But an Asian alternative now seems about to happen. Mr. J. Tse (a graduate of Harvard and MIT who made his inital bankroll via modern airplane construction), has begun producing a 55' power cat (with a 65-footer in the wings) in Thailand/China. The first 55' will launch in April/May of 2007. Until that launches it's impossible to comment definitively on the quality of construction. But the early drawings, specs and construction photos I've seen look promising. __________________________________________________ Brian replied: I'm over in Thailand at the moment on holiday. Last Aug I did a short survey of some builders (4) down on the Gulf Coast of Thailand, and wrote a short report for several potential clients. One of builders was very closely associated with a Chinese businessman/owner and supposely another 'boat yard' in China. And they did have several large cats under construction. Admittely I did not have time to more throughly explore their pricing, but it seemed very difficult to get any firm pricing from them. I wrote in my report. "Summary. This yard has great facilities, great potential, and an existing mold for a 70-72b cat. I would question their capability to do complicated electrical and equipment installations, not so much from the design standpoint, but from the shop floor crew. With a Chinese owner, and what appears to be a lack of cost controls, there would have to be very definitive contact negotiations and agreements in place, before I would consider this yard. And there definitely would have to be oversight." I left the name of this yard out on purpose at this time. And at that time I saw no powercat on the 55 size at their yard. I believe John Winter is working on a project of this size? Brian Eiland beiland@usa.net www.RunningTideYachts.com distinctive expedition yachts