Irwin Yacht and Marine Corporation, often just called Irwin Yachts, was an American boat builder based in St. Petersburg, Florida. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of fiberglasssailboats and became one of the largest producers of sailboats in the United States.[2]
The company was founded by Ted Irwin (June 28, 1940 – February 5, 2015) in 1966 and went through a succession of bankruptcies and subsequent name changes, before finally closing in 1992. The company produced more than 6,000 boats.[2][3][4]
Ted Irwin was a competitive sailboat racer, but the company built many of their boats specifically for the cruising market. Many designs were aimed at the Caribbeanyacht charter market, including the Irwin 42, 52 and 65.[2]
History
Ted Irwin's personal Irwin 44Bruntons Autoprop fitted to an Irwin 44
Irwin was born in Elizabeth, New Jersey in 1940 and developed a passion for sailing at an early age. He built his own Moth and went on to sail it to win the class North American and world championships. He served in the US Coast Guard and also worked for Charley Morgan at Morgan Yachts as a draftsman, illustrator and boat builder. He commenced his first design, the 31ft (9.4m)Voodoo in 1963, a boat that took six months to complete. He raced the boat from 1964 to 1966 and won 24 of the 28 races that he competed in.[4][5][1]
Irwin founded his own company, Irwin Yacht & Marine Corporation, in 1966. He ran the company and was also the chief designer. The first design produced was the Irwin 27, in 1967.[2][4][5][1][6]
To control costs, Irwin bought his supplies in large lots and also owned his factory and the land it was located upon, as well as the production tooling. He also produced everything possible in-house, from the boats' masts, right down to the marketing brochures.[5]
The company started out with a 12,500sqft (1,160m2) factory, but expanded to 75,000sqft (7,000m2) and employed more than 200 people at its peak.[1]
Typical of his cruising boats was the Irwin 41, a 41.50ft (12.6m) blue-water cruiser introduced in 1982.[7][8]
In the 1980s, Irwin designed a series of racing boats, all named Razzle Dazzle, that he raced in the Southern Ocean Racing Conference (SORC) in Florida. His 1982 Razzle Dazzle was sold after winning the SORC that year, but the design was the basis for the Irwin 41 Citation, of which four boats were completed. Many years he sold his winning boats, which fetched high prices, using the funds and lessons learned to design better boats for subsequent years.[9][10]
Irwin encouraged other builders, even when they became competitors. In 1974 he traded the molds for the 1970 model Irwin 32 in exchange for a small number of shares in the fledgling Endeavour Yacht Corporation to get founders John Brooks and Rob Valdes started in the boat building business.[11][12]
The company built more cruising sailboats with a length overall of greater than 50ft (15.2m) than any other company worldwide, with more than 300 of the Irwin 52, 54, 65 and 68 models completed. Irwin Yacht & Marine closed in 1992 for the final time.[1][2]
C&C Yachts was a builder of high-performance fiberglass monohull sailboats with production facilities in Canada, Germany, and the United States. C&C designed and constructed a full range of production line cruiser-racer boats, as well as custom one-off and short production run racing and cruising boats. C&C boats ranged in size from as small as 21 ft (6.4 m) to as large as 67 ft (20.4 m). C&C also produced a line of bluewater cruising boats in the 35 ft (10.7 m) to 48 ft (14.6 m) range under its Landfall brand. In addition, C&C designed sailboats for production by a number of other manufacturers such as CS Yachts, Mirage Yachts, Northern Yachts, Ontario Yachts, Paceship Yachts, and Tanzer Industries.
The C&C 27 is a family of Canadian sailboats, that was designed by Robert W. Ball and first built in 1970. The design is out of production.
The Redline 41 is a series of sailboat designs, first built in 1967 and that remained in production in 2017. The first two designs were by Cuthbertson & Cassian and the more recent one by Mark Mills.
The Landfall 42 is a sailboat that was designed by C&C Design and first built in 1976. The Landfall 42 was built principally for the charter trade, to compete with Morgan, Irwin, and Whitby's models, and gained some popularity as a charter boat in the Caribbean. The Landfall 42 was the first example of a trend within C&C Yachts toward more cruising-oriented designs under company president George Cuthbertson's direction, a trend continued with an expansion of the Landfall series during the later 1970s and early 1980s.
The Columbia 40 is an American sailboat that was designed by Charles Morgan as a racer-cruiser and first built in 1964.
The Endeavour 37 is an American sailboat that was designed by Dennis Robbins as racer-cruiser and first built in 1977.
The Endeavour 40 is an American sailboat that was designed by Robert K. Johnson as a cruiser and first built in 1981.
The Endeavour Yacht Corporation was an American boat builder based in Largo, Florida. Founded in 1974 by John Brooks and Rob Valdes, the company specialized in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats. The company went out of business in 1986. It was bought by Bob Vincent and built sailing Cats and Power Cats from 36' to 48' until his passing in 2019. The boats are in very active owners groups.
The Lord Nelson 41 is an American sailboat that was designed by Loren Hart as a cruiser and first built in 1982.
The Newport 41 is a family of American sailboats that was designed by C&C Design as International Offshore Rule (IOR) racer-cruisers and first built in about 1972.
The Irwin 41 is an American sailboat that was designed by Ted Irwin as a cruiser and first built in 1982.
The Irwin 41 Citation is an American sailboat that was designed by Ted Irwin as a racer and first built in 1982. The design was bases on a custom boat designed by Irwin, named Razzle Dazzle, which won the Southern Ocean Racing Conference (SORC) in 1982.
The Irwin 27 is an American sailboat that was designed by Ted Irwin as a cruiser and first built in 1967.
The Scampi 30 is a family of Swedish sailboats that was designed by Peter Norlin as an International Offshore Rule (IOR) Half Ton class cruiser-racer and first built in 1970. The design was Norlin's first and proved to be both a sail racing and commercial success.
The Irwin 10/4 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Ted Irwin and Walter Scott as a cruiser and first built in 1975.
The Irwin 23 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Ted Irwin as a cruiser and first built in 1968.
The Irwin 25 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Ted Irwin as a cruiser and first built in 1969.
The Lancer 25 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by W. Shad Turner as a cruiser and first built in 1975.
The Irwin 30 Citation is an American sailboat that was designed by Ted Irwin as a cruiser and first built in 1977.
McCurdy & Rhodes is an American naval architecture design firm, originally based in Cold Spring Harbor, New York and now located in nearby Oyster Bay, New York. The company specializes in the design of fiberglass sailboats.
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