 | |
| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Boat building |
| Founded | 1899 |
| Founders | Myron and Charles Gurney |
| Headquarters | , United States |
Key people | President: Gordon L. Goodwin |
| Products | Sailboats |
| Website | capecodshipbuilding |
Cape Cod Shipbuilding is an American boat builder based in Wareham, Massachusetts. The company specializes in the manufacture of fiberglass sailboats. [1] [2] [3]
The company was founded by brothers Myron and Charles Gurney in 1899. [1] [2]
The company started as a wagon maker in central Wareham, constructing wagons for local businesses. With the invention of the rubber tire they began to branch out into other fields. Their plant was on the Wareham River, which provided access to Buzzards Bay and so they occasionally built skiffs for their own recreational use. A customer offered to buy one skiff that they had built, but rather than sell it, they built him a duplicate, starting them in the boat building business. [1] [2] [3]
A new company was launched in 1899 to build boats, which the brothers named the Cape Cod Power Dory Company. It built wooden sailboats and skiffs. One of their most well-known early designs was the 1925 Cape Cod Knockabout, designed by Charles Gurney. [1] [2] [3]
As the company grew they built lifeboats and an 80-foot (24-meter) launch which displaced 60 tons (54 metric tons), named Saltaire. It was the largest vessel launched to that time and the town residents came out to watch it christened and launched in the Wareham River. [1] [2]
In 1919, the new Narrows Bridge was built over the river below the plant and that restricted access to Buzzards Bay. The company was moved to a new property below the bridge, called Idlewild, which was on land owned by William Minot. The company name was changed at the time of the move to the Cape Cod Shipbuilding Corporation. The new property allowed spreading the buildings constructed out to avoid the risk of fire. Buildings were constructed for wood storage, milling, boat assembly, painting, a showroom and an office with a view over the whole operation. The company built both pleasure boats and commercial boats during this period. [1] [2] [3]
When Charles Gurney died the ownership passed to G.S. Williams and the plant entered a decline in product quality and employment dropped to one employee. The operation was purchased by Les Goodwin in 1939. Goodwin and his wife, Audrey, moved into the office to live, to turn the company around. They enlisted well-known boat designers, including Philip Rhodes and Sparkman & Stephens to produce designs for production, including the Rhodes 18 and Cape Cod Mercury 15. [1] [2] [3]
During the Second World War the company was leased to National Fireworks and was named the Wareham Shipyards to give it better access to strategic materials. It produced small tugboats, launches and smoke boats, all with drafts of under 15 ft (5 m) due to the depth of the river at the plant. The company built 40 ft (12 m) tugboats at a rate of six per month, employing over 100 people. [1] [2]
Goodwin was an engineer and inventor and created a process to make hollow, wooden sailboat masts from four pieces of wood, using water pressure. [1] [2]
Goodwin learned about fiberglass as a new boat construction material during the Second World War and started the company working with it directly after the war, in 1947, starting with models. The company became one of the first boat builders to offer commercial fiberglass boats for sail, converting the Rhodes 18 and Mercury 15 to the new material. The company was also to first to mount a lead keel on a fiberglass boat. [1] [2]
In 1947 Goodwin also purchased the exclusive rights to all the boat designs of Nathanael Greene Herreshoff. A few were developed for production and the rest sent to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for cataloguing and preservation. The company built 35 wooden Herreshoff Bull's Eyes to keep the racing fleets using this type supplied with boats. [1] [2] [3]
Goodwin developed new methods of working with fiberglass and new techniques for making one-piece hulls with bonded decks. Many of the new techniques were secret and building was confined to a new, low-ceiling plant that provided a better climate for resin curing, as well as limited access. [1] [2]
Goodwin purchased a company making aluminum masts and booms, Zephyr Spars, from Alcoa and all production was moved to Wareham. Zephyr Spars remains a division of the company and builds spars for other manufacturers, as well. [1] [2]
In 1979, Goodwin's son, Gordon L. Goodwin, became president, in time for the early 1980s recession and the downturn in the sailboat market that followed. He guided the operation into doing boat repairs and storage to keep the company afloat financially. The advent of Hurricane Bob in 1991 actually turned into a boom of boat repair work, as well as new boat orders. [1] [2]
In 1993 Gordon L. Goodwin's daughter, Wendy Goodwin, joined the business. [3]
In 1995 the company was appointed by the class association as the official builder for the Uffa Fox-designed Day Sailer. [3] [4]
In 2022 the company was producing ten designs: the Cape Cod Mercury 15, Herreshoff Bull's Eye, Herreshoff 12½, Day Sailer, Rhodes 18, Herreshoff Goldeneye, Marlin Heritage 23, Raven 25, Atlantic and the Shields. [5]
Summary of boats built by Cape Cod Shipbuilding: [1] [2]
Nathanael Greene Herreshoff was an American naval architect, mechanical engineer, and yacht design innovator. He produced a succession of undefeated America's Cup defenders between 1893 and 1920.
The Pearson Invicta is a 38-foot (12 m) sailboat designed for ocean racing. It has a fiberglass sloop with wood trim. Sailboats were once made solely of wood however, the Invicta was the first sailboat produced with a fiberglass hull to win a major ocean race, being placed second overall in the 1962 Newport to Bermuda Race. It was its first in its class and first overall. Thus permanently influencing the course of sailboat design. The Pearson Invicta was designed by noted naval architect William H. Tripp Jr and was produced by Pearson Yachts located in Bristol, Rhode Island.
The Shields, also called the Shields 30 and the Shields One-Design, is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Olin Stephens of Sparkman & Stephens as a one design racer and first built in 1962.
The Beetle Cat is an American one-design sailing dinghy that was designed by John Beetle and first built in 1921. It is a smaller adaptation of traditional Cape Cod 20 to 30 ft catboat designs originally intended for fishing in shallow waters.
A Cape Cod Knockabout, or Knockabout, is a one-design class of 18-foot (5 m) sail boat sailed primarily out of Upper Cape harbors in Massachusetts, United States.
The Herreshoff 12½ Footer is a one-design keelboat.
The Herreshoff H-26 is an American sailboat that was designed by Gordon Goodwin, Sidney Herreshoff and Halsey Chase Herreshoff as a cruiser.
The Atlantic is a one-design keelboat, designed by Starling Burgess in 1928. It is a 30-foot open-cockpit day sailer, typically used for day racing, rather than for overnight or ocean races. In the years following its design, fleets were established in several US ports along the eastern seaboard.
The Interclub Dinghy is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by Sparkman & Stephens as a one-design racer and first built in 1946. It is sailed in frostbite racing on the US east coast, particularly on Long Island Sound. Frostbite races are the series held after the normal sailing season is finished.
The Herreshoff Bull's Eye or Bullseye, is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff and first built in 1914.
The Cape Cod Cat, also called the Cape Cod Cat 17 and the Hermann Cat, is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Charles Whittholz as a day sailer/cruiser and first built in 1968.
The Cape Cod Mercury 15, also called the Mercury Sloop and just the Mercury, is an American trailerable sailboat and sailing dinghy, that was designed by Sparkman & Stephens and first built in 1940.
The Raven is an American trailerable, planing sailboat that was designed by Roger McAleer and first built in 1949.
The Stuart Knockabout is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed as a daysailer, by L. Francis Herreshoff and first built in 1932. The boat is L.F. Herreshoff design number 53.
The Marlin 23, also called the Marlin Heritage, is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff and A. Sidney DeWolf Herreshoff, first built in 1958.
The Rhodes 18 is an American trailerable day sailer or sailing dinghy that was designed by Philip Rhodes in 1938 and first built in 1948. It is Rhodes' design #448.
The Beverly Dinghy is an American sailing dinghy or rowboat, that was designed by A. Sidney DeWolf Herreshoff and first built in 1953. The boat can be employed as a yacht tender.
The Cape Cod Gemini is an American sailing dinghy that was designed by A. Sidney DeWolf Herreshoff as a day sailer and first built in 1955.
The Herreshoff Goldeneye is an American trailerable sailboat, designed as a day sailer and cruiser and first built in 1959. The hull lines were designed by Nathanael Greene Herreshoff and the rig by A. Sidney DeWolf Herreshoff.
The Blue Chip 30, also called the Cape Cod 30, is an American sailboat that was designed by A. Sidney DeWolf Herreshoff as a cruiser and first built in 1961.
