Boat makers diversify to stay afloat

HOPE FLOATS: LaserPerformance employee Joel Furtado patches a “flying junior” at the Portsmouth company. The firm is in the process of hiring 15 full-time employees for a new production line. / PBN PHOTO/KATE WHITNEY LUCEY
HOPE FLOATS: LaserPerformance employee Joel Furtado patches a “flying junior” at the Portsmouth company. The firm is in the process of hiring 15 full-time employees for a new production line. / PBN PHOTO/KATE WHITNEY LUCEY

Even if demand for yachts never returns to where it was before the recession, manufacturers and craftsmen will still be making boats in Rhode Island.
The centuries-old recreational marine industry centered in the East Bay is smaller than it was a decade ago, but is evolving and diversifying as companies position themselves for the recovery.
With the economy improving, Americans have slowly begun to buy sailboats and powerboats again, and smaller, less-opulent craft appear to be leading the way.
That’s helping companies such as LaserPerformance in Portsmouth, which makes fiberglass sailing dinghies and is in the process of moving production of foils (centerboards and rudders) from China back to the Ocean State.
LaserPerformance is hiring 15 new full-time employees, plus six part time, by the end of the year to operate the new production line, said company Chairman Bill Crane. Next year the company plans to bring production of racks for its boats in-house, which could add another four workers.
Formerly known as Vanguard, LaserPerformance makes sailboat types such as the Laser, Optimist, 420 and Sunfish, and is in the process of transitioning the method for making their hulls from an open-mold system to an “infusion,” closed-mold system similar to how the foils are made.
“We started a factory in China and realized it is so valuable we closed it and moved it to Portsmouth,” Crane said. “We wanted to make a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility for foils for our boats and for those of our competition. Strategically, we think this technology is really valuable and we should integrate it to what we are doing in the Rhode Island facility.”
In Newport, sailboat designer J/Boats Inc. has seen strong demand for its 23-foot J/70 sailboat, which is manufactured at C&C Fiberglass in Bristol, another company that has bounced back well from the recession.
C&C also makes the hulls for Hunt Yachts, a Portsmouth company that was recently acquired by the New York investment firm that owns luxury-boat maker The Hinckley Co. “It is a different industry in the sense it is not the size it was,” said Wendy Mackie, CEO of the Rhode Island Marine Trades Association. “They are running businesses looking for multiple revenue streams instead of a singular one.”
For many marine-industry companies, diversification has been central to surviving the recession and now holds the keys to growth.
In some cases, that has meant looking away from the water for revenue.
Goetz Composites, in Bristol, whose boats have included 10 America’s Cup vessels, is using its skill with carbon fiber to make architectural pieces ranging from outdoor staircases to a 40-foot-wide, spherical Christmas ornament for a customer in Oklahoma.
“Our market has changed radically, and while we are building marine stuff, the majority is now outside marine,” said Eric Goetz, chief technology officer at Goetz Composites. “It doesn’t mean we are neglecting marine, but for us the opportunities are architectural and commercial. There is a broad spectrum of people who can make use of our talents.”
This year Hall Spars and Rigging in Bristol formed Hall Composites, a nonmarine division focused on the energy, aerospace, architectural and defense industries.
Also in Bristol, Core Composites Inc. has worked on everything from the country’s first all-composite fast ferry to lightweight land vehicles, military shelters and wind-turbine blades.
“A market outside the marine trades that is a promising area is building with modern materials, composites and carbon fiber,” said Terry Nathan, president of the International Yacht Restoration School in Newport. “A lot of people learning to repair with modern materials are highly desirable outside of the marine trades. But in the marine industry you are dealing with very challenging shapes and that gives you an edge at applying those modern materials.” At IYRS, Composites Technology is one of three schools – along with the School of Boatbuilding and Marine Restoration and School of Marine Systems – designed to teach the skills necessary for work in the industry.
Yet while composites might be the newest market opportunity, Nathan said employers in the marine trades are looking less for specialist skills and more general versatility.
Nationally, boat sales began falling in 2006, even before the housing bubble burst and the country slipped into recession.
In 2005, there were just under 400,000 boats of all types sold in the United States, according to figures from Statistical Surveys Inc. of Grand Rapids, Mich., published by Bloomberg News.
Last year, there were 196,000 vessels sold and as of July, sales of boats less than 30 feet long had rebounded 13 percent from 2010, with larger boat sales increasing 9 percent, Bloomberg said.
According to statistics from the National Marine Manufacturers Association, there are 323 Rhode Island companies in boat building, component supply and dealerships, generating $508.3 million in annual sales.
At New England Boatworks in Portsmouth, which makes high-end, custom racing sailboats and luxury powerboats, partner Tom Rich said demand is still way down from where it was in 2006, and his company has had to win a higher percentage of the big jobs out there to stay busy.
“In the high-end race and powerboat market, it just seems there are a lot fewer players,” Rich said. “Places like C&C Fiberglass and J/Boats have hit a home run in smaller boats, but we have to hope our reputation and product is strong enough that we get the jobs that require our skills.”
Rich said one positive helping American boat builders is the relative weakness of the dollar compared to where it was in the boom years.
“With the dollar not as strong, the people who do want to spend money are staying home,” Rich said. “The American buyer is less likely to go overseas.” •

No posts to display