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We’ve been hard at work since July getting the Glacier Bay 26′ product line ready for production restart. Lots of hard work went into getting the products documented and defined in our systems to ensure consistent high quality. However, we believe it was worth the wait. The 2010 model year products are now shipping with quality and component improvements, while retaining the signature smooth ride that Glacier Bay made famous.

We look forward to feedback from dealers and customers at upcoming boat shows on the current products and improvements, and especially look forward to feedback and product requests for future products. We will be developing our long-term product development strategy during the fall boat show season so any feedback you have will be carefully reviewed by our staff. We follow the feedback on the Glacier Bay Owner Forum closely and look forward to developing the next generation of Glacier Bay’s with your help.

I’ve included a photo of the first 2640 Renegade completed at our factory in Tarboro, feel free to contact us if you’re interested in a factory visit. Be sure to follow this blog to read the latest Glacier Bay news.

Although the economy has been tough and boat builders have been hit particularly hard, we’ve battled through these tough times and are emerging stronger than ever. During tough times the first thing that often gets cut is R&D… not at World Cat. We have continued to work diligently on new products and new production technologies. Currently we are working on the next great product addition to the World Cat line, the 320CC Center Console that will be released at the 2010 Miami Boat Show.

This boat builds upon our hugely popular 290CC Center Console. We have designed this product from the bottom up, with an eye toward the future. Using advanced lamination techniques, we are building a boat with increased strength and rigidity, while reducing the finished weight of the product. This is accomplished by using vacuum infusion to build the hull and other components, and by stiffening the boat using an advanced fiberglass superstructure.

The result will be a boat with exquisite handling, higher cruise and top-end speeds, as well as improved fuel economy. Superior materials and processes will result in a superior product.

We will continue to provide updates and behind the scene information of the development process and the new technologies that will make this possible. As always, we look forward to your feedback.

Welcome to the official Glacier Bay Catamarans blog. We are currently building our first two production Glacier Bay’s here in steamy Tarboro, NC! Since HC Composites acquired Glacier Bay we’ve been busy moving all the tooling and prepping for production (read about the acquisition here).

Here’s a snapshot of the first 2670 Isle Runner that has completed lamination and is ready for assembly to build. In addition to this boat, we are completing our first 2640 Renegade as well and intend on being up to full production status by August. We’re very excited to add the premier displacement catamaran available on the market to the HC Composites family of products.

If you’re a Glacier Bay owner or enthusiast, or just interested in seeing our factory, contact us to schedule a factory tour and witness first hand the quality craftsmanship that exemplifies Glacier Bay. We look forward to hearing your comments and feedback, and seeing you in Tarboro.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! It was nice to get a few days off after a busy year in PDE!

The 290CC performance data has been officially released on our website in the prop test section for the 290CC. The test was performed with twin Yamaha 250‘s swinging 3 bladed 15 1/4″ x 19″ Yamaha props. Cruise was 32.4 mph @ 4000 rpm (1.9 mpg), and WOT was 49.7 mph @ 5900 rpm (1.1 mpg)… we’ll release Suzuki 250 tests shortly (on boat #5 for the New Orleans Boat Show in Jan).

We’re doing a photoshoot today out of Beaufort, NC… it should be a good day for testing and running the 290CC since it’s barely above freezing here in NC! Hopefully the integrated windshield and hardtop will keep the drivers warm. Should have some good photos to share here and in the 290CC Photo Album.

The 290CC Center Console successfully debuted at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show last week and was a big hit with dealers and customers. I’ve attached a photo of the completed console from the boat show, and we’ve uploaded photos of the major features of the boat on the World Cat website.

Prototype #2 is finalizing production, and our production staff is getting all systems and processes in place to be at full production by prototype #4. The 290CC is scheduled to be at most major boat shows in the coming months, so find the boat show nearest to you and hopefully we’ll see you there!

As always, you can request a factory tour and see the production of this boat and all our boats at our plant in Tarboro, NC. We continue to work through these difficult times and are confident that World Cat and the US will come out on top!

Happy Veterans Day!