A (Little Less) Sketchy History
of Columbia Sailboats A (Little Less) Sketchy History
of Columbia Sailboats
This is essentially my first cut at a history of Columbia Yachts. I've learned a lot since I first started it and I'll try and update it and correct it as I get time.
I'm always interested in personal experiences with the company and contributions are welcomed. Eric White (ewhite@columbia-yachts.com)
I have split the history into four sections. The "Book" and Gray Area sections are on this page. The third and fourth sections are on separate pages. The third section tells how Richard Valdes started Glas Laminates and gives a look inside the Costa Mesa factory. Ed's "Myths & Legends" is on a separate page and is a fun read.
The 1978 Whittaker version of Columbia's history. I have added information from my many contributors in (italics). My use of C- is simply shorthand for Columbia.
| 1960 | "Columbia Yachts was founded Costa Mesa, California." It was started by Richard Valdes and a friend as Glas Laminates, a small producer of camper tops, shower stalls, and portable chemical toilets. |
| 1961 | Glas Laminates expanded into the sailboat buiness. The first boat was
the Islander 24, which sold out production in the first year.
The Islander 24 was a collaboration between Glas Laminates and a wooden boat builder named McGlassen. McGlassen made a 24' wooden sloop called the Islander 24 and approached Glas Laminates about building a fiberglass version. Using a boat as a plug, Glas Laminates pulled a mold. Evidently, the plug had "v" planking which gave the Islander 24 the look of a wooden boat. Glas Laminates created a modified a mold without the grooves. They raised the freeboard and cabin top and the result was the Columbia 24. Columbia got a lot of mileage out of this basic design. Soon after they created a mold to take a raised deck and produced the Challenger 24. They also stretched the Columbia 24 to create the Columbia 26. Later they returned to the Islander 24 design and modified the ports to create the Contender 24. |
| 1962 | Introduction of the Sparkman & Stephens designed Columbia
29. This design was highly successful and inspired the company
to take on Columbia as the corporate name and establish the Columbia
shield emblem. It was introduced at about the same time as the Columbia 24.
Columbia also re-used this basic hull. They used the same approach that they did with the Challenger to create the raised deck Defender 29.) |
| 1964 | Columbia added an East Coast plant on a nine acre site at Wesley &
Jackson Streets in Portsmouth, Virginia.
(My first Columbia was a Columbia 24. The brochure for it calls the company: Columbia Sailing Yachts Division of Glass Marine Industries. Glass Marine was the yacht division of Glas Laminates.) |
| 1965 | Columbia builds the largest production fiberglass sailboat, the William Tripp designed C-50. |
| 1967 | Columbia becomes a subsidiary of the California based conglomerate,
the Whittaker Corporation.
The headquarters and West Coast plant moves to a ten acre site in Southern California's Irvine Industrial Complex. |
| 1968 | Columbia acquires Coronado Yachts, merges it with the
Columbia operation, but continues to produce Coronado brand yachts.
There was some "cross breeding" between Columbia and Coronado designs. Here's what I've found so far. Coronado. |
| 1971 | Columbia launches Sailcrafter Custom Yachts, a line of kit boats.
Put Deck A into Hull B? |
| 1972 | Columbia changes from a subsidiary of Whittaker Corporation to a division of Whittaker Corporation. This appears to be when Richard Valdes left Columbia. |
| 1974 | Columbia deep-sixes Sailcrafter Custom Yachts kit boats. |
| 1975 | Columbia re-establishes its headquarters in a new 50 acre, 5 building site on the Intercoastal Waterway in Chesapeake, Virginia. It sells the Irvine, CA and Portsmouth, VA plants. Coronado Yachts are blended into the Columbia product line. |
The following information came from Pat Sturgeon's article.
| 1978 | Pat states that Columbia closed down because of labor problems, but from what I hear the problems were due more to a lack of cashflow. Columbia sold a reported $250,000 worth of parts to a marina in Virginia to cover payroll and expenses. |
| 1979 | Howard Hughes, from Hughes Boat Works, picked up the molds for at least the meter boars and the Coronado 35, brought them to Centralia near London, ON, and began producing Columbia Yachts. |
| 1982 | Hughes goes into receivership. |
| 1982 | According to the USCG website, CLY, Columbia's Manufacturers Identification Code (MIC) was retired August 28. |
| 1982 | Aura Yachts takes over Columbia. |
| 1986-? | Hughes takes back the line back again. After this, Hughes built boats until a fire destroyed his factory in Orangeville. It is unclear when this fire took place. The fire was probably in 1986-1990. | 2001 | The Coast Guard issues the manufacturers code CYV to Vince Valdes, son of Dick Valdes. It is the code for the new Columbia Yachts. | 2004 | The new Columbia Yachts introduces the Columbia 30 Sport Sailor. |
Recently, I received a copy of an early ad ("over 100 boats are sailing") for the Columbia 24. The ad included the row of shields seen on most Columbia literature. Take a look to see the surprise.
On Feb 23, 2002, Doug Ward arranged a rendezvous in Long Beach, CA. This included a raftup of 3 Columbia 50s and a Columbia 52 (that's 202 feet of Columbias). Other Columbias in attendance included a C-45, a Defender, a Columbia 29, a 26 MkII, a Sabre, and a C-34. There was a dinner for about 60 people and the guest speaker was Dick Valdes.