Charlie McCarthy's banana boat co -- Should You Buy A Banana

The decision to buy one of these high performance machines is so closely tied with intense emotions, we hope to be able to shed a little rational thinking here to help you along.

When anyone buys anything -- clothes, a refrigerator, a home -- they always go through the same ritual of four decisions in the same order.

1.) They have to decide if this is exactly what they are looking for. If they are looking for a refrigerator and we are selling the best boat in the world, it won't matter. It isn't what they are looking for.

2.) Then they must decide if they are getting true value here. Are they getting $1.00 of value or more for every $1.00 they invest? What do they know about the company and how does that compare with their knowledge of other companies selling a similar product?

3.) Next, is the company easy to deal with? Will this company make the transaction smooth and enjoyable? Will the company understand and support them throughout the purchase process, or will they be a big hassle to deal with? If a buyer determines the company will not be easy to deal with, they will move on -- even if the first two decisions are positive.

4.) The last decision they will make, if the first three are positive, will be price. If they find that two manufacturers of a certain product are exactly the same in all of the three areas above, the last determination of the purchase will be price. Many manufacturers don't understand this hierarchy of buyers' values. They begin pricing their product so low to gain sales that they can't afford to make it the best it could be. In the end, everyone loses.

Let's take a look at these four decisions in regards to your decision to purchase a Banana Boat.

First, we make Deep Vee powerboats. If you are looking for a sailboat or even a powerboat with a different hull design, like a catamaran, our boats are not what you are looking for. If you are looking for a Deep Vee powerboat with a proven history of safety and stability, that would be a Banana Boat. If you are looking for the fastest boat on the lake or bay, you should be looking at a cat design of some type. We make fast boats that can handle very rough ocean water. We don't make stepped bottoms (except the 41 footer). This means our boats are easier to handle and safer than stepped bottom boats are. Any insurance issues relative to stepped bottoms are a non-issue with our boats.

Second, what should you know about this company as compared to another company making a similar product. Please click here to see our Heritage. We come from World Champion stock. The pedigree is something that we are very proud of. This company is a direct descendant of Don Aronow designs, attitudes and ideas. Charlie learned how to build and race these boats successfully right under the watchful eye of Don Aronow himself. There are many boat companies out there, even ones that Don started, that the present owners or workers never even met Don. Click here to read about Don's secret "Formula." Our boats are rare and unique and retain their residual value. Simply put, since we make fewer boats than our competitors and put more attention to the details and the quality, we feel the boats will always be worth more. Anything that has fewer numbers produced in a high quality manner is always worth more, like a Ruf Porsche compared to a standard Porsche. Even at a lower level of automobiles, compare the quality of a Toyota Camry to the latest Chevy Impala. They both have comparable quality, but since there are fewer Camrys made, it will always retain a greater value. We will build you a boat with a timeless design, a look that will be as fresh in 20 years as it is today, a boat that you can hand on to your grandchildren in future years while allowing them to drive it safely today.

Third, how easy are we to deal with? We prefer to sell factory direct because it allows us to work right with you, the buyer. We don't want any miscommunication of exactly what the buyer wants in their boat. You have entrusted us with the creation of something very special -- Your Boat ... Your Dream. When you tie up at a waterside restaurant or yacht club, you will know that your boat will not be mistaken for one of the other cookie cutter boats. We welcome your input during the build, and look forward to working with you -- not as just a customer, but as another member of our family of friends. Many of our best friends started out as customers and have come to share many great adventures and social gatherings with us over the years. Our customers/friends are the ones we turn to for ideas about the future. They are our real design team that enable us to keep the timeless essence of the boat, while improving it. We promise to work hard for you and with you, to make your dream come true and give you that feeling of confidence that is priceless. Which leads us to our fourth point ... price!

Fourth, if everything else is equal (maybe you'd better go back and reread the second point if you feel this way), then the last determination of the purchase will be the price. Creating dreams does not come cheap. A dream is not a product or a service. It is an extraordinary experience. It is a perception that exists only in the mind of the purchaser. At no time would we ever be offering anything that could be mistaken for a commodity. We are talking about Your Boat ... Your Dream. Each boat that we create together with you is unique, so we approach our pricing the same surgical way. Pricing for our smallest boat -- the 24 footer -- begins at just under $50,000 and can go wherever your dreams lead.

Our motto is "Hardcore with Heritage." This means that our boats are built to be capable of racing in an offshore race, while still retaining the beautiful classic lines of a recognized world champion bloodline, with the fit and finish of one the best luxury products made. Each boat is built to your desires and needs; you only pay for what your dream is. On average, our boats cost more than the cookie cutters, but less than the high -end dealer retailed models. We deliver the opportunity to step up into another world, one that has one foot solidly in the past while placing the other confidently in the future.

We subscribe to the same idea that Don had... we will build a boat that you, as the owner, will define -- not the other way around.

If this sounds like you, please contact me directly and let me know the best time to call you so that we can begin the process of making your dream come true.

Let's go through a typical build of a 24 footer and you will begin to see how we approach these builds.

The buyers of this boat were previous owners of a banana boat, so they knew what they wanted for certain things, but allowed us to have some freedom in regard to other things. They wanted the boat to be black, as that color represented the many success of the black bananas over the years in racing. As far as how the other colors would be used, they were very open and allowed us to use our best judgment.

We began by taking our racing livery colors of black, white and yellow and laid up a boat that had a white bottom and a white deck with black sides and a yellow and silver bootstripe. The silver would prove to be a pivitol color as the rest of the boat was finished off. The customer's previous banana was outboard powered and they wanted to stay with that, but liked the idea of additional cockpit space by the use of the bracket / swim platform. We had the bracket / swim platform made up in black to tie in with the hull sides. They also wanted to continue the black theme with the outboard even though it was white, so we painted it black and came up with a special color matching logo for the engine brand, but left off any reference to the actual horsepower.

The entire boat was all hand laid using the latest in materials and layup schedules, keeping in mind the racing heritage the company was founded on. The hull and deck were bonded together and then secured with a stainless steel rubrail all around.

For this particular boat, we designed an interior that took into account the many colors that we were using, but also being aware of the hot sun and wear and tear on the fabric. We chose to use the new carbon fiber material throughout the whole boat. The wear areas in the cockpit, like the top of the bolsters, are covered in silver, while the other areas use a combination of white and yellow accents.

The driver's bolster has the throttle and shift built right in so the controls will be at his firngertips. Both bolsters have drop seats, but we only positioned them temporarily until the owners had a chance to decide if they wanted them both even, or with the passenger bolster a little further forward like their last boat had. In the end they decided to leave them even, but to place a grab bar on the side of the cockpit for the passenger to use.

We worked with Livorsi to come up with not only the throttle and shift combo that has the engine trim button right on the throttle lever, but the new monster gauges that have a carbon fiber face with the banana logo on them. The speedo is a GPS unit and the steering wheel is imported from Italy and covered with a leather that was dyed yellow to match our color scheme. The silver parts of the wheel are carbon fiber inserts.

Compass by Ritchie and the windshield, cabin doors and cabin hatch are all acrylic. Note the windshield is formed in one piece so there is no metal bracket in the center to hold the two front pieces together. Trim tabs are controlled with switches on the console and the electrical panel is right at the driver's left hand. The very latest in LED lighting has been used throughout, including the new navigation LED lights.

Twin Gel type batteries, race mounted, are located right under the rear passenger seat. All fuel lines are Aeroquip rather than rubber, and all through hull mountings have large backing plates for security. No wood is used in the boat, as there is extensive use of coring in both hull and deck, while the bottom remains solid fiberglass.

The cabin area is entered through the main door and you are greeted by two facing couches in yellow. The forward sleeping area is all in contrasting white and the walls and ceiling are covered in a silver / grey soft covering. Overhead is a single large Bomar hatch and forward beyond the arcylic doors is a large storgae area. Beneath the sleeping area is a porta-potti and there is additional storage under the two couches. The cabin is lit at night with four round LED lights each containing four bulbs.

All this mounted on a twin axle custom aluminum trailer, with custom spoke wheels and torsion bar suspension. The boat was measured by the trailer maker so that the cypress wood bunks give the perfect support for both strakes and the keel itself. Once again the latest technology was used with the LED lighting on both the guide poles and the regular lights throughout. A large dual speed winch was used to help in launching and retrievals.