Boat builders pop up in the strangest places. Like Sedro Woolley, Washington, a town best known for logging, some farming and for being on the highway to popular recreation areas in the north Cascade Mountains.
I drove through the Skagit Valley toward Sedro Woolley, which is far enough from the interstate and its thickening band of urbanization to insulate it from sprawl, hip-to-hip shopping malls and countless residential developments with cookie-cutter homes. At least for now.
Following the two-lane road east in the valley, I wondered if anything could be more difficult than being the new guy in the brutally competitive boat-building industry, particularly considering the fierce new competition from an improving fleet of modestly priced boats coming from China.
In a blue-painted metal building along a commercial/industrial street on the edge of town, I found optimism and a new boat – the Fathom 40.
Fathom is being built by veterans in the business not stuck on the idea of building boats the same old way. Instead, they employ three-dimensional computer design work, an abundance of strong and light composites and infusion molding, all things often described as high tech, and a production-line approach to assembly.
The sum of it all is a boat that can be built quickly with fewer workers, which should reduce labor costs by half and improve Fathom’s competitive edge in the marketplace.
The Fathom 40 was designed by Gregory Marshall, a Victoria, British Columbia, naval architect, from sketches by the dreamers and doers who founded Fathom Yachts. It’s a “fast, expedition style” raised pilothouse yacht that will cruise at speeds in the mid-teens. It will have a sea-level entry through the transom and few steps inside – features sure to be important to the aging baby boomers on the verge of retirement who are the focus of every boat builder in the market.
Principals in the company are Tracy Prescott, Eric (Ric) Reid and John Greene. Together, they have accumulated decades of experience in the boating industry. All left high-level positions at Nordic Tugs about a year ago to launch Fathom Yachts.
Every component of the Fathom 40 is molded, with plugs for the molds manufactured by Janicki Industries on five-axis, computer-controlled, automatic milling machines in another Sedro Woolley factory building. Janicki does similar work for The Boeing Co. and some of its Fathom work was rescheduled because of pressing work for Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner.
This kind of tool manufacture requires a significant up-front investment in engineering and design for Fathom, but the payback comes with quick and precise assembly of boat components and equipment.
I walked through the open hull of the Fathom with Reid, who noted that molding of all features of the grid system allowed quick and precise placement of the 425hp Cummins diesel engine. The same precise computer design means that other components (a generator, mufflers, air conditioning and heating equipment, for example) can be installed by one skilled worker with a helper. The computer design is so precise and definitive that it has made one shop tool - the tape measure - almost obsolete at Fathom.
Something I liked was the creation of a space outside the engine room for installation of batteries, main switches and other electrical gear. It’s easily reached via a step down from the cockpit and the engine room is just forward, through a watertight door (with a window).
Equally attractive is a design that carriers rain from the top of the boat through channels to scuppers on the lower deck. Dripping rain no longer will leave black streaks down the sides of the boat, Reid says.
Speaking of rain: The deck, deckhouse and its roof and the flying bridge have no screws or bolts that penetrate living spaces. There will be no stained headliner or drips in strange places. Essentially, it should be watertight.
While the boat will be capable of speeds in the high teens, Prescott says most owners probably will cruise at 12 to 14 knots. He forecasts a remarkably efficient fuel burn of about 7 gallons an hour, or about 2 miles a gallon.
The price will be about $485,000. In a recent conversation with a successful yacht broker I learned that the market now considers that an “entry level” price.
Looking to faraway markets, the Fathom 40 will be built to meet European CE standards and those of the American Boat and Yacht Council (ABYC).
So, Chinese competition is real. Boats from faraway and from down the street are getting better. But Fathom is exercising a degree of sophistication and a commitment to competitive excellence that should give builders – in China and in the valley, too – something to watch out for.
Expect the first Fathom 40 to be in the water in May. Its first major public appearance will be at PassageMaker Magazine’s TrawlerFest in Poulsbo in June. And, much later, watch for a Fathom 35.