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I leave in Thailand and I race against boats built by Root every month so I had the opportunity to witness both performance and built quality of the Wedge. Root and is team are professional manufacturers with a strong background in RC airplanes manufacturing. They use the same materials as manufacturers of top of the line boats and the building quality is the same. I'm not here to discuss about the design, just the quality. The finishing level of a boat coming from Thailand is actually higher than some of the "top of the line" boats you are thinking about for a a very simple reason : man hour cost. To be profitable a manufacturer in Europe, Australia or the US cannot afford to spend as much time as here in Thailand were the average salary is around 14USD/day. I have nothing to do with Rood's business as I enjoy designing and building my boats myself. I would just like to have people not to think Thailand=cheap=low quality. The equation is very different. This is not a third world country. And to come back to the Wedge I can assure you that the boat is well balanced and very fast, especially downwind. There are a lot of Alternative sailing here and the Wedge has the same performances. Cheers, Mikael |
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so now lazerb is disputing the quality of the WEDGE IOM from Thailand. has he seen one.
if people read my messages then they would notice I said £1000 with A rig and Winch.I have lots of radio gear sitting around so I do not need to buy new radio. those prices are based on a new RMG winch and an A rig kit and sails from a known fittings/sail supplier. if people want to add radio into the equation then add another £50 for a turnigy transmitter/receiver. you can then add new 2nd and 3rd RIG at a cost between £90 and £170 then add spare winch, new batteries, rig bag, boat bag, transmitter mitt, charger, the cost goes up, |
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Last edited by mark dicks; Nov 03, 2016 at 04:20 AM.
Reason: ADDITIONAL INFO
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To be fair, building an IOM and building a competitive IOM are two different things. We have a few designs that have set the bar like BGs Britpop, Ian's V9 and Zvonkos Kantun. Not excluding anyone on purpose, just these are the designs that seem to populate the leader boards these days.
Both the Kantun which I think is under licesnce of Zvonko and the MX16 (Brit Pop knock off) are being made in Thailand by MX. The word on the street is that they do suffer in quality/fit/finish and performance when they are complete and sailing compared to their counterparts. Hence his comment, you get what you pay for. Correct me if I'm wrong but I never see any of these boats at the top of any leader boards. I explored this avenue when looking to upgrade and that is what I saw and heard for myself. Has the quality improved since the start, possibly but it takes a fair bit of time to recover from that hangover both in actual quality and perception of the sailing community. For me personally, I have a Britpop from one of BGs approved builders. It was and is simply flawless and sails as well as I can sail it. I know winning rests with me and my thumbs and the boat will ablige. I've seen it. It was worth every penny and a pleasure to sail. I don't regret the money I spent even for a moment. SJ |
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Last edited by SailingJunkie; Nov 03, 2016 at 08:35 AM.
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Mark, I am not disputing the quality of the product coming from Thailand, merely stating that you normally get what you pay for in this game, like most other walks of life and as you are advertising, the boats from Thailand are cheaper.
It was YOUR original post when you questioned the price of getting a boat on the water costings then quoted £1000, unfortunately you forgot to inform us that this was with a used rig and did not include TX and RX or indeed batteries etc, all of which you may need to get the boat around the buoys. |
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IMHO (and take it for what its worth) the hull is only 2% of the equation with 95% being in the rig and the other 3% is in the appendages. The differences in hull and the appendages is less than 1% between designs. That's the difference in boat performance.
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I am sorry but think you need to revisit your numbers. SJ |
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Maybe it seems that way simply because the skipper can't (without some effort) easily make a mess of the hull/appendages, whereas any rig, even a good one, is very easy to set up badly. |
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Also have to strongly dispute those numbers. If it were correct a britpop or a v9 or a maxim would not be able in virtually any hands to blow off boats like the cockatoo, disco or v7 from the prior generation. The rigs and appendages are literally often identical
As to the issue of the low priced Thai boats, I have certainly seen a performances difference between these products and those from the high end boat designers and builders. (I personally think a lot of it has to do with keel and hull construction) They just seem slower and less durable. I am also troubled by the admission that costs are kept down for these boats by paying workers very low wages. I personally prefer to support the small builders and cottage industries in places like the US, UK, Aus, NZ etc. that have built this hobby/sport even if it means paying a few more dollars. |
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Last edited by Tom Corbett; Nov 03, 2016 at 06:53 PM.
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I know that this forum is not for commercial interests ( And we are careful not to push our thoughts too much.) but I'm sure that no-one here minds an occasional reminder to look at what's happening outside their own building boards. I'm off later today to the South Queensland IOM Championship weekend. Strong competition. There's a lot of good stuff happening in the Australian IOM scene. Peter |
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Last edited by peterburford; Nov 03, 2016 at 08:29 PM.
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Just to clarify a few things, Root and MX Components are two different companies. I didn't right that Root's staff were paid low wages. I gave the average salary in Thailand to explain that the main cost (man hours) is lower here than in other places. I have been a boat builder (38 to 77ft motor boats and sailing boats) in Thailand for 9 years and as qualified carpenters, electricians, mechanics or laminators the staff's wages are much higher than the average salary. But to beat Thailand's reputation of being cheap we have to build with very high finishing standards to attract customers. We are still competitive due to the fact that even getting a good salary compare to the average we are still cheaper than the yard I've been working for in France and we can afford to spend more time on the details. This is exactly what Root is facing now : Thailand's image. Please give him a chance (I know some already do).
Cheers, Mikael |
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But then again who's Boat to purchase and who makes it is just a pissing contest. Ford or Chevy. |
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You missed my point. Given the same rigs i.e. the same amount of force on the different newer generation hulls the difference in output is very little. You also have to consider the water conditions for any given hull. Many are still doing very well with picanto's in calm conditions.
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In this case who you buy a boat from isn't a pissing contest between Ford vs. Chevy; it's US Steel vs. Chinese Steel lol
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