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In 1973, Jim Leishman and Dan Streech met and formed a friendship while both were working at a yacht brokerage/dealership in Dana Point, California. Both had a love for the sea and had already accumulated thousands of offshore sailing miles. Dan had cruised for one year aboard his family’s 54-foot Alden yawl, Malabar VII, and Jim had made a passage to Hawaii as well as local cruising on his family’s sailboat.
When the dealership closed in 1974, Jim and Dan together with Joe Meglen formed a small brokerage in Dana Point, which would evolve into the present day Pacific Asian Enterprises. In the first years, the business was comprised of general yacht brokerage and the importation of the venerable CT boats from Taiwan. In 1976, PAE began importing another line of boats from Taiwan called the Transpac 49. Over an eight-year period, the company imported, sold and delivered 35 Transpacs
Both the CTs and the Transpacs imported during the 1970s represented the early days of Taiwan boat building and considerable effort was required to bring those boats up to acceptable quality levels. Coming from an engineering and boat maintenance background, Jim, Dan and Joe and their small crew worked on the boats personally but more importantly, worked with the Taiwan builders to make the improvements and changes necessary to raise the quality of the boats. This set the stage for the next phase of their business.
By 1977, a trend had emerged that saw two classes of boats coming out of Taiwan. The better boats were being provided by the yacht developers whose talent, skills and fortitude would enable them to control a yacht from conception to design, marketing, sales and service. The developer would own the all-important molds and tooling while the Taiwan builder would act as a sub-contractor and builder only to the yacht developer. This allowed the developer to set and control the specifications, quality, pricing and marketing program.
A New Manufacturer is Born
PAE saw this approach as the future and set out to establish their own line of sailboats. Designer Al Mason was chosen as the naval architect of PAE’s first project. Al was the natural choice for several reasons. His designs were famously beautiful, rugged and seaworthy and several boats of his design had been sold by PAE through their brokerage. Furthermore, because Al Mason had worked for John Alden in his earlier years, there was a DNA connection in design, style and beauty to the lovely Malabar VII.
The first PAE/Mason design was a 43-foot sailboat. With completed design in hand, the search began for the right Taiwan builder. Through introductions, serendipity and hard work, the young men learned of Ta Shing Yacht Building. Ta Shing (which means Big New in Chinese) was founded in 1976 and the company was just completing their state of the art factory when the Mason 43 project was introduced to them. The founder, visionary and first president of Ta Shing, Mr. CM Juan, had a simple mission statement: to be the best. No expense was spared on the facility, equipment or staff. But two things were missing; a good design and an American partner. PAE and their Mason 43 project came along at the perfect time. In hindsight, one wonders what the old, wise Mr. Juan saw in the young men (just 21, 26 and 27 at the time) who had little to offer other than a good design and the promise of hard work, dedication and integrity. But saw something he did, and the tooling production agreement was drafted. In an example of “get it right the first time”, the same fundamental agreement and procedures are still used today nearly 30 years and 18 projects later. The Mason 43 was an immediate success and was followed by the M63, M53, M53cc and M33. There were 132 “3” series PAE/Mason sailboats produced between 1978 and 1985. Nearly all of these boats are still in service today and have become beloved and respected icons.
The Prodigal Designer
In 1978, Jeff Leishman, Jim’s younger brother, joined PAE as a part time employee. Still in high school, Jeff helped with new boat commissioning, deliveries and with the occasional drawing and sketch needed for the factory. Jeff’s natural talent for drawing and drafting was already apparent and was further developed in his high school and college drafting and design courses.
With Al Mason’s withdrawal and retirement from design work for PAE, Jeff’s role became more and more integral in the process and by 1982 was working full time for PAE. Between 1984 and 1988, Jeff redesigned each of the “3” series Mason designs into the Leishman/Mason 34, 44, 54 and 64. These handsome designs used the same hull but had new deck designs and interior layouts. Eighty of these “4” series PAE/Leishman/Masons were produced. The beautiful lines, styles and functional layouts that Jeff created were a preview of the talent and design genius that were forthcoming from his drawing board.
In 1987, Jeff completed his studies and received his naval architecture diploma from the Yacht Design Institute. As part of his graduation requirement, he was asked to design a vessel of his choosing. Through his studies, Jeff (and his brother Jim) discovered the work of Robert Beebe and his classic book Voyaging Under Power. Beebe’s book is the definitive work on the theories and design criteria for small displacement power boats and preaches the message that it is possible and sensible to cruise long distances in a properly designed full displacement power boat. Even though Beebe and a handful of others had proven these theories with their own boats in the 60s and 70s, there was still little understanding and acceptance of the idea even as late as 1990.
From Sail to Power
By 1988, the cruising sailboat market was in decline and the demographics were changing. As baby boomers were aging, they were becoming intolerant of the rigors of sailing, meanwhile the truth about how much time is spent motoring in a sailboat was emerging. PAE was thinking about importing powerboats and was even considering becoming a dealer for the products of others. But then the guys discussed introducing Jeff’s school design as PAE’s next project, and soon Jim became convinced that building the 46-foot powerboat was the right decision. He campaigned tirelessly to make it happen.
As with other ideas that are so radically new and different, PAE’s unique powerboat project was not accepted easily or quickly. The market considered it “odd”, “funny” and “different” and it was referred to as PAE’s “tugboat”. Even though it was a cruising boat, Cruising World magazine wouldn’t accept our advertisements. The Taiwan builder, Ta Shing, declined to build it. So Dan, Jim and Jeff looked elsewhere and were led to Tsai Wan Sheu, owner of the newly formed South Coast Marine in Taipei, Taiwan.
Because its style and look was reminiscent of North Sea fishing trawlers, the name Nordhavn (Norwegian for North Harbor) was chosen for this new design. Hull #1 of the N46 was completed and shipped in early 1989. The small cult group of Beebe followers along with loyal Mason owners and aficionados immediately recognized the N46 as the real thing. The rest of the market took a while to catch on as the sales momentum was slow to build. After all, as recent as 16 years ago, it was commonly believed that the only way one could cruise offshore and cross oceans was in a sailboat.
The new boat caught the eye of Robert Beebe’s widow Lynford Beebe as well as Steve Doherty, the original editor of Voyage Under Power. They had been thinking about updating the book and saw PAE as the right group to do it. The PAE owners had embraced the concepts set down by Captain Beebe and their first powerboat design almost exactly captured the beliefs, theories and criteria established by the famous naval architect. Jim Leishman took on the task of rewriting and updating the famous book. Feeling like an artist who has been asked to update and improve the Mona Lisa, Jim jumped into the project. Nervously at first and then with greater confidence, Jim created a format which retained much of Captain Beebe’s original timeless work but with additions and new sections added where necessary to bring it current with the systems, equipment, procedures and new knowledge that had been gained in the intervening years. Interestingly, much of Jim’s writing took place in the summer of 1992 while crossing the Atlantic aboard Jim and Suzy Sink’s Nordhavn 46.
Surviving the Luxury Tax
Just as a backlog of N46 orders was beginning to develop, PAE (and the rest of the US boat business) received the double whammy of the 1st Gulf War and the ill-conceived federal “luxury” tax. The luxury tax consisted of a 10% surcharge tax on the entire purchase price of a boat above $100,000. This tax was in effect between 1990 and 1993 and by the time it was repealed, the boat business in America had been devastated. PAE did not sell a single new boat to an American during this dark period. By necessity, however, they developed contacts with buyers outside of the US. This was the beginning of an international marketing effort, which in 2007 will account for 40% of Nordhavns sold.
During the luxury tax period, PAE’s second Nordhavn design, the N62 was completed. This project was eagerly accepted by Ta Shing in 1991. Hull #1 was sold to an Indonesian industrialist and delivered to Singapore on her own bottom in 1993 by Jim, Dan and Dan’s son Trevor. Due to the luxury tax, PAE’s second N62 order did not come until nearly 18 months after the first. Within days after repeal of the tax however, hull #2 was ordered, the N46 orders flooded in and the “golden 90s” commenced. During this period of steady growth, PAE introduced the N50 built by South Coast in 1995 and the N57 built by Ta Shing in 1996.
PAE Adapts to Growth
The 90s saw the gradual formalization and structuring of PAE required to deal effectively with the growing volume of business and the increasing complexity of modern Nordhavns. Design, engineering, sales, project management, commissioning, HR and business departments were established to meet the goals of excellence laid down by Jim, Jeff and Dan and employees were steadily added in those departments as PAE’s middle management and staff grew.
PAE’s business plan has been built around a model which does not use a traditional dealer network. Nordhavns are sold directly to the customer by salesmen who work only for PAE. There are no Nordhavn dealers. The modest commissions earned by our salesmen are a small fraction of a typical dealer mark-up. This allows PAE to keep its overhead costs lower and offer “more for less” to the Nordhavn buyer. There are currently 18 Nordhavn salesmen located in our 6 sales locations and 13 project managers and assistants located in our Dana Point headquarters. During the process of purchase, building, commissioning and the after sales service, the customer always has a direct line of communication with his salesman, project manager and PM assistant. The PAE owners Jim, Jeff and Dan frequently play a role in the sales process and are always available by phone or e-mail if a Nordhavn customer has a problem which cannot be resolved by others.
With sailboat sales lagging and PAE’s future clearly lying with the Nordhavn concept, the last Mason (M44#69) was built in 1995. The Mason molds were stored for another seven years out of nostalgia for the beloved boats and the remote possibility that they would be put back into production. The Mason molds were finally destroyed in 2002 to make room for more Nordhavn production.
Taking the Industry By Storm
In 1998, PAE selected Pacific Seacraft, a Southern California sailboat manufacturer, to build its newest design, the Nordhavn 40. The N40 represented the next generation of thinking as Jim and Jeff collaborated to design a boat, which was proportionally bigger in all respects than previous Nordhavns. The new boat had a higher freeboard and was broader, deeper and wider (proportionally) than earlier boats. All of the original N40s, of which there were 44, were built by PSC over a four-year period. The most famous of these was hull #21, named appropriately, Nordhavn. During a 27-week period in 2001-2002, this otherwise stock boat was driven 26,000 miles around the world in an event called the Around The World project. The ATW was conceived by Jim as a demonstration of what our Nordhavns were capable of and as a way to differentiate ourselves from the many “wannabes” who were entering the market. Several companies had by this time copied our designs and one even copied our name. The ATW was managed by PAE office staff and Nordhavn was manned by successive crews made up of project managers, salesmen, engineers, commissioning crew and others from the company as she proceeded around the world. The events of September 11, 2001 occurred only weeks before the scheduled departure and hung heavy in the staff’s hearts and minds. With characteristic PAE bravery, tenacity, skill and a sense of adventure, Nordhavn set out for the first leg to Hawaii on schedule. Approximately 27 weeks later she arrived back in Dana Point in record time and without serious injury or mishap. The experience proved incalculable: from figuring the best way to FedEx a part to Somalia, to realizing the air conditioning requirements for sweltering Panama, to learning the dock power available in Phuket, PAE gained a wealth of knowledge that not only helped set Nordhavns apart from the competition, but earned the brand recognition as the industry leader.
As a result of this trip, the Nordhavn 43 was conceived. This superb boat captured Jeff and Jim’s latest thinking and incorporated the research and lessons learned from that historic voyage. Meanwhile, N40 sales continued to flourish, but in 2004, the N40 molds were shipped from California to the new South Coast Marine factory in Xiamen, China where production commenced. The labor advantages in Asia proved to be just too tough for the California builder to compete with. And, surprisingly, shipping of the finished boat to any location around the world other than Southern California is cheaper and easier from China.
Seizing the Day
Post 9-11 was a challenging time for PAE but also a time of opportunity. In an atmosphere similar to the luxury tax period, some builders were in trouble and most were in a holding pattern or contracting business plan. PAE chose this time to expand with their most ambitious projects to date. 2001 saw the introduction of the N47. This groundbreaking design was related to the design ideas of the N40 with the concepts taken to a higher level. The N47 project was awarded to South Coast and was the catalyst for SCM’s decision to establish a new factory in China. Between 2001 and 2004 SCM constructed a magnificent 100,000 sq. ft. state-of-the-art factory. 2001 also saw the introduction of the N72 and N76 which were built at Ta Shing. To accommodate for the ambitious project, Ta Shing constructed a beautiful new 50,000-sq.-foot factory.
Continuing to react to the uncertain times with a carpe diem attitude, PAE set out to expand its physical presence with additional sales and service locations. Between 2001 and 2007, new PAE offices were opened in Rhode Island, Florida, the United Kingdom, Seattle and Australia. Nordhavn Europe, as the UK office is known, opened in June 2004 and welcomed its first Nordhavn, the famous N57 Atlantic Escort, which served as the lead boat in the Nordhavn Atlantic Rally (NAR). To date, Atlantic Escort and 28 other Nordhavns have been sold by the UK office.
2004 was a very busy year for PAE. With a growing staff of engineers, assistants and draftsmen to help him, Jeff had become ever more prolific and completed two new designs, the N55 and the N64. Building on the proven concept and style of the N47, these two new designs were an instant hit. The N55 is being built by the SCM Xiamen China factory and hull #1 was shipped in March 2005. There is currently a 20-boat order backlog for the N55, which is being built at the rate of 14 boats per year. The N64 is being built by Ta Shing and hull #1 was shipped in December 2005.
The biggest event of the year for PAE in 2004 was the successful completion of the NAR. Using many of the skills learned in the ATW, Jim envisioned and developed a plan to assist a group of boats crossing the Atlantic together. With the Nordhavn 57, Atlantic Escort, as his flagship, Jim and his crew of PAE employees and others led a group of 18 (all but 3 were Nordhavns) boats across the Atlantic over a two-month period of time. Starting with the hopeful and exciting departure from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to an emotional and historic arrival in Gibraltar, the brave fleet set records all along the way. Magazine reporters and PAE staff kept the yachting world informed with internet postings as the momentum and interest built along the way. The lives of over 100 boaters were changed forever as they learned more about their boats and themselves. PAE was recently awarded with the 2004 Best of the Year award by Motorboats & Yachting (UK) magazine for their success in organizing the NAR. 2004 also saw the retirement of Joe Meglen after 30 years of service.
With the successful NAR campaign behind us, 2005 was a year of consolidating our gains with infrastructure improvements together with some further expansion. A second issue of PAE’s in-house Circumnavigator magazine was completed. With the NAR story as the centerpiece, this second issue at 225 pages is twice the size of the original issue. The number of Nordhavns in the fleet grew by 50 boats and the many wonderful stories of the owners’ adventures and successes together with other news from PAE easily filled the magazine. In the design and tooling area, 2005 brought us the N68 and N86. The N68 is a gorgeous expedition style boat that is based on the N64 hull. Led by Jeff Leishman, the design team did a beautiful job with this project and we received six orders to kick off that project. Hull #1 of the N68 project was delivered to the well known yachtsman Ken Williams in August 2007. Early 2005 saw the start of the N86 tooling project. Jeff and his team designed this boat in 2004 and the commencement of the tooling construction marked the start of PAE’s biggest and most ambitious project to date. Hull #1 of the N86 is being built to ABS certification. This tedious and demanding process is a first for PAE and helps bring our skills and abilities to a higher level. In September 2005, we opened Nordhavn Yacht Northwest on Lake Union in Seattle. In a vision that we held for many years, we knew that we needed representation in that busy part of the yachting world. When our old friend Don Kohlmann (former President of Pacific Seacraft) became available, that was the catalyst to complete our game plan of having sales locations in the “four corners” of the continental U.S.
2006 saw the introduction of two new design projects- each a big departure from what we have been building for the last 16 years. The MS56 is a motorsailor. Combining our offshore sailing knowledge which has lain dormant for many years together with the knowledge learned from the hundreds of thousands of miles which our Nordhavns have logged, Jeff Leishman created a masterpiece of a design which broke new ground. Using a controllable pitch Hundested propeller and a clever layout design, Jeff created a boat which resets the standards for a “proper” motorsailor. Naturally, this project is being built at Ta Shing by many of the same workers who built our 212 Mason sailboats. Hull #1 of the MS56 project is currently under construction and will be delivered in 2008. The EYF75 is an expedition sportfisher. By combining the qualities and features of a sportfisher together with a long range displacement hull form which we know so well, Jeff created a unique vessel which is appropriate for our times. The EYF75 has the range to reach distant fishing grounds and with its efficient hull form leaves a “carbon footprint” which is a tiny fraction of that of the fuel guzzling monsters which we have come to know as sportfishers. Hull #1 of the EYF project is currently under construction and will be delivered in 2008.
2006 also saw the opening of our 6th sales office - Nordhavn Australasia, an affiliate branch of Nordhavn, located in Brisbane, Australia and managed by Peter Devers. The growing presence and awareness of Nordhavns around the world together with the strong economy and strong currency in Australia have already produced 6 sales from this busy location.
2007 has been a year of further expansion of our management infrastructure and of our two partner factories. In May, we moved into the new sales facility which we purchased in Stuart, Florida. This beautiful location will be our Florida home for many years to come. Ta Shing (builder of the MS56, N62, N64/68 and the N72/76) has added 75 people to help meet the orders of those models. South Coast Marine (builder of the N40, N43, N47, N55, N86 and the EYF75) has a mammoth new factory under construction. When complete in 2008, this state of the art facility will employ 1000 workers and be capable of building Nordhavns up to 150 feet. 2007 will also see distribution of the 3rd issue of PAE’s in-house Circumnavigator magazine.
What lies ahead in the future for PAE? More of the same: more boats, more challenges, more successes. The owners of PAE owe a great debt of gratitude to the customers, employees, suppliers and friends who have helped us grow from our humble beginnings in 1974. Since the company was founded, hundreds upon hundreds of new boats and nearly twice as many brokerage boats have been sold to customers of all ranges of experience, age, background and nationality.
As we know from our experience of continually out-doing ourselves, there is always room for improvement. Our superb and seasoned staff works with the commitment, dedication, skill, talent, integrity and ambition brought by the three owners Jim Leishman, Jeff Leishman and Dan Streech, so anything is possible. There are numerous ideas, plans and dreams as yet unfulfilled. So stay tuned…
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