part 2: Northern Marine 90' Yacht Capsizes Upon Launch...!

Just got my new issue of Passage Maker in the mail today...and guess what? Yep, there's a very extensive article in it about the "Disaster in Anacortes: A critical look" I'm going to read it to see if there's something in there that hasn't been something that hasn't already been discussed here in this forum.

I haven't seen the Passagemaker article, but doubt they mention that New World is now in receivership, since 7/31. They may not mention either that Northern Asset Sales LLC filed suit against Andrew McDonald, et al (New World) on May 30 with the most recent court filings on 7/25.

And doubt that they have speculated, as of course this would be pure speculation, that Bud or Northern Asset Sales or a related entity will reclaim the name and then rent it out to someone new so this road can be traveled again.

Guess the only question is now what battle will be ugliest, the buyers vs. New World, Northern vs. New World, the buyers and/or New World vs. the insurer. Wonder how long this will all go on in the courts and how long the unfinished boats will sit. Wonder if boat buyers will be more careful with the next Northern or will history repeat itself once again.

I would like to read the Passagemaker article but my digital subscription hasn't shown up yet.

Is this the other video you are looking for?

It includes all of the rescue ordeal which is quite dramatic!

I saw that "YachtVid" on YouTube just reposted this video for some reason.

Is there any update on where this case stands?

In a related case, the owner of the yacht that was in the NM yard at the time of the capsize and NM closing had a successful day in court in 2 weeks ago and now has full title to his incomplete NM.

Glad he finally won that. Why they continued to fight it is beyond me. Now, by now, I figure that boat has cost him a million or two more than it was supposed to. Or will cost once completed.

Is that really surprising? What claim would NM have had to it, assuming the buyer was current on contractual payments to the point work stopped?

Well, New World held it captive for a couple of years, ran months behind before that, and based on documents submitted in court and depositions of their employee falsified billing. That's when the problems started from what I gather as the buyer was being billed for completion of work phases that had not been completed. This has been in court since long before the sinking. The boat has gone at least 18 months with no work done on it.

While he now has full title to that boat I hope he has no problem retrieving it and shipping it elsewhere. It would not surprise me at all to see someone else try to place a lien upon it based on equipment or materials they haven't been paid for.

We need an onsite Anacortes reporter. Last information I had and this has been months was you had a vessel that had been sunk and waiting for an insurance settlement, then determination of who would get it or how it would be split, you had all this on property that was owned by other parties, equipment with liens and equipment owned by others. And you had a brand that New World didn't own, was just renting. Meanwhile the owner of the brand likely to rent or sale it to someone else. This saga isn't new. Not the first bankruptcy involving the Northern Marine brand. May not be the last. Is it three strikes and you're out? Don't bet on it.

While it wouldn't be surprising for someone to try, it is a lot harder to accomplish. In a formal sense the owner doesn't owe anything to the vendors just because they sold things on credit to the shipyard. A judge can decide that he does for various reasons, but him getting the clear titl means that a judge decided that he didn't. It takes very good reasons for one judge to decide that another judge erred in that manner.

I agree, but until he has possession of the boat, I wouldn't be comfortable. There are just so many variables.

And how do you safely take possession of a boat that turns turtle? Adds a whole new level of difficulty.

There are two different boats discussed here...

You are absolutely correct, I had misremembered during the long time the thread lay dormant. Thanks for straightening me out.

Sorry, think I started that split of the thread by pondering if there we lien releases, etc for the other owners under build.

Back on topic, what is going on with the 90' that floats on its side?

Last we spoke that owner had a plan in place to move her to a nearby facility and get her finished up. I'm happy for him that he can proceed. We were both lamenting that we're getting older and cruising years are limited!

It's just horrible that he's been put through what he has the last couple of years. No excuse for it.

Just to add some more speculation to an old story: Anyone noticed from the videos that the transport device was quite close to its limits during the launch? Maybe they just wanted to get the boat launched and add the required additional ballast later? In that case it might still have been a valid design and an honest boat but bad launching practice in the overly optimistic hope to get away with cheating physics? ;-)

It sure was close, I'd say it was only about 20-30% over its limits.With how high out of the water she sat as she was rolling I'd say that she was way underballasted, and keeping weight down may have been the reason. Alternatively they were rushing the next step to get the progress payment and keep the whole shady operation afloat.

JACKPOT!

Let's see...boat tilting on way down, you know there's a problem, you stop for just a moment. But rather than hold it up and correct the problem, keep pushing.

I have read about this Northern Marine Baden yacht incident for a while and, in all forums and discussions what is absent is that, when this owner was looking for a builder, he insisted that his new yacht was built in USA leaving Nordhavn and many other USA citizen yacht building company owners such as Nordhavn company owners building excellent and well proven yachts outside USA out of the picture, any thoughts?