The Un-Tug: TT35 Campaign Emphasizes Clean Lines, Performance and Off-the-Grid Design

Marketing Campaign for TT35 To Showcase Differences
Please do not take this the wrong way. We are not badmouthing the folks at Ranger Tug and Cutwater. We launched a new trailerable trawler a few years ago called the TT35, and its biggest competitors happen to be Ranger and Cutwater. As boatbuilders go, this is a very successful factory. They keep their production numbers close to the vest, but they are easily building more than 100 boats a year.

We are launching a marketing campaign for the TT35 whose goal is to convince anyone in the market for a trailerable trawler to take a look at our candidate, too. We want to communicate the features that distinguish the TT35 from that competition, and that may require references to Ranger. Again, we are coming at this from the point of view that while we admire Ranger as a successful product, we want potential customers to know there are ways in which the TT35 may be a better cruising boat.

Back in the 1960s and 70s when we began to import sailboats from Hong Kong and Taiwan, we admired the space-saving cleverness of the Chinese craftsmen. Tables would hinge down and fold open for dinner then go back to their stored, upright position against a bulkhead. Doors did double duty, creating different spaces depending on their latched position. Things like that.

Ranger has a reputation for taking these concepts and running with them. Great Harbour also pays homage to the Chinese, but in a more restrained fashion. In terms of Swiss Army Knives, we prefer to be the model with 14 functions rather than the 32. More to the point, our engineering focuses on basic stuff, like having a super-strong, lightweight hull and a perfect power combo of widely spaced 60 hp. outboards. The resulting efficiency is eye-opening.

We would invite trailerable trawler customers to test ride one of ours and one of theirs. Try maneuvering around a tight marina in both boats without using thrusters. Then get outside and run at wide-open throttle and see which boat rides at perfect trim, even though it does not have and does not need trim tabs.

Then there’s the matter of looks. The TT35 has a look that’s consistent with that of our full-displacement trawler line. If you don’t like that look, and there are those that don’t…well…nothing can be done. However, we do think our look is clean and simple, without all the stainless-steel bric-a-brac that characterizes those Swiss knives.

If we may make one mild dig at the expense of our Ranger friends, it is this: We understand that tugs have smokestacks, and you are not the only tug-style vessel with a faux stack. And a curved glass windshield can be pretty cool, too, but they’re not very tuggy. So, when you combine the fake stack with the curved glass, isn’t that a lot like wearing a striped tie against plaid shirt?
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Another good reason to look at the TT35 is your time. You won’t have to wait six months to get your new boat. We’ve got one in stock, ready to cruise in the morning, at our factory in Gainesville, Florida.