Advantage Boats has my K-boat mold!

[ss wannabe]

I've been trying to recover my dad's K/SS mold for a few years now, and I need help, I think. After dad laid up his boat in 1984, Harry Christensen took in my dad's new mold, and agreed to store it in exchange for the right to build a boat from it. He built a handful, and never paid my dad the $500 each they agreed upon after the first. Harry raced a couple of them, LongShot and LastShot among them, and sold a few others. One ended up K-614 DangerZone.
They added a strut shroud to the mold, or made a new mold that way, and then parked the mold(s) in their yard in Havasu. Mrs. Christensen has refused to sell or release dad's mold, though they have no plans to race again, and they've been sitting for 12 yrs.
Does anyone know someone who might be able to help?

[ratso]

Yeah...you can get me to whip his ass, but that won't get your boat back. You could whip his ass, and it still won't get your boat back. You can hire an attorney and lose your ass, and who knows, you may get your boat back and you may not. I would rather eat s**t than hire an attorney, but that is your call. Here in Texas we just usually go kick some ass and shake hands and have a beer afterwards. Saves a lot of BS.

[Chestah Cheetah]

After 12 years I'd hope it would be more like a 12 pack.

[ss wannabe]

words of wisdom, for sure, but the guy is dead. it's his wife running things now, and she doesn't want to let it go.

[sofa king smooth]

If she won't let the molds go, then just get over it.Its amazing to see all the people that come out of the wood work claiming shit is their's after someone passes on.Maybe you should call God, he can probably help!

[ss wannabe]

not that your comments are worth my time, but if you were to call the dear Mrs. Christensen, she would confirm for you that i've been trying to get the mold back for about 4 years or so. she'll also tell you that i spoke with Harry two or three times before he was killed, and sent a couple letters around the same time. so, you can put your mind to rest if you think i'm trying to take advantage of someone. i have more witnesses to the fact that this is my father's mold than you have friends.

[ss wannabe]

oh- one more thing. my boat (identical to LongShot and LastShot) was registered with the DMV before any of Harry's boats were built. i've got pictures and documents to prove it.

[ratso]

Still need to decide if it is worth the attorney fees to pursue this matter. This is another one of those times that it would be nice to hear the other side of the story.

[ss wannabe]

i agree, and it's probably not worth legal fees, since the mold is likely not usable anyway. the other side of the story is that my dad never had anything down in writing, nor did he maintain contact with harry, or even with the other people that were involved. he couldn't have expected much else, especially considering what kind of person he was dealing with. my efforts have certainly been 'long-shots' at best.

[Charley]

I feel bad for you SS, it's obviously an emotional situation for you and only you know for sure if it's worth pursuing legally but I'm curious... what does she say when you ask for the boat?what is her point of view? does she have any documentation/bill of sale to the effect that it's advantages mold? no offense but between adavntage and your dad i can't believe there is NO PAPERWORK!

[GM Killer]

perhaps a cheap way out of it would be to go to small claims court. Bring all documentation and witnesses and it will cost you about $35 and a little time. who knows, my ex-wife tried to take me there after our divorce.
good luck

[ss wannabe]

i love my dad, but there clearly SHOULD have been paperwork. if my dad has a fault, that's it. it's not the first time this kind of thing has happened to him.
small claims is likely the place this will end up. if nothing else, i would like to get a portion of the agreed $500 per boat to help offset the costs of building a new mold. anyone in the market for a circle hull?

[GM Killer]

I know how ya feel. Im going thru probate for my dad right now, and his wife of 6 months thinks she is entitled to it all.
Its all BS

[ss wannabe]

sorry to hear that. it's too bad that agreements between two people don't seem to mean squat anymore. without a legal contract, you're going to get the shaft, somewhere along the line. i guess even those are being undone in court, so the solution escapes me. hope your dad gets to keep his goods.

[mgjessop]

I don't know his name but the guy who I think you are talking about had a hit out on him becuase he was such a crook, he ended up taking a bullet in the head for his business practices. I guess you can say what goes around come's around. My advice is to keep doing what you are doing by telling your story, I have a good friend Bob Praker who ownes a 40ft hard top poker run advantage boat. I will tell him about you story and see what he can do. I think you best bet to get fellow boat owners and soon to be boat owners on your side and do kind of a boycott of Advantage boats, that should get her attension and maybe justice for you and your dad... Best of luck and I will warn everybody I know about dealing with a company with a shady past like Advantage...

[VictoryCorona]

mgjessop,
You've got to be kidding! Calling for a boycott of a boat MFG for a unsubstantiated claim about a "agreement" without any paperwork! Did you just fall off the turnip truck!
In the 80's, splashing somebody else's boat and making it their own was commonplace. I'm not condoning this action, but it seems when somebody becomes successfull in an enterprise, such as Harry with his expansion of Advantage Boats to Havasu City, everybody who was anybody comes out of the woodwork wanting a piece.
If you think about this in rational terms, this agreement was made 18 years ago. Since you have been pursuing this for 4 years, you can say that you're trying to collect on something 14 years after the fact. Why now? Why didn't your dad pursue his $500 per boat fee back in 1984.
Get your facts straight. Harry was MURDERED by a convicted felon (aviation crimes). He was murdered because the man wanted to STEAL his airplane. His MURDER was completely unrelated to his business practices.
In any business, there will always be somebody who thinks they were screwed out of something. It's called ENVY. Get over it.
Harry had the balls and vision to race and build boats. You can't ever take that away from him.
So before you half-hazzardly post anything like you did, you had better get it right.

[thetruth]

mgjessop,
Didn't your mother ever teach you not to speak if you have nothing worth saying?
I happen to read this bulletin every so often because it hits VERY close to home. You speak nothing of the truth, just a bunch of B.S. Thank you to victory corona for your reply and for informing those who are apparently very jealous of what Advantage Boats is and what they will always be, and for also speaking the truth of Mr. Christensen's death.