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The Northwest family tree of boatbuilders shared information
among themselves. Earle Wakefield had a boatbuilding school and explained
flat-stock construction to the Rusts, who developed cored flat panels that
enabled them to construct variable-size molds. They provided parts and hulls of
all sizes to all Northwest builders. Earle’s son Daryl started Admiral Marine
and built Sarin’s 87-foot Crazy Horse using cored panels and a hint of
what was to evolve into vacuum-bag techniques.
While the majority of the world’s builders left wood behind for
metal, Boeing’s nearby research and development department reaped the benefits.
By the sixties, hydroplanes and water skis were fiberglass and the 747 explored
composites. Boeing engineers brought technology home on the weekends for
modifications to their own boats. Innovation spread swiftly. In Canada, George
and Doug McQueen abandoned their wooden wedge-seamed 90-footers and started
building in composite with Ed Monk’s designs.
When ShowBoats appeared, the Northwest was a thriving
big-boat producer with Westport Shipyard, Nordlund, Delta Marine, West Bay
SonShip, Vic Franck, McQueen Yachts and Jones-Goodell—all family-driven yards
convinced that fiberglass held their future. "Big boats" were anything over 80
feet, and while the region already was building its reputation as a mecca for
fiberglass construction, remnants of the commercial fishing industry nagged at
the recreational market.
By the eighties, Boeing’s Advanced Composite Development
Program spread the wealth of composite technology. The Rusts’ Venus Impregnator
automated the lay-up process, while Delta Marine’s Jack and Ivor Jones launched
the solid-laminate Zopilote for Bruce Kessler. The Steve Seaton design
was modeled after Delta’s successful commercial fishing profiles.
Top: Westport’s facility is a marvel of production efficiency. Middle: Royal Oak and Picante were Christensen’s first megayachts. Bottom: Delta’s Gran Finale used Rhino Design for its composite structure. (Click images to enlarge)
"It was the first of a half-dozen similar builds for Delta,
until [the company] shifted to a more rakish semi-displacement design like
127-foot P’zazz," recalled Kessler. "Even then, Delta retained
solid-laminate bottoms."
"In 1985," pointed out Johannsen, "among the few holdouts still
not convinced about the merits of composite coring, Delta Marine did not freely
share information. [The company] stayed with solid laminate fishing style boats
until Jay Minor, now chief Delta naval architect, convinced them to develop
cored techniques."
Through the booming nineties, the Pacific Northwest capitalized
on its reputation as an innovator in composite construction. It also solidified
its position as a great location for building a boat, with some of the world’s
finest cruising grounds at its doorstep and a cooperative community of building
specialists within the region.
Bud LeMieux, Delta’s production manager of 25 years, formed
Northern Marine and built Spirit of Zopilote for Kessler. The company
built Seaton-style fishing boats and cruisers up to 150 feet.
Meanwhile, Dave Christensen, who in the seventies built an Ed
Monk Jr. design with Jones-Goodell tooling, ended up producing adjustable molds
and worked with the Rusts. He got the idea for a state-of-the-art mezzanine
styled facility to offer semi-production yachts up to 160 feet with variable
mold production. Christensen Shipyards has produced 35 composite megayachts and
is opening a Tennessee facility to build 225-foot boats. It is the first company
to move outside the region.
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