Setting A New Course: Savannah-based Intermarine has a new flagship in Mia Elise, even though the recently-purchased company may never build another like her.

Story and photos by H. Shaw McCutheon

INTERMARINE’S 136-FOOT flagship Mia Elise, took form on the cavernous floor of her builder’s Savannah, Georgia, facility in February of 1997. Up until then- dating back to before World War II, in fact - the yard had built primarily wood or fiberglass Navy mine hunters.

The story of Mia Elise really is the story of a company struggling to transform itself in a relatively short time from a nuts-and-bolts military/commercial shipyard to a builder capable of delivering finely crafted yachts to an eager world market. Not surprisingly, chapters are still being written, not the least of which is the company’s recent $14 million cash purchase.

IN THE DEAL, INTERMARINE WAS bought by American entrepreneurs from the Italian conglomerate that had initiated the yard's switch to yacht work when Navy contracts began drying up in the mid- 1990s. Included in the purchase are seven vessels from 105 to 142 feet currently under construction inside the main shed.

Intermarine CEO Thom Conboy has major expansion plans for the 21-acre yard on the Savannah River. Already up and running is a motor yacht construction program that is geared to produce three to four semi-custom vessels between 100 and 145 feet each year. In addition, Conboy plans to augment existing yacht construction with substantial refit and repair work, along with military and commercial construction.

Whatever the company's plans, it has the physical facilities to carry them out. To handle repair and refit work is an industrial-size dry-dock 535 feet long and 75 feet wide. Feeding the main shed, moreover, is a 1,000-ton railroad/ synchro-lift system. Next door is an additional 10 acres, where the company is contemplating construction of another railroad, plus enormous paint sheds. The company also owns land across the river, for further expansion.

While Conboy is reluctant to rule out building more custom yachts such as Mia Elise, the heart of Intermarine's reorganization is the company's new focus on speculative construction for clients who don't want to wait years for a new boat.

"Custom boat building is a very difficult thing"' Conboy explains. "if you're a yard that' s only going to produce maybe a couple of boats in a given year you can probably get your arms around it. What we've found is that on custom builds the owner brings in his captain, his expert engine room guy, his surveyor, his electronics person, his designer, and his friends to the yard. By the time you have that many people
wandering around the yard on a daily basis, they consume all your own employees," he said. "In addition, you have the quirkiness of owners to deal with. "

Conboy plans to market all future Intermarine yachts as ABS-classed semi-custom boats. Each particular boat will be approximately 70 percent finished when it goes on market, allowing a prospective owner the option to choose his own fabrics but not toy with the basic arrangement or look of the vessel. "We're just following the trend of the industry and what makes business sense. The customer has changed in the past few years. Most people don't want to wait a long time to take delivery of a yacht any more

When Conboy first joined Intermarine in January, 1995, the yard was just beginning the changeover to yachts. One of his first tasks was to build several semi-displacement hull molds, two of which he has retained. One has a 23.5-foot beam, and can be used for yachts between 105 and 120 feet long. The 28-foot-beam mold is for vessels between 130 and 145 feet. Left over from the mine hunter days is a 32-foot-beam hull for yachts up to 200 feet long.

Compart, the original Italian parent company, contracted designer Paola Smith and Marco Pinna, formerly managing director of Tecnomarine, to market the yard. The Smith/Pinna team produced the hull for the I I0-foot Royal Flush, which was shipped to a sister plant in Italy for finishing. During this time the Savannah yard built its first complete yacht, the I I I-foot heavily customized Lady A, which was delivered in September 1998.

Conboy was ready to begin a second, even larger spec boat when a Ft. Lauderdale yachtsman looking to replace his existing Broward negotiated the deal for tri-deck Mia Elise. Designer Luiz de Basto was brought in to improve an existing profile and Marc-Michaels Group was hired to produce a distinctive interior.

In Mia Elise, not only had Intermarine inked an important contract, but it had found a friendly buyer willing to let the company incorporate some elements it considered critical for future marketing. For example, Conboy wanted to show off the yard's engineering prowess. One of the yard's distinct advantages is a work force already experienced with stainless steel and other non magnetic metals. The result is Mia Elise's enormous, sparkling, well-designed engine room.

The yacht was introduced at last year's Miami Boat Show, where it created a stir, particularly for its lush, highly stylized interior. The five-stateroom, fully ABS-classed vessel features stowage for two tenders on the hooded main deck just aft of the salon; a bridge deck with a large Jacuzzi, barbecue and wet bar (but no helm); and, spacious accommodations for a crew of seven. Powered by twin MTU 12V396 TE94 diesels, it cruises at 18 knots with a top end of about 21 knots. Her 1 1,500-gallon fuel capacity gives her a 3500-mile range at 10 knots.

"We sort of designed the boat around having a couple of tenders down on the main deck, where they were easy to get on and off the boat," the owner explained. "My wife and I love the Med and we designed it with a large play area on top, " Aside from those considerations, the owner agreed to a
relatively standard accommodations plan, and let Marc-Michaels loose on the interior decor.

The primary interior wood is darkened Honduras mahogany, contrasted with eucalyptus burl and stainless steel accents. The fluted mahogany paneling is the unifying feature throughout the boat. Each area has its own distinguishing traits: the owner's suite, forward on the main deck, has a three-tiered, radiused crown while the master head has a fluted, silver-leafed, barrel-vaulted overhead. Each of the guest staterooms is sharply individual. A twin cabin, for example, has special removable panels that turn each bed into a large crib for the owner's two infant children. The foyer joining the quartet of guest staterooms leads to a workout room equipped with a plasma-screen glass door that turns opaque at the flick of a switch. The large skylounge features a coffered overhead and a large five-stool bar. Five different marbles are used in the various heads, while stainless steel fittings are artfully presented to balance the dark mahogany surfaces.

Future Intermarine yachts probably will be less ornate than Mia Elise. "The quality is there. But Mia Elise is a little over the top in materials," says Conboy. He plans to allot between $250,000 and $400,000 for soft goods for each of the semi-custom yachts, an amount he believe is sufficient for all but the most heavily customized interiors.

In the months since Mia Elise's handover to her owner, the boat has stayed mostly on the U.S. East coast. The warranty work has been minimal, according to the owner. "In the past, warranty work has been half of any new boat I've ever owned," he said. "Mia Elise should have more warranty work because she's larger, but it's half of my previous boat." Moreover, he added, the few times he needed assistance the Intermarine people were accessible and helpful.

With strong financial backing from the new investor, a new game plan and a remarkable physical plant, Intermarine seems poised for a rosy future. But there's no guarantee of smooth sailing. A consistent problem in the Savannah area is finding enough qualified yacht personnel, especially with joinery and finishing skills. Conboy said Intermarine will embark on a multi-tiered strategy to staff up the company. On the interior front, it has hired Todd Marckese, formerly with Marc-Michaels Design, to oversee the company's production interior work. Intermarine is also establishing apprenticeship programs with local schools, and cross-training existing staff. Finally, Intermarine will rely on outside contractors, even going
abroad, if necessary.

Historically, Intermarine's program represents a departure from recent trends, which has seen the U.S. Southeast become a hotbed of refit and repair, while losing new construction market share to the burgeoning GRP production yards of the Pacific Northwest. Otherwise, the company's plan to focus on speculative series production yachts puts it squarely in the mainstream of a market full of eager yacht buyers who don't want to wait two years for a one of-a-kind boat.

If highly customized, Mia Elise is not precisely the kind of yacht Intermarine ultimately wants to build its business around, she certainly establishes the yard's capability of delivering soundly built and nicely finished production yachts.