The Hudson man says a voyage from New York to Bermuda and back gave him credibility.

Ralph Brown plans to take his 21-foot flats boat to Germany, accompanied by his brother Robert.

Ralph Brown, a Hudson boatmaker, takes his boat for a run in the Gulf outside of Hudson. Brown holds the Guinness World Record for having made "the longest nonstop ocean voyage in a flats boat." [Mike Pease | Times

HUDSON - Six months ago, boat builder Ralph Brown and his brother, Bob, embarked on a risky publicity stunt: An oceanic journey from New York to Bermuda and back, in one of Ralph's 21-foot flats boats.

They made the trip and returned home with stories of big waves and a whale and a sense of having accomplished their mission of proving the vessel's seaworthiness.

So what happened next?

Since his trip, Ralph Brown's Dream Boats has sold only three boats the cost of his vessels range from $10,000 to $30,000 though he says he has received 400 requests for information from people all overthe country.

"I didn't expect people to start coming in and buying boats from me," he said. "The trip did pretty much everything I wanted it to. It gave us credibility."

Credibility, he says, with potential investors. Brown said he's trying to raise $5-million in private investments and eventually go public. Once the company goes public, he wants to raise $15-million. Since the trip, he's raised about $50,000.

Taking the kind of risk he did "shows you're serious," said Brown, 48. "It's not a midlife crisis thing you're just dabbling in."

Dream Boats is now located on a 11/2-acre boat yard that he leases in Hudson, and Brown usually has no more than two people working for him. But if he raises the money he's talking about raising, Brown wants to buy a larger property where he'll have crews building thousands of boats a year.

Ralph Brown traveled by boat from New York to Bermuda and back. [Mike Pease | Times

Last week, Brown got some good news: He's in the Guinness World Records book for having made "the longest nonstop ocean voyage in a flats boat." The famous records keeping organization used the Browns' slightly longer two-day return voyage - 774 miles - from St. Georges, Bermuda, to New York.

Brown, who still does part-time work as a financial planner, said he's working 60 or 70 hours a week, sometimes until midnight.

"I'm excited," he said. "I've got way more to do than I've got time."

Jodie Tillman can be reached at jtillman@sptimes.com or (727) 869-6247.

For more information, visit the Dream Boats' Web site: http://www.dreamboats.net/

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For information, visit the Dream Boats' Web site www.dreamboats.net.

[Last modified November 9, 2007, 22:30:37]