How long will Ropelene last?????

[mainah]

I too have seen the thread on THT regarding the imminent demise of 'plastic" boats to the ravages of the sun and other causes. This is just the latest supposed Triumph/Logic "weakness" exposed on that site. I've seen several inquiries about Triumph boats meet the same sarcastic, vitriolic response from one particular member there who had what he considers a bad experience with Triumph and has made it his life's work to demean Triumph owners and degrade the boats. Other members, totally without experience with Triumph boats, chime in with derisive remarks and illogical analogies about plastic as well. NCAngler and others have posted responses to the diatribe but frankly it's like responding to your petulant nephew, there's no way to win and no way to shut him up.

Unfortunately, those looking for honest advice about Triumph boats see these posts and genuinely wonder about their veracity and validity. There are also allegations made that our forum is so biased as to exclude any kind of criticism of Triumph boats and dealers. Here's what I hope is a reasoned response:

1) Probably no boat manufacturer nor group of boat owners has had to defend their boats more than Triumph/Logic and its owners, not because of its history but because of perceptions and misconceptions about the process and substance of its manufacture. But a look at those other boating forums beyond the plastic baiting and bashing yields a wealth of threads dealing with owner concerns about other boats as well. Threads complaining about screws coming loose, water in the inner hull, delaminating gel coat, foam displacement and structural weakness, proper epoxy resins for repair, paint problems, on and on are started every day by folks having problems with their non plastic boats. No one is calling for a boating doomsday for them. Indeed cracks in a "glass" boat appear to have led to a tragic boat accident in Florida this past weekend. We're all in this together; stuff happens......we own boats, period!

2) Forget the pseudo or bogus scientific "evidence" put forth by the folks with a singular grudge and their Stockholm Syndrome-like followers and rely on two things; the empirical evidence of hundreds of boat owners who absolutely love these boats, have had no major failures on them in years of use (and abuse) and; the lack of safety recalls regarding any Triumph boats by the U.S.C.G. Go to http://www.uscgboating.org/recalls/recalls_database.htm
and enter any boat brand, including the most popular boats in the Triumph class and in many instances you will find more than just the single pre-Triumph Logic Marine entry from 1997.

3) Triumph boats are not perfect. A little investigation and common sense will tell you that no boat is. Far from being company shills, the members of this forum have inquired about, vigorously discussed and proposed answers for a number of issues they have found with these boats. In many instances Triumph seems to have listened to the discourse. I'll bet we're not the only ones to have voiced concerns to the manufacturers of our floating avocations.

4) There will always be those whose vitriol outweighs their injury, whose voice seems to speak as loudly as reason, whose delight in causing turmoil and promoting blind following is sadly obvious. Ignore them! My Logic 186 is 6 years old. I'm told there's UV protection built into its Roplene that will protect it for as long as I'm around to abuse it. Right now evidence suggests that's true because, like yours, she's one of the best looking, most seaworthy, easiest to maintain, boats on the water.

Dick

[NCangler]

Dick, Very well said. Thank you. I would add that there is no censorship on this website as accused by a couple of people. I have excercised my adminstrative authority to edit some posts in keeping with our clearly stated "family-friendly" policy regarding language. And I have banned a couple of Spammers along with a member who was not contributing to the purpose of this forum but was only trying to be disruptive and negative. I let it go on for a short time but after a couple of warnings I banned him.

I learned last year that you cannot reason with some people and you are better off to state your case truthfully and humbly and move on. One person on THT accused me of creating the "Help Desk" as a way to filter negative comments about Triumph Boats. I didn't know whether to laugh or cry! I created the Help Desk (the software cost over $200) as a way for members to contact me with any technical issues with their login, screen display, etc. and maintain a support record in case they had the same issue in the future. This is much more efficient than trying to deal with support issues via email. The Help Desk software required a separate registration system simply because it is a separate software program and does not currently interface with our forum software like most of the other programs I've added do. The same is true for the eStore. You have to register a separate account in the eStore because it does not share database information (login username, password, etc.) with our forum software. But that individual sees everything as conspiratorial and thus has questioned my integrity and honesty. BTW there are only three people that have actually contacted me via the Help Desk although several others have registered on it. Most folks still just email me which is fine. Maybe I should remove the Help Desk software to avoid further confusion. But I should think long and hard first about how the conspiracists will interpret such a move. Hmmmm.....

I choose to take the Biblical response to someone questioning my integrity. I will 'shake the dust off my feet' and move on. Hopefully rational observers will see the difference between their discourse and mine. I never cease to be amazed however at the mob mentality of human beings.

I have invested several thousand dollars in creating this repository of information on Triumph Boats for and by owners. I doubt I'll ever recoup the hours spent developing it but hopefully through Captains Club memberships and the sale of t-shirts, etc in the eStore I can recoup the investment and keep the maintenance cost in the black. And just so everyone knows, I approached Triumph Boats a little over a year ago and asked if they would support the operation of our owners site with a banner link ad to their website. They agreed to do so and Triumph pays me a monthly fee for the ad you see in the forums. If I had not received that ad support I could not afford to run this website. But they have never asked me to post anything on their behalf, except a short poll on how to improve their 2008 lineup, which I was happy to give access to our owners group to participate in. I have attempted from the beginning to create a website for Triumph Boat Owners with participation by Dealers and the Triumph factory folk because I believe working together in partnership we will make our boats better and better. As the old saying goes "team work makes the dream work". I had hoped that we would have more dealers involved here too and that some dealers might be interested in purchasing ad space as well. We've only had a handful of dealers to participate but I appreciate their being here.

Bottom line for me is that I am a Triumph Boat owner myself and very happy with it. This website could go away tomorrow and I'd still be a Triumph owner. And I'd have more time for fishing! But don't worry, I made a promise when I started this site that I would not let the information contained here disappear and you have my word on that. I pay for the site to be remotely backed up every night in case of a catastrophic computer crash and it would never be turned off by me. If I become incapacitated at some point in my life for some unknown reason I will make contingency plans for transferring the site to another's care. The site is here for Triumph owners to share information on their boats. It is not here to bash an individual or a company. Do that elsewhere if you must. Life is too short and you can never have enough friends. Take a positive outlook on life, serve others and go fishing.

Two GREAT Post Guys

[BigDogBill]

It's posts like these that helped me decide on a Triumph. This site and the support it provides are wonderful tools.

Thanks!

[Jan from Humboldt]

The unhappy guy over there is obsessive and figgures that if he makes enough of a stink Triumph will give him a new boat, trying to have a discussion with him is like dealing with a hard headed teenager.

He's not worth the waste of bandwidth to reply to.

I'm happy with mine and I know a lot of other folks who have them and like them too.

I'd be a lot happier if the weather would clear up or I could fast foreward to the end of the rainy season so I could put mine back in the water.

[ILLOGICAL GGC]

we think in terms of triumph boats as a product that is relatively new. however, the technology was developed in Australia and sadly i do not know exactly for how long boats have been made down under before the technology made it to the states. i would think that if there were problems with the process ,it would have been apparent by now .

my 01 210 was a demo from Florida and was kept in the water there. when i bought it from merritt ,it had a foot of snow on the deck . i have drilled holes all over it, cut out chunks to add inspection/access doors, beat and banged it into docks and on sandbars ,and i do not see the first sign of brittle, weakened spots or anything else that would indicate the boat is 0% less than it was the day it was manufactured.

there is a movement underfoot to downplay the technology and give the impression these boats are a notch or two below the current ,rather '60s fiberglass technology.the guys at THT are that industry's best spokesmen for tearing down the triumph. that can not and will not nor do i care if they continue drinking the fiberglass coolaid

there are issues with our boats and we owners have in the last 6 years i have been involved with the owner's sites tried to feed the factory the info needed to make continued improvements to the product. i must say that the current group of management and engineering folks at the plant are the most receptive and have shown the most concern and cooperation with the owners than any previous persons in those positions. their participation in the factory tour day and the tournaments in the summer are a testament to their concern in making these boats better with each new model year.

whether you are coming as an entry level boater or downsizing from a larger boat or as in my case just sick and tired of being beat to death and soaking wet every time i went fishing with my buddies , i couldn't think of a better, safer, easier maintained boat for the money out there.
berto

BTW --the chief detractor over there was the one who convinced me into buying my current 210 --go figure!!

and anyway, who wants to end up like the poor sap below

[fridaysoff]

Berto,
I'm like you . The chief detractor on THT was a major player in convincing me to buy a Triumph. I have totally been spoiled with my 170CC. I'm thinking about moving up a notch in size and I've looked at several friend's 19-22' fiberglass bay boats which look good and they are happy with them. I find myself having the opposite feelings now that I did when I was trying convince myself to try the new ropelene technology. I can't convince myself to consider buying a fiberglass boat now. I have thoroughly enjoyed my time on the water with my Triumph and my wife has the same feelings. She thinks I'm nuts when I even mention looking at another brand of boats.
JD

[ksr5]

I finally just checked out THT and what they are saying about Triumph boats people need to let it go if you don't like the boats so be it. Randy has every right to keep this site family friendly he pays for it and developed it. I for one am glad that he keeps the posts clean and positive.

Thank You Randy

[Hakuna Matata]

I've posted in a few of the Triumph threads on THT but I just gave up. Arguing over the internet is like competing in the special olympics, even if you win, you're still retarded. (I didn't make that up BTW.)

[cagrove]

Originally Posted by NCangler

If I had minions I could use some help with the yard work. Some people need to fish more and type less. Hey maybe I'm one of them.

Randy,
I'll only be your minion if it involves offshore fishing...I can rig baits and clear lines with the best of minions...I don't do yard work!!! That's why I have my own minions..ages 15 and 13. BTW, "Some people need to fish more and type less." sounds like a great signature tag.

Keep up the great work, us "minions" really do appreciate it.