Factory tour

[RICHARD DAMICO]

Took the Beneteau factory tour last week down in Marion, South Carolina.  Wanted to check out my new boat in the making, a 38.1.  Did you know that they make Jenneaus in the same factory?  Marion is a small country town, and there is really nothing there except Beneteau.  I was chosen because it resembles the home town of the founder of the company and is half way  between New York and Miami.  

Todd Cranford conducted the tour and he was awesome.  I was so impressed to see so many boats in production, about 30 or more I would say.  Each station, from lay up to cabinet finishing has individual teams  who all seemed to be very motivated and positive about their work.  I was also impressed that Todd knew the names of the individual workers and said hello to them by name, and the whole place seemed to have a very good work environment. 

They got it down right, Boat Test USA said it is the most efficient in the industry.  My boat will be shipped next week to San Diego, and the finishing will be done by South Coast Yachts.  I traded by 2006 323 for this one, the 323 sold immediately.

Rick D’Amico

“Airtime II”

San Diego/Phoenix

www.rickdamico.com 

Here are some pictures of my 38.1 being made.