Falcon F16 to be built in Holland

Glad to read the news Gill de Bruyne sent me today. He and Kathleen Vandenbulcke have been racing and promoting the Falcon built by Matt McDonald in the US along the F16 Class for years. Now the Falcon F16 will be also built in the Netherlands. Check details below.
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TheBoatShop.be – Falcon catamarans – Ostend, Belgium, 24th of September 2017
Falcon catamarans takes the next step in its strategy to deliver high quality products close to market

“We are happy and proud to announce that we will produce the Falcon F16 from now onwards also in Europe”, says Gill De Bruyne, Owner of TheBoatShop.be

Since the launch of the Falcon F16, 9 years ago, and the Falcon F18 in 2013, Falcon catamarans has grown in the catworld. Pushed by the growth of the F16 class the Falcon F16 has become one of the most sailed and raced F16s in the world.

“We have always followed a different path compared to our colleagues” says Gill. Where most brands have moved production to Thailand to keep competitive prices, Matt at Falcon Marine has invested in new production techniques to keep labour costs lower and drastically improve quality. In this way we managed to keep producing close to our customers and create a truly optimized F16.

Now we take the next step in this strategy and will produce the Falcon F16 both in the USA and Europe, to be close to our 2 main markets for sales and in that way keep leading in the service we offer.

The Falcon F16 will raise the bar again with its production in Europe. The beams on the standard boat will be in carbon adding additional stiffness to the platform. Hulls, beams and foils will be produced at Meeusen Composites in Breskens, Holland.

Producing at Meeusen has many advantages. We speak the same languages, customers can hop in to see the production of their boat and Steven has a huge experience in high tech and high quality lamination work. He was involved in building parts for many big projects such as the Volvo Ocean Race and America’s Cup to name 2. Steven is full of passion to help create the best possible cat platform for our European customers.

All components on the European produced boats will be fully interchangeable with the existing US produced boats. The proven concept of a comfortable, world champion F16 design will not change, but some minor updates to suit the European market better will be done and we are proud almost all components are sourced with local Belgian or Dutch suppliers. So the Falcon F16 will have a smaller environmental footprint then most of the other designs around.

When buying a Falcon you know it has a really complete kit, it’s designed with bot speed and comfort in mind and it’s built with passion.

Here you can see how the Falcon is built in the USA using vaccuum infusion: https://youtu.be/1JgmE7ua7Q4

If you want to know more about the Falcon in Europe, visit www.theboatshop.be or www.falconmarinellc.com for US and worldwide distribution.
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