FYI - Cape Dory brand, molds and construction

[Cathy Monaghan]

FYI regarding the Cape Dory brand, molds and construction:

As you know, a couple years ago Cape Dory Yachts founder Andrew Vavolotis sold what was left of his operation, Robinhood Marine Center, Georgetown, ME to Derecktor Shipyards. The Maine facility is now Derecktor-Robinhood.

https://www.robinhoodmarinecenter.com/

2017 -- The Cape Dory Cruisers brand, designs and molds were recently acquired by Madison Bay Holdings, LLC a Seattle based company with a legacy of over 35 years experience within the boat and recreational industry. Madison Bay Holdings was founded and is owned by marine industry veteran Ricardo Ruelos. Mr. Ruelos is also former Executive Vice President of C-Dory Marine.

https://capedorycruisers.com/

2018 -- Cape Dory molds to produce a complete product line of Cape Dory Cruisers & Yachts have been shipped to Florida. Production of the first Cape Dory Cruisers is set to begin starting with the Cape Dory Marinaut 220 Pilot House Cruiser and the Cape Dory 25 ft. Center Console, Open Express and Cuddy Cabin models.

They’ve got the molds for some of the sailboats as well, don’t know yet when/if they’ll start building them too.

[fmueller]

Thanks for posting. Any way to find out which sailing hull molds survive? 36s no doubt, but would be amazing if some of the smaller hulls still exist.

[Tod Mills]

I find this interesting. They were smart to purchase the brand. Maybe they will dip their toes into the monohull sailboat market once they get production rolling. I hope their production and design standards live up to the name.

From their web page: " While not currently in production you can expect to see the all new Cape Dory Sailboat series in the future completing the heritage, pedigree and authenticity of the iconic Cape Dory Brand."

So who knows? Maybe.

[Sea Hunt Video]

I would think a phone call or email to Andy Vavolotis might be appropriate and timely. He may have additional information or he may know nothing about this company. Can't hurt to ask.

[DAVIDPERRY]

Not sure if anyone contacted Andy, but Ricardo came into the picture after Andy's sale of Robinhood Marine Center to Derecktor's. He basically "assumed ownership" of the Cape Dory name, as Newport Shipyards who purchased the name at the bank auction years ago, went out of business. Ricardo may have found the mold for the 36/40 powerboat, possibly in New Jersey, but he did find that Nauset Marine was the real owner of the 33 powerboat hull mold. Robinhood used it and paid a royalty to Nauset when we needed a boat molded. I believe that Nauset sold the molds to Ricardo, and they may have been shipped to Florida now.
At my plea before I retired, Derecktor's acquired the 36 sailboat molds from Andy, and I hope that they are still in Maine. I'll ask around. I had a number of conversations with Ricardo and he is a trip. I will be surprised if anything really ever gets built.
Dave Perry