughout the lineup, they all ride great. Viking builds a good boat too, however, some models run very well and others, well, don't. Ever been on the 86' Viking that Viking installed a Seakeeper 16 on (which is way too small for the boat)? for example. Too many models. The Hatteras I ran back from Panama, the owner sold it within days for what he paid for it 1.5 years earlier, so not sure what you're talking about as far as resale goes. Hatteras built the highest quality motoryacht under 100', WRMG nixed the motoryachts and shelved them, had nothing to do with demand. They had 7 orders dealers wanted to place for 75's that WRMG wouldn't take.

As for the Fish Tank people, they expected a custom boat from a production builder. And then forced Hatteras to make a bunch of changes they (Hatteras) never should have agreed to. Fish tank people had Hatteras add thousands of pounds of filler/fairing in the engine room to make the entire engine room smooth and look like the exterior of the boat, a bunch of additional granite, then wondered why it didn't meet performance specs........among many other things.

I own two Vikings. I’ve had issues with them like almost every other new boat. I also have a new Spencer that I’ve had issues with. It’s just the name of the game. When I was making the jump from a larger center console to inboard diesels, I was very close to snagging a new Hatteras 54 (or 59– I forget). The issue was, at 3 of the main tournaments I fished in, the demo boat was down. While on the Hatteras 70 Demo, the rattling was unbearable. It doesn’t matter my opinion though, just look at the boats fishing. Very few new Hatteras’s. Literally look up the standings. You won’t find many new Hatteras’s fishing. That’s telling, isn’t it? Business revolves around money. If those 7 orders would have made money, they would have taken it. There’s a reason why motor yachts are no longer available.
Also, it’s telling when a company guarantees one thing and delivers another. You said they “never should have agreed to” in relationship to taking on benchmarks. It’s greed. Hatteras changed massively once private equity got involved (Versa Capital). And who invests in Versa Capital? Well, you can do your own research but it’s a very wealthy gentleman who had an issue with Viking. I just happened to have lunch with him last Friday. But please, enlighten this “charter boat” employee.

Most guys who Sportfish in the tournaments have a larger motor yacht. I’ll repeat, Viking / Hatteras offered products at a more premium price point. So if someone can afford, say, a new 68 Viking, they’re not going to buy a 70 or even 82 motor yacht. Most people who boat will not shell out the $8MM price tags for a new motor yacht offered by these two companies when you have European brands offering them as a reduced price. Viking / Hatteras haven’t figured out how to be sustainable in this market. And for Viking, that 82 Sportfish/motor yacht seems cool, but again, if someone can afford a $8MM yacht, they don’t have a liquidity issue. They don’t take their $100k pickup truck to the racetrack; they buy a $200k Porsche for that.

WHAT tournaments are you talking about? The last Hatterascals they had which fished tournaments, and we're going back to pre-covid, were a 59' GT for a year, prior to that a 45' EX for a year, and prior to that a 63' GT for a year. I've never heard or seen them having a 70' GT demo boat.

Secondly, someone that has a 60' SF., generally has a 150'+ motoryacht, not a under 100' motoryacht, different customer. Hatteras sold more motoryachts than SF until WRMG decided to stop building MY's. Hatteras built the highest quality motoryacht under 100', Westport over 100'. The motoryachts had a higher profit margin than SF. But, they bought Hatteras for the plant/factory, and to produce Mako's and Rangers, and then Hatteras. Catching up on backlog of Mako's and Rangers is their priority (unfortunately).

The foreign built motoryachts always have downsides and lots of them usually. Yes, some/most are cheaper......I have a 72' MY I manage sitting in the yard going on 6 weeks now, waiting on stabilizer bushings from Italy. Not to mention all of the cabinetry has to be removed by 2 woodworkers that took 2 full days, and 2 days to put them back in, because they built them on top of the stabilizers.

Versa Capital hasn't owned Hatteras for over 3 years now. I don't know who invested in Versa Capital, but they have some money behind them as they owned Silvery airways and a number of other large companies.

The only "rattling" you're going to get on any Hatteras SF is if it has a bent prop/shaft etc. Hatteras has a patented vent system for the tunnels and runs a large reduction so the props spin slower to mitigate reduction. It works as far as that's concerned.

As for Fish Tank it wasn't a bench mark, it wasn't greed. The Fish Tank people kept changing things as the build went along, then complained when the delivery date was delayed (due to their change orders). They had lots of ideas, most of them not great in practice. Why would you even want to fair the entire engine room and add thousands of pounds to the build?????