Owner’s comments regarding Dolphin 460 #4 “Rhythm”
Prepared by Jay Clark, V.P. Sirius Satellite Radio, October 2nd, 2006.
It was my good fortune to purchase the first Dolphin 46 built specifically for The United States (Hull #4). You can imagine my fear, giving dollars to a relatively unknown builder in a South American company. My broker, Phil Berman, walked me through the process and we devised a plan to hold a building slot until I could get to know the owner/operators of Dolphin Marine. I remember signing that document at the Miami Boat show. Phil, along with Junior and his father were on hand. What struck me was what happened right after I signed. Junior’s dad, who does not speak English, said something to Junior. Junior smiled and told me that his dad had asked him to tell me that, “they would build me a boat that we could both be proud of.” After living aboard my Dolphin 46, Rhythm, in New York harbor for two seasons, I can tell you that the Pimentas have more than lived up to that statement.
She is the perfect vessel for me. Rhythm is comfortable to live on with a lot of storage space. Warm in the winter and cool in the summer. She also sails. With the lured center-board down half way, I can easily point to 30 degrees and have also seen 18 knots over the GPS on a beam reach with our screacher living up to it’s name, heading into Block Island. We have sailed in great weather and also rough conditions, gusts to 45 knots with heavy chop, and even here, the yacht was easily handled. Forty-Six Feet is also a good size, as the craft can be single handed and is easily sailed by a couple. Guests come on board and are amazed that they are on a vessel where “everything works”.
Don’t get me wrong,being the first boat to the North East of the United States we saw some growing pains. The most noticeable was when Rhythm’s sliding doors, due to lack of humidity in the NY winter, warped. I talked to Phil and Junior and soon new sliding doors were delivered to the marina. More importantly, Dolphin Yachts changed their construction techniques to assure that this problem would never happen on future Dolphins.
The ship yard is now up to Hull 22, and I have been able to watch as they have improved the brand. U.S. Electric, Propane storage, larger aft cabins, the aforementioned woodwork. The thing I really like about this company is their willingness and desire to put out a superior product. Phil and Junior listen to their owners, take suggestions, and never complain, or for that matter look back.
I am very happy that I signed that piece of paper at the Miami Boat Show, these are stand up people, who make a stand up product. I would buy from them again in a heartbeat.
Captain Jay Clark, V.P. Sirius Satellite Radio
Your team delivered on every mark. You’ve got an amazing broker in Mark Wattrus and I’m confident you will have continued success moving forward together. He was available 24/7 whenever I had questions. We had a great initial visit on the boat and his marketing plan and photos were superb
I bought a yacht that I had never seen. I did this because I trusted my broker Andrew Holland. It was not an easy job for Andrew, as I am an experienced boat builder and owner of previous yachts, but work in West Africa. Imagine how hard it was to communicate what I was looking for. Andrew came up with exactly what I wanted. He dealt with time delays, all my questions at odd hours, and was there for the survey. He reported honestly and professionally. After buying the yacht, I arrived at the boat on a Sunday night, after dark, after travelling from West Africa to the Caribbean, and found it was better than expected. He never pulled punches and made me aware of shortfalls. I expected to spend my one month leave working on the boat, but actually spent less than one week, and was able to spend 3 weeks sailing – wonderful bonus.
Thank you Andrew for putting up with all my questions, all my worries and all my crazy out of the time zone concerns – you were totally professional, but also I know that if and when we meet up, it will be like a friend finally meeting. You are always welcome on Aseka.
Outstanding company with professional subject matter experts. If I were to buy or sell cruising sailboat, particularly a catamaran, Andrew would be my go to broker.
I have been sailing since I was a child and attended Massachusetts Maritime Academy. But when my wife and I began the process of purchasing an ocean cruising/racing catamaran, I realized that this is a world unto itself. Obviously, we needed to find someone knowledgeable to help us make an informed decision. More importantly, we needed someone honest and willing to put our interests before his or her own. I was lucky to work with Phil Berman at The Multihull Company. He repeatedly shunned the fast buck, choosing instead to work the long road to connect us with the “perfect boat”. I would be glad to recommend Phil and his company to anyone planning to purchase or sell a performance sailing machine.
Andrew Hodgdon was our broker when we bought our 2018 Lagoon 450F in Antigua in April 2922. He provided great service and was very attentive to our needs. We would highly recommend Andrew and the Multihull Company.
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