Is this delamination?

[78MaicoRider]

I think when buying anything this rule applies.

GOOD, CHEAP, OR QUICK. PICK ANY TWO.

You will not get the third. Sometimes you only get one!!!

[Fella1340]

There really just isn't a point in replying to all this. At least I won't buy one of your Whitney Houston boat hulls, that's about all I got out this.

[tlandauer]

I meant no offense to anyone who posted here, but for my own clarification I like to make the following observation:
Not buying a Whitney Houston hull?? Am I missing something!?
Someone is unhappy because the CF hull is starting to delaminate, ok, got that.
If I read correctly, said hull has been run and seen some good speeds, possibly some flips in water, ok, understood.
These hulls are what they are, Chinese made in the price range most of us are comfortable with, grasped that as well.
Seller here never miss informed the public, they are sold as the best all around hull and IN THAT PRICE RANGE. I think I don't need night school to comprehand that.
Now if I drive a car that retails for $35,000 on the NASCAR circuit for 36 months and the car is past the warranty and mileage period, something breaks and I get very upset and expects a new car from the factory or the dealer, and if I don't get it I will tell the dealer I will never buy another Richard Petty car, ( which is exactly the reason why the name Whitey Houston came up) hmm,

[Tbauer]

I think your very close (the hull is less than a year old) I think the debate is really boiling down to is the delamination from a manufacturer defect, or is it related to crashes and high speed, or a combination of both. Keith, who has 100x the experience I have believes it's primarily from high end use (speed and crashes) with a very small percent coming from just cheaper materials being used (to save money in china). I felt the delamination was a defect unrelated to the crash. That is an unqualified opinion. Others agreed, others do not. That's all this was meant to do, solicit input. All input that's constructive is always welcome, and wanted. I like third party observations since they have no emotional attachment to the outcome......LoL

[keithbradley]

Keith, who has 100x the experience I have believes it's primarily from high end use (speed and crashes) with a very small percent coming from just cheaper materials being used (to save money in china).

I don't know if I would say "A very small percent" in regards to cheaper materials being used. I'm 100% certain that the best of the best was not used in the construction of that boat. Even with the higher end hulls that you pay much, much more money for, the process is still far from state of the art. If the best materials and processes were used to build a cat like this, there's no way you could buy it for that price. It would cost me more to lay this cat up my way than what they're selling it for. These are built to meet a price point, and correctly so...if a target customer wanted to spend 3X as much, they wouldn't be looking at a FC hull in the first place. Every hull manufacturer looks for the cheapest resin to do the job they intend to do. One may intend to build something that is of a different quality than the other, but they all look to cut cost. It's just the reality of making a marketable product. I would, however, feel comfortable making the statement that if this cat was the recipient of a "sport" package and ran the type of speed that most people on this forum run, it likely would not have failed at this point. There's no way to know that for sure, but I do know for sure that it was only a matter of time for this hull, either way. Approaching 100mph with this hull without reinforcements will net predictable results.

Was the hull broken when you got it Travis? What about after the first or second run? The third? How about the forth? I think you likely know where I'm going here. You can't run a boat for a year, notice that a part of the hull is separated, and NOT think is has to do with the forces that the boat has been subjected to over the past year. It obviously took an outside force to get the hull to the point it is now at. Even if you didn't notice it right after a crash, that's when the cracking/separation would have happened. Is it possible that you just exposed a weakness in this particular hull? ABSOLUTLEY! But what people need to understand is that EVERY hull will have weaknesses that can be exposed when running high speeds.


To everyone reading this thread:

Ever known you were about to get in a fight?... Remember what that feels like?
That's the same feeling I will have when I run my reinforced carbon/Kevlar Mystic at the SAW event in Flint this year. The thought of throwing caution to the wind and relaxing, knowing that everything will be alright because I have a quality hull, will NEVER enter my mind. If/when the boat leaves the water and goes in the air (hopefully for a long time so it can slow as much as possible before impact), I will be praying that the boat skips instead of splats, tightening my rear end, starting my next word with a long preface of "SHHHHHHIIII", and questioning what the hell is wrong with me to do this in the first place. I have done what I can. I bought a quality hull, I opted for carbon Kevlar instead of fiberglass, and I added a lot of reinforcement to the hull myself. Trust me when I say that my instincts still tell me I just lost a boat the minute it leaves the water.

[keithbradley]

There really just isn't a point in replying to all this. At least I won't buy one of your Whitney Houston boat hulls, that's about all I got out this.

Fella,

The last thing I would want you, or anyone to do is buy a hull that you're not comfortable with, or not willing to take responsibility for. I think it's only fair that you let the person you DO decide to buy from know your expectations.

[Tbauer]

Keith,

I mirrored your sediments to fighter cat. We are working something out. I told him your opinion is what I am going with, not to kiss your ass because your building my MHZ, LOL, but because experience counts. So we will see what happens. I will keep ypu posted of course. On a side note, did those parts arrive yet?

[Tbauer]

******update********

Since I started this thread, its equally my responsibility to update it. After reading everyone's input, speaking with friends and experts, and more importantly Fightercat, I have to agree that the delamination is a direct result of some of the high speed crashes that occurred during my quest to reach 100mph, not from poor manufacturing. Even after agreeing with Fightercat, that the damage was from crashes, not poor manufacturing, FIGHTERCAT STILL STEPPED UP AND SAID THAT REGARDLESS AS TO THE CAUSE, THEY APPRECIATE THEIR CUSTOMERS, AND WOULD BE MORE THAN HAPPY TO GET ME INTO A NEW FIGHTERCAT. Now regardless if you agree with the cause of the delamination, EVERYONE has to agree that for Fightercat to step up to the plate, even tho they aren't to blame, is hands down the ESSENCE of customer service.

So to fightercat, if your reading this, thanks for being a great company and going above and beyond to ensure that I am a satisfied customer, you guys rock!!!!

[keithbradley]

Jason at FC is a first class guy. One of the most generous and coolest people you will ever come across in this hobby.
When you get your new hull, send it to me and I'll do a KBB inlay to strengthen it up a bit.

[srislash]

Wow, kudo's to Jason. That is above and beyond in my books and I for one am glad they are still in the game. Definitely take Keith up on the inlay Travis. These are thin hulls. I am just finishing one up myself.

[Tbauer]

Ya, I think I will..... I am digging that honeycomb!!!!

[Rocstar]

Jason at FighterCat is a top notch guy. He has been more then generous to me over the last couple years and sponsored my SAW builds. Both Jason and Kevin are more then fair in their dealings with customers. Travis, putt those motors and props to good use and look forward to seeing triple digits from you soon.

[electric]

I just ordered a Cheetah hull from him on Sunday and it showed shipped as of yesterday. Another club member also bought a boat from him this week, so they are very much still in business. They are having trouble with their shopping cart though. I ended up having to exchange emails to get the transactions done.

[Tbauer]

Jason at FighterCat is a top notch guy. He has been more then generous to me over the last couple years and sponsored my SAW builds. Both Jason and Kevin are more then fair in their dealings with customers. Travis, putt those motors and props to good use and look forward to seeing triple digits from you soon.

Those motors and props are going into a MHZ Mystic 114 that Keith is building for me sir