Ezifold Yachts (in New Zealand) has just acquired the molds and rights to begin producing and selling the Bazooka trimaran. That is great news … how wonderful to have another production trimaran on the market.
Here is the announcement we just received from the administrative manager at Ezifold Yachts on this topic:
We have today just finalized what has been a very long negotiation period regarding the Bazooka Trimaran. The conclusion is we now own the Bazooka brand moulds and everything else regarding the original Bazooka designed and built by the very talented Paul Muller.
The Bazooka is being completely redesigned engineered and built by Ezifold Yachts LTD in New Zealand and will be released as the Bazooka MKII by Ezifold Yachts. All available details are available on our Face Book page. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ezifold-Yachts-LTD/212821925457790
Kind regards
Brooke Johnston
Admin manager
Ezifold Yachts LTD
Christchurch
New Zealand
Nice to hear about someone adding another option to the 10′-16′ range of tris, that just isn’t given a lot of attention by manufacturers.
There’s a lot of sensible reasons for that, mostly having to do with not being able to manufacture and market smaller, cheaper boats in the volume that would make up for the lower price point.
Any unit no matter how small will have to recoup its portion of whatever fixed costs come with the business/manufacturing operations, and since materials are often a smaller overall factor than the rent and taxes and other fees required to just have the doors open whether you sell anything or not, everything gets bigger to adjust the ‘bang for the buck’ ratio to attract buyers.
So it isn’t a market craving giant burgers that will feed three people that drives the decision to offer them; it’s the fact that in that market the burger *has* to cost a minimum amount just to break even selling them, and people won’t pay that much for a normal sized burger no matter how good it is…they will choose a huge burger but only because the market is skewed by costs that aren’t related to the actual cost involved in creating food.
In other words, if you offer a 24′ tri for $30-50K and need to sell 10 of them a year to cover all of the fixed non-material/rent/labor/taxes/regulatory business costs, you’d need to sell 20 12 footers at $15-25K to generate the same revenue…
the “buck” part of the equation goes off the charts in relation to the ever decreasing performance/accommodation “bang” as the LOA goes down.
All of which came to mind when reading the press release and other links…it’s offering a lot of cool features and modern materials, so it’s probably not dirt cheap…is there any projected MSRP at this point?
Also they speak of acquiring the molds but their FB page says-
“Watch this space for details on this new design the only thing the same is the brilliant name “Bazooka the roof rack rocket” and the “Boat n a bag” concept originally conceived by the very clever Paul Muller………
-which along with “completely redesigned” in the press release suggests that the hulls are not being made from the original molds…perhaps that part of the negotiation with the previous owners was to get possession of them to prevent anyone *else* from using them…?
Anyway I wondered about this after looking at the older Bazooka post and noticing how this thoroughly modern small tri design that can’t be very old has hulls styled in a manner that is already somewhat dated by current standards.
Which is funny since plumb bows were a very antiquated design style seen mostly on old motor vessels until multihulls and other ocean racers started using them in the last few decades and they became the in thing to have, only to be replaced by reverse stem profiles in the last few years.
It sounds like the revamped rig, akas and folding system will be re-styled and updated but the press release and other material is confusing as far as the hulls are concerned- are they from the original molds, or completely redesigned from scratch as the press release and FB page suggest, or the original shape with modifications to update the looks/performance?
Any of these would be fine from a performance standpoint, but making sales with what has to already be a fairly pricey item for its size might be more difficult without state of the art hull design/styling, even if it does nothing of any consequence for overall sailing performance.
Regardless I wish them well and would LOVE to see this kind of tri sell like crazy, generate fleet racing and training and rental programs, create a used/parts market, etc.
Ian,
You raise a couple very interesting points, which is why I’ve emailed the Admin manager at Ezifold Yachts in order to add some info to clarify things a bit. I’ll post it when I receive that info.
Thanks Joe- if anyone knows what the original boats sold for new and how that compared to other similar boats at that time that would be interesting too…to me at least.
I poke around online boat ads a lot and don’t recall ever seeing one on the used market, I don’t know how many were originally built but that kind of used market rarity is often due to customer loyalty for a particularly good make/model of boat/car/plane/whatever, especially when the manufacturer stops making new ones.
If that’s the case and this one is a long awaited reintroduction that’s even better than the original, they should do well and maybe the used market might loosen up a bit too as current owners upgrade.
Hi Joe and Ian
It certainly seems that Ian might have had trouble sleeping but jokes aside he did raise all the same kind of questions one would expect when looking in from the outside and we thank him for his input.
In short, Ezifold Yachts LTD purchased everything Bazooka right down to remaining stock including a set of moulds that were also out of the Country with a so called licensed builder, For the prior owner said builder turned out to be very un reputable even though they are a very big name in small boats. The reason we purchased everything and not just the name, to make sure no MKI Bazooka turned up on the coat tails of the new design, it really is business 101.
So to clarify as stated in the FB release.
The design is completely new but will be recognisable in some small aesthetic way as a Bazooka MKII, again just simple design and business 101.
With regards to small boats and making a profit and numbers produced etc.
The Bazooka is far from the full picture of what is going on with everything at Ezifold Yachts HQ in New Zealand.
The Europe connection in the FB release gives some indication of what is also coming down the line.
From a purely business point if anyone thought they were going to put a single folding Trimaran model on the market and make a fortune from its manufacture then they are crazy let alone a very small one!
After all the old saying of “How do you make a small fortune out of building boats? By starting with a large fortune! has rung true in many cases.
However to include a very simple small folding Trimaran designed to be production built at the first stroke of the designers pen into an existing self funded business utilizing modern means of manufacturing with very limited finishing required straight out of the moulds, then this could be sound business. Only time will tell.
Thanks for your input Ian and thanks also to Joe for bringing this to our attention for reply.
We will release more information when we have news we believe worthy of release, in the interim happy boating everyone.
Regards
Brooke and Team Ezifold
Thank you Brooke (and the Ezifold team) for your quick reply!
Thanks for the response, Brooke..
you said-
The reason we purchased everything and not just the name, to make sure no MKI Bazooka turned up on the coat tails of the new design, it really is business 101.
That’s why it was my first thought when the confusion arose, and I suggested it as a logical explanation :)
FWIW, I wasn’t losing any sleep over any of this (???) but have been involved in a number of boat building operations over the years (including developing marketing materials) and am very aware of the pitfalls involved- the fact that entire sets of tooling for well realized designs are floating around and available for pennies on the R&D dollar to just about anyone who wants to splash hulls is testament to just how little control manufacturers really have over market realities.
So it was obviously a smart move to secure the molds; the press release just wasn’t as clear on this point as it could have been.
“…to include a very simple small folding Trimaran designed to be production built at the first stroke of the designers pen into an existing self funded business utilizing modern means of manufacturing with very limited finishing required straight out of the moulds, then this could be sound business.”
I certainly wasn’t suggesting it wasn’t, or anticipating/hoping for your effort’s ultimate demise due to bad business practices or anything else, like I said it sounds like a potentially big hit and I hope everything works out well and that your success with this model might even spawn other boats of this type from other manufacturers who will be inspired by your success in a mostly untapped/nascent market.
That’s important because contrary to popular opinion that kind of competition is *good* for the bottom line if merchants approach it right, and that kind of vigorous competition has never really existed in commercial trimarans of this size range…but that doesn’t mean that a vastly increased demand can’t be realized using (among other things) smart marketing.
Which I would have assumed includes responding in some manner to ballpark pricing requests when introducing a new model, if you didn’t already do so in your press release and other marketing materials.
But your response seems to indicate that you and/or your company don’t feel this information is “worthy of release” which is an odd turn of phrase usually heard from political press secretaries whose job is obfuscation…
most businesses would just say, “We’re working on finalizing those figures” if they weren’t ready yet and might even try to get contact info from interested parties so the marketing department could contact them the moment the info was available.
Keeping that info undisclosed is obviously your call and certainly not unheard of as a marketing tactic, so I wish you well with what I have to assume is a “teaser” style marketing campaign and will revisit your offerings when some ball park pricing information is deemed “worthy of release”.
Hi Joe,
Interested to see Pauls great little trimaran is going to be built again, be it an updated version?? I own one and posted the photos etc on small trimarans site a couple of years ago. Didn’t get much interest but I can say it is a blast to sail and super easy and quick to rig etc. You may remember I had a Supernova before that which I also posted on your site. I had a Farrier 18 as well which I sold and bought the only(I think) Newick Tremolino trimaran in N.Z. I’ve sailed that for two seasons so far. Love it and my Bazooka as well!! I also own a Harriet proa designed by Rob Denny in Aus but To date I haven’t had time to sail 3 boats. Will update soon. Cheers, Graham downunder in N.Z.
Hi Joe
Just a quick update re Bazooka developments.
MKI yes the original is going back into production after strong interest and three (3) being ordered by a rental company in Queenstown NZ for this summer. Details are on the FB page with a link below. MKII BAZOOKA design is being worked on at a fast pace by all available spare design/engineering staff and she is looking great.
For Ian….. Pricing is still being finalised for Bazooka MKI one off sales. We can add the final price is hoped to bring start up sailing into the reach of more people.
We are negotiating finance options with a couple of lending institutions here in NZ for local market.
Thanks to Graham for the feed back on his Bazooka sailing ownership experience we are awaiting our demo boat to arrive from the North Island so that interested people may come and take it for a spin.
After a meeting with Paul and Brenda Muller Ezifold Yachts LTD will sponsor a Bazooka regatta which is planned for early 2016.
More details will be posted soon.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Ezifold-Yachts-LTD/212821925457790
Kind regards
Brooke Johnston
Admin manager
Ezifold Yachts LTD
Christchurch
New Zealand
Thanks for the update Brooke!
Hi Joe,
Good to see the Bazooka is getting renewed interest as as I said before it is a great little tri and rockets along. On gps last Summer I could get speeds of up to 12+ knots easily. I put a 2 minute video on U tube -search Bazooka Trimaran and it will come up. Not the best video -I have others and will search them out and post. Also 3 of my Newick tremolino as well. Cheers,
Graham
Just a little bit for everyone’s viewing pleasure https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpNdxp7uiHQ
while we are working hard here at Ezifold Yachts LTD to put together what we hope will be very competitive pricing for the Bazooka MKI while the MKII design is finalised. We are now finalising the scantling for the revised MKI for our suppliers meeting in 2 weeks.
Enjoy.
Brooke and the team at Ezifold Yachts LTD
Hi Graham,
I just purchased a used Bazooka and am getting it shipped from NSW to WA. I was originally trying to salvage a used Supernova I purchased but found it has a bent mast which I am having difficulty finding a replacement for.
Was wondering if it is possible to fit a small jib to the Bazooka? Have designed a bowsprit but with the un-stayed mast am not sure if it will take a small jib?
Many thanks,
Tony
Hi Tony,
I just checked to see what was happening regards the Bazooka tris. I usually sail my Bazooka in 10 plus knots of wind so haven’t really found it needed a jib and being an un-stayed mast maybe creates a problem but A small jib could be attached easily enough but you maybe better getting a mast for the Supernova. Getting a hobie 16 mast would be better than the Supernova one . Depends on what you want to spend?? I like the Bazooka as its quick to rig and get out sailing. Adding jibs and screechers just complicate things.Then you will want a centreboard to point higher etc. Look my e-mail is : gdw AT orcon.net.nz if you want to get in touch. I also sail a Newick tremolino tri and have a Denny proa.
Regards,
Graham
Hi Graham,
Received the Bazooka last Friday and put it straight on the racks and off to the beach.
Did about 5 or 6 runs in Cockburn sound with varying loads and winds ranging from near dead calm to around 5 knts.
Performance wise it went very well, launched with near zero wind and whatever little puff there was the boat accelerated and sliced through the water, albeit very slowly but still it kept moving even in almost zero wind.
Out in the sound the air was cleaner and around 5 knots (no measuring so best guess) again the Bazooka sliced along very nicely, occasionally picking up gusts and accelerating very nicely.
For a non dagger design we had little if no problems with pointing, would have to say it probably pointed just under than my last cat that had twin daggers.
So on an overall performance basis with the loads and in the conditions we had I would give it an 8/10. Not a racing machine in the format we have but could easily be trimmed up to offer even better performance.
However if I was judging it solely on user friendliness and simplicity it would get a 9/10. I had so much fun sailing her just because of the shear fact of ease. Easy to assembly, easy to rig, easy to launch with a kick up rudder and dagger boards, easy as to sail, easy to move around and exceptionally comfortable when compared to a small cat, and not to forget the feeling of security in such a small boat. My family have all sailed cats with me in the past, more often than not as a white knuckle express. Our last little cat whilst a nice and versatile boat always launched like a rocket with the smallest of breeze, all good if you want a racing machine (which I loved) but for the rest of the family they found it very un-nerving. Always worrying about capsize, or the boom, or having to lean out to balance the boat, or the dagger boards and rudders when launching and beaching etc etc.
The first thing my youngest said to me when launching the bazooka was “ok, so what are the rules?” With the cat I had conditioned them to a reminder briefing of what to do when this or that happens. I can gladly report that with the Bazooka the performance is so stable and very predictable that I didn’t need to brief him on the rules for “what if”, just the normal life jacket and away we go.
So from a user friendliness perspective I would rate it 9+/10.
Another point worth a quick mention is that even with 4 on board we did not feel at all crowded, the layout with the centre foot well makes the tramp area and overall deck space much more usable.
In summary I can see in this design a brilliant little family boat that would suit people with a couple of kids as a great weekender. Chuck on a small 2 hp outboard and leave the sail behind and you have a great little fishing platform or estuary boat for summer.
It will be interesting to see where this design goes and what market it is aimed at in the near future.
Hi Tony
We are pleased to read your review.
It is great to see Paul’s original Statement of design is being fulfilled by the Bazooka Trimaran and people are enjoying the boats as intended.
The reviewed boat is from the same mouldings that are now producing the Bazooka intro by Ezifold Yachts LTD under the “E3 Bazooka intro” brand.
The only difference’s are an updated modern sail plan, designed in consultation with Ken Fyfe of Fyfe sails. Ken designed the last sail plan for Paul before he ceased Bazooka production.
The other difference is the Bazooka intro by Ezifold Yachts LTD is moulded using an epoxy compatible gelcoat then layed up with epoxy resin and fibreglass stitched fabrics foam then fibreglass and post cured. The design is lighter and stronger than the original Bazooka Trimaran.
Regards
Toby
Thanks Toby appreciate the feed back.
Regarding the sail plan we have been having some issues with the original design which is a zipper fit boomless on an unstayed carbon fibre mast.
Main 2 issues where:
1. Sail tension. By that I mean being able to maintain the halyard (sail hoisting rope) and downhaul rope tension using the existing cam cleats.
The ropes kept on slipping in the cleats and the sail would collapse and loose shape, a very frustrating issue.
2. Sail shape. Due to above but also even when tensioned the sail leading edge would wrap around the mast at the battens and make an awefull shape leading edge.
Since encountering these issues I have done a couple of mods which should help.
Replaced Halyard rope with a slightly larger diameter rope which grips in the cam cleat much better, yet to sail so will be able to report back once tried.
Also came across a post on a soft wing sail by Wharram, his sail has a larger mast pocket over the mast which acts to shape like a wing. In this pocket he feeds all lines back down to the base of the mast. My first reaction was DHO forehead slap. I can do this with the zipper fit sail on the Bazooka, by feeding the halyard back down through the pocket it should stop the leading edge from rotating around the mast, this in turn should help maintain a better leading edge shape and reduce turbulence.
Also replaced the donwhaul line with slightly larger diameter which now grips better in the cam cleat.
Both lines are slightly longer which then allows me some tie off to wrap around and secure the cleats.
Yet to test but believe that these 2 simple mods and rigging changes will make a world of difference on the water.
Apart from that the only other difficulty is finding enough time to get out and enjoy the boat ;-) Sunday is looking good though.
On the weight side when ours is fully packed it weighs in at around 65 to 70kg, we manage to easily get this onto and off the roof racks on our 80 series using a rear roller. I also modified the trolley a bit so that it is a keyed fit to the rear deck of the Bazooka, this way I simply pack the tri up, fit the wheels to the deck at the rear, roll it over (carefully) and lift the nose onto the rack roller. It’s then simply a matter of moving to the back, rolling and then lifting and pushing it onto the rack.
In all honesty it probably takes almost as long as trailer mounting etc. but we tend to go slow to make sure everything is done right. The main advantage we find is that we don’t have to be towing a trailer around, finding any beach access for launching a trailer in WA is near on impossible, all access is by pedestrian paths. This is where the Bazooka shines though as we can easily wheel it through pedestrian gates that access the beaches.
Only other mod I need to make now is wider or double tyres on the trolley for our soft sand.
Regards
Tony
Dear Tony
Thanks for the excellent feed back.
It should be noted as you have discussed by email that this is one of two original Bazooka that Paul took to the SCIBS over ten years ago. Paul made many alterations to the basic design he started out with.
Ezifold Yachts LTD design and engineering team have gone through the design undertaking critical analysis, we re engineered the laminate specification to make it stronger and lighter which isn’t a hard task given the advances in materials and manufacturing process’s since Paul made your original model Bazooka. We then redesigned the sail plan in consultation with Fyfe and Hydes sails and the complete sail handling system specifically to enhance usability and simplicity.
None of the systems on your boat were in the production boats when Paul ceased manufacturing the Bazooka.
Email us as you have done previously if we can be of any further help.
Regards
Toby and team Ezifold
Thanks Toby,
Just to be clear I am not having a go at the bazooka design I have as it has handled awesomely even with a few minor glitches.
I put the difficulty with the sail rig down to a lack of experience on my part with this little rig, actually if there is any instruction manual on the original design it may have these issues already clarified in it?
Once sorted I am sure it will perform even better than it already has.
Also…
Ian asked back in 2015…
“ian on July 30, 2015 at 7:08 pm
Thanks Joe- if anyone knows what the original boats sold for new and how that compared to other similar boats at that time that would be interesting too…to me at least.”
Ian,
The boat I have was originally sold in 1998 for AUD$5.5k not sure how that compares to other cats and designs at the time?
Given the current pricing advertised by Ezifold for the Intro model as US$6.95k, and the time frame that has passed since last manufactured I think that this little boat with updates and improvements represents brilliant value for money.
For current pricing a lot depends on what you want to compare it to? Most who look at this option would also be considering small beach cats or alternative tri’s. Once again a lot comes down to your wish list for the boat you want.
Here is what we have found that the Bazooka can do easily:
> Set up and pack up. Simple rigging and light weight parts. Easy 2 piece mast stepping. No trailer needed!!! Truly is roof rackable.
> Sails well. (even with current glitches). Points well, a few degrees under my twin dagger racing cat and not quite as quick. Single kick up rudder and NO dagger boards makes it completely beachable. Extremely stable platform, we where hit by 4′ plus waves from a passing charter boat and simply rode across them in the Bazooka, I was a bit worried when seeing them coming at us from behind but have a very high level of confidence in the little tri now.
> Motors well. Have fitted a small 2.5 2 stroke and it motors along nicely.
> Paddles nicely. Good clearance of the tramps when on the forward seat / mast position. Can use a double or single paddle easily.
> Fairly dry in the middle, wet on the tramps. But so is a beach cat or any similar size tri.
> Beach access. Not sure about other countries but in Oz most all city beaches are locked up to 4wd access. We can easily access the beach with the Bazooka using the trolley, however I will need to fit wider wheels due to softness of our sand.
> Storage. Whilst not a huge centre hull area it is sufficient to stow a good deal of compact gear for camping, fishing or a day at the beach.
On pricing second hand I paid AUD$3.5k in 2016 including shipping to get it. Significantly less than a new one, and having now used the boat a lot if I had the funds I would be very happy to pay the current price for a new one.
I would suggest that if anyone is evaluating their options for a fun little family sail boat that they include the Bazooka on that list. I have sailed a number of different cats over the last few years and the only ones that would match the simplicity of the bazooka in a similar level of specification would be some Hobie models. However in MHO the little Bazooka is a significantly more stable feeling boat than a cat, it does not feel as sketchy in it’s handling and copes very well with strong gusts. I also find the layout of the Bazooka much more use friendly and versatile than flat deck tramps on a cat, I suffer from a lower back weakness and when hunched up cross legged on a cat for too long I can not stand straight for 30 mins. On the Tri I can have my feet in the centre well and site in a chair like position very comfortably, it also allows my youngest to sit in the middle and out of the wind when he gets cold.
Regards
Tony
Update: I now have 2 of these little beach trimarans. Had the opportunity to pick a 2nd one up for $2200.00 so jumped in and took it. I could not build a boat of this quality and fun for that much!
So now it seems like I own the only 2 Bazooka Tri’s sailing in Australia.
On another note, I have just noticed that Ezifold Yachts we site as well as their Facebook page and contact details are all down or gone. That would be a crying shame if the Bazooka was no longer available to be made.
If anyone knows what happened please post some information up.
Hi Tony,
Yes, that IS a shame about EziFoldYachts … thanks for giving us all a heads-up on that one.
Hi all.
Ezifold Yachts is still very much alive and well as is the Bazooka.
I have purchased the business back and have been busy in the back ground on design work.
I founded the business in 1996 and sold it due to bad health some years back.
My health improved and a conversation at the right time presented the opportunity to buy the Company.
There will be a refreshed website and facebook page in the New Year.
Regards
Craig Johnston
Owner
Ezifold Yachts LTD