Morning Folks,
We wanted to give everyone the intent on the Cougar FTD with the Hybrid 203 hull. As many here know we developed this over a decade ago and it took a long time for us to tweak and gain the hole shot, and performance, we wanted. We took it in and out of R&D over a long term, eventually we finished the project with suitable performance and had a decision to make. Many here have heard the story of our purchasing a desert owned 1998 203, well pre-recession, with a 250 XS Mercury at the time.
We finally brought it out a couple of years ago after discussing it with loyalist in the Champion group, at the TOC for Champion owners, and then Bass Cat owners. Yes, we did sponsor that those last several years, in the post Champion offering from Flippin, that’s another story. We took the original prototype there, which Matt has, and allowed everyone to ride in the boat. The comparisons have been shared and we did our best to bring the original hull into todays weights, trolling options, jack plates and engines, with a blend of performance on our frame. Thus the “Hybrid 203” was born.
Today the game changed for us in 2022, as we finished development of a 12 year concept of the STS hulls. First was the 22’ plus Jaguar STS in 2020, then the Puma STS in 2022, and today the much shorter running surface of the Caracal STS. The arrival of the Puma STS has directly impacted other models and the popularity was huge right out of the gate in 2021. With or without the CoVid outdoor influence on the marine segment, it was obviously a special product in the customers eyes. Thus we’ve built several hundred Puma STS models to date and it rivaled the Pantera II of 1988 model year, in popularity at that time. Nothing we’ve built has made such an impact since that Pantera II model, and the Sabre at that time.
This left us in a quandary, as the Puma STS a literally crushed a very popular Lynx model in new sales. It impacted the Cougar FTD as well, just not nearly as drastic and it continues to be chosen by many.
The other significant impact, of the Puma STS, is the impact on the “Hybrid 203” hull. When we first introduced it the hull was fairly strong in sales and in itself it exceeded the total number of units built by a small competitor, who are friends of mine. When 2023 ended, the “Hybrid 203” hull suffered a very similar drop in customer selection to that of the Lynx. While the Cougar FTD still remains the selection of some, including Mike Iaconelli. No doubt this showed the BCB legacy 20 1/2’ hull offers performance som still desire. While the “Hybrid 203” customer we saw make a choice between the STS and “203” versions, with the Puma STS winning out in many cases. Todays largest market for the Hybrid is the Japan market, and Touring Japanese anglers.
The hull was lobbied for internally as a platform for 2024. We felt it necessary to give each person interested, an opportunity to select this hull in 2024. Dropping this hull in 2023 would have left a myriad of opinion that is inaccurate.
We are, and were, very focused on the Hybrid 203 hull succeeding, and we do have a longer term plan for this hull platform. That’s a down road plan that is focused on a different bass market niche. That’s one where we think many loyal Champion owners will eventually upgrade down line, to a different interior and hull concept, in a newer model.
For now, the Cougar FTD is available with the “Hybrid 203” hull. If sales are similar to those in 2023, and 2022, then we will be in a position to question whether we should carry this hull going forward, as an option in the Cougar FTD platform.
Again, if we do end it’s hull life cycle, we do have a down road longer term plan to reignite it at a later date. That project is not on the R&D board at this time. And we do not know when that time frame will be in the future as there are considerable developments required and other projects ahead in line.
We wanted to be transparent with all of you on our plans for the Hybrid 203 hull, as several owners come from this group. We know there will likely be some varied opinions and emotionally charged conversations around this statement. For us it’s honestly just business and one has to realize only your loyalty kept this alive in 2024.
The Puma STS already killed a fairly fresh introduced (2017) Lynx, in 2024, which is its own hull all together and in 2021 the Lynx had its best year since introduction. The Lynx had a revised hull modification in mid 2020 to accommodate the 4 stroke engines, as it was developed to run with 2 stroke Optimax Pro XS versions. This is all strictly business and the Lynx molds were in excellent condition.
We have been very transparent with this group, and we are continuing to be as open as we can and function within the parameters we have today. Floor space has a value and building a hull every now and then won’t play well into storing molds and needing to recondition them with every build.
There you have it and we are ready for whatever each of you has to offer.
Thanks for reading this and we hope this answers all wondering the fate of the Cougar FTD and Hybrid 203 hull model.
Have a great weekend!
Rick Pierce
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Originally Posted by ssmithboats
