~_-.._--------~
because he had taken Profile Boats and built it from the
funrespected
anymore.names
It sounds
groundSchultz
up intowasn't
one ofhaving
the more
in the odd
gofast world. But, like so many boat manufacturers, Schultz didn't
enjoy running a business. He wanted to develop cool new boats.
"I got tired of having 30 employees and babysitting and having
to produce four to five boats a month," he said.
So he sold Profile in 2004 and got back to doing what he loved.
Schultz started a new company, Liquid Glass Powerboats, where
he builds maybe five or six boats a year. "I knew what I was going
to do. I didn't want to retire," said Schultz, now 58. "I like designing and I like building."
He drafted and built the Liquid Glass 41' Luxury Cat, using
the latest CAD programs to design the hull and deck and cutting
all the tooling on CNC machines. "I had always designed all the
hulls and built all the molds," he laughed. "But with CNC, it's just
a fact that you can get a much straighter piece."
Randy
EVOLVED CONSTRUCTION
With CNC technology, Liquid Glass also developed a new style
of hull-to-deck joint. It's still a shoebox-style fit between the hull
and deck, but it's the opposite of what manufacturers have traditionally done. The deck fits inside the hull instead of over it, and
then the joint is fiberglassed all the way around the perimeter.
NeE BOA T S I May 2009
Schultz said this results in a much cleaner fit that would
fewer voids along the seam.
As if these advancements weren't enough, Schultz took tl
a step further in terms of advanced technology, turning to r
infusion construction techniques to build his new boat.
high-performance manufacturers use vacuum bagging to 1
together their laminates and distribute the resin through au
fiberglass and core. This yields a resin-to-glass ratio of 6
according to Liquid Glass's website.
While vacuum bagging forces out excess resin by pm
it through the laminate, resin infusion (sometimes knoV
SCRIMP in yacht circles) starts with all the laminates and
laid in dry. The mold is then closed and clamped and the
is then injected into the mold with pressure. The pressure iI
the mold is higher than the atmospheric pressure of the fa(
which helps distribute the resin evenly through the laminate
result, according to Liquid Glass, is a glass- to-resin ratio of 7
which saves weight and increases strength. An added bem
that there are no toxic emissions at the factory, which crea
more pleasant working environment for employees and a clE
overall factory.
"What we tried to do is make a boat that is built the best i
be built, material-wise and construction-wise," said Schultz.
don't have all the emissions, we don't have all the grinding
the smell. It's great way to build the boat," said Schultz.
Taking a closer look at the materials used in the 41 Luxury
Cat,the fiberglass is quadcdirectionallywoven for strength across
multiple angles and Diab pvc foam coring of differing densities is
used throughout the boat. Aside from the engine compartment
stringers, which are fiberglass-encapsulated marine plywood,
the forward bearers and bulkheads are all foam cored. The transom is cored with 320-pound density foam that Schultz said can
be drilled and tapped if necessary. All Liquid Glass hulls carry
a lifetime warranty and the boats are certified by the U.S. Coast
Guard. The company is working on obtaining CE certification for
the European Union.
Liquid Glass will not duplicate graphics, so when it comes to
coming up with an individual boat's appearance, the company
workswith Carrera Designs Inc. (carreradesigns.com) and Visual
Imagination (visualimagination.net).
One area where consistency will reign is in the superb rigging
in the 41 Luxury Cat's engine compartment. Schultz designed
an exclusive rail system for installing the engines in the boat. If
you start with Mercury Racing HP700 SCis, but want to upgrade
to 1075 SCis, you just slide them forward on the rails. It's smart
and adds value to the boat because it doesn't need to be heavily
modified if the boat is sold and a new owner wants to change
motors.
TAILOR MADE
Of course, all that technology doesn't mean much if it can't
be applied to a boat that appeals to customers. The company is
housed in the same 60,000-square-foot facility that used to be
home to Profile in Sumner, Iowa, and a recent addition was a
showroom. There are eight employees, and most can perform
multiple tasks from rigging to laminating.
Schultz plans to only build five to six boats per year and the
green model shown in these photos is hull NO.4. "The key thing
is to get a customer to come in and sit down and we'll custombuild the boat from the ground up, from the paint, interiors,
trailer, truck to pull the thing, you name it," said Schultz. "We say,
'Here's what we have to offer. How would you like it as long as it
doesn't compromise safety?' "
Given the current state of the U.S. economy, Liquid Glass was
smart to make inroads into the Middle East market with one boat,
and the company recently participated in a show in Abu Dhabi.
The 41 Luxury Cat is the only model Liquid Glass is building and the company will try to cater to virtually any customer
request. The standard-equipment list is extensive, including full
hydraulic steering, power seats, power footrests, four rear bucket
seats, an intercom system, GPS chartplotter, full instrumentation
and SmartCraft screens. The helm can be installed on either dash
with centrally located throttles.
PERFORMANCEBOATS
liquidglass
41 Luxury Cat Technical Specification
Measurements:
Length: 41 feet (12.5 meters)
Width: 10 feet 6 inches (3.2 meters)
Height: 6 feet 1 inch (1.85 meters)
Approximate Weight: 9,500 pounds (4,309
kilograms) (including engines)
Tunnel Deadrise: 16 degrees
Draft: 25 inches (.635 meters)
Fuel capacity: 250 gallons
Standard features:
Hull produced from CNC-machined tooling,
Infusion molded hull and deck construction,
stepped, ventilated catamaran hull, hull and
deck chemically bonded, high-tech foam core,
navigation lights, six flush-mounted pop-up
cleats, Livorsi Marine full instrumentation,
56
PER FOR MAN
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May 2009
Mercury Racing SystemView Racing e(
readout, electronic trim indicators, Ca
marine-grade switches, wind deflecto
16-way electrically adjustable, fully b
custom driver and passenger sport SE
power adjustable footrests, four-persl
seat, stainless-steel tilt steering whe,
entertainment system w/high perforrr
speakers, two fire extinguishers in cu
brackets, depthsounder, twin engine
four-person intercom system, five-bl,
Mercury Racing CNC props, SS throu)
hardware w/backing plates, four Opt
teries, full hydraulic steering, twin Sf
ers, diamond-plate flooring.
Base 41' Luxury Cat Price: $760,01
(with twin Mercury 700-hp engines
drives)
www.perforrr
For safety and security during a poker run, Schultz and tile
team at Premier Performance Interiors (ppi-fl.com) designed more
than 40" of freeboard into the 41 Luxury Cat's cockpit. Instead of
hard metal grab handles that can injure a person that might get
tossed around the cockpit in rough water, those on this boat are
integrated into the armrests. "Safety is an issue that I'm concerned
with," Schultz said. To that end, the company has already made
improvements to the boat's driver and co-pilot's seats. The original
ones didn'thave enough side support to hold occupants in place,
so the Liquid Glass team added more side padding. An enclosed
cockpit isn't available-yet.
One of the reasons why Schultz designed so much freeboard
into the 41 Luxmy Cat is that he wanted to give the boat a truly
usable cabin, at least for a performance catamaran. There's an easilyaccessed entryway, space to overnight on a comfortable berth, a
head with a portable toilet and a separate lounge area where owners can have a flatscreen TV installed so the kids can watch a DVD.
Entertainment systems for the boat are designed by Marine Audio
Customs (jlaudio.com) and Clear View Service (clearviewservice.
com).
Base retail for the boat with twin Mercury Racing HP700 SCi
NXT-Is is $760,000. Compare that to the competition and the price
www.performanceboats.com
is attractive for a boat in the 40' to 41' size range. That why Liquid
Glass is based in Iowa and has a small staff-to keep prices down
and improve the value of the boat.
The boat easily exceeds 110 mph with the base power, but
Schultz doesn't like to talk about speed because of the stigma that
often follows high-performance catamarans. After he unveiled the
boat at last year's Miami Boat Show, he took it down to a poker run
in Lake of the Ozarks and generated a lot of interest when the boat
ran so well in the confused waters that these events often produce.
One reason why Schultz wanted to scale back from his higher
volume at Profile was that he wanted to enjoy life outside of boats.
He has a pretty serious custom-car collection including early Mopar
Dodges, Plymouth Super Stock cars, Mustangs and Corvettes. This
September, he will have been married 10 years to his wife Debbie,
who has a son in Las Vegas and daughter in Irvine, Calif., and
Schultz is close to both of them. "I didn't have a family or kids. Now
what I'm trying to do is stop and smell the flowers a bit."
Schultz said that he's hoping the economy will turn around and
that people will start opening their checkbooks and/ or wallets. But
he's not worried. He knows he's got a good product, one that he
enjoys building. "I just wanted to do what I liked doing again," he
Pe
said.
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