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Grand Banks Yachts, Ltd.

Overview:
Grand Banks Yachts, Ltd., manufactures and sells luxury yachts worldwide. It offers its yachts in three series: Heritage, Eastbay, and Aleutian. The company was founded in 1956 and was formerly known as American Marine, Ltd. Grand Banks yachts are manufactured in Malaysia, while the company’s sales and marketing is based out of Seattle, Washington.

History:
Grand Banks began as American Marine, Ltd. founded by Robert J. Newton and his sons John and Whit in 1956. At their boatyard in Hong Kong they built heavy sailboats and big motor yachts designed by the worlds top marine architects – Sparkman & Stephens, William Garden, Nat Herreshoff and Ray Hunt as well as others. In 1962, Kenneth Smith, another well-known marine architect, designed Spray – a 36-foot diesel powered cruising boat. A year later the Newton’s left custom yacht building to focus on producing the first of a line of boats that would come to be known as Grand Banks. Today, this design is recognized around the world as the Grand Banks Heritage Series, a design built first of wood and then, beginning in 1973, of fiberglass.

In 1993, Grand Banks took another traditional boat design – the lobster boat or “Downeast” cruiser – and launched the Eastbay Series, designed by Ray Hunt. In 2001, the company launched the Aleutian Series, its largest and most luxurious series to date.

Milestones:
1956: Company founded as American Marine Ltd. in Hong Kong by Robert J. Newton and his sons, John and Whit.

1962: Kenneth Smith commissioned to design Spray, forerunner to the GB36.

1964: Launch of GB36-001. Grand Banks would eventually build 1,141 GB36s before retiring the model in 2003.

1965: Launch of GB42-001. More than 1,560 GB42s were built before the model was retired in 2005.

1969: GB32-138 is the first Grand Banks built in the new factory in Jurong, Singapore.

1973: GB36-366 marks the first time a Grand Banks yacht is built using fiberglass construction.

1974: Hong Kong yard closed as Grand Banks ends production of wood-hull yachts.

1975: Company acquired by new management team, headed by Chairman and CEO Robert W. Livingston.

1984: Launch of GB 46-001, of which nearly 300 have been sold around the world.

1987: Company is first traded publicly on the Singapore Stock Exchange. GB42-1000 launched on April 27.

1993: Grand Banks launches the 38 Eastbay EX, first of the C.R. Hunt-designed Eastbay Series. Grand Banks eventually added several new Eastbay models in lengths up to 58 feet.

1995: Grand Banks opens new boatyard in Pasir Gudang, Malaysia, with over 100,000 square feet of space on the factory floor.

1999: Grand Banks moves Singapore plant from Jurong to Loyang Crescent.

2001: The raised-pilothouse Aleutian Series makes its debut with the 64RP. Over the next four years the Series is expanded to include the 72RP and 59RP models.

2005: Grand Banks delivers its final Heritage 42 model, GB42-1560 – the last of what many consider the most popular production cruising yacht in history.

2005: Grand Banks launches the first of its next-generation Heritage Series, the 47 Heritage EU.

2006: Grand Banks Yachts marks its 50-year anniversary.

2008: Grand Banks debuted the new 41 Heritage EU model, featuring the new Cummins MerCruiser Diesel Zeus propulsion system.

2009: After serving 35 years as the company's CEO, Robert W. Livingston retires. Robert W. Livingston II was selected to assume the role as the company's new CEO.

References:
The Making of a Grand Banks CEO Retires Company Profile Grand Tour and 50-year Anniversary

Links/Resources
Grand Banks Yachts Website