Islander 36 Association

It was my original intent to learn about the Islander Yacht Corporation. Such as all the sizes of boats manufactured, numbers of boats built in each size, dates of production, naval architect and anything else of interest to an Islander Yacht owner.

I have talked to many people who were connected with the Corporation through the years and learned smiggins of information. But in reality, not very much for the simple reason it has been eighteen years the Islander Corp closed it’s doors and everyone involved have gone on to other endeavors and interests and have long forgotten their involvement.

I have edited lots of material from many sources.

From Justin Thompson of Sail Info, Bellview WA. The McGlasson was the original Corporation, then Wayfarer Yachts and finally Islander. In 1968, Wayfarer sold Islander to Cosmodyne Inc. for over a million dollars. In 1971 Cosmodyne Inc. sold Islander to Radlon, Inc. No idea if Radlon, Inc was the parent at Islander Yachts bankruptcy in 1986.

The following from Ralph Brown;

McGlasson went into bankruptcy sometime prior to 1963 and Ralph Brown and Ben Kanter, in Southern California bought the McGlasson corporation out of bamkruptcy for $10,000.00 in late 1963, changed the name to Wayfarer Yachts(?) in the middle 1960’s and sold it in 1967. Cosmodyne Inc becoming the "parent" at this time..

During this period they produced the I21, the I24, I24B and bought Excalibur from Tom Pearson and Joe McGlasson built the I29. Joe designed all these boats, He built the molds in his backyard and Islander made the plugs.

The Islander 37 was built during The Wayfarer period.

The I33 (which is an I32 with a flush deck) was built prior to the I29.

We bought the molds of the Lapworth44, built 1, Then it became the I44 and built 10.

From Jim Gravelyn’s web-site about all the Islander yachts the following was originally gleaned.. Webmaster is now ; Brain Soderberg of Islandersailboats.com

Brain.soderberg@islandersailboats.com

He is an I28 owner.

This is a very good web-site about all the Islander Yachts.

In the mid 1950’s Joseph McGlasson (died 1993) designed and built a 24foot wooden sailboat, the "Catalina Islander". In 1961 approached Glas Laminates to help him produce this 24 footer in fiberglass. The mold carried the lines of the planks of the wooden 24 and became the signature feature of the Islander 24 and other Islander models later. In 1962 Glas Laminates and Joseph McGlasson went their separate ways. Glas Laminates changing their name to Columbia Sailboats and introduced their Columbia 29. Joseph with his McGlasson Boat Co. introduced the Islander 32. The breakup was not amicable. But if you see an Islander24 sitting next to a Columbia 24, Columbia Contender 24 or a Columbia Challenger 24 you will se identical boats except for the hull planking lines removed. You might understand the animosity Joseph felt toward Columbia. That’s a little Columbia history thrown in.

As an aside, Along with McGlasson & Columbia building fiberglass boats in Costa Mesa, Ca. Jensen Marine was building the Lapworth designed Cal 24.

Then Westsail began building the Westsail 32 heavy displacement cruising sailboat. So at this point in time, Costa mesa had to be the fiberglass capital of the world.

By 1963, the McGlasson Sailboat Co.was incorporated as the Wayfarer Yacht Corp. with McGlasson as principal owner and designer. Wayfarer was bought by a Ralph Brown sometime in the mid 1960’s. And in 1967 we start seeing the name Islander Yachts with the white "swoosh" sail in the black rectangle for a logo.

Ralph Brown had a friend in the marketing department of Airstream Trailer(in Mexico).

This friend did all the advertising design for Islander. One of his creations was "our" logo the "swoosh". Ralph Brown said: "We gave him a boat for his work".

In 1968 Wayfarer sold Islander Yachts to Cosmodyne, Inc. A relationship that lasted only three years. In 1971,Cosmodyne sold Islander yachts to Radlon Inc.

The last formal ownership that Jim knows of.

As a subsidiary Islander sold kit boats under the name of Yachtcraft.Ed Carter, an owner of a Yachtcraft Islander 37, says the kit boats were generally discontinued models, constructed in the same place that current models were constructed and by the same workers. The Islander 36 replaced the Islander 37.

At some point in the early 1970’s, Tradewinds Marine, also of Costa Mesa bought the molds for Bruce King’s design of the Islander 55.

Nordic Yachts(see later comments about Nordic) & Mariner Yacht Co. fit in to picture somewhere. The Islander 48 supposedly began life as an east coast built Mariner 47. Then there is a person who owns what looks like an Islander 32, has I32 specifications, Islander 32 manuals but his title has "Iona" and the hull number is not an Islander hull number.

The end is even hazier, in 1984, production was moved to Costa Rica and the Islander Yachts Inc. closed its doors 28 ^th May,1986.

The listed last Company Officer was Mr. Ken Smith.

This was along with many other sailboat manufacturers, Cal, Pearson,Gulfstar, Endeavor, Irwin, Morgan, Cape Dory, Bristol & Tartan. Caused by the combination of high resin costs and the 10% Luxury tax on new boats in 1986.

Joan Richards, founder of Odyessey Sail in Costa Mesa, talked to Bill Lapworth which brought forth no information. She spent considerable time and effort thinking of names for me to call and spending much time on the phone herself trying to learn about people of the Islander Yacht Corp. She is responsible for several of the name’s listed below.

A letter to Frank Butler of Catalina Yachts had the same "no information" results. We had been led to believe he had purchased many of the files of the bankrupt corporation.

We have been told that the files after the auction were probably tossed in a dumpster and now lay buried under twelve years of landfill. But according to Don Wilson (Islander Dealer in SFO Bay), Fuqua Industries, Inc. bought all the files and put them in storage somewhere. Fuqua Industries, changed its name to Actava Group, Inc. and was subsequently combined to form Metromedia International Group, Inc of East Rutherford NJ. At one time did make the "Snapper" lawn mower. They also make boat trailers, Ked shoes and athletic clothing. We have never had a resopose from Metromedia or Fuqua.

Svendsen’s Boatworks in Alameda was a major commissioning yard for the SFO Bay area.

The best source for the Islander 36 files may have been with Mr. Luke Chang, San Grabiel, CA. He was the treasurer of Newport Offshore Yachts, the company purchased the molds for the I36 in approximately 1986.

The company’s phone and Mr. Chang’s home phone are disconnected when we tried to call in January 1997 with no new number given.

What we do know, construction of the Islander yachts was in Irvine, California.

The original name was the McGlasson Boat Co. then the Wayfarer Marine prior to becoming the Islander Yacht Corp. This would have been in the 1960’s.

In Irvine California, the headquarters building with 30,000sf to include all engineering, purchasing, accounting, marketing, executive offices and the 70,000sfproduction area. From Ralph Brown regarding plant sizes:

The 17 ^th Street facility was a 5,000sf mold shop, exposed to the outdoors so partially finished boats were protected from the rain…"The boats were essentially built outdoors"> There was a100’ production line. In a typical week we would produce 2 to 3 I32’s, 3 I29’s, 4 I24’s, 3 i21’s and 1 I37. Most sales came from boat shows but here wa san on-site trailer for on-site retail sales.

Just met with Matt Lerner, former Director of Marketing and he has given me some more information about the Corporation.

After Wayfarer Marine, the company was sold a few times to different corporations. When Matt Lerner was there, the company was controlled by David Trumble of Newport Beach. At this time Islander was apart of Mission Marine which owned a chandlery in San Pedro and Pacemaker and Egg Harbor Yachts.

The Company did go into Chapter Eleven.

As an aside, the Ericisons, Pearson’s and Islander’s were all built in the same locale. So whenever either of the factories were slow the workforce would move from one to the other.

In 1984 or 1985 the production of boats was moved to Costa Rica and the Corporation went into bankruptcy in(closed the doors 28

They seemed to build a boat for everyone at "one foot" increments.

The bankruptcy may not be true as we have heard that someone absconded with "millions" of dollars and not because of a lack of sales of boats. Guess we will never know for sure.

Justin Thompson, Sailinfo has helped clarify much of the information below.

Justin has over 2500 plans of boats. If you are curious about a boat you can reach him on-line: Internet:justin@sailinfo.com

In an e-mail from Leif Beiley, he said "I liked working there because quality and performance were high priorities and all the boats in the line were pretty, especially the 36"

Horror of horrors!!! In the August 97 issue of "Northwest Yachting" was a picture of a 34’ powerboat with the name "Islander". Sheerline similar to a sportfisher. Manufacturer most likely the Islander Co. of Vancouver British Columbia.

With the above, everything listed below, please take with a grain of salt…

Now having covered myself, if anyone knows more than what I have listed, I would like to have any information such as:

1. Time frame for the production of each boat,

2. Numbers of each boat built,

3. Naval Architect of each design,

4. Corporate Officers thru the years, particularly at time of bankruptcy,

5. Dates the various companies that ended as the Islander Yacht Corp.

Wayfarer & McGlassen are two that we know.

The following are people that we have talked to or we are reasonably sure were involved with the Islander Yacht Corp at one time or another:

Buster Hammond, Last President(deceased in 1995?)

Hank McCormick, (deceased), Sales Mamager

Joe McGlasson, Original founder Islander, first as McGlasson Marine

now retired in Oregon.

Ralph Brown, National Sales Manager & owner of Wayfarer Yachts

Ken Witsel, Kit boat manager

Swede Johnson,

Gary Jensen

Buffalo Cano

Joe Artese, Interior designer

Charlie Underwood, Chief Engineer; Vice President of Operations of Viking Sport Cruisers. Joined Islander in 1970, Left in 1977 as V-P of Manufacturing.

Matt Lerner, Director of Marketing, now with Naples Yachts, Naples, CA.

Ed Noina, In charge of the production in the factory.

Steve Muszlay, Director of Engineering.

Leif Beiley, In-house designer in 1975 & 76. Now Naval Architect in

Garden Grove, CA

Phil Arnold, In-house designer after Leif Bailey?

Don Wilson, Major dealer in the SFO bay area

City Yachts @ Gashouse Cove in San Francisco, also a dealer in the SFO area.

Ken Smith, President before Buster Hammond. The following is from Ken:

At the beginning of the I36, the most polular 35/36 footer was the Erickson 35.

I chose Alan Gurney and Joe Artese. I was responsible for several Islander designs: I41,I40 motorsailer, I30, mark2. And finalized the demise of the I55.

Another note, When Ken took over there was no documentation on any of the boats they were building. No bill of materials. He assigned Tork Johansen to construct a bill for every boat being built. Everything was in somebodies head prior to this time!

Ben Cantor, Another name associated with Islander Yacht Corp.

Bill Gorman & Jack Meager; Bill Gorman Yacht Brokerage

Mary Blair, purchasing Dept. Later worked @ Skipjack Boats.

Jon Peters, purchasing Dept. Now owner Mission Hardwoods

Kame & Amy Richards, Had in their files a Spring 1979 copy of "Islander

Breeze". Lots of useful information about the boats in

production at the time.

Jim Clough, Quality Control manager

Jack Sinclair, 1974-78; Purchasing Agent and Senior Buyer.

Robert Emy, Stockroom manager, 1970-73. Now director,Service Iperations, Sara Lee Coffee & Tea

Tork Johansen, Engineering

Greg Smith, Engineering

Marty Nokak, Tooling

Jerry Henry, Production

Steve Ribeau, Purchasing

Pete Temple, Controller

There are still several people who may have information such as, Jim Dewitt, Skip Elliot. Someday I’ll contact these people and pick their brains.

A Diane Beeston 1979 Yachting calendar featured 3 months with Islander 36’s shown.

The following men were in charge of the various designs/production areas:

1. Bahama Tommy Willson

2. Freeport Hank McCormick

3. Islander Matt Lerner

4. The "inside lady" Corine Stuart

List of boats as we know at this time:13 November, 1997

Kit versions of Islanders were known as Yachtcraft according to Justin

Thompson.

Islander 56

A 1992 Islander in name only. A Lavamos design. Saw advertised for sale in the October 1999 Cruising World.

Islander 55

Bruce King, NA; Joe Artese had a thousand hours of

design work on this boat before it was shelved.

Only some hulls were built. No deck molds were laid up.

In a 69 issue of "Sailing Directory" there was one of these

boats shown under sail.

From Leif Beiley; Molds sold to Tradewinds Yachts in approximately 1975. He was commissioned to design virtually a new boat using the existing hull. At least three were built. Hull # 1 was for the Beach Boys band. Unique in that it had a 16 track recording system, an electric piano and a bathtub with Jacuzzi. It is still sailing.

#2 hull, "Quintessence"for Dr. Eric Tarr. It was yellow hulled. Sailed in the LAX/Catalina area until the 1980’s.

A built-in hand carved wine chest dating from the 1600’s.

The overhead was lined in cream-colored suede.

In February 1981 this boat left on a around-the-world cruise. Mr. Rae Bordua sailed to Papeete on this cruise. This boat has since disappeared.

A third boat was built "Good News", owner; Wes Gary, presently in Newport Beach, CA. Westerly Marine built the mahogany interior as their first complete boat construction. They have built AC boats. Electrical by the owner (C W Productions who were suppliers to Islander, Catalina & Ericson) provided electrical wire looms & distribution systems.

From Matt Lerner, one sold to the Kennedy Family and he believed it was raced in the Boston area for a period of time. It had a green hull and ended up in charter service in the Virgins named the "Green Dragon". From Josh Carson, Owner of "Southren Trades Yacht Sales in the BVI’s. When the Kennedy’s owned it the name was "Curragh". The boat was originally built for Jessie Phillips and was named "Charisma" and Kennedy purchased it from him. Josh Carson bought it in 1989 and was named "Quiverfull". It is an aft cockpit, white hull now is painted flag blue.

There is presently another green hull boat named "Green Norseman" now in the BVI’s. This boat is a center cockpit model.

The Islander/Tradewinds 55

It was one of the last boats designed by King to the old CCA rule. Considered a rule beater because of the 38’ waterline. Lots of speed potential what somewhat compromised because of the center cockpit and deluxe accommodations.

Wayfarer Yachts; 1969 @ $75,000

A third boat "Vantage" owned by Robert Grant in Southern Calif. This boat was built by a Bernie Ramming of Catalina. This was in the late 60’s or early 70’s. White hull withblue trim.

Jim Gravelyn says a fourth boat is in the Caribbean named "Kachina". It is currently for sale. Hull # unknown.

Islander 53

Bruce King, NA: There is one, "Polaris" Cutter rigged, afloat San Francisco Bay, owned by Modern Sailing Academy.

We’ve been told four were built.

Islander 53 - center-cockpit

Bruce King, NA. 1979 center-cockpit, advertised in the December(?) & July 2000 issue of latitude 38. Sloop rig.

1

Islander 48

Ted Brewer, NA; Produced from 1982 to 1985.From Justin Thompson; This boat was originally the Mariner 47 and

built on the East coast. He has sailed on this model.

Buster Hammond got the molds from mariner when it went under.

In the late 1980’s, This boat became the Islander 48C.

From Steve Wolf the following:

The first boat was built for Al Wolf who had gone to Ted

Brewer with some ideas for a 47’ ketch. The molds are sitting in a parking lot in New Hampshire. And are "for sale".

Islander 44

C. William Lapworth, NA; Principally a kit boat. Maybe ten

were sold. Idea was to get people into a boat for under

$10,000. This was probably in 1972.

Maybe a couple were fully outfitted.

Wayfarer Yachts; 1969 @ $40,000

1

Molds purchased by Yachtcraft.

Excalibur 44

1^st year built, 1967.

Islander 41 Alan Gurney, NA: An IOR design. Only six were produced.

Molds purchased by Yachtcraft and one built by

Yachtcraft. 1

production..

Islander 40

Doug Peterson,NA

Islander P40 Listed in one of the boat directories. #1 hull launched in early 1979 to Ron Greenberg. One of these first boats was sold to a North executive Dick Deaver. The boat was named "Fast Track". Matt Lerner had worked with Dick Deaver on the deck layout and that Deaver was very positive and pleased with the delivery.

He also said he knew of no litigation as I had previously stated.

As of the Spring of 1979 twenty-six people had made deposits on the "Queen of the Islander Fleet".

Islander 40

0 Charlie Davies, NA. predecessor to the Freeport models. Saw in an ad in Motorsailer ketch "Santana" Dec.97 issue. A second listed in Lat/38 issue June98 in Costa Rica at Bahia Luminosa Resort.

30 built into the Freeport 41.

Joe Artese had some design effort in this boat.

Islander 38C

Robert Perry, NA;Listed as an Islander but in reality is a Freeport 38C.

This is a Freeport 36 extended somehow. Will have to check with Robert Perry someday.

1

Islander 37

Bruce King,NA; 10 to 12 sailing on SFO Bay. There was a one design class on the SFO Bay

Wayfarer Yachts; 1969 @ $25,000

1 ^st built, 1966. Introduced at the NY boat show. Sold 20 for $19.995.00. Last built1972.

The molds were purchased by Yachtcraft and several were built by Yachtcraft. Sold as kit boats.

Islander 37

Bruce King, NA; Listed in one of the boat directories.

Motorsailer Same hull as the I37.

Islander 36

Alan Gurney,NA: Presently living on the Isle Of Islay off Scotland’s west coast. Still designs an occasional cruiser. Now an author, currently finished writing a book "Below the Convergence". Sailing magazine says it’s a cracker to read.

Ken Smith, President of Islander was responsible for introducing the I36 to the sailing public and had a very close hand in her design.

Alan Gurney designed the hull and rig.

Joe Artese designed from the sheerline up and the interior..

See a copy of an e-mail about Islander from Joe Artese at the end of this "history". Joe conceived radical changes to the conventiaal outward appearance of the cabin sides and top of a cruising/racing yacht. He introduced the segment of an ellipse in lieu of the usual circle to form the cabin top. He sloped the aft end of the cabin and cabin sides inward from the usual vertical. More ergonomically fitted cockpit combings provide a sleeker more gracefull look to the boat.

The following compliled by Art Fowler, owner of "Zenith."

Don Wilson is another gentleman who was actively involved with the I36 in its early days. He sold over 150, more than any other dealer anywhere. His involvement started at the SFO Baot Show at the Cow Palace in 1971. He met Hank McCormick of Islander Yachts. Don & Hank hypothesized about the marketability of the I36. Don decide to pursue it so he went to southern CA and attempted to meet with President Ken Smith. Mr Smith was not receptive about meeting with Don who was still in his twenties! Don was thrown out of the office twice. But Don finally prevailed and had a fruitful and productive meeting. His dealership was in the Alameda Yacht Harbor, now Fortman’s Basin. 6 or 8 months later another dealership in the SFO bay started but never reached the activity of Don Wilson.

Of course, equally important were all (us) buyers. And the first I36 buyer in the SFO Bay was Lou Zevanov and wife Diana. They later sold her and much later bought her back. It was his efforts to organize a fleet began on 17

The qualities they saw in 33 years ago have endured the tes of time.

Don sums it nicely, " I’ve been a dealer for many boats…but I never had a relationship I had with Islander Yachts. I believe today I would have great success selling new Islander36’s".

From Art Fowler: And many others would have to agree. For the purpose of this information there are three terms that define the Islander 36; "Pedigree"; Background, history, or orgin of something;

"Legacy"; Something that is handed down or remains from a previous generation or time ; Classic; Top quality, generally consideredto be the highest quality or of lasting value".

In an article in the February 2000 Cruising World, Robert Perry quoting from another article in the 1985 Cruising World series on yacht design: Explained how Joe Artese’s breakthrough interior for the Islander 36 forced designers to incorporate architecture and interior design into boats. "The sailboat interior was no longer going to be allowed to be the ‘boy’s cabin in the woods’" he wrote. "It was on its way to becoming the ‘condo’".

There are +/- 150 on the SFO Bay and Delta area. There were approximately 250 sold in the SFO Bay area.

There were approximately 770 built. But in an article by Peter

Bohr in "Sea", January 1988 it was said that "slightly more than 1000 left the Islander Yacht’s Costa Mesa, California plant.

Rigging was a combination of Clint Berkey of LeFiel and Islander’s in- house rigging specialists. The masts at Ken Smith’s time were aluminum tapered with streamlined spreaders. Don’t know when the mast went to a straight shaft.

One of the most successful run of a production boat.

Hull #13 is still on the SFO Bay owned by a member of the Golden Gate Yacht Club.

Hull # 1 was cruised and raced in Southern California out of the Long Beach Yacht Club by Hugh Lamson the original owner. Hugh was doing a major refit to the interior. As of this date I believe Hugh died several years ago.

Molds were sold to Newport Offshore Yachts. Molds' location was unknown until just recently when I received an e-mail from a Capt. Greg Hunter, Head Hunter helmutsin Perris, CA. Don’t know how long they will be there.

The labor time to manufacturer an Islander36 was +/-700 hours. The reason for this time was for the rather complicated interior liner. The boat is a four piece boat, the two hull halves, the deck and the liner.

(The Swans are also built in port & starboard halves).

The San Francisco I36 Association is now 33 years old.

The Association races one design cruises to many locations in and around the Bay area including the near coastal waters.

In the Spring 1979 there were sufficient I36’s sailing the Detroit area to have a One Design Fleet.

Cost; 1975; $29,932: 1978;$47,400

As of the Spring 1979 560 had been launched.

Even in 1979 "Sehigh" made the crossing to Hawaii. Patti & Jerry Sehi owners.

Years of production were 1971 thru 1986 with a gap of three years from 1980 to 1983. 770 built.

Islander 34

Robert Perry, NA: 14 built. Molds sold to Nordic Yachts.

The boat resurfaced as the Nordic 34.

According to Leif Beiley Yachtcraft purchased some I34molds and produced a couple as kit boats.

Islander 34 Saw a brochure of a lapstrake/bowsprit design. Wonder if this is the one who J. McGlasson is the NA?

Also known as the Yachtcraft 34, kit boat.

Bill Gorman did not think any of these were ever built.

Brochure had interiors which could have been very good renderings. We know of one boat like this. Owned by Michel Goulet of Quebec City, Canada.

Another I34 has surfaced that is ketch rigged and has a bowsprit. Hull # 5072 in Campbell River, B.C.

Islander 33

Listed in Cruising World’s boat list. At least one on SFO Bay.
Built by Wayfarer Yachts in +/-1965. 1969@ $14,950.
Wayfarer (most likely, J. McGlasson) listed as Naval Architect. 1 ^st built, 1964. Last 1971.

Islander 32

Robert Perry,NA; Drawings by Leif Beiley.

One owned by Matt Mikkelborg.

Molds are located at Capt. Greg Hunter’s: Head Hunter Helmets, Perris, CA>

Somewhere in this I32 mix is a model built by Iona.

Islander 32 MarkII

Robert Perry, NA. Introduced in 1976. +/-200 built in

A 4 year production run. Robert Perry told John Kretschmer

The 32 was inspired by his I28. A good review of this boat

Is in the March 2003 issue of "Sailing" magazine.

We have a brochure from Lawrence Frase of CT that indicates 1970? these boats came with a tiller or a wheel.

Islander 32

"Wayfarer" Designed by J.H. McGlasson, NA;First built1963.

Last built, 1967. A narrow beam, long keel design.

Islander 30 J.H. McGlasson,NA; 1969 @ $9,450

As an experiment, two were fitted with outboard motor wells. Matt Lerner owned one from 1969 to 1972. PHRF of 228. He said he won everything in sight!

In the "Sea" January 1988 article about the Islander 36 it said "in unit volume it (I36) was outsold 2 to 1 by the Islander 30"

Islander 30 MarkII

Bob Finch,NA Same boat as the Bahama 30.

First built,1971; Last built 1985. 500 built.

Islander 30A

Alan Andrews, NA: Pure racer. First year built, 1983.

Islander 29

J.H.McGlasson,NA; Wayfarer Yachts. 1969@$11,950

Listed in Cruising World’s boat list and saw one racing in the 1997 Double Handed Farallons race.

Islander 28

Robert Perry,NA; He considers this boat one of his best

designs.

Excalibur 28

Robert Perry, NA: Last year built, 1985

Islander 27

A.S. Pendell, NA; Wayfarer Yachts. 1969 @ $6,950

Newport Offshore Yachts marketed this boat as a trailerable boat in 1988 after the bankruptcy. We have been told it was a proto-type. We do have brochure, Sort of, not well printed.

Excalibur 27

listed in a boat directory. 1972.

Islander 26

Robert Perry, NA; Listed in a boat directory. Drawings by Leif Beiley. 16 built; Last year production, 1977

Excalibur 26

1

Islander 24

J. McGlasson, NA:Same hull as the Bahama 24, but different deck & cabin layout.

1^st Year production; 1961,, Last 1967. We have been told that 3 of these have sailed around the world! First models were from a mold made from the orginal wood 24. One sailed to Europe!

Islander 23

W.I.B. Crealock,NA; Wayfarer Yachts. 1969 @$2,750

Also built in the United Kingdom by Russell Marine.

Islander 21

J. McGlasson, NA; Listed in a boat directory.

Islander 17

Know of one in Lafayette CA . A 2

Islander 16

Listed in a boat directory.

Bahama Group: Not much known about these boats.

Bahama 21

One owned by a Vallejo YC member.

Bahama 24

J.H.McGlassen,NA: 1969 @ $4,295; 500 built,

1

Bahama 26

Listed in a boat directory

Bahama 28

Robert Perry,NA; Last year built; 1985

Bahama 29

J. McGlasson, NA: Last year built, 1969

Bahama 30

Bob Finch,NA Same hull as the Islander 30MKII.

When the deck mold got too old a new deck was designed in-house and it became the Bahama30. Last built 1985.

Freeport Group: Islander dropped the Freeport name in the late 1980’s.

At this time, the F36 was reconfigured to the I(F)38C.

Their website is: http://groups/yahoo.com/group/FOGgers/

Freeport 41

A redo by Robert Perry,NA. Same hull as the I40. A takeoff of an I40 motorsailor.

Charlie Davis, NA; redesign of the I40 Motorsailer.

The Freeport was redesigned by Hank McCormick & Matt Lerner. Buster Hammond sent the lines to Robert Perry for conformation of the lines.

This Freeport is ketch rigged.

Sold 122 at Islander and +/-20 hulls and decks at Yachtcraft Corp. We do know an owner who has a hull number that maybe #128.

Freeport 36

Robert Perry,NA: Drawings by Leif Beiley

Three medium sized windows and raised salon.

1 ^st Built, 1977. Last 1984. 150 built.

Freeport 36 - Center Cockpit

Robert Perry, NA: Originally conceived as a charter, Center cockpit, boat for a charter company in Florida. 30 boats ordered. but never delivered as the company went bankrupt.. Same hull as the F36.

In the Fall of 1981 Bob Perry found six under construction.

Robert never received a commission.

Five are "known" to exist. All 1982 model year.

This from Tom Hieronymus, Owner of "Mojito" located in SFO

Bay.

Freeport 38C

Robert Perry, NA: Shown in the brochures as an Islander 38C.

From Justin Thompson: basically an F36 with the interior and the quarter berth from the "A" interior.

Extra length is added length in the bowsprit. A different rig, longer boom, mast a foot forward, two large windows in the salon. Main salon & settee slighty larger. Only produced for two years.

Robert Perry, NA.

Freeport 40

Charley Davies, NA. No other information

Freeport 44

Sail plan only. Preliminaries only. None ever past this stage of development.

Islander Yachts, NA

The following were designed but never built to Justin Thompson’s knowledge:

Islander 25

Islander 31 Robert Perry, NA.

Islander 37 Robert Perry, NA.

Freeport 44 Robert Perry, NA.

Islander 58: Bruce King; NA. Called the "Westlawn Project". Never Built

The following were the Corporations addresses at their respective times.

Wayfarer Yacht Corporation
Joseph McGlasson, Owner & Designer(deceased 1993)
Yachtcraft Division
1682 Placentia Avenue
Costa Mesa, CA
714.646.7437

Islander Yachts
777 West 17

In the Spring of 1974:

Islander yachts
Division of Cosmodyne Inc. (and later
Radlon,Inc)
1922 Barranca Road
Irvine, California

Tradewind Yachts
Founded by: Bob Lynch(deceased)
Costa Mesa, CA
Out of business early 1980’s

From an e-mail from Joe Artese to Skipper Wall; Dated 3/29/2002

It seems that as I read the history you posted on the web, that much of the history that I gave you several years ago was not there.

I ran into Charlie Underwood, the young chief engineer during the development of the I-36, at the Fort Lauderdale Boat Show 3 or 4 years ago. He was then president of one of the East coast production sportfish builders, which, I believe, was Viking.

A little more history concerning the time that I was working with Islander.

When I was originally contracted by Ken Smith in 1969, he had just left his post as regional sales manager at Columbia Yachts to be president of Islander.

When I was contracted to design the 36, I was also told that there would be 3 initial designs, two Gurney designs of 36 & 41 feet. The 3

The I-36 had so much new thinking in it that it was problematical for the engineering team. I had to fight for each & every design feature. They tried to "simplify" things by developing an alternative layout that was more conventional but didn’t work a the couch would have stuck out the hull. Fortunaly, the orginal I-36 design survived with a couple of exceptions such as hull ports at seating level which Gurney objected to.

Soon after getting the development of the 36 underway, Smith had a heart attack and was replaced by a temporary manager, I don’t remember his name.

Although Islander told me that if I came in low on the I-36 design fee, that Islander would "make up for it on the next boat". This was only a verbal agreement with Smith however, and I was not included in the design process for the next boat after Smith was no longer in the driver’s seat.

According to Islander’s then in house naval architect, Torkiel Johanson, Underwood wanted to design the second boat of the new group, the Gurney designed 41, himself. Unfortunately for Islander, the I-41 was an unmitigated disaster and only 3 boats were sold before it was taken off the market. The first of these boats was named "Rubber Duck".

The 3

I must admit that I was more than miffed at being squeezed out of the equation by those that took over in Smith’s absence. And I did take some peasure in the fact that the failure of these two boats highlighted the relative success of the I36.

One day, the redeeming phone call came. I got a call from Hank McCormack, Islander’s marketing manager. He said, "Joe, the I-40 motor sailer is dead in the water. The pipelines are filled. Our dealers can’t unload the boats they have. We finally recognize that it was you that made the I-36 go for us and we were wondering if you could turn things around for us with a redesign of the I-40"?

Knowing what the problems were in the I-40 I knew that I could do the fix that Hank was looking for. We met to hash out a deal. He offered me a royalty and a design fee to be determined on the complexity of the redesign. With the best lawyers in Newport Beach and a signed agreement in hand, I was exhilarated and set out to draw up my redesign proposal.

The redesign proposal was simple but very effective. I scrapped the molded interior liner which allowed me to lower the interior farther down into the hull. This accomplished 3 things. It lowered the center of gravity, improving the performance but it also radically lowered the ungainly height of the cabin visually transforming the boat. But most importantly, lowering the interior allowed me to create a passageway under the deck that contained the galley and connected the previously unconnected spaces. This totally opened up the interior and allowed a very sculptural approach. I finally got the portholes at seating eye level that I had treid to incorporate in the I-36.

Two weeks later I presented the resigned proposal to Islander and put up the drawings on the engineering trailer walls. They were very excited. Knowing that I was protected by our agreement I left the presentation on the walls at McCormack’s request. He wanted the new owner of Islander, Dave Trumble, who no one had met as yet, to see the presentation.

A week later, Hank called again to tell me that Trumble had seen the redesign and was "ecstatic" and wanted me to "come in and discuss the real nitty gritty". I assumed that he meant the design fee as the royalty had already been agreed upon.

When I got to the meeting I was met by Bob Pool who had been my chief engineer when I was senior production designer at Columbia Yachts. Pool had been hired by Trumble as a consultant for this project. Bob & I had a good deal of respect for one another and I was flattered when he told me that my "preliminary proposal was so complete we didn’t need any more from you". Bob didn’t know that I had a few more tricks up my sleeve that were not depicted in the preliminary proposal. This soon became academic however as I met with Trumble for the first time.

After an initial exchange of pleasantries, Trumble surrised us all by stating that he didn’t know of anyone who was paying an interior designer royalties and that he wasn’t going to be the first to start. He handed me a check for $10.000 in lieu of our agreement. I gave the check back to him since, by my reckoning, the design would bring about $60,000 in royalties and I reminded him that Islander and Artese had a contract and that Islander was free to incorporate my design or not but if they did, they were obligated to pay me if they used my design in whole or in part. Trumble said that he would think about it and get back to me. A week laterI got a letter from Islander thanking me for my proposal but basically saying, "that Islander had decided not to accept my proposal".

A few months later, I opened up Yachting magazine and was dumbfounded to see an Islander ad showing my design, now called the Freeport 41, with Bob Perry’s name on it. I immediately called Perry and he told me that he did not know that I had been involved. That he had been trying to get his foot in Islander’s door and they had invited him in, showed him a set of drawings with the title block cut off and asked him how much he would charge to incorporate the redesign. He said that he would do it for $6,000 and Islander said, OK.

I, of course, sued Islander and after several years of depositions and counter suit s, we stood before the judge in the preliminary hearing where the judge indicated that he thought the settlement would be around $80,000.That very day that we arrived in court for the trial, the judge informed us that Islander had just informed the court that they had filed Chapter 11. We would have had to chase Trumble through the New Jersey courts and his many of umbrella companies. Exhausted and out of money, we decided to drop the suit. We heard later from McCormack that Trumble had looted several million from Islander and the surrounding community and had built several house on the waterfront in Newport Beach.

After doing the Freeport 41, Perry was asked to do the I-28 as a "mini 36". He even incorporated my stylized cove stripe arrowhead as well as several other of my design features. The Freeport 36 followed soon thereafter.

Prior to doing the redesign of the Freeport 41, McCormack commissioned me to design a new interior and deck for their I-58 which was Bruce King’s first hull design as a Westlawn project and was then an Islander kit boat. Trumble dismissed the project when he took over and it was never built.

Soon after, Buster Hammond moved into the driver’s seat at Islander. Hammond had previously been manager at Ranger Yachts which was a Jensen Marine Company.

Skipper,
Here is some info on a few boats that have been sailed actively in the Great Lakes. I have sailed against, but never on, an Islander 41, Gurney design, many times since the late 70's. This boat started as "Osprey" and was onwed by a syndicate in Leland MI headed by Mike Fisher.

They raced actively in the Great Lakes and the SORC winning a controversial victory there in '75 or '76. This boat then went to Detroit for a couple of years as "Coverage" and was owned by an insurance guy named Larry Nichols (sp?).

She came back to the Traverse City area in '79 or '80 as "Brass Tacks" and was owned by a local dentist and his wife, Wes & Janie Schulz. They raced actively until '87 when the boat went to Muskegon MI, still named "Brass Tacks" and owned by Gary Schottke. Gary raced the boat actively until the Spring of '95 when she fell from her stands while under bottom repair and was heavily damaged.

She was then bought from the insurance co. by Torresen Marine in Muskegon. Torresen repaired the damage and painted her white (she had been blue from at least '79 on), but much of the equipment had been removed prior to Torresen receiving it from the insurance co. I'm checking with Torresen to see if it is still there or gone somewhere else. It would make a great cruising boat as it was HUGE down below and was a freight train on a reach.

The other I41/Gurney was in Bay City/Saginaw on Lake Huron and I don't remember much about it, but could contact some friends on that side of the state for more info.

My stepson and family bought an Islander 40 about 3 yrs ago that has been around Northwest MI since new. We have sailed on her often in Lake Charlevoix and the "4 foot" difference between her and our I36 is amazing. She weighs half again as much and the cabin space is awesome. Our 2 grand-daughters, now 3 & 5, are growing up on this boat and they love it.

There was another I40 down state in Holland called "Rumors". I raced against her 10 years ago while on a Pinnacle 29 that rated PHRF 90. I don't remember what the I40 rated, but was very close. It was interesting to race against a boat so different in size and yet so close in rating.

There are quite a few Islanders around Northwest MI as there was a very active dealer here from '75 - '85. He will be returning soon from Florida and I will try to pick his brain for more info about Islander and any interesting boats.

All for now -- Eric Lind