The Bespoke Arbitrage

If you want to make a terrible financial decision, call a boutique naval architect and commission a custom boat.

You will spend three years agonizing over CAD drawings, you will blow past your budget by at least 40%, and the second your masterpiece touches the water, it will suffer a catastrophic depreciation drop. Why? Because the mass market is terrified of the unknown. Buyers want the safety of a recognizable badge—a Sea Ray, a Tiara, a Hinckley. When they see …