Two East Coast Canadian Boat Builders
BY GLEN CAIRNS
IN THE RECREATIONAL BOAT BUSINESS, going after the
volume market means a large capital investment in design,
engineering, plant and material, to say nothing of a large scale
marketing campaign. At the other end of the market are small
specialty builders and designers. One advantage the small
builder has is low entry-level cost, but this also makes for a
large number of competitors chasing a relatively small number
of customers. So how do you stand out from the crowd and
reach potential customers?
boatbuilding industry hard. Builders confront a market saturated with product left over from the boom years of the 70s
and 80s as well thousands of nearly new inventory boats.
Enter the “Classic” design. Unlike much of the product
mentioned above, these designs, while updated for modern
construction techniques, have been shown to hold their value.
This is important since today’s construction costs make even a
small project fairly expensive. In this article, we’ll look at two
men who have carved out a high profile for themselves in their
niche markets.
Paul Gartside
Growing up on a family owned boatyard in
Cornwall, England, Paul Gartside has a love of
boats in his blood. Indeed, Paul’s first boatbuilding project was a 24’ William Atkin-designed schooner, which he built while still
in his teens. After completing his yacht design
studies in Southampton, Paul headed north to
work for the famous Scottish yard, McGruers.
While there, he was able to participate in
wooden yacht building at its finest. McGruers
was followed by a stint with Holman & Pye –
well-know designers of cruising and racing
yachts where Paul was able to hone his design
skills. Although he had plenty of opportunity
to sail aboard some of the most modern racing
yachts, Paul realized his heart was not in racing, or in designing the latest rule beater. Early
on Paul knew he had to make it on his own
and that he was, in his words “not really
employee material”.
In 1982, the whole Gartside family decided
to move to Canada’s west coast. It is never easy
to start new without contacts, especially in a
new country; in their early days in BC, the
Gartsides were greatly helped by commissions
from the well-known designer, William
Garden. Garden’s high profile and reputation
provided Paul and his father credibility with
potential clients.
