Jack Sarin (44k jpeg)Instead he followed his instincts into marine design. And now it is clients who are following a well-worn path to the naval architect's modest Bainbridge offices.
They come for fishing boats, ferries, patrol boats and yachts. Lots of yachts. So many, in fact, that Sarin's seven-person firm has become known throughout the boating world as the place to go for the ultimate in floating opulence.
Sarin and company are not personally members of the mega-yacht owners' set. But they are only too happy to create boats for those who are. Because boats, it seems, are in their blood.
Jack Sarin (44k jpeg)
Sarin got his start in the business when, with a degree in industrial design in his hand, he wandered into the Stephens Marine boatyard in Stockton, Calif.
"I saw the yachts under construction and said, 'Wow -- this is it!' "
The boatyard hired him on sight and Sarin returned to the door factory only long enough to quit. Since then Sarin, despite subsequently returning to his native Northwest, making a couple of job changes and starting his own firm, has never been without work -- even for a day.
So far his work totals some 400 boat designs of all types, of which about 200 have been built. At any given time, about 10 of the Sarin firm's designs are under construction at yards around the globe. But most are built in the Northwest, which has become the world leader in boat design and construction.
Yachts make up about 80 percent of Sarin's business. Much of the remainder has recently been taken up with small, fast, passenger ferries, which now are in service in Alaska and California. A current commission is something entirely different: patrol boats to be used by foreign governments in their anti-drug-smuggling efforts.
"If you start drawing armament on these things, it makes you think a little bit," he said.
According to Sarin, a unique quality of his firm is that among the six designers and architects there is the ability to draw almost anything -- from the hull to mechanical systems to interior decor. Usually naval architects leave interior design to a specialty firm, but Sarin said he has not had good luck with that approach -- although he has found one that he likes.
The problem is that many interior designers are not aware of the need to control the weight of their materials or structures, and will do things like add marble where it is not appropriate. Even worse, they will move -- or remove -- walls and bulkheads that are structurally important.
At times Sarin designers will call on subcontractors for hydraulic, electrical or other work, but always it is the boat design that comes first. Sarin said that sometimes, especially with yachts, a purchaser will go to a "stylist" first, to create the look of a boat, then hire a naval architect to try to make it work.
This approach is backward, according to Sarin. He said his shop will work with buyers, listen to their ideas and incorporate them as much as possible into the design. As long as everything is discussed in detail before construction, this works well. But if the buyer is obstinate, or lacks a sense of humor, or makes unreasonable demands, "I know my task is going to be more difficult," Sarin said.
"With few exceptions, the people we've dealt with here, particularly the Northwest people, are down-to-earth and enjoy the same kinds of things I would like," he said. "Like fishing, clamming, scenery. You have a real common bond. They're pretty great people."
They are also pretty rich. A 100-foot yacht can cost from $3.5 million to $7 million, depending on interior finishes and optional equipment. A fillup of a 5,000-gallon diesel fuel tank will cost $4,700; a new paint job will be upwards of $100,000. And then there's moorage, maintenance, insurance and crew costs.
132-foot Countach (44k jpeg)
"It's a pretty crazy business to be in," Sarin said. "There's no real reason for consumer demand."
Yet demand is there, and it's growing. Sarin confessed amazement at the number of people who apparently can afford big yachts, but he said the country has a large number of successful entrepreneurs and executives, and many of them see a yacht as an expression of everything they have achieved.
And while there are those who will order a yacht and then just wait until it is finished, many others like to be involved in the whole process. Some enjoy this so much that they will do it again and again: Buy a boat, see it built (this can take 18 to 24 months), use it for a season or two, and order another while the first is put up for sale.
Resale is an important design issue. Because most of the market for huge yachts -- new or used -- is on the East Coast, where buyers like bigger crews who can provide more service, yachts must be designed to accommodate this preference regardless of whether the original buyer really wants it that way or not. Sarin said West Coast buyers often prefer to run smaller crews or do most of it themselves, but a boat without crew quarters has a much reduced resale value.
Despite their size, modern yachts are fairly easy to run. Thanks to computer-controlled systems and user-friendly navigation and communication equipment, some of the big boats can be handled by two people. But because buyers tend to be older and not as spry as they used to be, it is common to have at least a deckhand along, or perhaps a husband-and-wife team who work as deckhands, cooks and housekeepers.
What the boat is used for, where it is taken and for how long all depend on the buyers. They are a diverse lot. Some use their boats infrequently, others very often. Some pilot the vessel themselves, others hire licensed masters.
And inevitably, some screw up. Sarin said he has had customers run aground or scrape over a reef on the boat's maiden voyage, wrecking rudders, propellers and stabilizers.
Surprisingly, though, hull damage usually is not severe. The bottoms are laid up of a fiberglass sandwich material with a core of Airex, a foam with extreme impact resistance and the ability to gradually resume its original shape after it has been distorted.
Two layers of this sandwich are used in the bottoms of most of Sarin's yacht designs. The sides of the hull use one layer. Most builders lay up the material by hand, then use a vacuum-bagging process to impregnate it with resin.
With this technique, a plastic sheet or "bag" is sealed over the curing layup and the air pumped out. This draws the bag tightly against the material, forcing the resin into it with great uniformity and predictability. Sarin said it is this technique that has made large fiberglass hulls practical, and it is the one in which Northwest yards have unequalled expertise.
The first successful use of vacuum bagging on a large yacht was a 98-foot boat Sarin designed for a client who demanded fiberglass. It was built by Westport Shipyard, on Grays Harbor, and subsequently was shown at the 1988 Fort Lauderdale show -- the big daddy of American boat shows.
"This boat absolutely blew away the boat show," Sarin said. "It really spun their heads around."
Up to that point, large yachts commonly had been built of aluminum. But aluminum has certain disadvantages. It is difficult to form into compound curves for hulls, it corrodes, it is noisy, and it doesn't hold paint well. The metal has no advantage in its strength-to-weight ratio, and it requires sound and heat insulation.
Fiberglass hulls must be built in a mold, or "tool," and if they are to be finished with a gelcoat -- a hard, glossy finish -- that coating must be applied to the mold before the glass is laid up. Sarin said gelcoat finishes commonly are used on smaller or "production" boats, while the larger megayachts are sprayed with polyurethane paint.
This is a major undertaking. A yard like Westport, for example, will enclose the hull in an airtight bag to make a giant spray booth, and use a waterfall filtration system to collect overspray and dust.
"That's where the big cost comes in," Sarin said. "You can go to any degree you want in cost; there's no upper limit."
For those who have limits on their bank accounts, however, there is hope. Sarin is now designing a 50-foot production model for Tollycraft, a pleasure-boat builder in Kelso whose products are intended to be relatively affordable. Sarin himself owns an older 37-foot Tollycraft, a boat he says is "near and dear to my heart."
But, like many boat owners, Sarin would like a little more room and a little more convenience. He says he is designing them into the new Tollycraft, just the way he wants them.
"Maybe I'm designing this one for me," he said.
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