Grampian Marine Limited was a Canadian

boat builder This is a list of boat builders, for which there is a Wikipedia article. Motorboats (<50 feet)

Oakville, Ontario Oakville is a town in Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton Region, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Lake Ontario between Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, Hamilton. At its Canada 2021 Census, 2021 census population of 213,759, it is List of tow ...

. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass cloth ...

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminology ...

s. The company was founded by Jim Bisiker in 1962 and operated until 1977.

History

The company was formed by Bisiker as a result of a downturn in his building construction business in the early 1960s in Oakville, Ontario. To learn the then-new art of

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

boat building Bisiker and colleagues Dick Kneulman and John Burn attended training at Dyer Yachts in

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

, United States, a leader in fibreglass construction. The Grampian plant was established on land owned by Bisiker's construction company on Woody Road in Oakville and named for the

Grampian Mountains The Grampian Mountains (''Am Monadh'' in Scottish Gaelic, Gaelic) is one of the three major mountain ranges in Scotland, that together occupy about half of Scotland. The other two ranges are the Northwest Highlands and the Southern Uplands. T ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

, where Jim Bisiker’s grandmother lived near

Aberdeen Aberdeen (; sco, Aiberdeen ; gd, Obar Dheathain ; la, Aberdonia) is a city in North East Scotland, and is the third most populous city in the country. Aberdeen is one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas (as Aberdeen City), and ...

. The new company attracted boat builders wanting the manufacturer to build boats for them under contract. Charles Angle, of

Rochester, New York Rochester () is a City (New York), city in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, the county seat, seat of Monroe County, New York, Monroe County, and the fourth-most populous in the state after New York City, Buffalo, New York, Buffalo, ...

approached Grampian to build his Triangle 20 and Triangle 32 designs and later on the

US Yachts US 42 The US Yachts US 42 is an American sailboat that was designed by Stan Huntingford as a cruiser and first built in 1982. The boat is a development of the Cooper 416, using the same molds, which were purchased by Bayliner from Cooper Yachts. ...

and its development version, the US Yachts US 46. Those designs were marketed by US Yachts, led by Bob Larsen and Warren Dellenbaugh, who were involved with O'Day Corp., founded by George O'Day and the O’Day company president, Lyman Bullard. As a result of this relationship Grampian began building US Yachts designs and also O'Day designs for the Canadian market. Grampian also worked on the development of the Hunt-designed O'Day ocean-going power boats, but did not actually produce the designs. In the late 1960s the company refused an offer to be purchased by O'Day Yachts, although O'Day did buy US Yachts and Triangle Yachts before they went public with an

initial public offering An initial public offering (IPO) or stock launch is a public offering in which shares of a company are sold to institutional investors and usually also to retail (individual) investors. An IPO is typically underwritten by one or more investment ...

on the

New York Stock Exchange The New York Stock Exchange (NYSE, nicknamed "The Big Board") is an American stock exchange in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It is by far the world's largest stock exchange by market capitalization of its listed c ...

. Grampain's early offerings included a number of popular small dinghies of the period, including the

420 420 may refer to: * 420 (number) * 420 (cannabis culture), informal reference to cannabis use and celebrations on April 20 **California Senate Bill 420 or the Medical Marijuana Program Act *AD 420, a year in the 5th century of the Julian calendar * ...

Snipe A snipe is any of about 26 wading bird species in three genera in the family Scolopacidae. They are characterized by a very long, slender bill, eyes placed high on the head, and cryptic/camouflaging plumage. The ''Gallinago'' snipes have a near ...

, Jumpahead,

Albacore The albacore (''Thunnus alalunga''), known also as the longfin tuna, is a species of tuna of the order Perciformes. It is found in temperate and tropical waters across the globe in the epipelagic and mesopelagic zones. There are six distinct sto ...

and Flying Tern. The Albacores were produced under licence from Fairey Marine. Early boat customers included the

Government of Canada The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...

, which ordered 50 of the 420s. The company expanded into small

keelboat A keelboat is a riverine cargo-capable working boat, or a small- to mid-sized recreational sailing yacht. The boats in the first category have shallow structural keels, and are nearly flat-bottomed and often used leeboards if forced in open wat ...

s and built the Classic 22 and the Grampian 17. At the suggestion of George Walton Yachts of

Annapolis, Maryland Annapolis ( ) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Maryland and the county seat of, and only incorporated city in, Anne Arundel County. Situated on the Chesapeake Bay at the mouth of the Severn River, south of Baltimore and about east o ...

the company established its own line of yachts, starting with the Grampian Classic 31 and the Grampian Classic 37. As a result of the market success of these models the company hired its own designer, Scotsman

Alex McGruer Alex is a given name. It can refer to a shortened version of Alexander, Alexandra, Alexis. People Multiple *Alex Brown (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Gordon (disambiguation), multiple people *Alex Harris (disambiguation), multiple peop ...

. He designed the

Grampian 26 The Grampian 26 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by Alex McGruer and first built in 1967. The Grampian 26 design was developed into the Discovery 7.9 in 1975 and which was built in small numbers. Production The boat was built by G ...

, which sold 980 copies, making it one of the most successful Canadian designs in its size range. McGruer went on to design the Grampian 30 and Grampian 23. The Grampian 23 was not as successful, selling only a few hundred examples. As the company expanded it opened a

branch plant It is not entirely evident who first used the branch plant economy concept; however, it has been extensively used in Canadian and UK literature since the 1970s. This concept broadly describes the negative consequences on the growth of the regions ...

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

. The company was approached by George Cuthbertson of

C&C Yachts C&C Yachts was a builder of high-performance fiberglass monohull sailboats with production facilities in Canada, Germany, and the United States. C&C designed and constructed a full range of production line cruiser-racer boats, as well as custom ...

with a proposal for a merger, as C&C produced mostly racing boats, while Grampian was building boats for the cruising segment of the market. The deal was not pursued. While he was the majority shareholder Bisiker did not run the company on a day-to-day basis, leaving that to paid staff. When the company was founded the

Canadian dollar The Canadian dollar ( symbol: $; code: CAD; french: dollar canadien) is the currency of Canada. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, there is no standard disambiguating form, but the abbreviation Can$ is often suggested by notable style ...

traded at about 70 cents US and that made Grampian's boats attractive in the US market. By the mid-1970s the Canadian dollar had climbed to over

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

1 and exports were less competitive. Many other companies had also entered the boat-building market and provided a lot of competition, resulting in diminished sales. The company was placed in

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in ca ...

and closed in 1977. Its boat designs, tooling, molds and other assets were sold to a number of different companies. The North Carolina plant was sold to

Tanzer Industries Tanzer Industries Limited was a Canadian boat manufacturer based in Dorion, Quebec. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of fibreglass sailboats. History The company was founded by Johann Tanzer in 1966 and went bankrupt in May ...

Boats

Summary of boats built by Grampian Marine: *

* Jumpahead *

* Flying Tern * International Flying Junior * Triangle 32 * Triangle 20 * Classic 22 * Classic 31 * Eagle 27 * US Yachts US 41 * Walton 37 * Classic 37 * Grampian Classic 31 * Grampian Classic 37 *

* US Yachts US 46 * Grampian 30 * Grampian 22 * Grampian 17 * Grampian 46 * Grampian Classic 22 * Grampian 23 * Grampian 34 * Grampian 2-34 *

Discovery 7.9 The Discovery 7.9 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by Alex McGruer and first built in 1975. The Discovery 7.9 is a development of the Grampian 26. Production The boat was built by Grampian Marine in Canada between 1975 and 1977, ...

Grampian 28 The Grampian 28 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by Rolf van der Sleen and first built in 1975. Production The boat was built by Grampian Marine in Oakville, Ontario, Canada starting in 1975 and 107 examples were completed, but it i ...

References

External links

Gill Bibby - A Look at Grampian Marine
an interview with a Grampian Marine employee {{Grampian Marine Grampian Marine

History

Boats

See also

References

External links