Antares, St. Francis and Xquisite story, or my wife bought me a boat for my birthday

[jclark500]

Posted this over on the Antares forum, but thought it might be a better fit on the multhull forum. hope that is allowed.

I am glad to see some information coming to light on this matter. I had sailed on a used boat in Charleston in June with the marketing group of Antares. Prepared to send them a $500k deposit for a June 17 delivery for an owner looking to sell his position. Should have alerted me at that juncture that they did not offer any current owners the option to move forward. Received notice a week after my return and a few days before sending them my deposit check of the financial difficulties. That was too close for comfort, but several folks were caught up in the turmoil and have done what was necessary to protect their interests. Glad to see that a good boat builder has manged to work through a difficult process.

I was invited to sail onboard a St. Francis 50 being delivered from South Africa to the Annapolis show and boarded her in St Lucia up to the BVI's and then Georgetown. Was planning to make an offer when my wife visited Annapolis show recently.

My wife was ok with the St. Francis and fully supporting my dream, although not 100% sure of this lifestyle. While negotiating with the owner of St. Francis during the opening days, my wife happened on board the newly launched Xquisite X5. She came and grabbed me and said " you have to see this boat". The couple, Sara and Tamas, have exclusive marketing rights for the boat manufactured in South Africa by Phoenix Marine (took over the assets of Dean Cats). They have brought on the Naval Architect from the former company to oversee the redesign and launch of this new product, Rudolf Jonker. Xquisite Yachts - Xquisite Yachts

I had a LOI for Hull #2 that was showing in Annapolis, when a nice couple from Florida came on board and wondered if they could purchase our position as they had a need for tax reasons to purchase this year. We were happy to comply and took on Hull 3 which is scheduled to splash in February 2017. The Admiral (she hates that nickname, but hasn't come up with a better one) fell in love with Sara as much as the boat. These are the kind of people you want to be friends with. They have an interesting concept for avoiding the kind of risk that i am extremely sensitive to regarding boat build progress payments. They have a financial backer that allows them to offer "in-house" financing with a 5% deposit and payments into an independent escrow account until acceptance. That was a huge reason for me to get comfortable with this structure, given my near miss with Antares.

They have sold 3 boats in 3 weeks, one at the Cannes boat show and two last week in Annapolis. Hull 4 is sold and I imagine they will have a backlog after the Miami show in February.

I am not receiving any compensation or otherwise from these nice folks. Just wanted to share my experience over this 8 month journey.

Appreciate the collective wisdom that is shared on this forum. Cheers, jc

[owenrms]

That is a beautiful yacht. We had already committed to a Leopard 48 before the show but went and looked at the Xquisite. My wife's first comment was "darn, wish we had seen this first ". They have done so many clever things. Weight is a little high but stunning build quality. I am not sure it is worth almost double the price of the Leopard but then again the flooring and all the equipment probably is worth the stretch. Maybe our next boat in 5 or 6 years after the Leopard. Congratulations on your purchase !!

[jclark500]

Owen, Let's stay in touch, may likely be looking to sell in the next 5 years. Getting a little bit of a late start at 62.

Congrats on the new boat. Tremendous amount of value in the Leopard 48.

Cheers, Jeff

[Meerkats]

Hi Jeff,

You must have done a good few stretched on her by now and i was wondering if you would care to give some feedback on your X5? Congratulations on it and looking forward to read more. Saving up for a cruising cat ourselves.

many thanks, Martin

[jclark500]

HI Martin, I am back home over Easter break. Would be happy to give some feedback if you want to give me a call. 805dot450dot5050. Best, Jeff

[Factor]

Originally Posted by owenrms

Weight is a little high :

21 Tonne is not a little high - its obese, real life launch weight will be well over 1.5 tonne/metre.

[Heath68]

Can anyone tell me what is the difference between the Xquisite X5, the Dean 5000 and the Dean 498 which is 20cm shorter than the X5 but has a multihulldynamics Lwl/Bc, of 12.69! Making it a very quick boat by all accounts.

[Sbonder]

Originally Posted by jclark500

HI Martin, I am back home over Easter break. Would be happy to give some feedback if you want to give me a call. 805dot450dot5050. Best, Jeff

Interested too. Can you post some comments?

[Meerkats]

Originally Posted by jclark500

HI Martin, I am back home over Easter break. Would be happy to give some feedback if you want to give me a call. 805dot450dot5050. Best, Jeff

Thanks for answering Jeff. Unfortunately I am based out of Dubai which makes calling you quite hard. Hopefully you can find the time to pen a little something down.

Happy Easter, Martin

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, Martin.