BORN TO BUILD THE HISTORY OF CAPE DORY

By Andrew C. Vavolotis

James L. Nelson

and the many Managers of Cape Dory who bring the story to life

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BORN TO BUILD THE HISTORY OF CAPE DORY

By Andrew C. Vavolotis

James L. Nelson

and the many Managers of Cape Dory who bring the story to life

Shop Now

THE EARLY YEARS

The Birth of Cape Dory

With the sailing rig in hand and my prototype fifteen-footer done, it was time for sea trials. I hauled the boat up to "The Nip" and took her for a shake-down cruise. This was the first boat I had ever created from concept through design and construction, and I was very pleased with the results. The boat rowed easily and was lively and re

I wanted something that reflected my association with Cape Cod, near which I was born and raised and where I had spent a considerable amount of time. Thus the name of my newly-fledged company: Cape Dory

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The Cape Dory Typhoon

The Birth of Cape Dory

The eighteen-footer, a lovely little boat called the Typhoon, was designed by naval architect Carl Alberg. With its smaller size, and both hull and deck molds, it was much simpler to put into production than the Hood 30, and we started building them soon after I acquired the tooling.

As it turned out, the boat which I had initially decide

As it turned out, the boat which I had initially decided against bidding on would be the boat that sent Cape Dory off on a bold and wildly successful new course.

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Further Expansion

The Birth of Cape Dory

Further Expansion

The five-thousand-square-foot building we had built behind the original freight station was ready to go by then, and that gave us the space to start producing the larger, more complicated boats. Initially, we had two or three people working on the Typhoon, but soon we had to get more crew in the molding shop, and then more for assembly, a

Typhoon production went from one boat every two weeks to one boat a week and finally one boat or more per day. By the time we were really going full steam, we must have had ten or twelve people just building Typhoons, while others were still working on the smaller boats.

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THE LATER YEARS

Cape Dory 28 Fly Bridge Trawler

The Cape Dory 28 Trawler was something entirely new for the Cape Dory line. At that point, we had around sixty Cape Dory dealers, but most of them were not interested in power boats, for one reason or another. Only twenty or so were willing to take on the new boats, so we started shipping Cape Dory 28 Trawlers out to them. And right off t

From the get-go, the Cape Dory 28T was a popular boat.

We built 223 CD 28Ts and were still building them right up to the end. It was by far our most popular powerboat, and one of our most popular boats overall. Even as the market for sailboats was sinking around us, the Cape Dory 28 Trawler kept us afloat.

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Cape Dory 300 MotorSailer

Cape Dory 28 Fly Bridge Trawler

The 300 MS, was designed as a proper motorsailer, a boat that could move very nicely under a tall, well-proportioned rig as well as with her forty-six-horsepower Westerbeke diesel. This was a boat built for comfort, with an older buyer in mind, one who was done with bashing along in an open cockpit sailboat. She had a full keel like a sailboat, and more than eleven feet of beam, a lot for a thirty-foot boat. Even under a press of sail, she stood up pretty well and did not heel excessively.

The pilot house featured seats with the ever-important arm rests, sliding windows, and vents for all the breeze you could want. There was a wide cockpit aft with seats that folded down, and an opening transom with an optional swim platform. With that platform, it was a cinch to bring a boat up to the stern and let the passengers board the boat.

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CD 33 PowerYacht

Cape Dory 28 Fly Bridge Trawler

CD 33 PowerYacht

As a smaller sister to the now established 36 PowerYacht the overall hull characteristics followed the same theme. Modern but with homage to traditional New England boats. The 33, as the 36, was to be a rugged well-built seaworthy powerboat that could be handled by a couple and provide years of enjoyment to a family.

The CD 33 PY proved to

The CD 33 PY proved to be a popular boat. It was introduced in 1988 and we sold twenty-two of them, almost twice as many as the CD 36 PY. Now we seemed to be on a roll. Our strategy for our sailboat line had been to offer a wide variety of sizes so that Cape Dory customers could get in where they were comfortable and have some place to move up to when they were ready for a larger boat. There was no reason that that would not work with powerboats as well, so we continued to expand our line.

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Discover WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING ABOUT BORN TO BUILD...

Eric C. Marblehead, MA

Just got my copy of Andrew Vavolotis' book Born to Build Cape Dory...a standard of value and can't put it down. Well I did to make this post. If you love, have ever owned, own now or ever wanted to own a Cape Dory I can't recommend this book enough. Well written with amazing historical pictures, it tells a fascinating story behind our beloved brand! I grew up sailing with my Dad and almost every weekend in the Summer we would travel up to Marblehead, MA which is where I actually live now to sail. Like a lot of fans, I suspect, I first fell in love with and purchased a Typhoon. What an amazing boat! I recently "went bigger" and am now the proud owner of one of the last 31s made. Thank you for all you did for Cape Dory and for sharing your journey with us!

Frank T. Hinesburg, VT

I am two chapters into my autographed hardcover edition of Born to Build and just as James Nelson said in his foreword, you are a natural storyteller. I am a bit embarrassed tp say that I've not read two chapters of a book 'just for myself' in a decade...my day job involves reading for a dozen hours straight, so I've taken to flipping through magazine for recreation instead.

I write this letter to you because I wanted to let you know how instrumental you and your sailboat business have been to me over the course of the last 42 years (85% of my life, to date). When I was 8 years old, my father - ever the dreamer - dragged my mother, brother, and me to Marblehead, MA. This was around 1981. I was instantly smitten with the intended destination: a Typhoon Weekender sitting in the dooryard of the dealer on Little Harbor. We would repeat that trip several times over several years...debating the merits of Ty vs. 22D. Whether it was lack of mooring space or time, the dream was scrapped in favor of an Amityville, NY built "Sumner Islands 15" daysailer. That boat would live on a mooring at Lake Waban (really just a pond at Wellesley College) for a few summers. But I couldn't stop thinking of the Ty and the 22, as my juvenile brain was embedded with Alberg's design as the "ideal" shape of a sailing vessel.

I wish I could tell you the number of times I've "kicked tires" over the years...dragging my wife of 32 years along. I have countless photos of Tys on Long Island, NH, MA, ME and VT that I inspected, plotted, and schemed to buy. It just never worked out. Until this year. I am now the very proud owner a 1981 Cape Dory 22 (Hull #61), which is in terrific shape, having lived on fresh water only. She will continue to be under my tutelage, as I have secure a mooring in Converse Bay on Lake Champlain.

Really, the point in writing to you is to tell you something that I'm sure you already know and perhaps have been told many times before... in your endeavor to make a livelihood for your family and with your desire to make a product to last, you've also developed a love of adventure for countless landlocked dreamers like me. I now have the ability to fulfill decades of missed opportunities and can't wait for the ice to subside on the 'broad lake'. Perhaps someday I'll fulfill other wishes, like seeing blue water firsthand. But for now, I'm content with my Cape Dory 22 - a real "Standard of Value".

John D. Lake Superior

My wife got me your book for Christmas and I just finished reading it. Quite the saga. I loved your descriptions of solving problems from the manufacturing to the marketing of your very fine products. It was a fun read, and having owned a Typhoon and a CD36, I experienced a true intimacy and now have an even better connection to Cape Dory than I did before. I could visualize my Mariah - the CD36, being finished out on your factory floor in East Taunton. In 1984, the height of Cape Dory. An amazing shift you went through after that. I have had Mariah for 21 years now. In her, we ramble all over Lake Superior with no trouble and great confidence. We are the third owners. The original owner still contacts me every once in a while and asks me how she does and to send pictures. He is now in his late nineties. She was sold to him by Anchor Marine in Sister Bay, WI on Lake Michigan; moved to Lake Superior in 1994 where he sold her and has been there ever since. Always in fresh water so she is still in amazing shape. Truly, Mariah reflects the "Standard of Value"! Lake Superior, the Apostle Islands area in particular, has become a concentrated Cape Dory location. We used to call my old marina a "Capedoratoriam". We had 9 CD's. Three CD36's - three CD30's - one MS300 - one CD25 and a CD33. Just off the top of my head I can think of at least 10 more in the other marinas in the area. Sail on.

Doug H. Byron Center, MI

I had the pleasure of meeting you years ago at the Taunton facility, mid-eighties I would guess. I was in Boston on work for Michigan and took the time to drive down and drop in. I got a plant tour and you were gracious enough to spend a few minutes chatting with me and sent me on my way with a Cape Dory license plate, hat and can coozie! Will not forget your courtesy. That led to my first CD, a 25, for my young family. That boat, Celebration, was followed by Magnifique a CD 30 from Austin, Texas. Unfortunately, a divorce and move required me to relinquish her to my ex, in the mid 90's.

Several years later however, a TY SR was found in the San Francisco area and and moved to Edmonds, WA, where I was living. After several seasons in the Puget Sound, Recovery moved back to Holland, Michigan with me. After a lovely weekend sail on Lake Michigan, I asked my new wife what could be better. She responded, "It would be nice to stand up inside!" I suggested that could be arranged which took me to SISU, a CD28. We sailed her for many years until a stranger walking our docks saw her, said she was just what he was looking for and made me an offer I couldn't refuse. After being boat-less for a couple of years I found a sweet CD10 and sailed her for several more years, until the itch for a "real" boat struck again and Meander, a CD25D joined the family. I loved the seven or eight years I was her care keeper. But alas, she also needed to find a new home.

My wife got me Born To Build, for Christmas. I am enjoying it immensely! It has answered a number of questions and I have learned so much. I have spent many hours on those boats, upside down in lazarettes, fiddling with the seacocks, stuffing boxes, re-wiring, adding up-grades, loving Cape Dory Yachts and cursing Cape Dory Yachts! Your book is bringing back so many great times and believe it or not, even the "Cape Dory smell" teak, oil, diesel, water, fiberglass, comes back while reading. The first CD25, formed the love of sailing in my two sons, one is now in Malaysia on year two of a circumnavigation with his family. In fact, he just sent pictures of a CD30 in a marina they just checked into. My other son has completed over 30 Chicago to Mackinac races. Thank you so much Andy, for putting your Cape Dory journey down on paper. It is a treasure for those of us who owned and sailed your lovely boats. Cheers and Fair winds.