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The company was formed with $70,000 in cash contributed by Ramsing, $31,000 worth of molds contributed by Lunn Laminates, and $31,000 worth of designs and sp=
ecifications
contributed by Northrop & Johnson. The company ownership was based on=
96
shares of stock with Ramsing holding 83 of th=
ese.
The remaining 13 shares were divided evenly among James Northrup,
George Johnson, and Howard Foster.
Foster, a marine consultant and representative for Northrop & Johnson,
was named president. They agreed to establish the building site in Catskill, N.Y.,
in what was originally a brick plant. Located on the Catskill Creek just =
off
the Hudson River about 100 miles north of New York City, it was an ideal place =
from
which to build and launch their boats.
Ramsing did well racing his Seawind,
winning prizes in the Southern Ocean Racing Circuit. The Allied reputation
grew accordingly, but he was not complacent enough to produce just one ty=
pe
of sailboat. From the beginning, Allied needed other models from notable
architects in order to please larger families and deeper pocketbooks.
Ramsing also had been very successful racing =
his
46-foot Solution designed by Sparkman & Stephens. He reasoned that a
smaller version of the same boat might be readily accepted. He asked Fran=
k MacLear and Bob Harris to design the smaller boat. =
They
created the 35-foot Seabreeze, a centerboard =
boat
which could be rigged as a sloop or yawl. The company built 135 of these =
over
a nine-year period beginning in 1963.
A short while later another well-known naval architect, Bill Luders, introduced the Luders<=
/span>
33, the third exceptional yacht to grace the Allied yard. Next, Allied ad=
ded
the Britton Chance-designed Chance 30. With its fin keel and spade rudder=
, it
was a bit ahead of its time and not received as well as the other
"sturdier hull" models.
In 1964, only a year after forming the company, Rams=
ing
sold his share of the partnership to Northam
Warren, another well-known racing sailor. Warren also purchased the stock held =
by Lunn, Northrup, and Joh=
nson,
making him the primary owner of the Allied Boat Company. During the remai=
nder
of the '60s, Warren and Foster aggressively marketed the four models in t=
he
Allied line of sailboats.
Foster maintained control of production and sales at the factory while Warren went &qu=
ot;on
the road" attending boat shows and entering races with his Seawind 30. The company sold their products directl=
y to
customers; there were no distributors.
Northam Warren![](3D"AlliedBoatCompany_files/image005.jpg")
Northam Warren had a great perception and zea=
l for
life. He was raised on Long Island, wh=
ere
his father, an avid sailor, saw to it that his children, including two
daughters, each had a sailboat. The senior Warren raced centerboard boats when he
wasn't attending to the family cosmetic business. No=
rtham
attended Princeton
University and won
major sailboat races three out of his four years there.
After service in the field artillery in World War II, Warren owned several boats and travel=
ed
extensively to race them. Some of the races included the Annapolis
to Newport Race, the Bermuda Race three times, the =
Chicago-to-Mackinac
Race, and two Transpacs to Hawaii.
During my interview with Northam Warren, I le=
arned
that Allied became the first company to supply fiberglass hulls in colors
other than white. This was an exclusive option, which actually started wi=
th
the Seawind 30, but was also available with t=
heir
other models. The company's aggressive marketing strategies often gave it=
a
jump on competition. "She'll cross an ocean if you will" was the
oft-repeated motto associated with the Seawind 30.
Warren noted that another clever promotion=
was
the annual Pinkletink, named after a frog whi=
ch
lives in a tree on Martha's Vineyard. =
Each
year he had the factory do a special fitting job using all the latest and
heaviest hardware. These boats were exceptional, sporting the latest in s=
ails
and the most sophisticated equipment on the market. Every part of the boat
was "ultra-finished."
At the beginning of each season, Warren
went racing with the Pinkletink. Well-known i=
n the
circuit and a crafty racing skipper, Warren,
with this highly prized Seawind became a fami=
liar
figure from New England to the Caribbean.
Anxious admirers knew this special boat would be for sale at the end of t=
he
season. After three years, many people were waiting to purchase these spe=
cial
Allied boats.
Glen Neal
While Warren was promoting Allied products north and south via boat shows=
and
racing circuits, Howard Foster and the factory had the responsibility of
building boats to fill the orders he was creating. A primary member of the
factory team was foreman Glen Neal, who was born and raised in Catskill. =
He
was looking for work in 1966 to fill in the winter months that usually
crippled his carpentry business. His timing was good. The Allied Boat
Company, going strong at that time, had plenty of orders gathered from su=
mmer
and fall boat shows and racing events.
Neal went to work for $1.50 an hour. He planned to stay there through the
winter, then start building houses again in the spring. He didn't know or
particularly care about boats, but it was a warm indoor job during the
winter.
He immediately recognized the inefficiency of having too few pieces of
equipment for use by too many employees. His department had only one elec=
tric
hand drill and one sabre saw, for example. In=
order
to retrieve these small power tools, workers made numerous trips to other
parts of the shop, which wasted time and frustrated workers. After six mo=
nths
Neal presented Foster with his ideas for production improvements and was
rewarded with a promotion to foreman of the carpentry and finishing
department. He stayed with Allied from 1966 to 1972, during what appear to
have been their most productive years.
According to Neal, Allied was recognized as a high-quality boatbuilder - possibly the third best in the world.=
I was
unable to learn what companies the two other leaders were, but the integr=
ity
of Neal's interview lends credibility to this statement. Readers may
speculate about the other two.
Neal ultimately led a crew of 35 who did carpentry work inside and outsid=
e: deckwork, handrails, bowsprit, and bulkheads along =
with
some minor fiberglassing. A separate departme=
nt did
hull and deck fiberglass work. A third department did the wiring and
electrical installations. The building process was synchronized, using a
progress board and a card system to track projects as work moved each boat
along the assembly line. Neal and his team added the finishing touches as=
the
boats moved out the door.
Thanks to the efficiency in the plant, few boats were returned for rework.
Allied could afford to give the owner a strong warranty. Neal occasionally
went out on calls to deal with minor problems, like a blister on a wood
bulkhead.
Neal said he prided himself on doing things right and that the Allied Boat
Company was a good place to work. Peak employment reached about 130, and
orders were plentiful during the late '60s and early '70s.
Neal suggested that quality workers should receive top wages. He recommen=
ded
to management that they offer a pension plan or an incentive program to h=
elp
inspire employee output. He kept records of the trimming crew's performan=
ce
and introduced competition to improve the quality of work. He was obvious=
ly a
strong catalyst in the development of the Allied workforce and in the sol=
id
reputation which the company earned as a result.
Times change
Over time, other models were introduced. The Greenwich 24, by George Stadel,
was the smallest boat offered by Allied. Not as popular as the other heav=
ier
models, the molds were eventually sold off to Cape Dory
and ultimately became the Cape Dory 25. The fleet was expanded to a 39-fo=
oter
and the ultimate XL-2, a 42-foot sailboat designed by Sparkman & Step=
hens.
Orders were plentiful, giving the appearance that all was going smoothly.=
Early 1969 brought changes which would eventually make Allied flinch and
ultimately cause it to falter. Oil prices would soon escalate from $5 to =
$20
per barrel. Because it is a principal ingredient in fiberglass, the steep
price increase in petroleum caused a substantial rise in production costs=
.
In addition there were some leadership problems and personality conflicts=
in
the front office, which introduced chaos in the company and caused many to
leave. Assistant plant manager Bob Jones departed in 1969, closely follow=
ed
by plant manager Walter Laskowski. The loss of
these key managers in the production area negatively affected employee
morale.
The unsettled mood reached throughout the administrative, engineering, and
labor departments. Together with negative national and international econ=
omic
influences, the strains on Allied were taking a toll. Eventually, officers
filed a mortgage foreclosure at the Greene County Courthouse on March 18,
1969. This notice signaled trouble in the front office at a time when the
cash flow from orders should have been adequate to keep the company afloa=
t.
During this time increasing numbers of suppliers began to file judgments
against the company. Some information suggests that Warren bought Foster's interest in 19=
71,
thus making him the sole owner of Allied.
The period from 1969 to 1974 must have seen some very traumatic moments.
Employees who were experienced and capable were leaving for other employm=
ent.
Recognizing this downward spiral, Warren
placed an ad in The Wall Street Journal in 1973 to sell the company, 11 y=
ears
after it was formed.
Saved?
At this point, a shining star appeared for the company. Robert Wright, a
cruising sailor from Little Falls, N.Y., put together a partnership with =
two
others and negotiated with banks and creditors to allow him to start buil=
ding
again. Wright was an electrical engineer, had obtained a law degree from =
Cornell University, and was experienced =
as a
practicing attorney.
He and his partners put up $200,000. That infusion of cash, together with=
the
backlog of orders equal to six months' production and deposits of $177,00=
0,
made the future look brighter for the new company, now called The Wright
Yacht Company. Wright's wife, Jean, was secretary, and their son, Paul, w=
as
plant manager. These three knew the meaning of work and the importance of
customer satisfaction.
During this time, Wright commissioned Thomas Gillmer=
to create another legendary Seawind, slightly
larger than the original. This became the Seawind
II. A ketch-rigged 32-footer, it had the same hull as the previous Seawind. The Seawind II=
served
as the flagship of the new company. Other new boats included the Princess=
36,
Mistress 39, and the Mistress Mark III. This nucleus of quality yachts
promised to put Allied back on course as a front-runner in American
boatbuilding. The promise, unfortunately, was unfulfilled.
Anxiety, possibly induced by stock market
fluctuations and an unsettled economy, caused Wright's partners to retrea=
t,
taking their financial support with them. This left the firm in severe
financial distress. Bills began to mount and liens against the company
started appearing. Operations must have been fairly normal until the thir=
d year
of their lease, since the first lien was not filed until July 1978.
The Wright Yacht Company was closed and the Job Development Authority (JD=
A)
became holder and full owner of all Allied equipment, fixtures, molds, and
real estate. The future appeared to offer little promise of salvaging what
was once a successful boatbuilding enterprise.
Fortunately, the JDA located Stuart Miller, an attorney from New York City, who owned an Allied
Princess. He was familiar with the company's reputation and apparently
convinced the JDA he could save jobs for Greene County
and make the business profitable once more. He also planned, coincidental=
ly,
to build a 50-foot sailboat for himself.
With Miller as the new CEO, another name change was introduced: CFG/Allie=
d. I
was unable to locate the meaning of these initials until Ed Hodgens, a faithful 15-year Allied employee, explai=
ned
that they had stood for Conception for Financial Growth.
Miller assumed control of the company in early 1979. A report in a Seawind II newsletter claimed the 100th Seawind II was completed and delivered to Florida around=
the
same time.
Articles in boating magazines tracked mistakes of CFG/Allied and reported
attempts to rescue the company. One magazine was candid, placing blame on=
the
company leaders for "not being familiar with special problems of
building and marketing boats." The doors of this third generation of=
the
Allied Boat Company were closed in April 1980.
Closing chapter
Once again, the JDA was on the hunt for a buyer. They found a man with a
working knowledge of marketing sailboats. Brax
Freeman, a former yacht dealer, boasted of entrepreneurial skills. He
promised to move the "new" firm, now to be named International
Cruising Yachts, into a place of prominence in the boating world.
Freeman, according to employees, had a flair for entertainment and gave
prospective buyers dinner and show tickets for evenings in New York City. These enticements were=
meant
to lead to the purchase of one of ICY's sailb=
oats.
Freeman's tenure with ICY lasted until late 1981, when he collapsed under=
the
financial pressures brought to bear by angry creditors and unpaid tax
collectors. The closing chapter of this fine old boatbuilding company was
being written.
Various letters from JDA seeking buyers for the land (5.05 acres) and
equipment indicate their persistent efforts to recoup money lost during t=
heir
many attempts to save jobs for Greene
County.
Ultimately, the land was sold for approximately $200,000, buildings were =
torn
down, and an overcrowded complex of condos, each with a boat slip include=
d,
was constructed on the water's edge. (This venture, too, has since met wi=
th a
number of obstacles.) An auction took place June 20, 1984, at which time =
all
remaining equipment and molds were sold for $40,000.
Thus, it was done - the Allied Boat Company was no more.
Dan Smith boarded a coal freighter as deckhand in <=
st1:place
w:st=3D"on">Toledo four days after graduation fro=
m high
school. His sailboats have included a Snipe, a Flying Scot, a Morgan 22, a
Dickerson 35, and an Allied Seawind 30. Hurri=
cane
Andrew destroyed Kohinoor, the Seawind, in 19=
92.
Dan bought a Marshall catboat and enjoys
winters gunkholing in the Florida
Keys.
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