Sunseeker TV programme - BBC2

[Ari]

This could be worth a watch.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b077kgw9

Welcome to Sunseeker, Britain's biggest superyacht builder who has been hand-building customised boats for the world's super rich for the past 50 years. For the first time ever, they have allowed the BBC behind the scenes of their extraordinary production line in Poole and into the rarefied world of the multi-millionaire's favourite plaything.

[Ari]

Sheepshanks said:

Hmmm...not a good sign, they must be getting really desperate.

How is it 'not a good sign'? Sunseeker have always been right on the front foot when it comes to getting their name out there.









At the end of this program there will be yet another x thousand people who associate the brand with the ultimate in glamour and luxury.

[Ari]

I can't see it as anything other than fantastic publicity. They're hardly going to show a boat being launched, rolling over and sinking are they?

As for Chinese owners, do you think anyone ever chooses not to buy a Jaguar because 'they're Indian now' or chooses not to buy an Aston Martin because the company is mostly owned by Kuwaitis and Italians?

[Ari]

Just watched it on iPlayer. As I thought, entirely positive publicity for Sunseeker - good for them.

Yertis said:

Not to my taste at all, but are they any good as actual boats?

In a word, for the market they're aimed at, absolutely. There are other boats that are better for (say) very long distance endurance work or exploration, but as a boat to put in the Med and enjoy (which is what most people do) - fantastic.

[Ari]

Ben Jk said:

I found it amusing when the Captain was proudly mentioning that they were "girlfriend and boyfriend" and then the chef pointed out that the Captains are usually in a relationship with a crew member, as they hire and fire. In other words, she's with him for the lifestyle and job.

That's quite a logic leap...

[Ari]

paul0843 said:

I thought they had agreed to go 50/50 on the cost.
Did I miss something?

Yes.

[Ari]

Ben Jk said:

Probably not worded very well.

The Captain makes all the recruitment decisions - who to hire and who to fire. She's making sure she doesn't get let go. I may be wrong but.....

Yes you may be.

If you really think that the world is full of beautiful women shagging their bosses to keep their jobs then you probably need to start giving the 24 hour pornhub sessions a swerve...

[Ari]

Simpo Two said:

It was a silly detail that took up too much airtime. First the buyer didn't want it but they fitted it anyway, then (not surprisingly) the buyer wanted it removed which Sunseeker said would cost them £100K, then they agreed to go 50/50 on the cost, then the owner decided to keep it. There's a few dots that don't join up.

Just goes to show that if you give the customer what they ask for, you'll have a much easier life.

Only seeing a highly edited one side of the conversation we'll never know. My guess is that they agreed the marble with him, but he didn't like the grain in the actual bit that went in.

[Ari]

happygoron said:

SpeckledJim said:

droopsnoot said:

I took the comments about there being a lot of couples in the captain / chef or captain / chief steward positions the other way around - that the captain would hire the girlfriend as a known pair of hands (stop sniggering) rather than that the girlfriend would stick with the captain just to get a job.

I saw it a third way. Captain hires a bunch of fitties. (Naturally).

They all work very hard, get very little time to themselves, and don't meet many people they don't work for (clients) or work for (Skipper).

So, Stockholm Syndrome does its thing, and they go for the Captain, in the absence of many other options.

It's also that couples can be quite popular to hire, especially on smaller yachts as they take up one less berth.

It seems they're all desperate to believe that this woman is 'putting out' to get/keep her job.

Far too much pornhub I suspect.

[Ari]

Talksteer said:

Roo said:

I thought it was an enjoyable programme.

Can't believe the sales staff get 1% of the sale price as commission.

They plan to sell £40million at the boat show, which would be 400k commission split between 30-40 sales people by the looks of it so not a mental level of commission.

That would assume that 30-40 sales people ALL make sales. Given the cost of these boats, 40 million could easily be made up of just five sales (I suspect the bulk of it could be made up by the sale of one in fact - guessing the 151 can't be that far off £40M).

That said, it does seem extremely unlikely to me that the salesman that signs a customer up for the sale of a 151 earns circa £400,000 for that one deal in reality. My guess would be that even if it is theoretically true, the full 1% commission figure assumes the sale at full list price, which never ever happens.

[Ari]

My guess is that at this level, owners probably don't have to choose between. If they want a nice sailing boat they'll probably just buy one of those as well.