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Irwin Yachts

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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 fiberglass sailboats and became one of the largest producers of sailboats in the United States.[2]

Irwin Yacht & Marine Corporation
Company typePrivately held company
IndustryBoat building
Founded1966
FounderTed Irwin
Defunct1992
Headquarters
St. Petersburg, Florida
,
United States
ProductsSailboats
Number of employees
200[1]

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 Caribbean yacht charter market, including the Irwin 42, 52 and 65.[2]

History

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Ted Irwin's personal Irwin 44
 
Bruntons 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 31 ft (9.4 m) 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 12,500 sq ft (1,160 m2) factory, but expanded to 75,000 sq ft (7,000 m2) and employed more than 200 people at its peak.[1]

Typical of his cruising boats was the Irwin 41, a 41.50 ft (12.6 m) 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 50 ft (15.2 m) 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]

Ted Irwin died in Little Rock, Arkansas on 5 February 2015, from multiple myeloma, at age 74.[4]

Boats

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Irwin 30 Citation

Summary of boats built by Irwin Yachts:[2]

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b c d e Gammon, Gene. "The Ted Irwin Story". irwinyachts.com. Archived from the original on 18 June 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Irwin Yachts". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 18 October 2018. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  3. ^ McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Ted Irwin". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 18 May 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  4. ^ a b c d Vileno, Paul (2015). "In Memory of Ted Irwin 1940-2015". irwinyachts.com. Archived from the original on 18 June 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Gammon, Gene. "The Irwin Story". irwinyachts.com. Archived from the original on 12 August 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  6. ^ McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Irwin 27 sailboat". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 22 October 2018. Retrieved 9 May 2020.
  7. ^ McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Irwin 41 sailboat". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 19 May 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  8. ^ Sherwood, Richard M.: A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition, pages 364-365. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. ISBN 0-395-65239-1
  9. ^ McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Irwin 41 Citation sailboat specifications and details". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 19 May 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  10. ^ Marston, Red (2 December 1984). "The Ted Irwin Story". St Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on 18 June 2019. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  11. ^ McArthur, Bruce (2020). "Endeavour Yacht Corp. (USA)". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 19 February 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
  12. ^ "The History of the Endeavour Yacht Corporation and Endeavour Sailboats". The Endeavour Owners Group. 2019. Archived from the original on 6 April 2020. Retrieved 7 May 2020.
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