Any information on Jomarco Shipyard? And Bruce Roberts design?

[Windmill26]

Hi there, I'm looking at a 55 cutter built in 1987 with Architect listed as Bruce Robert - plan Sparkman & Stephens, apparently built in a yard called Jomarco in California. I can't find any information about this - does anyone know? Any comments on these designs?

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Bruce Roberts is a pretty well known and prolific designer.

BOAT PLANS, BRUCE ROBERTS BOAT PLANS, BOAT KITS, FOUNDED 1966, OFFICIAL WEB SITE 400 boat plans SAILBOAT plans POWER BOATS; powerboats; steel BOAT PLANS; aluminum boat plans; fiberglass boat plans; wood epoxy boat plans, plywood boatbuilding plans,

 

[Windmill26]

Bruce Roberts is a pretty well known and prolific designer.

BOAT PLANS, BRUCE ROBERTS BOAT PLANS, BOAT KITS, FOUNDED 1966, OFFICIAL WEB SITE 400 boat plans SAILBOAT plans POWER BOATS; powerboats; steel BOAT PLANS; aluminum boat plans; fiberglass boat plans; wood epoxy boat plans, plywood boatbuilding plans,

Thanks Scala - I can find some information on Bruce Roberts, some mixed reviews, but not sure why it then says plan Sparkman & Stephens & nothing about the yard!

 

[Sticky Fingers]

Have you got a link to this boat? I’ve got some of Bruce Roberts’ books. I’ll have a look.

 

[sarabande]

I would be very surprised if Bruce Roberts worked in any way with S&S. They were in totally different leagues, and S&S jealously guard the IP of all their boats. I have a 32ft S&S from the 1970s, and S&S will not let me have even a layout plan with which to make a boat manual.

SailboatData.com - sailboat designs of Sparkman & Stephens by year

Try looking at 55ft boats in the above link. It is not impossible for Roberts to have gained inspiration from an S&S design.

 

[KompetentKrew]

Hi there, I'm looking at a 55 cutter built in 1987 with Architect listed as Bruce Robert - plan Sparkman & Stephens, apparently built in a yard called Jomarco in California. I can't find any information about this - does anyone know? Any comments on these designs?

There are two naval architects using the Bruce Roberts name.

My recollection is that Bruce Roberts sold his half of the business to his partner and then subsequently took umbrage that the company was still using the name or selling his designs. He regards this company as engaging in copyright "piracy" and won't help owners of boats made to their plans.

More here: Pirated Bruce Roberts Boat Plans & Yacht Designs - Answers to Allegations

Roberts plans are marketed to home builders so, even before addressing his skills as a naval architect, their reputation is sullied by poor amateur builders.

 

[penfold]

Some history here.

In 1979, they decided to close down because they were not making any money, and sell off the molds and equipment. At the sale auction, Ed Parker, who owned P & M Worldwide, a small fiberglass laminating company in Perris, CA, purchased the 32 and 39 molds. Don Jones, who owned Jomarco, a small boatbuilding company in Santa Ana, CA, purchased the W42 and W43 molds.

The W28 molds were purchased by someone else, and he shipped those molds to Mexico, and never did build any boats from those mold. He did call me and ask me if I wanted to come to Mexico and build boats there, but I declined. I saw the hull mold years later near the highway next to a tortilla factory between Guyamas and San Carlos, Mexico. The chickens were living in the molds.

Ed laminated a few W32s and W39s, and sold them as kits. He shipped the 39 molds to Taiwan, and had a company there build two boats for him, while he and his family lived there and he supervised the construction. He had the 39s shipped back to the US, he and his family returned to the US, and eventually he sold the two boats. The yard in Taiwan eventually contracted with another company who wanted to import the 39s, so they built them and they were brought into the US as the Fairweather Mariner 39.

Don Jones built a few W42s and 43s, and the last W43 was one he kept for himself. He was also building a 55' Roberts design, and called it the Jomarco 55.

By the mid 1980s the boatbuilding business was flat, and many of the companies in Costa Mesa decided to close down. Since Ed had a large piece of property in Perris, he offered to store any molds there, if he could use them to laminate boats when he had a customer. A win-win for both his company, and the other companies that wanted to hold onto the molds instead of cutting them up. He eventually had the W42 and W43 molds there when Jomarco closed own, as well as some Columbia, Islander, Downeast, and other company molds. He even had all of my scaffolding there when I closed down my boatbuilding company in 1988.