As you guys know I spent most of Thursday at the Sunsation Plant in Algonac Michigan.
The plant is right long the main road and easy to find. The only hassle in the entire 10 hour trip was dealing with construction around Detroit and total obnoxious Detroit drivers.
I arrived at about 9:30 and was greeted with an ugly pic of my mug posted on their front door welcoming me....
I finally met Sunsation Dave face-to-face and he's a fun and interesting guy. He knows the boating industry inside-and-out. I also saw Joe again (one of the two brothers that own Sunsation boats). Joe and Dave share an office with a big magnetic white board showing all the boats on order, in production and located in dealer inventory around the country.
NO CUSHY OFFICES HERE FOLKS!...these guys are about building quality boats not kicking back and barking orders. Both of them spend the majority of their time every day in the plant making sure that every boat is built perfectly. Dave told me that very few boats roll through the plant without some sort of custom features.
My tour started in the glass room where the hulls and other parts are laid-up. All of their work is beautiful believe me. There are no rough edges on any of their glass work because they take the time to grind any excess down. I saw first hand the balsa coring which goes in the hull and deck. NO WONDER I can jump up and down on the deck of my 288 and not hurt anything....because I know how it's built. All of the balsa coring is pre-soaked with resin before it's used. Dave told me you could take on their hull and completely fill it with water; come back a year later and drain it and you would not find any seepage in the balsa coring and I believe him.
We then moved on to other parts of the plant where Dave showed me decks laying upside down being worked. They do as much work as possible before putting the deck on so that folks (men & women) don't have to lay on their back inside boats working.
We then spent a lot of time in the final finishing room where everything comes together. Every Sunsation has it's own BUILD BOOK. Dave, Wayne and Joe have created a build book that every team (they have build teams) follows. Every bit of work that's done on a boat in initialized by a team member that did the work. This way nothing gets overlooked and everyone is accountable.
Now to the Innovator.....man o man there's too much to talk about but I'll start here...
THE 32 INNOVATOR IS TOTALLY TRICK!!!
It's like something out of a James Bond movie - really. I have pics but I won't post them without Dave's permission because all of the boating mags are jockeying for position to test and see the boat. The hull is the most innovative design since the introduction of the 3 point hydro. The HULL is a true work of art. I think the Guggenheim Museum is going to have to build an addition to display this boat.
The cabin is taller than the existing 32 and features and enclosed head. The first boat that's being built for a local rags to riches software guy has a killer stereo, microwave, frig and HP500 EFI's.
There's more freeboard on the Innovator that the existing 32 and the race hatch has fully functioning air scoops that not only catch air but accelerate the air though venturi's in the hatch and direct it right onto the HP500 air filters.
The two tilt-up sections of the center instrument console are electric powered either through a rocker switch or a remote control key-ring. The Innovator utilizes Nascar type starter switches for starting the engines once a master key is inserted. The Innovator features electronically adjustable footrests that move out of the way once either of the instruments hatches are opened up allowing access to the full-featured cabin.
there's so much more to talk about...give me some more time to think and add to the thread, but here's a teaser....
The plant is right long the main road and easy to find. The only hassle in the entire 10 hour trip was dealing with construction around Detroit and total obnoxious Detroit drivers.
I arrived at about 9:30 and was greeted with an ugly pic of my mug posted on their front door welcoming me....
I finally met Sunsation Dave face-to-face and he's a fun and interesting guy. He knows the boating industry inside-and-out. I also saw Joe again (one of the two brothers that own Sunsation boats). Joe and Dave share an office with a big magnetic white board showing all the boats on order, in production and located in dealer inventory around the country.
NO CUSHY OFFICES HERE FOLKS!...these guys are about building quality boats not kicking back and barking orders. Both of them spend the majority of their time every day in the plant making sure that every boat is built perfectly. Dave told me that very few boats roll through the plant without some sort of custom features.
My tour started in the glass room where the hulls and other parts are laid-up. All of their work is beautiful believe me. There are no rough edges on any of their glass work because they take the time to grind any excess down. I saw first hand the balsa coring which goes in the hull and deck. NO WONDER I can jump up and down on the deck of my 288 and not hurt anything....because I know how it's built. All of the balsa coring is pre-soaked with resin before it's used. Dave told me you could take on their hull and completely fill it with water; come back a year later and drain it and you would not find any seepage in the balsa coring and I believe him.
We then moved on to other parts of the plant where Dave showed me decks laying upside down being worked. They do as much work as possible before putting the deck on so that folks (men & women) don't have to lay on their back inside boats working.
We then spent a lot of time in the final finishing room where everything comes together. Every Sunsation has it's own BUILD BOOK. Dave, Wayne and Joe have created a build book that every team (they have build teams) follows. Every bit of work that's done on a boat in initialized by a team member that did the work. This way nothing gets overlooked and everyone is accountable.
Now to the Innovator.....man o man there's too much to talk about but I'll start here...
THE 32 INNOVATOR IS TOTALLY TRICK!!!
It's like something out of a James Bond movie - really. I have pics but I won't post them without Dave's permission because all of the boating mags are jockeying for position to test and see the boat. The hull is the most innovative design since the introduction of the 3 point hydro. The HULL is a true work of art. I think the Guggenheim Museum is going to have to build an addition to display this boat.
The cabin is taller than the existing 32 and features and enclosed head. The first boat that's being built for a local rags to riches software guy has a killer stereo, microwave, frig and HP500 EFI's.
There's more freeboard on the Innovator that the existing 32 and the race hatch has fully functioning air scoops that not only catch air but accelerate the air though venturi's in the hatch and direct it right onto the HP500 air filters.
The two tilt-up sections of the center instrument console are electric powered either through a rocker switch or a remote control key-ring. The Innovator utilizes Nascar type starter switches for starting the engines once a master key is inserted. The Innovator features electronically adjustable footrests that move out of the way once either of the instruments hatches are opened up allowing access to the full-featured cabin.
there's so much more to talk about...give me some more time to think and add to the thread, but here's a teaser....
