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JAGUAR CATS! Winners of the BEST BOAT AWARD for 2009 Durban International Boat show Wow! And what a boat show. Everything was right. Time of the year, location, organization and most of all, the weather! No-one could have planned it better.
Durban in July is Heaven. With the last of the hot and humid summer months gone and temperatures in the mid twenties, it was an ideal opportunity for an outdoor extravaganza. Glinting in the sunlight, the highly polished yachts with flags flying, banners up and nautical paraphernalia everywhere, looked every bit of the part. How inviting! We felt especially proud of our two yachts, the Jaguar 36 and 42 catamarans parked side by side at the dock. Our signature Palm trees were gently waving their fronds in the light morning breeze, beckoning clients aboard. And aboard they came. In droves. Delighted shrieks of ‘Dad, dad, you must see this….it’s just like a house! Mom, come and see!’ had us chuckling. For the first time in a long time we noticed that the fairer sex were the ones pushing their partners to buy a boat. Perhaps the modern day woman is just more adventurous? With a Super Yacht flanking our Starboard bow, we luxuriated in the ambience at ‘Jaguar Corner’ as our ‘spot’ has come to be known. Hopefully deals would be toasted and Champagne flowing before long. The economic climate was taking no prisoners and word on the dock was that everyone was feeling the pinch, anxiously awaiting deals to fill their order books for the coming year. Having exhibited at numerous boat shows all over the world in the past, we were taken by the volume of interest that this little South African boat show was generating. Centrally located, the show was situated invitingly below the overlooking yacht clubs and restaurants which were open to the public for the occasion. While enjoying a meal here who could fail to want to buy a yacht and go sailing? Who could not want to get away from it all? Sail off into the big blue. Enjoy life. And if all else fails and you decide you don’t want to do it any longer, well, you turn that investment into Greenbacks. Or Euros. Anything but the Pula! But your investment is always safe. You can’t go wrong. And you have at least lived your dream…and will never wonder again what it would be like. The show catered for everyone and most importantly the mainstream buyer who, although touched by the current economic climate, still found that he could do his due diligence and map out his way to attaining his life’s dream. Some were even surprised to find that their dream as not as unattainable as they had thought. Instead of having to fork out several million, they found that in actual fact cats like the Jaguar were going for under R2mil. And they were getting value for money. There were big smiles all round. Everything was good. Now, just to find that money! Several days after the show and now back at our plant in Atlantis, 30 minutes North of Cape Town, clients are flying in and negotiating deals and planning the interiors of their boats. It is a time for negotiation after all. Let’s hope we all do well and that the economy gets back on its feet and life for everyone will be fair sailing once again. For more information on the Jaguar catamarans kindly contact Kim on +27 82 882 7042 or email
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or enjoy the website www.jaguarcat.co.za |
