Recently we had the opportunity to have a cyber sit
down with none other then Leif Beiley - famed and currently
notorious designer of such great boats as the B25, B32,
and his latest creation; the Bravura 29. We threw a
full slate of questions at Leif, and he was kind enough
to answer each and every one. The following is from
a Leif, a designer whose work I have come to constantly
admire, and is completely unedited for your veiwing.
Windchaser Yachts (WCY) -The first time I saw
the name Leif Beiley appear was many years ago in relation
to the now well known B25 - was this your first major
creation ?
Leif Beiley -The B25 was my first production
design, as opposed to custom yachts, since leaving Islander
Yachts. At Islander I worked closely with Bob Perry
on a number of projects ranging from the I28 to the
Freeport 36. Bob was a somewhat reluctant mentor to
me in those days. He’s a great guy and an excellent
designer. During my stint at Islander I studied the
work of Alan Gurney and the then unknown Bruce Farr.
Alan had designed the Islander 36 and Windward Passage.
Both are beautiful examples of the art of yacht design.
Bruce represented the direction racing yachts were headed
and I was fortunate to be involved in several Farr designed
projects. One of my favorites was the 52 footer, “Zamazaan”.
In 1987 I redesigned the rig and deck for that legendary
yacht. We raced it to second and third in the ’87
Cabo San Lucas and Transpac races. In ’93 I sailed
it once again to a first overall in Cabo San Lucas race.
WCY - At the time you were drawing the plans
for the B25 what was the original market you were going
after ?
Beiley - The B25 was originally a custom design
for my friend, Doug Ludden. His boat, called “Vapor”
was quite a bit ahead of its time and out of the first
ten races we did on that boat we scored 9 firsts and
a second. The design brief was for a trailerable boat
that could compete at any level, was capable of making
passages like the Pacific Cup, and was economical and
user friendly. It has been a truly remarkable success,
winning at nearly all the major events in the US, including
Key West Race Week, North Sails Race Week and a host
of other PHRF grand prix events. The boat proved it’s
pedigree once again this year by winning both Long Beach
Race Week (“Nocona”) and North Sails Race
Week (“Blur”).
WCY - Once the boat was launched as a new design
how do you find the challenges of marketing the boat,
especially then as it was an ahead of its day creation
?
Beiley - It was great. All I had to do to sell the
boat was take a prospective customer out for a sail.
I sold about 47 of them between 1988 and 1994. The B25
was one of the first boats to be commonly referred to
as a “sportboat” and I consider it to be one
of the original sportboats. By 1993 advances in technology
began to overtake the B25. It is interesting to note,
however, that B25’s have continued to be extremely
competitive throughout the ‘90’s. A glance
at the results of the Key West Race Weeks throughout
those years will show a B25 along with a B32 in the
top three almost every year.
WCY - Your follow up design was the well recieved
B32 - After your experiences with the B25 what things
did you do differently with the B32 ?
Beiley - The B32 was just a big sister to the 25.
I felt that we could do a very fast boat using conventional
technology (e-glass vs. carbon fiber and aluminum rigs)
that would be affordable, tough and fun to sail. We
launched that boat at the same time the Mumm 30 and
Melges 30 came out. It was an immediate success, winning
the ’96 Sportboat of the Year award, and KWRW that
year as well. Those three boats represented three different
approaches which all attained a certain amount of success,
but they fully saturated the market in that size range
and we only sold 14 B32’s between 1994 and 1996.
The B32 is a really nice boat that also continues to
win (First again at KWRW this year).
WCY - From the B25 and the B32 your next endevour
appears to be with Bravura Yachts, what happened with
B boats, and could someone still purchase a B ?
Beiley - By 1995 it was clear to me that the “sportboat”
market was going to be filled with a lot of radical
boats from many builders who would come and go quickly,
keep the prices depressed, and make it hard to make
a living. Boats like the Vipers didn’t last long
but they took away business that would have been ours,
and I didn’t want to compete in that kind of marketplace.
I sold Bboats, Inc. in 1995 and took a long break.
From ’95 to ’97 I did a lot of things I had
missed during the Bboats years. I had sailed an average
of 80 days/year during that period and was ready for
a change. I remodeled my house, spent a lot of time
hiking, rode my bicycle, traveled, climbed many of the
major peaks in California…basically recharged my
batteries. During that time I thought a lot about what
kind of boats I wanted to build vs what the market wanted.
I also thought about how my taste in boats had evolved.
So I started to think about a kind of boat that would
be pretty fast, be comfortable and economical to sail,
and that would be more than just another race boat.
By1997 I had developed the concept of the “Sport
Utility Vessel” and founded Bravura Yachts, Inc.
to build and market this new concept.
- continue An
Interview with Leif Beiley Pt II
