Fairline Goes Down

2015 ended with the bad news about Fairline going bankrupt, one of Britain's top three builders who has a huge following and has delivered over twelve thousand boats since its founding in 1963.  Fairline has paid the price for being a slow reactor in the last ten or so years, a full beam midships sixteen/seventeen meters motor yacht with the 2008 launched Squadron 55, meaning eight years behind Azimut 55 does not cut it for example.

Seeing the future of Fairline is hard.  

As buyers go this should not be a huge problem, unless you really like Fairline.  Todays buyer has a competitive alive choice, filling the void with Fairline's inept reaction of the last years, and that of forever never coming for a new model.  The likes of Absolute, Beneteau Group with the MonteCarlo and Prestige brands, and Galeon are the new comers in this stage of the last five to ten years.  Then you have the traditional competition from Azimut, Princess, and Sunseeker. 

The Fairline brand is full of potential, and the following is great, but being competitive and always attentive to the latest trends is a must and not an option any more nowadays.  That is you cannot react two years or more down the line to put an astern galley if this what the clients and market are asking for.