Salty Podcast #21 | ⛵✨ How Island Packet Yachts Transformed & Modernized Sailboat Buying Choices! ⛵🔄

Join Cap'n Tinsley as she talks with Leslie Allen from Island Packet Yachts for a live chat! 🛥️ Discover how and why Leslie & her husband, Darrell, have modernized the way Island Packets are presented to buyers from the factory in Largo, FL! 🌴 Don't miss this exciting glimpse behind the scenes.  Audio from the LIVE video Live event:  https://tinyurl.com/SaltyPodcast21

#saltyabandon #podcast #sailing #islandpacket #factory #islandpacketyachts  

Transcript

Salty Podcast #21 | How Island Packet Yachts Transformed & Modernized Sailboat Buying Choices!

Capn Tinsley: [00:00:00] Good evening, everybody. This is Captain Tinsley Salty Abandoned with another salty podcast where it's always a great day to talk about sailing. And this is episode 21. And we have a special guest on tonight for episode 21. It is Leslie Allen of the Island Packet. Yacht factory. So I'm going to go ahead and bring her out.

Good evening, Leslie. How are you? Are you ready for this? I don't know, but I'm going to try. We always make it easy for every, all of the guests on the salty podcast. So it's going to go real smoothly. We're just going to have a good time. All right, so you are Leslie Allen and you and your husband Darryl bought the factory how many years ago?

Leslie Allen: It's seven years ago 

Speaker: seven years ago, so that was 2017 Okay. [00:01:00] All right. So, uh Before I ask you the first question, I do have some questions here. Tell us where you were before the factory 

Leslie Allen: Before we bought the company So, I, I was in another realm. I had, I did construction defect litigation for an insurance company, blah, blah, blah.

And Daryl said, um, you know, quit your job. Help help me run the dealership and we did. And, um, we were kind of thinking about retiring and we, 

Capn Tinsley: you owned, but you owned a boat brokerage, 

Leslie Allen: Daryl 

Speaker: California, 

Leslie Allen: California for many, many years, like 30 years and then, um, and we had bought a motor sailor and we were [00:02:00] going to kind of, you know, he was going to retire me, not as much, but.

And then buy a boat company. 

Speaker: Okay, so that brings me to the first question. Okay, so you were in California, but you didn't originate there. You're a, you're a Texas gal, right? 

Leslie Allen: I'm a Texas gal, and ironically, Daryl's a Texas guy. He started his boat company in Kemah, er, his boat career in Kemah, Texas. Yeah.

Yeah. So he started there and, you know, I grew up in Texas, went to A& M he's a, he went to UT schools, but anyway, we didn't meet until we were in California, but yeah, he started his full boat career in Texas. 

Speaker: And I think you were telling me that you went to Texas, I mean, California because of a guy. 

Leslie Allen: Yeah.

But you, you went to 

Speaker: [00:03:00] California to meet your Texas guy. 

Leslie Allen: Yeah, I joked that I, uh, so I met the California guy and I moved to California. And then ended up with the Texan. So, yeah, I had to go to California to get my Texan. 

Speaker: It's hard to believe that you were living in California from Texas. Okay. So that's another topic, but, um, okay.

So my first question is what motivated you to transition from owning a yacht brokerage to acquiring Island yacht packet yachts, one side of the country to another. 

Leslie Allen: Well, I'm going to quote my dad. God always protects the lame and the ignorant. Um, we, you know, we, Daryl was very passionate about Island packet.

And so vis a vis him, I was too, and [00:04:00] our owner, we, you know, Daryl was one of the best new boat Island packet salesperson. In the country and everything started to kind of shut down. And we couldn't get a hold of of anyone and it, it started to get really hard at the factory. Yeah. Yeah. So it started, you know, we're both like, oh, my gosh, this is awful.

So, he kept trying to contact who we thought were the owners. And then one day I'll never, you know, I was sitting at my desk, he was sitting at his, and we got a call from, finally from the owners of Island Packet at the time, and they own Island Packet and SeaWorld, and she said, are you interested in buying Island Packet?

Wow. We both looked at each other, like, looked at, you know, [00:05:00] like, what? What are the blue? And so there you go. And God took over from there. 

Speaker: They were just calling around different people thinking who 

Leslie Allen: can we get? We we kept calling and saying what's going on what's going on, right? And um, Yeah, and so we drove florida on a wing After they said that we drove there on a wing in a like literally it was It was a crazy, you guys wouldn't even believe the story, but it was God.

Speaker: Yeah. Okay. Well, so you decided, okay. So you, what you told me before is that you. You guys were upgrading boats after the fact, when people would buy from the Island packet factory, people would have to upgrade their boats, right? Like, cause can only, only so much can be [00:06:00] done or customized. And so you thought maybe it was a good idea to change that.

So my next question is, can you talk about some of the aspects of how you modernized and transformed the boat buying experience? 

Leslie Allen: So when we decided to buy LM packet, we. In not casting any aspersions towards the prior ownership or anything like that, but from a, you know, from a marketing standpoint. We kind of saw that, you know, I'll unpack its biggest competitor.

Was used packets. So, oh, yeah, when we bought the, when we bought the company, we had 12 employees, zero boat orders and, um, yeah, and we were selling used island packets back in San Diego. No problem, so we knew right away, [00:07:00] we had to give people a reason to buy a new boat. And so that was immediately our thought process.

And so we wanted to kind of figure out how we could. Take what worked, but then build upon it and give people a reason to buy new. Cause otherwise it wasn't going to work. Wasn't going to help. 

Speaker: Okay. Yeah, that makes, that makes total sense. Um, so my next question is how did you integrate customization options into the process for buyers?

I mean, that must've been tough. Um, it was, like I said, 

Leslie Allen: bought the company, 12 employees, no boat orders. Right. Right. And I'll, I'll tell you, this is a, this was an, um, kind of an epic moment for Daryl and I. We, you know, at the time, the big [00:08:00] thing was these open epic transoms, right? That were, you know, you could access, you could, you know, you could, you could, um, entertain that kind of thing.

And pretty quickly we learned, are, are, are you going to be true to safety? Are you gonna, you know, who do you want to be? And We immediately realized we can't do, we tried to look at an option for the full down transom for anything like that. And there was no way to do it and, and ensure safety, which was 1 of the things that we felt was so key about Island packet.

So, um, then we immediately started to design a transom that was say, [00:09:00] but it was more user friendly and that kind of thing. So that kind of got us started towards. All right, let's, you know, let's keep. What's right and then let's keep the options going. 

Speaker: I'm going to pull one up. I'm going to pull one up so we can see what you're talking about.

So that's the new transom, right? 

Leslie Allen: And it's so great and I don't know if you can see but like there's handholds. It's super safe Um, but you know the full down It can't be as safe so this Was an iteration that there's, you can't see, but there you can pull up and walk up and you know, it, it keeps in, in, it keeps really true to our value of safety and, and it's more accessible.[00:10:00] 

Speaker: Yeah, I'm kind of envious. I've got transom en envy right now. ? Yeah, I have a scoop. I, you know, I have a three 20, so I do have a scoop and that's it. , 

Leslie Allen: right? It's the scoop. And then we kind of took it from there saying, okay, you know, again, let's stay true to our values, but let's keep, let's keep, I like that.

Working with, what can we do? And, and we also, one of the things I'd like to attribute to our team, we said to everyone, what's something you couldn't do in building the boats that you wanted to do, what's the suggestion that you had? 

Speaker: Perfect to ask them. Yeah. They stepped up. They stepped up 

Leslie Allen: and so 

Speaker: what about the uh, whole side ports, you want to talk about those?

[00:11:00] These are the below the uh, yeah. Yeah, 

Leslie Allen: um, that was so easy, but so controversial.

Speaker: That's what I thought you would, you would come across a lot of that. I'm sure 

Leslie Allen: it was 

Speaker: funny 

Leslie Allen: because, um, I think I'm kind of claustrophobic,

it was, it was super easy. And the thing is too, that as we've developed these different kind of, um, options, they don't have to do that. We can build it without those. But I think we 

Speaker: assume that they don't open. I just, you just told me about this. I just noticed it today when you were pointing them out, you don't open them.

Right? No, 

Leslie Allen: no. And they, you know, everything we do, we use [00:12:00] the best materials that we can build or buy. So they are so solid and they're literally amazing. And, um, but it's so nice, you know, to have that light, to have To have that, uh, sight line. It's great. And if you don't want them, you don't have to have them.

Speaker: Well, you had mentioned in that email, uh, that video that you put out a couple of years ago that, okay, you just said 12 employees and then you grew to like 30 or something or more, and you said a lot of people came back. 

Leslie Allen: Yeah, that was very humbling. Um, 

Speaker: did any of them push back on changes? Or were they like, Oh no, let's do it?

Did some of them push back? But in a, 

Leslie Allen: in a [00:13:00] positive way, you know, 

Speaker: respectful. 

Leslie Allen: Yeah. It was a weird corporate culture. It's where people came back and, and, but it was humbling to have that institutional knowledge. 

Speaker: Yeah. Yeah. 

Leslie Allen: Um, so I think that as long as we make. Everyone feel empowered and like we weren't ignoring them or we weren't trying to, you know, um, tell them what they did was wrong.

I, we tried to make everyone feel like, tell us what you know, 

Speaker: right. 

Leslie Allen: And tell 

Speaker: us, why do you think they came back? 

Leslie Allen: Well, I think the word on the street became the, you know, Daryl and I were really interested And, um, 

Speaker: bringing things back [00:14:00] beyond, 

Leslie Allen: and we generally are very different in terms of owning a boat company.

Like, we, um, you know, we weren't, we just really wanted to. Develop a new culture. And we wanted to, um, we just loved Ellen packet, so we didn't have an ego about where we wanted to take it or, you know, so, yeah, I think as we, um, as more and more employees came about and came back, I think everyone started to go like, Hmm, because the employees who would work there before.

They loved it. It's a, it's a unique thing. I mean, it was a [00:15:00] family, you know, granted like any family, it wasn't always a healthy family, but no, it, it, you know, they loved unpack it and they believed. 

Speaker 3: that. 

Leslie Allen: And so it was really cool. It was very humbling as so many people came back and literally we went from 13 employees And then we had so many employees in our average years of, um, of employment went to like 50 years.

I mean, it was crazy. 

Speaker: Wow. 

Leslie Allen: All right. Some came back. 

Speaker: Look who's here. Look at the bottom of your screen. Melanie Neal. Mel, she says, how do you feel about being a high powered woman in an industry industry full of guys? All [00:16:00] right, . Good question. Melanie , thank you for that question, Melanie. 

Leslie Allen: Um, well, people like Melanie and give me support.

No, I, um, no, it, it, it's humbling. I, I don't think I, I just, I'm grateful for the women in the sailing industry. Who have been so kind to me because I don't, um, I'll never be as good as a sailor as Melanie or many people. So it'll be fun learning. Yeah. I've got the kindness of a lot of women and, um, yeah. And I think for me, the biggest thing is just, um, just saying what I don't know and not pretending to know more than I do know.

You know, a lot, [00:17:00] 

Speaker: you know, 

Leslie Allen: but I, I, it's humbling that the people who own Island packets are such badass sailors, male, female. And I am kind of like. 

Speaker: It's a very loyal club. Yeah. 

Speaker 3: Yeah. 

Speaker: Well, so, so with this, um, the challenges that you came across as you were implementing changes and how did you overcome them?

You kind of answered that, but is there more to it or is that you, did you feel like you answered that? 

Leslie Allen: No, I think there's a lot to that. Um, so are pretty quickly. We decided we were going to call it the next generation violent packet. So we, we wanted to, for me, from a marketing standpoint, I wanted [00:18:00] everyone in Daryl and I wanted everyone to know that we didn't want to, you know, just throw away everything.

We wanted to keep the underbody, right. We wanted to keep the safety features. Um, but we wanted to take it into the next generation, and I think we did a really good job of that. And that's like, the 349 got voted the year 439 vote of the year. And so I think we've done a really good job. Of staying true, you know, to the basic number one thing, just safety.

Speaker: Look at that boat. That's the three 49. I just, I think I'm in love Leslie. 

Leslie Allen: Crazy fun. Billy black, who is the greatest photographer and that's the three, four, nine right there. [00:19:00] And that was like, like I told you, we're so ignorant. That was the first sale. 

Speaker: Wow. But all number one. Yeah. 

Leslie Allen: It's just, and we did it with the four, three, nine too.

You'd think we'd learn, but we got boat of the year with all of them. So we're crossing our fingers in Annapolis. We're bringing out a whole number one. Well, here's, 

Speaker: here's the four 39. I so pretty. I know. Love it. Really? And I'm looking at all the features. I mean, look how perfect the, um, the Bimini and the Dodger, all that.

So perfectly, it fits so perfectly. 

Leslie Allen: Well, and you know, we have so many amazing people who have helped us. Like, you know, Neil Harvey, I mean, we just, we've been so blessed. people. And, um, it's just, [00:20:00] you know, it just been perfect. God has given us every, every opportunity to be as good as we can be. So it's nice.

And, and one of the big things is that we went from the cutter rig to the solar rig. 

Speaker: Yes. 

Leslie Allen: And a lot of people said in the past, Oh, I love packets are slow. And 

Speaker: that is the reputation, 

Leslie Allen: but it's not the underbody. It wasn't the underbody that caused it. It's the rigging and you know, the sale plan, which it's fine.

If you're going to, if you're going to go all over the world, you want to cut a rig, right? If you're going to go into crazy. You know weather and that kind of thing but the solent rig is so [00:21:00] It yeah, let's 

Speaker: go. Let me see if we can is this one of the boat one of these have that? Yeah Yeah. 

Leslie Allen: Yeah. 

Speaker: Let's see if it I know what you mean.

It's it has two Two front sails like right next to each other, right? 

Leslie Allen: Yeah, exactly. Um 

Speaker: I don't think these really show it 

Leslie Allen: Well, now it's kind of hard. Um, it's such a different, um, performance and, and again, I'll tell you the 1st, you know, we took the boat out and, um, we were, it was the 349, the 1st boat and the air was super light.

And, you know, it was cruising world boat of the year. And we're like, Oh my gosh, it's light air. This is terrible. You know, but it actually worked out great because Island Packets were [00:22:00] known for not doing well in light air. 

Speaker: And exceeded expectations. Yeah. 

Leslie Allen: I won't talk about the boat that we were, gets, You know, they had many boats out there, you know, doing testing and, uh, we beat some pretty nice boats.

Say, 

Speaker: I'm 

Leslie Allen: not going to say no, but we did it and everyone was like, and 

Speaker: if 

Leslie Allen: you, everyone go back and read the cruising world boat of the year three, four, nine, when we got it, because that 

Speaker: was what year. 

Leslie Allen: Oh God, don't pin me down. Put you on the 

Speaker: spot. 2019 or 18 or something? 

Leslie Allen: 17, I think. I hear that you guys took over.

Wow. Pretty 

Speaker: [00:23:00] impressive, Leslie. 

Leslie Allen: No, it wasn't 17. I'm sorry. It was 19. But, um, it was, um, yeah. It was so funny because It was the light air that got us vote of the year cause it was a different, you know, nobody thought an island packet could perform in light air. So 

Speaker: nice. Yeah. Well, I'm not racing my boat. So it really doesn't matter to me.

Speaker 3: I 

Speaker: have no one. No one is. Yeah. Yeah. Nobody is. It's just important for that, that particular situation. 

Leslie Allen: Well, the thing is too that 

Speaker: I get asked that a lot of people when they're, you know, on my channel, I've had the channel since 2015. A lot of people ask me, um, is it really slow? Is it really this? And, and I'm like, it's kind of missing the point, you know, well, if you want to race, no, it's [00:24:00] I, I, my first boat was a Catalina 25 by that boat, if that's what you want.

But if you want a comfortable, safe boat that you're going to go across water and. You know, that's a different conversation. So my boat's going fast too. 

Leslie Allen: It is. And you know, it's, it's a different iteration of, of, you know, what do you want to, any boat that gets you on the water, right. It's a good boat, but if, if you're looking for speed and, you know, the older boats are great.

And the newer boats are great. So it's just taking the great stuff from the past and trying to move it forward. 

Speaker: So this is kind of, we've already been talking about this. In what ways did you [00:25:00] foresee that these, the updates, the enhancing would overall, would, would, would give overall appeal and market competitiveness of the Island packet yachts, which it seems to have worked.

Leslie Allen: I think that's really easy because. When we took over the company, like I said, our biggest competitor against a new Island packet was the brokerage market. Right? So we had to figure out how do we make people want to buy a new one? Versus on the brokerage market. So what we've done, you can have a light maple boat.

You can have a gray boat. You can have a white boat. We, you're not limited to just the island packet ivory. You can do that. You can pick out [00:26:00] your Korean. You can pick out, do you want a vessel sink? Do you, you know, um. There's so many options. So now you can make your boat your way because if you're going to spend much money on a new boat.

Hey, let's make it your boat. You know, we're not going to obviously change the underbody or. Um, and, and almost everyone is doing the Solent rig, but if you wanted to cut a rig, we do it still. No, one's done that yet, but, um, they're just, it's so customizable, you know, and, but yeah, we keep, you know, the stanchions are higher, you know, the lifelines are thicker, the, you know, all the hard core safety issues.

Speaker: Nice, [00:27:00] 

Leslie Allen: but you can do, you know, the sales, I mean, there's just so many options, 

Speaker: many options. 

Leslie Allen: Yeah. It's, it's just, it's not, um, It's not the same boat, but it is You know what? I mean? Like 

Speaker: you can okay, so we are um I want it's time for me to introduce tonight's sponsor, which is me. So I need to do that really quick.

Okay So my name is tinsley myrick i'm with remax of orange beach in case you didn't know I sell gulffront condos And, uh, Gulffront homes and even non waterfront homes in Gulf Shores, Orange Beach, Alabama, and Perdido Key, Florida. I am licensed in Florida. And also, if you want to know more, I also do, if you enjoy this podcast, I do another podcast on Thursday night with a colleague of mine called The Gettin Beachy Podcast, which is a real estate lifestyle podcast about [00:28:00] Gulf Shores and Orange Beach.

It's a lot of fun. We have a good time there. And, uh, with that, thank you for letting me do that. And I, and I mentioned to you also that I wanted to mention there is somebody, all these podcasts go on the, uh, the audio podcast sites. So anywhere you get your podcast, um, your, um, audio podcast, and there's somebody in Northumberland, England.

That's doing a lot of downloading of these podcasts and I just want to reach out to them, give them a shout out and say, Hey, can you come on here sometime and tell us, tell us what you think what's going on up there. You doing any sailing? Are you, are you sailing in the island packets in England? What's the deal?

Um, what are your hopes? What are your dreams? We'd love to hear about it. Um, and with that, let's get back to you, Leslie. Thank you for letting me do that. 

Leslie Allen: No, it's fun. We have so many Owners all over the globe. So 

Speaker: that's. Yeah, I'm getting a lot of [00:29:00] traction on the audio podcasts. You know, um, what I do when I get off here at night after the podcast, I'll download the audio version and upload it.

And it goes out to 17, um, websites for audio podcasts, like even Spotify and Apple, all those, so you're going to be on all those Leslie, anywhere you get your podcast right now, we're on one, two, three, four, five, six, uh, social media profiles live. We got about 10 people watching and, uh, it's a good time, right?

Leslie Allen: Thank you. I, I'm grateful. It's fun. Thank you. 

Speaker: Thank you so much for coming on. 

Leslie Allen: Awesome. 

Speaker: Thank you. Thank you. Um, so I remember I told you that that when I was, um, upgrading my ip3 20 when I bought it after I lost my boat in Hurricane Sally, which was September of 2020 and I bought a boat in [00:30:00] Palmetto and took it up to yacht riggers up in ST Pete.

And I call it boat prison. It was in boat prison for 2 months getting upgrades and they, um, they are just top notch. I had them on the 2. 

Leslie Allen: I can't tell you. They're so great. And they really are. They do. I've 

Speaker: known them since they were small. Like, it was just him and his dad and another guy. Yeah, they're working my IP 27.

That's how far back I go with them. And then I, my IP three 20 and, um, they have a great electronics guy now. Um, he, he, he kind of helped me upgrade and get, no, it's, um, Andre say, Andre talked me into lithium batteries and upgrading my solar even more. And, uh, and he told me. Because I would come home, you know, come back and work because I had to, it was very expensive.

So I had to be able to work and pay [00:31:00] for it all. And he said the, the factory, some guys from the factory came over and saw how he was installing these lithium batteries. And I was, I was like, I was thrilled with that. And, um, it was, it was 2020, so it was after you guys took over. And when I mentioned that to you, you said that was you.

So you guys were you guys must be doing lithium batteries. 

Leslie Allen: Well, yeah, and um, i'm not gonna speak to it With any expertise, but i'll tell you right, 

Speaker: right. No, that's okay. I can't either 

Leslie Allen: It's not the same like a lot of people are like, oh lithium fire It's no. Yeah 

Speaker: We these are the these are the rolls rolls of lithium batteries what I have.

These are not the ones from china You This is not the ones from it was relatively new when he put him in and a lot of people going What are you doing? He goes. No, no, the technology was not the same Yeah, yeah, yeah It had just become safe, you [00:32:00] know, and I trusted andre what he was 

Leslie Allen: For sure. No, you're exactly right and I encourage people Do your research because it is, it's not the same.

Speaker: These batteries are lithionics and they're made locally where you are. Yeah. Like they, they were made for like each one is handmade and he has to like wait for them to be made and everything. Well handmade, I don't know if that's the right word. I guess it is. 

Leslie Allen: Different technology. 

Speaker: So you guys are doing that?

You guys are, you're doing, I chose to go with the two for what I wanted to do. They, they, cause they listened to me. What do you, what do you want to do? You're not just going to go out and come back in and a few hours. No, I wanted to, I wanted it. The world ended. I want to be able to my boat to function.

Basically said, let's do it. And so I was willing to spend the money, you know, I figured later would. When I [00:33:00] retire, I, I won't have the money. And so I put the two big, the lithium batteries and this kind, this kind, the lithion will fit in that area in an island packet. And, and that you, that might have changed in the New Orleans where there's it's bigger area or something, I don't know.

And I got two 

Leslie Allen: now. 

Speaker: 75 wa 

Leslie Allen: what's cool now in the new ones, um, it, it's not like you have to do a refit. You know, we, since you're doing everything at the factory. You know everything is we 

Speaker: yeah, okay, you can make the whole fit

He didn't have to change anything they actually fit in the existing hole, so we make sure 

Leslie Allen: Yeah, exactly. We you know, what do you want? How do you want it? And then 

Speaker: that is awesome Because I think it was 2019 when I went to the Annapolis show and I [00:34:00] toured the 349 And I videoed it and I put it up on my and I don't remember who it was That was there that gave me the tour, but he let me video the whole thing and he told me all this 

Speaker 3: And he was like 

Speaker: It may have been, and he's like, you want, you want whatever wood you want in here.

I was inside and he goes, whatever you want here, whatever you want here. And it was just like, wow, you know, it was just amazing. And it was a beautiful boat. 

Leslie Allen: And that's the thing that, so when we first started and I don't want to get into too much detail, but we, we, you know, cause we had been a dealer, so we had dealers.

But then we pretty quickly, and this is nothing against any dealer. Um, but we know dealer can, can do anything better than we can do at the factory for a better price. 

Speaker: [00:35:00] Okay. 

Leslie Allen: And so we kind of felt like. Yeah, we can tell us what you want to do. Let's do it. And let's, even if you don't want to do it right now, we'll fit it or, you know, what you might want to do in the future.

So do 

Speaker: you have, you got your own, you got your own folks that do the electronics and all that stuff you, you've got, you have everybody, all the skills right there in the factory. 

Leslie Allen: Well, yeah, there, there's nobody that can do it better. Yeah. 

Speaker: Wow. Okay. 

Leslie Allen: So, you know, that's amazing. Yeah. And even if, you know, we have a buyer who says, okay, I don't know if I'm going to want this right now, but I might want this in the future, we can make sure that we set up the systems.

So, you know what I mean? So they, they don't have to, you know, we don't want [00:36:00] people have to go in and, and, you know, do stuff. 

Speaker: So where does someone, if someone is watching and they say, I want to, I want to call, call the factory, I want to talk about. Ordering a boat. What's the process do they I can go ahead and put up that boom What do they have who do they talk to first You know what call daryl daryl Call daryl daryl is her husband co owner And uh, that's the 

Leslie Allen: guy 

Speaker: The guy okay, so they talk to him first.

Yeah And then what happens, what are they, they set up a time to meet or talk on the phone or. 

Leslie Allen: So what happens is, um, Daryl will say, okay, you know, what kind of, what boat are you looking at? Let's talk about it. And, um, and then Daryl will send [00:37:00] them price sheets or whatever. And, you know, he'll take it from there, depending on where someone's at, you know, and then, You 

Speaker: come up with kind of a roundabout price.

Um, and then, then, you know, just like when you're buying a car, you know, uh, like if you're ordering a car, if you've ever ordered a car, here's the price. All these things, this is going to, 

Leslie Allen: yeah, it, it, you know, the thing that's different is that we. Appreciate, um, a lot of people say, oh my gosh, who buys your boats?

Really, really crazy, rich people. And 

Speaker: yeah, 

Leslie Allen: and, um, I mean, obviously it's people of, you know, who have means, but 

Speaker: yeah. 

Leslie Allen: Resources are buyers are people who practical, pragmatic, [00:38:00] they have wanted this plan for their life to go cruising and, um, They're smart and, um, so it's not, you know, it's different than, it's different than somebody who's just buying a fishing boat or, and there's nothing wrong with those people.

I'm just saying it, you know, we have 

Speaker: planned for this, 

Leslie Allen: this has been a dream, these exactly people who buy LM packets, especially new ones. They know their stuff. And so that's why it's, you know, humbling for Daryl and I to work with each person to say, you know, what are you looking for? What do you want?

You know,

and Daryl is amazingly, he's so good and he's so knowledgeable. [00:39:00] I always say Darryl knows more or Darryl will forget more than I'll ever learn. 

Speaker: So I'm sure that you help somewhere in the process too. 

Leslie Allen: I'm kind of good at helping people pick stuff out and you know. 

Speaker: Okay, that's cool. 

Leslie Allen: That 

Speaker: kind of 

Leslie Allen: thing.

Speaker: Okay. So the, the four 85, I've interviewed a couple of people with the 45. So that one's out of production now. Is that right? 

Leslie Allen: Yeah, it is. Um, and I will tell you, we're, um, working to 

Speaker: breaking news. You heard it here on the podcast. 

Leslie Allen: We're creating the iteration, the next iteration of that. Yeah. And we have someone who, yeah, so [00:40:00] we're, we're recreating that version.

And, uh, we'll, we'll have the drawings coming up very shortly. 

Speaker: So what do you have? Like people on staff that like an architecture for protection for, for boats or, or you, yeah, 

Leslie Allen: so we have, obviously we have an architect for But we also, um, we work with a lot of people and very, um, we're pretty, we're not pretty, we're very progressive and yeah, we're working a lot towards moving forward.

Speaker: You're trying to, you're trying to keep your words to a minimum. I can tell. I can respect that. I 

Leslie Allen: can 

Speaker: respect 

Leslie Allen: that. 

Speaker: How can I get you to spill the tea here?

Leslie Allen: Things are 

Speaker: [00:41:00] coming. Good, good news is coming. 

Leslie Allen: Good, good stuff. But the, um, the one tea I want to spill is, um, to Annapolis in the fall. Because we've got that. Oh, 

Speaker: okay. So something new is going to be, 

Leslie Allen: yeah, that's fine. It's a motor sailor. It's got, you know, it's got a mask. Oh yeah, yeah, that's right. That's right.

You wanted to talk about that. It's going to sail well, like sail well. 

Speaker: So this boat, it could be marketed or is marketed to maybe the sailor that is Getting up in age or maybe has physical problems and doesn't want to give it up and it's just going to be an easier. 

Leslie Allen: Yeah, or and or, you know, the, the, the wife wants more creature comfort.

Okay. And, and, you know, a [00:42:00] lot of people, I know, but a lot of people want a stabilizer, right? In a powerboat or whatever, but the, you know, the stick allows that's, that's a big stabilizer. And I encourage everyone to look at the YouTube channel, but, um, it's, it's not the motor sailor that was done in the past with Island packet.

Speaker: It's not your grandfather's motor sailor. 

Leslie Allen: Yeah, exactly. It's got the, you know, an up galley, it's more the indoor, outdoor experience. It is, um, Oh, 

Speaker: nice. So it's, it's kind of, it's like a trawler more. It's very much like a, it 

Leslie Allen: is very, um, windows open. Um, It's, it's so, it's something that Daryl [00:43:00] and I have talked about from day one, because no one, no one's done this, no one's,

yeah, it's got, I mean, it, it, Thank you, girl. That's perfect. But look at the YouTube video. We have a YouTube video where you can see where we're at on it, but it is, and it's not like, um, you know, it, it really does sail. 

Speaker: Okay, 

Leslie Allen: you know what I mean? It's not, um, but there's so many options and, and, um, yeah, it gives that indoor outdoor experience and you [00:44:00] rumors 

Speaker: are true.

Look at that. That was me. 

Leslie Allen: Thank you.

Speaker: Okay. Isn't that cool? Drawings, you got the standard equipment list, all the info here on the website, but also look on. Yeah, 

Leslie Allen: YouTube video, Daryl did a YouTube video and it really kind of shows where we're at. And the first one is going to Seattle. So you know, obviously we can't 

Speaker: exciting times, but those whole side ports also, 

Leslie Allen: Oh yeah, it's it because you know, you've got stuff down below, but um, Yeah, so the first one's going to Seattle, but the second.

Oh, show. 

Speaker 3: [00:45:00] Okay. 

Speaker: Um, what, here's a good question for you. What are the customizations or upgrades that have been most sought after by buyers? Like, what are the people like most happy? Like, Oh my gosh, finally. 

Leslie Allen: Um, so I would say the ability to not have to have the Ellen Packett whole 

Speaker: Okay. All 

Leslie Allen: right. Love the we do gray.

Um, people love that. People also love the no teak, no exterior teak at all. Um, people like the option of either doing this, the Pelley would. Or the light maple, um, and people also love that [00:46:00] if we can reconfigure the interior, we will, like, you can do, say, if you're looking to pour, you can do, um, a full set of tea.

You can do, um, um, a city half city, half city with a table, a Lego mini table that will go down. And then, yeah, 

Speaker: that's what I said. I'm just thinking about redoing mine and making it a little more usable space in there. Yeah. Chairs up there and putting a table that'll fold a small table. The captain's chairs.

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. 

Leslie Allen: People love that. You've done those. You've done those. Oh yeah. You, you guys, oh my gosh. So you can do two captain's chairs to port and then, you know, if you want the, then you'll just have the little table and the thing is, we don't [00:47:00] crazy upcharge you for that kind of stuff. Like if we can do it without, you know, too much work, it's not going to cost you much more money.

Speaker: So do you have, um, onsite help like, or even at the boat shows or You got fast, quick financing options available. We 

Leslie Allen: don't generally get involved in that at the boat shows, to be honest with you. 

Speaker: Close by that can kind of do the show with you or, you know, people. 

Leslie Allen: Yeah. And so we'll just say, Hey, you know.

And we'll refer you to people, um, and, you know, we'll talk to you about that. Um, yeah, so, but again, going back to the options, it's 

Speaker 3: pretty 

Leslie Allen: fun to, [00:48:00] you know, create your boat in a way you can, 

Speaker: that 

Leslie Allen: is, I love that the option with more money. Like if you want a vessel sink, when we started doing vessel sinks, people were, they were like, you're crazy.

Speaker: I'm not even sure what that is. A vessel sink. What is that? So, 

Leslie Allen: so you've got the sink and you can either do like, you know, think about in your head. You you can do the insert stainless, right? And it's, it's a vessel. It's just, it's like a 

Speaker: all one piece. It's one bowl instead of being split up. Yeah. Okay. 

Leslie Allen: You guys are crazy, but we did.

Why is that 

Speaker: crazy? 

Leslie Allen: Well, because it was different, but okay. Unless we could do it safely. So, and that's the other thing too, I want to say about all the [00:49:00] sinks, um, like in the galley, instead of the stainless, you can do all one Corian piece.

So, and, and saving the heads, you can. 

Speaker: Thought of all this stuff is the employees and you, or is it you and some of the, it's all you. You're so smart. 

Leslie Allen: You know, it's, it's really been a compilation of everyone and it's just about listening and kind of, you know, just. 

Speaker: Has anybody asked you like, I would like this and you hadn't even thought of it, but you're like, yeah, we can do that all the time.

Leslie Allen: So many of our owners have been the one. Okay. You know, they've been the impetus for change. And we're like, huh, we can do that. 

Speaker: I want the captain's chairs. That's [00:50:00] what I want. That's what I want. I 

Leslie Allen: dreamed 

Speaker: of that last, last summer I was on the boat. I was going, I was like, you know what? This could be more comfortable and a little more usable because this big table, you know, and I envisioned two captains chairs, maybe with little trays that come out from the chair.

Where I could just, you know, look 

Leslie Allen: at the videos. Um, yeah, yeah, we'll have in chairs. And so if you, if people do the two captains chairs, instead of the, you know, full down table that opens both sides. You don't need that, so you just get the single drop down, you know. Well, I 

Speaker: even thought of the tables that could slide out from each, up and over from each chair, like they would go, like on a, kind of like on an airplane, you know.

Speaker 3: We've done that. 

Speaker: Oh, my gosh. [00:51:00] Okay. Let's see. Um. I think you've answered this. How do you balance the traditional quality and craft craft craftsmanship for which Allen packets is known with these modernization efforts? You kind of answered that. Don't you think? 

Leslie Allen: Yeah. And, and I will give a lot of, um, kudos to our team because, um, 

Speaker: they give you pushback and say, Whoa, 

Leslie Allen: you know, um, it's harder for them.

It's harder for them, um, to be, you know, we've all had to make some adjustments. So 

Speaker: I say, I say, 

Leslie Allen: no, it's not easy, but they, our team is so good. And they realize that we can't, we can't just keep status quo and we're going to move forward. So they've been really, really very flexible. It's been hard [00:52:00] for all of us.

Speaker: Okay. So this is kind of along the same line. What measures are you taking to ensure that these changes align with the brand's legacy and reputation within the sailing community? So I, I, I hear that you are doing that. 

Leslie Allen: Yeah. I mean, the only thing I'll add to it is that we're constantly. Um, you can't be stuck in in a certain thing, you know what I mean?

Even if even if you think something works, which it does, you have to be open to new materials, new technology and, um. The, the fun thing that we've experienced is we have really great friends in the industry [00:53:00] and, um, yeah, so it's hard. It's always a balance, but, um, I think we've done a good job and I think we'll continue to do a good job of, um.

You know, keeping up with technology, but staying true to our core values. And I think our biggest core value is safety. That's it. So everything we do is kind of surrounded by safety. 

Speaker: Okay. Um,

so you're, you are communicating all these things to existing potential customers. You've, you've, I can see that, um, looking ahead. What is your vision for Island Packet Yachts? And how do you see it evolving within the sailing industry? 

Leslie Allen: Um, I, I see us continuing to [00:54:00] innovate. I see us continuing to be focused and, you know, a lot of people, um, have said things like, Oh, why don't you get into that?

Or why don't you get into that, this, or, you know, and, and I think, Just well, when we bought the company C word, was it so I think that we've learned that being focused is important and not to, um, 

Speaker: is that not part of the company anymore? See, we're not. Okay. I didn't, I didn't even think about that. 

Leslie Allen: Yeah, no.

So I think that what we want to do is stay focused on, on what our brand is about, but growing it in terms of innovation, [00:55:00] but not getting crazy. You know, we, we know where our niche is and we want to keep it there and we want to do it, but we want to innovate. So, I think that's what I see for us, just staying true to that, you know.

Speaker: What would Daryl say if he was, I know he's like hovering, right? And he's hovering around there. 

Leslie Allen: He's like, um, no. 

Speaker 3: I think he would say the same thing. 

Leslie Allen: I think he would say, you know, we want to stay true to our values. I And we want to innovate because you can't, you know, you can't be stuck, but you can't get too broad in what you're trying to do.

So if you would agree with [00:56:00] me, know your market, keep it focused, um, and, and just 

Speaker: give the people what they want to, 

Leslie Allen: yeah, no, 

Speaker: what you're doing. 

Leslie Allen: Well, and that's exactly you're exactly right. That's that's what innovation is. Yeah. Listening. And I think that's one of the reasons Daryl and I have been successful is that we go to all the boat shows and you know, there's all, you know, we listen, we talk to people like you, you know what I mean?

We talk to owners and that kind of thing. So, and we can always do better, um, and we can always. Encourage our team and we had a [00:57:00] team meeting yesterday and uh, You know if our employees our current owners Our potential owners if we listen and then we innovate from there It's going to be good. 

Speaker: Well, that's it says a lot that I guess the word on the street was hey new owners And we like them.

You need to come get your job back. 

Leslie Allen: Yeah, that exactly. That was pretty humbling. 

Speaker: Yeah. So you, you, you were just minding your own business and people started contacting you. 

Leslie Allen: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it, you know, it is a bit of a double edged sword. 

Speaker: Um, yeah, this is how we've done it for years. 

Leslie Allen: Like we had [00:58:00] that team meeting yesterday and it's, it's, um, I think we're creating an environment where people can talk.

Speaker: That's nice. 

Leslie Allen: So it's not perfect. 

Speaker: Now you said you want to learn to be a better sailor. What are you gonna do about that? I'm gonna put you on the spot here You've got all these women you got Melanie you got all these women that you that you said are great sailors that you can go out with 

Leslie Allen: You know

I need to do it. I need to do it. Cause honestly, I'll tell you, that's one of my, I'm so ashamed. Who doesn't love 

Speaker: a sailor? Oh, come on. You, but you've got so much in common. I've 

Leslie Allen: got all these Island Packet sailor girls. [00:59:00] Women are just bad asses and I'm kind of like, I, I'm so intimidated, but I think that it's good in some ways that, you know, I'd like to encourage women like me to, you know, to admit it, to say, yeah, not the greatest sailor help.

Speaker: Oh, oh, well. There, you know, I used to go on women who sail Facebook page, you know, years ago, and I really liked it that women felt comfortable to come on there and say things like, I just pulled the boat out from the slip for the first time by myself. And everybody's like, yay. And I just, I think that we, that, you know, I remember the first time I did that, you know, it's been years, number of years, not that long ago.

I mean, I wasn't a boat owner until late 2015. I mean, it was my. It was a Catalina [01:00:00] 25, um, but, um, you just have to go out there without. Without the man 

Leslie Allen: I know I I still agree and thank you It's an old 

Speaker: thought process. Yeah, because like if I have to leave every time is different the conditions are different every time Yeah, I have I go over in my brain like if it's a difficult situation I just sit there and think how am I going to do this?

The wind's coming from that direction The water's coming from this direction. What am I going to do? And I picture it in my mind and if somebody's there chatting at me or doubting me You It's not gonna go as well, you know, especially in the beginning like now I can tune him out salty scotty I can tune him out, but he's he's he's a lot more trusting of me now.

I mean he doesn't ever He's never taken the boat out of the slip. It's my boat and I I love that 

Leslie Allen: story and and and I never 

Speaker: asked to either 

Leslie Allen: And [01:01:00] this is You know, it's embarrassing for me and You know, everyone's like, Oh, you own Island packet yachts. You just have to do it and you just have to do it. But it's, it's, it's, it's freeing to just be honest and say, 

Speaker: absolutely.

Yeah. 

Leslie Allen: I'm not going to lie. Yeah. 

Speaker: I mean, you know, you've heard a story how many times of people that are from Michigan and they only sailed on lakes and they buy a sailboat over, you know, And they have it surveyed online, you know, they don't, they don't see it until they come down there. They've never sailed on an ocean or the Gulf or anything.

And they set off and they leave for the Bahamas. People do it all the time. What's the worst that can happen? You have a factory that can fix anything. 

Leslie Allen: Yeah, I know. You know, it's [01:02:00] something that's important to me to work on towards the future. Like I really want to get more street cred. 

Speaker: All the people on here can hold you accountable.

The people that know you, or if there's somebody on here, that's, that's going to buy a boat, they can go, yeah, we want to buy a boat. Here's what we want. And Oh, by the way, Leslie, have you pulled the boat out from 

Leslie Allen: you? Just, you know, I can hold my own, but. I, I, I can do so much better and I'm, I'm, you know, I'm excited to learn more.

Speaker: I think you and Melanie should take one of the boats, go down to Pelican Bay and anchor out over the weekend. Okay. Pelican Bay. Have you ever been to Pelican Bay? It's the best place to anchor. It is. Well, 

Leslie Allen: everyone thinks that Daryl and I have this crazy fun life of [01:03:00] sailing. 

Speaker: We need to make time. I'm just saying.

All right, well, we've been on here for just over an hour. Um, this has been great. I sure do appreciate it. And we'll have to do it again when you're ready to really spill some tea about what, what's the new, the new thing. I want you to come back. I don't want this to be the last time. Please promise me.

Okay. You did great. This was wonderful. Listening to me, you gave us so much good information. So I know a lot of people, there's, there's some people listen, but there'll be more people in the replay on the different platforms. And so a lot of people will find this extremely helpful. So, um, and I'll be, I'll be coming down there soon.

Um, and I'll come by and I've never been able to tour. I came by there. Um, One time, and I didn't announce it [01:04:00] and they wouldn't let me in . Well, I didn't, I didn't. Who, who did? I think I was, I it might have been before. No, you're, I'm sure it was , 

Leslie Allen: but, um, that is a different time now. It's like any, you know, anybody who wants to come, just give, try to give us, like anyone who's listening or watching.

Yeah, you know, just give us some heads up. 

Speaker: Absolutely. I should have. 

Leslie Allen: We'll, we'll love showing you around, but you, 

Speaker: of course, the salty podcast gal, the salty banning gal. Okay. So with that, um, I like, this is the way I like to end it is saying salty, Bannon out.