oct-2017

138 139 AMERICAN CUSTOM YACHTS 58-foot demonstration yacht that tooka year to build. “It literallywent around theworld andwas shown off,” saysACY’s General Manager,DominickLaCombe,Jr. “That was our marketing strategy,to demo the boat and showtheworldwhat we could do.” Next,the partners asked him to build a slightly larger yacht,on spec.After the craft was built-another year’s work-it was also taken on tour.“The business started to pickup because peoplewere seeing our style of boat,”says LaCombe.“It was a real fast,real lightweight boat that could take on almost any sea conditions.” Custom-boat builders were commonplace at that time,with the cityof Stuart beingwell-known in the industry.But most of the companies were not known for producing vessels that were exceptionally fast, a feature that is a calling card of ACY’smeticulously hand-crafted sport-fishing boats. “Between‘90 and‘99,most boats were in the 30- knot range and theyweremade out of fiberglass,”says LaCombe.“Wewere among the first pioneers of more efficient hull designs which allowed us to gain speed and keep theweight down at the same time.” The company’s vessels are crafted using traditional, cold-molded,wooden boat-building techniques,but feature ultra-light materials,such as Kevlar,which are used in the aerospace industry.For strength,laminated wood is used for the keel,stringers,and deckbeams; fi- berglass and Kevlar-laminated plywood are utilized for hulls and structural bulkheads.The Kevlar,a polymer stronger than fiberglass,is the secret to each craft’s light weight and high speed. “The niche that we hadwas a qualitybuilt boat from start to finish,”LaCombeexplains.“The ideabehindour boats is totake,fromthe tiniestpieceofwoodonthekeel, all thewayuptoanythingontheboat,andbuild it from scratchandto fabricate it righthere inour facility.” Asmore orders were received,ACY found that it had outgrown its facilities,so the company shifted opera- tions to a newlocation on theOkeechobeeWaterway, with easyaccess to theAtlanticOcean and the Gulf of Mexico.Themove also facilitated an update to the company’s businessmodel to include repairs,repower- ing,and refitting,complete painting services,and storage for more than 300 vessels. “The idea therewas it’s nice to build the boats and it’s great to love our name and our reputation,but being on thewater allowed us to service the fleet,” LaCombe offers.“The nature of the business went that waybecause boats require a lot of service andmain- tenance,especiallyawooden boat.The ideawas to service our fleet and then to service other boats and it didn’t matter if the boats weremade of fiberglass, wood,or metal.We have the abilityhere to fixand re- pair or upgrade any style of boat or any type of materi- al a boat is built out of.” ACY’s 63-acre campus also includes two subsidiar- ies,Bausch-AmericanTowers,which builds aluminum sport-fish towers,custom-molded lightweight hard tops,and accessories; andVenture byAmerican,which builds handcrafted,luxury,center-console boats. From its humble beginnings,the companyhas grown to 95 employees and, over time,service and repair has replaced yacht building as the dominant