After seven months it’s time to completely reboot richlazzara.com.  For the next three days we will be moving it from WordPress.com to a hosted server and installing a new look as well as a ton of new features.  What does that mean for you?  

- Better Picture Navigation:  We will have a new picture viewer that allows you to easily click through multiple photos right from the site.  No more having to go to flickr or click one photo at a time.  

- Video Viewer – We will have the latest videos available at all times on the homepage. You wont have to dig through posts to find videos, just go straight to the viewer

- User Comments – You will be able to add your picture to comments and have the ability to track every ones comments easier

- RSS Feed

- Flickr Feed right from inside our site, no need to open separate window

- Most Popular posts tabs for keeping up with the post that are getting the most attention

- Twitter stream so you can see my latest tweets 

- Tag Cloud for easily finding topics

So thanks for your patience why we reboot and look for the new richlazzara.com this Monday.

I have been in NY the past two days working with Microsoft and Infusion to develop the next phase of Surface technology that we will introduce this summer.  LazzaraYachts is the first company to offer a retail version of the Microsoft Surface which we debuted in our showcase this past Feb, here. The opportunities for this device are endless.  One of the great things about working with new technology is that it allows you to create things that were previously not possible.  I don’t want to give anything away just yet but we will be utilizing the Surface device as the central “infotainment” hub on the new LMC76.  Located right in the Main Salon the unit will allow the owner to access systems on the yacht as well as data from “the cloud”.  You can read about cloud computing here but essentially the content is stored on servers in remote locations and only the information that is needed is pulled down when you connect to the Internet.  That’s all I want to say about it for now but needless to say we are excited to introduce it soon.

I recently read a blog post entitled “In Search of Dolphin Leather”  by Seth Godin.  The ideas in this post ccouldn’t be more appropriate for our industry right now.   For those that don’t know Seth he is a world renown marketing guru.  I have one of his quotes on the blog here.   Read the full post after the break

There’s a story in the bible with very specific instructions for building an ark. Included in the instructions is a call for using tanned dolphin leather. Regardless of your feelings about the historical accuracy of the story, it’s an interesting question: why create an impossible mission like that? Why encourage people who might travel 100 miles over their entire lifetime to undertake a quest to find, capture, kill, skin and eventually tan a dolphin?

My friend Adam had an interesting take on this. He told me that the acquisition of the leather is irrelevant. It was the quest that mattered. Having a community-based quest means that there’s less room for whining, for infighting and for dissolution. Having a mission not only points everyone in the same direction, it also creates motion. And motion in any direction is often better than no motion at all.

All around you, people are telling you two things: 
1. whatever you want, forget it, it’s impossible, and 
2. sit still, preserve resources, lay low.

And yet, the people who are succeeding, creating change and (not coincidentally) are happier aren’t listening to either of these pieces of advice. Instead, they’re on the search for dolphin leather.

Frank Sinatra had it wrong. Your dream shouldn’t be impossible, but it sure helps if it’s improbable. Don’t choose your dreams based on what is certain to happen, choose them based on what’s likely to cause the change you want to occur around you.

Seth’s comment that “all around you people are telling you two things:” couldn’t be more accurate.

“Forget it, its impossible” is a comment we heard time and time again as it relates to the Pod Drive systems we use in our new yachts.  People told us, “No one would buy a boat with more than 2 engines”;  ”no one will want a boat with 4 small engines”; “that will never sell, its impossible”.  Well the good thing is we didn’t listen and the even better thing is that the idea did sell.  Turns out, based on sales of our LSX line,  its exactly the change our industry needed and I guarantee you see more and more yachts using pod drive systems. 

“Sit still, preserve resources, lay low”.  Boy I that heard that hundreds of times at the the last four boat shows from nearly everyone.  That’s what companies in our industry are doing.  The attitude is doom and gloom.  Forget that, we’re doing the opposite.

- Introducing and new LSX92 in Oct of last year

- Launching a multi-million dollar portable sales showcase that has to be seen to be believed

- Becoming the first yacht company in the world to introduce the Microsoft Surface technology into its retail location and next into the yachts themselves

- Developing the first motor yacht in the world to use three Zeus pod drives, the LMC76 will debut Fall 09′

- Continuing to evolve the LSX75 by debuting the LSX75 Fly this October

The point is, try something new, do something different. In the end  big ideas, big effort and big dreams will result in something greater than you could have imagined.

The sound of horn blasts at the end of the show

Some additional photos from a day cruise around Dubai.  See them here

The Good.  

Overall attendance was the same if not more than last year and specifically for us it was a good show.  This was the first year we had a boat in the show, while previous years we only had a display.  Having the actual product there was an important step for us.  By the third day word had gotten around to go and see the Lazzara LSX75.  The quality, design and presentation of the boat were a draw and something everyone commented favorably on.  The overall interest in our product mainly focused on the LSX line in the 75, 92 and new 75 fly.  And that interest came from around the region, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Qatar and Abu Dhabi. We have several great prospects and I am confident we will have 1-3 sales directly from this boat show.  

The Bad

Uncertainty, the same problem that is plaguing our industry as a whole, is also prevalent here.  Questions about whats going to happen with various boat companies, where is the bottom of this economic downturn, what will my boat be worth in another 2-3 years, etc.  All of those objections that we heard at the Miami Show were in Dubai as well.  That’s something we continually will have to fight.  We’re tackling it head on by doing several things. First, we limit production so we aren’t fighting our own inventory or hurting our pre-owned market. Second is developing new product with the cutting edge technology so that it retains a higher resale value.  Third, producing product that is more economical to use and maintain like our LSX line or our new LMC line,  all of which use pod drives that are much cheaper to run. 

The Ugly

There is a surplus of boat inventory, too much.  Most of the “new” boats on display were 2008 models and some were even 2007 models.  This is not only a huge problem for the region but for the industry as a whole. One of the regions most prominent dealers in our size yachts has 40 units worth nearly $100 million in stock!  And there story is no different from any other volume builder/distributor around the world.  It’s one of the reason Lazzara Yachts mission statement says our “goal is to build a few, high-quality, innovative yachts”.  It’s hard enough to sell new yachts let alone competing against your own new models that are 1-2 years old.  

Thats it for now, I’m in Washington waiting to get back to Tampa.  Next up is the Palm Beach Boat Show March 26 – 29th.  Stop by and see us.

Dubai Marina is actually a city within a city.  Essentially its one of the worlds largest marinas with housing, shopping, restaurants and of course dock space.  It’s a great tour by the waterway as you weave in and amongst the huge buildings each with their own unique shapes.  The waterway weaves through this city for several miles and located within this stretch is the Dubai Marina Yacht Club where we will keep the LSX75.  If  your in the area and would like to tour the yacht just drop me an email and Ill put you in touch with someone who can show you around. I put some photos of our journey here.

We toured three marinas yesterday, Dubai Creek, Jumeirah Beach and Dubai Marina.  

Dubai Creek is one of the oldest marinas here and also home to Dubai Creek Golf Club,  the location of a PGA event years ago.

Jumeirah Beach Marina is located next to the famous Burj Al Arab Hotel, Dubai’s most recognized structure.  

The Dubai Marina is the newest one and is located right in the middle of the all the towers going up in the newest part of the city.  This is an excellent marina and has one of the finest yacht clubs Ive seen.  

You can see all the pictures here 

We couldn’t get the boat out from the show yesterday as they were still moving docks around.  So in the meantime we went for a tour around the area.  In Dubai the one thing they certainly have is malls, big ones and lots of them.  The Dubai Mall has one of the largest aquariums in the world and it is as impressive as that sounds.  However having seen large aquariums at SeaWorld, Atlantis Bahamas and Atlantis Dubai the most impressive thing about it wasn’t the fish, but the technology.  If you look at the pictures closely you will notice there are no seems in the acrylic!  This is one piece of acrylic 125′ x 30′.  Actually it was multiple pieces that they developed a process to fuse together forming one continuous seamless piece.  A remarkable design and one you should see if you get the chance.  See more photos here