CEBC launch in Florida

You can now build your own boat on the Canadian Electric Boat Company’s website. They will automatically inform us as their UK agents that the enquiry comes from the UK. We will then make contact with the clients, calculate the duty and organise the shipping so that your boat can be with you within about 6 weeks. Once we have a confirmed order with a payment of 50 per cent we will give you an approximate date for delivery as this depends on the arrival of the ship and your location within the UK.

The CEBC have recently launched two new models: the Volt 18 and the Bruce 22, the latter resembles a Chris Craft utility with seating for 10 while the former is more of an entry level boat and similar in style to the Rand although clearly more comfortable. I think there is still plenty of mileage left in the Fantail Edwardian inspired counterstern launch with the steering aft, with or without the frilly canopy.

The company is based in Montreal, Quebec and was purchased a couple of years ago by Alex Mongeon,a genial French speaker who is investing a small fortune in the brand. He clearly loves his product and has recently decided to partner Torqeedo which we think is a positive move.

The Fantail is very much a replacement for the Elco range of electric boats which experienced a revival in the late eighties at the same time as the Steam and Electric launch company from East Anglia started to seriously build and export replica Edwardian launches. Alex seems to have Duffy electric boats clearly in his sights by moving his production to Florida. Duffy have built thousands of electric runabouts for the inland waterways and most waterside homes in Newport Beach California actually own one as a second boat.

We occasionally come across them on brokerage in the UK and find them really easy to sell. However we decided not to import them directly as agents since the commission on offer, coupled with import duty for products from the United States, made it very unattractive.