Back From the Brink
San Juan Yachts declared bankruptcy before the Great Recession. Their return points to good things to come from this builder.
There was nothing unusual about the setting. On a late summer day, a Down Eastinspired boat was plying the waterways of the Connecticut River; a typical New England tableau. Nothing, certainly, to bat an eye at for anyone who’s spent time in this quiet part of the world. The leaves had yet to change but there was a slight crispness to the air: a sign that summer was coming to an end. But that wasn’t it. If you looked closer, studied the scene a little harder, it was the boat that was unusual given the company’s history. Moving steadily under power of Volvo IPS pod drives, the newest iteration of the San Juan Yachts 40 brought everything into sharp relief: The West-Coast-built, lobster-boat-inspired builder was back.
Two years before, San Juan Yachts’ revival had gotten underway 3,000 miles west of Connecticut River, in Anacortes, Washington. On the east side of the city, San Juan Yachts overlooks Fidalgo Bay, a picturesque harbor and one of the gateways to the untapped wilderness of the Pacific Northwest, including the archipelago for which the company is named.
Since its founding in 1998, San Juan Yachts had rubbed shoulders with Northern Marine, the two builders working side by side along the waterfront. Then, as now, the two could not be more different: Northern Marine is the builder of custom longrange expedition and pleasure yachts from 57 to 152 feet, while San Juan Yachts focuses exclusively on handsomely styled Down East sedans and flybridge motoryachts from 30 to 50 feet. “[But] the two companies shared many employees over the years,” said Gilbert Villarreal, owner of Northern Marine, who acquired San Juan Yachts in June 2016. “And the acquisition was a perfect marriage between San Juan and Northern Marine.”
San Juan Yachts had declared bankruptcy right before the Great Recession, in part because they couldn’t break into more market segments around the country. With the brand’s recent resurgence, Villarreal tapped Essex Boat Works, of Essex, Connecticut, to be the exclusive Northeast dealer of San Juan Yachts. The new sales venture marked the first time San Juan Yachts would be sold through a dealer network; a move inspired by the desire to make waves in the Northeast. (Before this, the West Coast builder had primarily been marketed and sold to owners in the Pacific Northwest.)
This is how I came to find myself at the end of the summer cruising the Connecticut River aboard the SJ40 with Bob Jarrett, sales director of Essex Boat Works. The hull, designed by Gregory C. Marshall with a flared bow, was making quick work of the meandering river as we cruised along at a comfortable speed of 30 knots. Jarrett was explaining how each yacht is a work of art, built to the individual needs of each owner—no mass production here.
“The motorbox placement allows for the styling to happen in this boat,” said Jarrett as he lifted up the cockpit hatch to reveal twin Volvo Penta IPS500 pod drives that give the boat a WOT of around 40 knots. “No wood is used anywhere in the structure of the boat.” (The hull is formed using a Kevlar composite infused with vinylester resin.) San Juan Yachts are built using advanced build techniques and systems, with tooling of the entire boat modeled and cut by a computer controlled 5-axis router and stunning teak interiors created by master craftsman. It’s good to see this quality-focused builder back on the water.