MONROE – A love of boat building runs deep for Oz Aksan and Shaun Magruder, who joined forces nearly three years ago to create a smaller, more affordable power catamaran.
The result of their efforts, Aksano Catamarans Inc., is turning heads with the sleek design of its boats, and is building enough of them to break even financially.
It’s also clear that the founders of the company are having fun creating their own boat designs after years of working for others, including Monroe’s Glacier Bay Catamarans.
“Since we’ve started the company, it’s not like work. It’s no longer a job,” said 46-year-old Magruder, who serves as Aksano’s vice president of manufacturing.
“But we do want to make a lot of money eventually,” Aksan, the company’s 33-year-old chief executive officer, added with a laugh.
Aksan refers to Magruder as “a walking encyclopedia” of boat building.
“I’ve built everything from pleasure yachts to personal kayaks,” said Magruder, who began building boats when he was 17 years old.
For Aksan, who hails from Istanbul, Turkey, boats are a family tradition dating back at least to his grandfathers.
Which explains how both of them ended up working for Glacier Bay, the well-regarded manufacturer of large power catamarans. Magruder said Glacier Bay’s boats are great, but even the smaller models start at the price of a luxury sedan and go up in a hurry.
So he and Aksan began hatching up ideas for their own boats during their off hours. That led to their own self-financed company in 2003, though regular production of their catamarans didn’t begin until the following year.
Aksano’s 13-foot boat, called the F-3, doesn’t look much like the yachtlike craft that the duo’s former employer builds. It’s more like a sports car placed on twin hulls, though it can accommodate four people and all their gear.
“The only thing that’s similar between Glacier Bay and us is the word catamaran,” Aksan said.
He said the company sees the 13-foot model from Boston Whaler and similar small boats aimed at families and fishermen as Aksano’s main competition. Even fully loaded with options, the F-3 comes in below $20,000, with some dealers selling basic models for $11,000 to $15,000.
In Portland, Ore., Steve Beecroft at the Yacht Spot said Aksano’s catamaran attracts a lot of attention. The business became a dealer after getting a personal demonstration of the F-3, he said.
“They came down and showed them to us. We liked the way they run, the way they handle,” said Beecroft, who said the Aksano is especially impressive in its stability during fast turns.
That’s one of the big advantages provided by the catamaran’s twin hulls, Magruder said.
“Fishermen love it because it’s so stable,” he said. “You can stand on one side of it. You can lean over out of the boat and it won’t tip over.”
The boat also contains no wood. Its body is constructed with fiberglass and foam. Reinforced parts use a blended fiber and polyurethane material.
“The boat’s unsinkable … so it gives the boater a real safe feeling,” Magruder said. Even if you poke a hole in it, you can’t sink it, he added.
The boat’s design is rounded out with a driver’s console and seat designed to take up as little room as possible while still being comfortable, an automatic lift for the 50-horsepower Honda outboard motor in the back, and other details.
Despite Aksano’s emphasis on safety, the F-3 can go as fast as its flashy shape promises, up to 45 mph, compared to about 37 mph for the similarly sized Boston Whaler.
Magruder and Aksan said they sped along at 20 mph or more recently when they took two F-3s on a 600-mile trip north through the Strait of Georgia to British Columbia.
Aksano’s catamarans are creating growing ripples in the boating market. The company now has about a dozen U.S. dealers and another six in other countries, Magruder said. The company soon will air-freight an F-3 to Aksan’s hometown of Istanbul, where a dealer wants to display one at an upcoming boat show.
The reaction has “been fantastic, given the boat and the uniqueness of it,” Magruder said. He and Aksan estimated that 70 percent of Aksano’s buyers are families and fishermen. The remaining 25 percent to 30 percent use the F-3 as a yacht tender – a small boarding craft for a larger boat, Aksan said.
The two also are planning ahead. They recently bought a robotic machine to accurately cut parts for their boats and help to carve out foam models used in developing new catamarans. They also are working on an 18-foot design.
Magruder and Aksan, who have run their own companies in the past, said they relish the freedom to design boats they think will make a splash in the market.
But there is a hazard in making cool-looking boats. They encountered it on their recent trip.
“You take this down to the launch and get attacked,” Aksan said. “Everyone wants to know, ‘What is that?’”
Reporter Eric Fetters: 425-339-3453 or fetters@heraldnet.com.
Aksano Catamarans Inc.
Headquarters: Monroe
Principal owners: Oz Aksan and Shaun Magruder
Number of employees: Eight
Founded: 2003
Web site: www.aksano.com
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