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In 1980, John Robertson started John Robertson Yachts in a garage in Zeekoevlei, about half an hour’s drive from Cape Town. Ten years later, he and the late Jerry Caine left this company to start a new one, Robertson and Caine. Since then, Robertson and Caine has become one of the top-three catamaran builders in the world and the main supplier of catamarans in the North American and Caribbean markets.
It has launched more than 1 300 sailing catamarans and done over 8m blue water ocean miles of deliveries from South Africa. Its Leopard range has won numerous accolades, including the Cruising World Boat of the Year: Best Charter Boat in 2017, Best Full-Size Multihull Boat in 2013 and Best Cruising Multihull, Best Import Boat and Best Multihull Boat of the Year in 2012. But it has not always been smooth sailing.
What did you do before you and Jerry started Robertson and Caine?
Sailing has been part of me for as long as I can remember. My dad was a sailor and I grew up in a house not far away from the yacht club at Zeekoevlei, which is a great playground for sailors, windsurfers and water sports enthusiasts. I learnt dinghy sailing there and as I grew older, progressed to keelboat racing. After school, in addition to racing, I built a couple of boats – dinghies and Dabchicks – on the side.
My biggest breakthrough was building the 30-foot racing yacht Impact, along with one of my sailing partners and mentor, Bobby Bongers. Impact was revolutionary, signalling a shift from heavy displacement to lighter boats. We kept the boat for a year or two and won all the top regattas and even a few inland races on the Vaal Dam with it.
Why did you start your own yacht-building company?
After a few gap years dominated by sailing, I
decided to do a mechanical engineering diploma at the then Cape Technical College
and did my practical year at De Beers in Kleinzee, south of Port Nolloth. At
the time I just wanted to retire early and figured the only way to achieve this
goal would be by starting my own business. So I started John Robertson Yachts
in 1980, with the idea of building racing yachts. At first the aim was to retire when I was 35,
but when that came, it was 45 and then 55, until I got to a point where I could
retire, retired for a day and realised it was not for me. My immature drive to
make money shifted when I realised we could build nice boats and make money
while doing it. The passion then shifted to building the best boats I
could. How do engineering and boat-building link
together?Many people think that boat-building is all
about carpentry and joinery, but it is primarily about engineering and systems.
So the engineering qualification along with the experience I gained at Kleinzee came in very handy – Kleinzee was very
isolated, so as an engineer it taught me to think for myself and work independently. Where did you get the capital to start John
Robertson Yachts?
I was in a motorcycling accident just after
school and used the insurance compensation to finance the building of Impact
with Bobby. Profit from the sale of Impact was used to help start John
Robertson Yachts. The money made from that boat was used to finance the next
boat and so on. At the time we were really struggling to make ends meet
building yachts aimed at the racing industry. One of my friends then gave me
the best advice ever. He told me to get off my high horse and rather build
“mom-and-pop” boats – boats for the whole family to enjoy.
Jerry Caine joined John Robertson Yachts about
five years after it was started. In 1990, however, we both decided to leave the
company as our shares had become totally diluted as more and more people became
shareholders.
So you used your share money to finance
Robertson and Caine?
No, the cheque given as payout for our shares
in John Robertson Yachts bounced. So we had nothing but our reputation,
boat-building experience and knowledge when we started Robertson and Caine in
1991. Due to the shortage of cash, we started out making custom-built yachts,
with progress instalments on the boat. It was pretty nerve-racking, as you
never knew where the next order would come from. So we went back into
production boats – where you build a beautiful boat at the right price and of
the right quality so that it will be grabbed up by the market.
When did you have your first big break?
Around the mid-1990s an old friend of mine came
to Cape Town to find a builder of catamarans for the yacht charter company The
Moorings. The CEO of the company was at a boat show at the time where he saw
one of our boats. He was impressed with our craftsmanship and the quality of
the boat, so we ended up with an order for 10 cats. From there we received
another order for 10 cats and that continued until we became the exclusive
supplier of sailing catamarans for The
Moorings.
What was competition like in South Africa and
how has it changed over the years?
Because of extreme climatic conditions
associated with our coasts, South Africa was associated with good sturdy boats
when I entered the industry. We decided that we wanted to build on this
reputation, but also add a little finesse to the product. Since then there has
been a lot of change in the industry, with everybody raising their game and the
country also becoming synonymous with luxury boats.
This is a shortened
version of an article that originally appeared in the 20 April edition of finweek. Buy and download the magazine here.
