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"Owners gear"...the death of negotiation

Discussion in 'Yacht Designers Discussion' started by CODOG, Jun 23, 2007.

  1. CODOG

    CODOG Senior Member

    Joined:
    Jan 25, 2007
    Messages:
    397
    Location:
    Bournemouth, southern England
    I ramble on, for which I promise to self-flagellate nightly but...
    Power to weight is a subject dear to my heart, but I for one find fighting the good fight increasingly hard.
    Would a Ferrari owner expect his high-performance light-weight agile steed to perform and handle as well as its designers intended if he filled every nook and cranny in it to the headlinings with 'stuff' ? I think not, yet yacht clients seem to expect their aquatic steeds to defy the laws of physics.
    My first exposure to this traditional frustration was back in the '80s.
    A client wanted a specific speed at a specific load condition, written into a formidable contract. Gold-plated cat litter trays, "marble floors will crack unless they are 2" thick" and a ton of weight-lifting equipment (a small taste of the task ahead) were specified, discussed, crossed-off the weight sheet and after negotiation and weight saving elsewhere, added back on.
    Initial trials went extremely well, with a decent margin. Suddenly a container full of bronze statues appeared, the 'final touch' to the interior design. Had I been less junior, I'd have suggested throwing these dead-weights overboard, or compromised by taking moulds off the things, making grp copies and spraying them to match the dubious patina of the originals. But my boss just smiled and shrugged, obviously having the experience and foresight to allow for a massive margin in the 'owners gear' section of the weight sheet.