Building Overseas: US based or not, getting things done from builders anywhere is about the attitude of the builder and speed they are willing to respond, not about what country they live in. I built a custom Powercat from a New Zealand builder, 86 foot of new and untried idea's as custom boats are. The secret is in the integrity of the person who has the authority to fix the problems you have and how they see customer service as the key to survival. Dealers can only do so much before they need the factory to support them and if the factory isn't behind them, no legal battle will ensure you get true satisfaction. We live in a global market, the builder of our custom cat sent staff around the world several times in the warranty period attending to the many issues of custom boat "bleeding edge" technology. He could have used local trades-people but the airfare was less than the labour difference!. Small jobs we used a local tradesman in consultation with the builder. We had the yards boat builders meet us in the middle of the night in remote bays to fix a problem that occurred that morning. I would be very reluctant to build large custom cats again, very hard work for all unless professional crew are involved who have commissioned large custom boats before. We are going production around 55ft now. The best bet in selecting a yard is to talk to all the previous owners, try to ascertain if they are sensible in their requirements and see what they have to say about the yard. A few will always gripe and may never be satisfied but if the majority are happy, that's good. It's all about working together with a builder to get things done and not blame anyone, mistakes and boatbuilding goes together. If you don't like faults, stay away from boats. They are a challenge we have to overcome to get the pleasure they provide. Cats are even more problematic as they don't have the monohull generations of experience to pass on, we are the pioneers in this camp. John Winter.