THE FACILITY TOUR
Crossing the foyer we pass some astonishing pieces of sailing memorabilia. On the floor is what looks like one of the orc swords from Lord of the Rings but, actually, it’s one of the rudders from Oracle’s AC50 that defended last year’s America’s Cup.
Over by the wall is a hydrofoil from the first AC72, as well as a piece of the super-maxi Wild Oats XI’S canard. On the wall, beside some aerial shots of USA17 – Oracle’s monster trimaran that thrashed Alinghi’s catamaran – is a frame containing pieces of glass and a champagne cork. The remnants of the bottle of champagne that christened that same trimaran which won Oracle and Larry Ellison the America’s Cup.
Once in the production facility, sensory overload sets in. It’s hard to know where to look. On one side there’s a massive structure that was the control arm for the wing from the Oracle 90-foot trimaran. On another is a massive plotter and cutting table. Overhead hangs the top section of that famous trimaran’s wing sail, which stood 68m above the deck.
The place is marriage between labyrinth and rabbit warren. It’s full of switchbacks and rooms off rooms. The double-doors all look the same and you think you’ve been this way before, but you haven’t because you’re in a completely different building.
After a while it’s easier to give up trying to work out
where you are or what to expect. There is a surprise around every corner and through every doorway. Every time we turn a corner, we are confronted with another 50-foot catamaran, in varying states of assembly.
One thing which wasn’t obvious immediately, but became more so as we delved further into the bowels of this monstrous building, is the number of women. I’ve worked in a few boat yards and marine industry factories and walked around many more. And I’m sure I saw more women at CBC than I did at the rest of the places combined.
I comment that it’s great to see so many women on the production floor. “Of course,’ says Turner. “They’re great workers. They’re a lot tidier than most of the men who work here, and it changes the whole dynamic of the workforce we have. Everyone is much more pleasant when you have a good gender balance. The machines in here don’t operate or drive themselves, so the success of this place is as much about the people as it is anything else. There’s an enormous amount of experience and talent in here.”
CBC’S record attests to that. It built the 90-foot long, 90-foot wide, Oracle trimaran in just eight months. And then it rebuilt it over the next two years, replacing everything except the two main beams – all while the sailing team continued to use the boat.
It has built three yachts to compete for the America’s Cup, two of them successfully. It has supplemented its
...the success of this place is as much about the people as it is anything else.
‘usual’ work of America’s Cup yachts with building appendages for almost every active supermaxi yacht on the planet, composite architectural structures and solar-powered cars.
All in all, CBC is an inspiring place. Superlatives don’t do it justice. At its heart the company is a parallel of what makes New Zealand as a country great. It appears to be a small, humble building tucked away in a corner. Yet the people inside it – their focus and determination to achieve greatness in a niche area – have made it into a world-beating composite manufacturing facility.
It’s a place where magic happens.