Nautica International
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At the conclusion of Trawler Fest in Stuart, Florida, I drove south to
Ft. Lauderdale to visit some boats and people on my list of “mustsee”
companies. As the magazine continues to evolve, all of us at
PMM stay on the lookout for companies that stand out in terms of
innovation, customer service, or just plain cool products. Since there’s a story
behind so many of these marine businesses, I make it a point to visit as many
of them as my duties allow. It is one of the perks of the job.
In the quiet Ft. Lauderdale suburb town of Pembroke Pines is the 6-acre
manufacturing headquarters of Nautica International, a company that
specializes in rugged, high-quality RIBs for the pleasure boat, military, and
police markets. The company has been producing interesting variations on
the RIB theme for years, and I was excited to spend some time with
company president Debbie Young.
Debbie and her late husband, Franco Rossi, started the company in New
York in 1982, initially importing folding boats from Italy. Years ago, Rossi had
been a diver in the Italian Special Forces, so he was well acquainted with the
many small, family-owned Italian companies that produced these boats. In
1985, the couple saw their first RIB at the Genoa show and decided to move
the business into the rigid-fiberglass-hull tender market.
“We saw a niche for yacht tenders—ruggedly built, high-quality boats that
were well matched to the needs of yachtsmen,” Debbie explained. But
building fancy, exceptionally rugged boats comes at a price, and the Nautica
product line is not based on a “boats for less” philosophy.
“We’ve battled with this for years,” she continued. “But we ultimately
decided to stick with strength and rugged construction over building to a
price point.” And that approach has proven a successful business model, as
Nautica’s customer base includes many high-end
yacht builders who stop at nothing to achieve
perfection in their yachts.
In 1986, the company relocated to Miami from
Rochester, New York, and, by 1989, was in full
production, manufacturing fiberglass RIBs in the
United States. Three years ago, Nautica expanded to
a larger facility—68,000 square feet—in Pembroke
Pines, where it now has room to develop, test,
manufacture, and repair RIBs of all sizes and shapes.
And it is a very cool place to visit.
What is extremely interesting about Nautica is that
its focus on rugged boats suited to individual
requirements has essentially transformed it into a
custom boatbuilding business. While there are some
40 models of boats in Nautica’s lineup, the builders of
the yachts on which these RIBs will go have different
needs and tender requirements, so no two boats are
exactly the same. Hull colors, tube colors, extra layers
of Hypalon in high-stress areas, extra fuel tanks,
stainless-steel arches, full electronics packages...all
contribute to make each boat unique. And every
single component of each boat is handmade or
custom installed within the Nautica facility: Hypalon
tubes, hulls, upholstery, stainless-steel arches, wiring,
engine and electronics installations, and the many
available accessories. That may explain the company’s
confidence in offering a 10-year warranty.
Debbie took me around the Nautica complex to
show me the dedicated work areas where the boats come together. Her huge Neapolitan mastiff tagged
along for part of the tour. There are 80 people at
Nautica, and as we walked through the facility,
Debbie told me that when she and Franco moved
their business to Florida, many of these craftsmen
came to Nautica from a declining racing-boat
industry. This level of craftsmanship is important, as
the handmade precision that goes into each Nautica
model is a key element of its quality. The tube and
fiberglass work is flawless, and even the electrical wiring bundles inside the larger RIBs seem more
appropriate for a larger yacht than its tender!
All boat tubes are constructed of Hypalon using a
cold-glue process, and the fabric rolls I saw in the
cutting room evidently are available in all sorts of
colors. The fabric used by Nautica is a sandwich that
uses a polyester cloth as the core, with neoprene on
the interior side of the fabric, and Hypalon on the
outer surface. Patterns in the cutting room are used
to fashion the fabric into the many shapes and sizes called for. This labor-intensive
precision handwork is done by
experienced and well-trained
crafters. Every seam is double taped
both inside and out.
I was also impressed touring the
fiberglass shop where the hulls are
built. Some boats are ordered with
Kevlar, for strength and reduced
weight. And seeing a hull before
the deck is in place is quite
remarkable—the fiberglass and
marine plywood stringers in each
boat hull are serious structural
elements, making for a superior
rigid boat. Workers were building a
catamaran RIB hull when I went
through the area—a popular model
that offers a swing-down front
ramp, like one you’d find on a
landing craft. Franco came up with
this solution a while back when the
couple went boating with their five
mastiffs. It worked great, and the design has found other uses in law enforcement and
other government agency applications.
It takes five to six weeks to build an outboardpowered
RIB. And Nautica’s ability to reflect a
yacht’s style and color schemes in its RIB results in
colorful boats that closely match owner tastes, and
sets each boat apart from the others. Several larger
RIBs I saw waiting for shipment to Delta and other
yacht builders closely matched the hull and trim
color schemes of those builders’ large yachts. Even
the yacht’s name can be cut from fabric to match
the font, style, and color of the mothership’s name,
resulting in a tender like no other.
Nautica’s experience in the late ’80s and early ’90s
building boats for the U.S. Navy gave the company
the opportunity to develop strong boats capable of
operating far offshore, many of them dieselpowered.
The company later translated this
knowledge to pleasure boats and law enforcement
craft. As a result, today’s Nautica RIBs are
exceptional seaboats, far more capable than most
owners will ever require. But that’s what makes the
boats special, and the folks at Nautica are proud of
that distinction.
“Tubed boats are versatile, fast, and lightweight,”
Debbie said. And she sees enormous potential for this kind of boat beyond its use as a
simple yacht tender. (J.J. Marie of
Zodiac North America expresses a
similar sentiment, and I hope to
explore this with him in a future
article. It’s all about possibilities.)
Debbie also pointed out that a
growing number of orders are for
larger-than-customary RIBs that will
be towed behind the big boats—even
across the Gulf Stream. When the
company gets an order for a boat
that will be used in this fashion, it
reinforces the RIB accordingly, as
this use creates stress points outside
of normal usage. This practice is
becoming more popular, and it
provides a crew with a better and
larger tender for cruising. As long as
Nautica knows towing is on the
agenda, the RIB it builds will have
the capability to handle offshore
trips without fuss. It is an interesting
new twist to the dinghy issue.
Debbie Young and her business
partner, Franco Rossi Jr., are ready
for the future, while keeping up
with the growing demand for their
products. They introduce three new
models a year, it seems, and are
always ready to explore new
territory. The individual/custom
focus that is the hallmark of their
business was an evolution—being
ready to respond to what the
market needs—something a small
company can do well. They’ve kept
their eye on the ball, and it shows.
An example of the company’s
ability to innovate is a new yacht
tender that’s fully rated in the
Cayman Islands as a rescue boat—a
Nautica RIB with additional air chambers and storm cover that takes the yacht
tender to the next level of utility and service. And
the company built four 25-foot boats for the action
thriller XXX: State of the Union.
I did not realize how much went into the
construction of a quality RIB, or the many timeconsuming
and expensive details needed to make it
rugged and seaworthy. But quality is like that, and is
its own elixir, to be sure.
The people at Nautica are focused, creative, and
decidedly on the right track. And that also explains
why more than half of the new boats will involve a
pilgrimage to Pembroke Pines and custom
boatbuilding in the world of inflatables.
For more information, contact Nautica International at
954.986.1600, send an email message to
nautica@nauticaintl.com, or visit nauticaintl.com.