A Message from Rob Parmentier to all Sea Ray Sport Yacht and Yacht owners.

J

Jims380DA

Member
Mar 5, 2007
286
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2000 Sea Ray 380DA, Kohler Gen
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8.1L 496 MerCruiser
Guys, I just received this this letter and thought I should share it with you all... take a look. Great guy, SR should have left him at the helm.
 

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Rob is a great guy. I agree SR should have left him in charge. My family and I had the pleasure of touring the Merritt Island facility several years ago with Rob as our personal tour guide. We were in the area, stopped in unannounced without an appointment, and Rob spent more than two hours showing us the facilities. What impressed me the most was several months later at the SR Homecoming in Knoxville, he remembered us by name! We don't own the largest SR (closer to the shorter end of the scale!) but he valued us as an owner. Unfortunate that Brunswick decided to let go a 30 year Sea Ray veteran. People buy from people. If I was in a position to purchase a yacht, I would not hesitate to contact Rob.
 
Hmmmm, trolling the Sea Ray data base for a few new Carver customers. Smart move.

I talked with a friend who has driven the Carver bigger boats. While they are nicely built and ride well in smooth waters, he said the lack of bow flare makes for a very wet ride when running in much of a chop.
 
Gofirstclass said:
Hmmmm, trolling the Sea Ray data base for a few new Carver customers. Smart move.

I talked with a friend who has driven the Carver bigger boats. While they are nicely built and ride well in smooth waters, he said the lack of bow flare makes for a very wet ride when running in much of a chop.
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Yeah. I noticed that. Definition of floating condo. :)
 
I like the interior layout of the C52 coupe... But they all still look like mini vans to me... Practical, tons of space... but not cool..
 
MonacoMike said:
Think Rob will acquired the engineering and hull molds of the vessels he started that SR discontinued?

MM
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Molds have a relatively short life. For a 50 ft Sundancer there may be 45-50 different molds that must be kept clean and blemish free. Storage for out of production molds would require a huge amount of space in a protected building. Sea Ray has historically destroyed molds after they were no longer required for production boats.

It is a nice thought but unfortunately cannot happen. But......I’d send Rob a deposit tomorrow for a 2019 450DA just like mine but with a hardtop, sliding rear glass door behind the helm deck/seating and Caterpillar C-18 engine’s with hydraulic thrusters.
 
Exchanged emails with Rob a couple of weeks ago.

Not a Carver person - but I am pretty impressed with the Marquis. Interesting that he targeted the letter from a Carver perspective.

No experience with Carver - other than a couple of bare boat charters.

I am very impressed with Marquis. Really was rooting for the Marquis group to buy Sea Ray large boats. Would have been a great product line convergence - but guess it wasn't good for MarineMax.

What has made customer service at SR was Rusty. Without Rusty, SR customer service is a struggle at times (saying this as someone who has owned multiple SR's).

With Marquis, I have a contact that takes care of any call I have. Need some detailed AC schematics - I have them 15 minutes after I email.

Wondering about he prop shafts and putting line cutters on? email - answer right back with specifics.

(why do I think Rob is reading this forum silently)

Just my thoughts

Mark
 
Nice sentiment, but who has two thumbs and would never buy a boat new? This guy! So it’s a nice PR move, but irrelevant to this consumer.
 
Gofirstclass said:
Hmmmm, trolling the Sea Ray data base for a few new Carver customers. Smart move.

I talked with a friend who has driven the Carver bigger boats. While they are nicely built and ride well in smooth waters, he said the lack of bow flare makes for a very wet ride when running in much of a chop.
Click to expand...
Same thing with the previous generation Carver. They had short stubby bows with no flare. Took my friends '03 36 sport yacht offshore on a calm sunny day and we had to navigate by radar. Bridge canvas was continually drenched and couldn't see through it. Had same experience with 45 Voyager. Inside was fabulous. I told my buddies that own them that Carver seems to design their boats from inside to out. And Sea Ray seems to design their boats from outside to in.
 
Never met the man... probably a great guy, but to take advantage of the situation and use data that he shouldn't even have... I don't know.
 
JimG said:
Never met the man... probably a great guy, but to take advantage of the situation and use data that he shouldn't even have... I don't know.
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It's not like he's trying to steal Sea Ray yacht sales away because they don't have them anymore. He's throwing his hat into the ring for all of the abandoned potential Sea Ray yacht buyers. I see nothing wrong with that at all, after all he's the CEO of a yacht company charged with earning profits and feeding his workforce.

How he got the list could be a multitude of ways and not necessarily nefarious or underhanded.

Carver has always seemed to make some fugly looking boats for some reason. Always loads of interior room at the compromise of style. We have many of them on our small dock in the 36 to 53 foot range and they bob like corks when wakes come through.
 
I’ve been on a few Carvers over the years and always felt like they gave you a lot of living space in relation to the size of the boat. I think they accomplish this by sacrificing exterior styling a bit.
They are great for dock dwellers, but leave a bit on the table away from the dock.
I don’t see them getting a whole lot of Sea Ray owners to buy Carvers.
 
I think it is a stretch by people who don't even know Rob to assume he got "the list" by illicit or unethical means. Whether you realize it or not, Sates sell databases parsed any number of ways.....for example, my boat is registered in Florida and is Federally Documented. I get solicitations from 6-8 brokers and boat dealers every month asking me to trade or come in and look at their new offerings.

Mr. Parmentier didn't post the letter here; it was posted by a CSR member who is probably in Rob's address book. For those of you who do not know him, Rob Parnemtier is not a guy that lets grass grow under his feet, he is a mover and a shaker, and he gets things done. He makes quality decisions quickly and I am surprised it took him 3 weeks to reach out to SR owners.
 
fwebster said:
I think it is a stretch by people who don't even know Rob to assume he got "the list" by illicit or unethical means. Whether you realize it or not, Sates sell databases parsed any number of ways.....for example, my boat is registered in Florida and is Federally Documented. I get solicitations from 6-8 brokers and boat dealers every month asking me to trade or come in and look at their new offerings.

Mr. Parmentier didn't post the letter here; it was posted by a CSR member who is probably in Rob's address book. For those of you who do not know him, Rob Parnemtier is not a guy that lets grass grow under his feet, he is a mover and a shaker, and he gets things done. He makes quality decisions quickly and I am surprised it took him 3 weeks to reach out to SR owners.
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Well said Frank.
 
Never met Rob, but looking at the models under his watch, seems to me he did a great job at the helm. I always considered Sea Ray a trend setter and not so much a trend follower. Somewhere along the way, they seemed to become more of a follower with the whole "euro thing" in their big boat models. Got to get back to the core business of being a trend setting boat building company that's practical for the US market. Good quality, easy to operate and maintain, comfortable to stay on and use and suitable for where we use them. Just saying!
 
I don’t see a problem with him reaching out to potential customers this way. That’s business!
 
I agree 100%.

If SR abandoned their lineup of larger boats that throws it open for anyone to step up and try to grab them.

Rob, in the FWIW column, you have my total blessings to after the SR crowd. That's just good business.
 
Although I have never met Rob, I did communicate with him back in 2013 right after my wife and I spent a wonderful half day touring the Merritt Island Sea Ray facility with Captain Rusty Higgins. We were so blown away by the operation, it's scope and also the generosity of time from the captain, that I just had to thank someone higher up and also to tell them how valuable Rusty was to the Sea Ray world. Frank W. helped me with who I should write to and that included three people, if my memory serves me well: the president of Brunswick, the president of Sea Ray (Rob) and the plant manager. I received a note from the plant manager thanking me but nothing from Brunswick. Rob however wrote a really classy follow up to my praise of Rusty and demonstrated considerable executive prowess. Unfortunately Brunswick and he parted ways soon after. Our loss as a Sea Ray owner in my opinion.
Since then I have watched Carver yachts to see the effect that Mr. Parmentier might have on them. Unfortunately it seems every time I get to a boat show, the line ups are too long at the Carver exhibits... :)
James
 
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