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Over two decades, Northwest companies grew to produce boats up
to 240 feet. Infusion technology revolutionized Northwest yards with cleaner,
more efficient facilities and lighter, stronger and more cost-effective
productions. Christensen, Northern and Nordlund are all infused, while Delta,
which built the 240-foot Laurel from a steel hull, uses composites and
metal for larger projects.
Westport, sold by the Rusts to Orin Edson (founder of Bayliner
Marine) and run by Daryl Wakefield, is the region’s leading producer up to 164
feet, having revolutionized the build process.
"Much of the success of the Northwest boatbuilders is due to
repeat business," explained Wakefield. "Like custom builders who cater to a
client’s personal needs, Westport builds production boats with limited custom
features and welcomes back customers who return to buy larger boats from our
line."
Top: Daryl Wakefield (1990) learned boatbuilding from his father, Earle,
owned Admiral Marine and is now president of Westport Shipyard. Bottom: Spirit of Zopilote, Northern Marine’s first build, sustained a Northwest
tradition. (Click images to enlarge)
One of Westport’s greatest reasons for success has been its
reliable workforce intrinsic to the region and a closed-door policy to custom
builds, offering only "production" models with unchangeable hulls, decks,
superstructures and interior layouts. Edson saw the bottleneck of change orders
bog down production. The company developed multiple builds of each design with
tooling to build in series. He eliminated the trial and error of hand
fabrication associated with excess man-hours rampant in the industry and
developed tooling, patterns and streamlined custom techniques on a production
schedule by investing in the up-front costs of early design, infrastructure and
engineering. Westport’s technique has a 164-footer launched in 18 months,
130-footers in 14 months and 112-footers in nine months—an unheard of
efficiency.
In the worldwide boatbuilding scheme, materials are often the
same, but labor drives success. Building follows lower labor costs. In the
talent-laden Pacific Northwest, where leading builders and designers (Greg
Marshall, Monk, Sarin, Bill Garden, Glade Johnson, Joe Artese and more) make
their home, the climate for high-tech innovation is renowned.
William Roeseler from Boeing’s Advanced Composite Center
witnessed the aerospace industry’s engineering of carbon-fiber composites
trickle from Boeing’s weekend boaters to propel the high-tech megayacht
industry. Janicki, a tooling manufacturer from the aerospace industry, supplies
builders with accurate tooling from a five-axis mill and is thriving in this
rarefied atmosphere of high-tech creativity. McNeel and Associates’ Rhinoceros
3-D modeling software allows designers to build from the plans and caters to the
marine industry’s need for accurate, buildable computer designs in a world of
truly curved surfaces. Satisfying design needs for naval architects from Royal
Huisman, Delta and America’s Cup Oracle Racing, Rhino’s very first version went
to designer Ed Monk, who was instrumental in developing its marine
interface.
"Without that spirit of cooperation in the early years and
today’s high-tech support, our region would struggle to compete," explained
Monk.
Competition comes from many directions including Asia, and
Flattery is now the gateway to the Far East, where the emerging marine industry
has numerous joint projects originating in the Seattle area. The region’s marine
community is again adapting to change. Many in the Northwest megayacht industry
have flourished over the past 25 years and owe a great deal to those regional
pioneering boaters before them. Most recognize that family played a role in
their business success and that, in the early years, industry teamwork gave them
an edge. While camaraderie still bonds the nucleus of the local marine
community, it’s no longer about personal builds for owners. Today’s market is
huge, and the demands of the world stage don’t allow handshake deals and family
builders to join each client for an Inside Passage cruise.
"Technology is not shared the way it once was," cited
Johannsen. "It has matured in the information age and hand-holding through
techniques is no longer needed. The spirit of builder as artist and craftsman,
even high-tech as it seems, has given way to a new business model."
Still, even in today’s "money talks" world, clients recognize
that the Pacific Northwest boatbuilding community preserves a lineage where each
build is an investment in a cherished local heritage. This sense of place, where
Northwest families launched an industry, remains a thriving center to new
pioneers of the megayacht world.
Neil Rabinowitz is a renowned yachting photojournalist based in the Pacific
Northwest.
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