Perry Firing on All Cylinders
Off the back of a successful SCIBS, Perry Prestige catamarans is working hard to fulfill orders and has another ultra-innovative model in the pipeline.
'Perry 43 is just one of the catamarans with the ’wow factor’.'
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According to Tasmanian boat building and investor in the company two years ago, Allan Barnett, the company is going from strength to strength, with clients both here and abroad.
'Depending on the size of the boat ordered, we build three 57s per year and five 43s per year.'
Currently, Perry has two 57s and two 43s in production, plus another 43 ready to start and another three 57s to begin after that.
Perry makes a 43 sail and 44 Powerboat and 57 sail and 62 Powerboat, all from its Coomera operations on the Gold Coast. 
Feedback from SCIBS, where the company had four boats on display - three Perrys and a Chesapeake High Seas from Tasmania - was all positive, according to Perry Prestige Manager, Peter O'Brien.
'It really had the wow factor,' he says of the marina exhibit, 'Particularly the 57ft boat. A lot of people came on board and that's what we heard 'wow!'.'
The show will net Perry around four sales over the next six months.
Perry will not be showing at SIBS, thanks to a delightful problem: all its boats will have been delivered to new owners.
'I am actually taking a 43 up to Gladstone tomorrow and the new owners are taking that to Broome. It is a great problem to have. We could take an older boat, but the boats we're making now are far and away different from our older boats.'
As O'Brien explains, the company has changed its moldings, focused on a better finish, taken the gel coat out and put padded leather or macrosuede (similar to the fabric used in BMWs) on interiors.
O'Brien continues: 'Most people acknowledge we're now the yardstick in top end multihulls. The cheaper French imports are not affecting us, but are impacting on lower levels in the market.'
With an average price of just under $1m for a 43ft and just over $2m for the 57, customers at that end are relatively immune to economic pressures. 'We've found hard times don't really worry them and they're looking for something very different.'
Customer feedback has led Perry to begin manufacturing a new model - a totally new concept called the Motorsailer.
'It can do 20 knots under power or can be used under sail. We already have orders for it. The innovation is in the hull.
'We've changed the underwater shape to a motor hull, so it looks like a sail boat and motors like a powerboat. It's the ideal cruising boat and the logical next step for the company.'
Perry is currently building the first of three 57ft Motorsailers on order.
More at www.perrycatamarans.com.au
by Media Services 
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Bondi, NSW
