Norman Wright is moving

Norman R. Wright & Sons, one of Australia's most iconic boat builders founded more than a century ago, has sold its historic yard on the banks of the Brisbane River. 

Evidently, developers plan to build a four-story residential block in the encroaching Brisbane suburbia which is swallowing just about everything in its path these days.

But, thankfully, it's far from game over for Norman R. Wright & Sons...

The sale of the 3200sqm site at Bulimba, the third location for the famous Brisbane boat builder since it started 107 years ago, marks another exciting chapter in its rich history.

Norman R. Wright & Sons has procured a new freehold site just a few miles downriver on the banks of the Brisbane River, pretty much alongside Rivergate Marina and Shipyard.

They plan to move "100 years of stuff" by barge in August or September this year. And, in so doing, usher in a new chapter that brings fresh opportunities for the famous badge and Queensland boat builder.

FOURTH LOCATION
This will be the fourth location for Norman R. Wright & Sons in its history: Newstead (1909-1936); Quay St, Bulimba (1936-1989); and Byron St, Bulimba (1989-2016). Each location has marked an important epoch in our nautical history.

"Every time we settle in, suburbia catches up, particularly where we are in Bulimba. So we elected to be first out of the street. I can't see people with new units being prepared to put up with a boatyard alongside," Bill Wright (sailing in the second photo above), the 62-year-old director of boat business, told boatsales and BoatPoint in our exclusive interview.

THE WRIGHT APPROACH
Bill and Ian Wright, the grandsons of the founder and patriarch Norman, have been keeping the family yard and revered brand alive in recent years by embracing new technology and building boats with modern composites.

Their father Ron was the first naval architect to graduate from the University of Queensland. Boat building is in the family blood.

With renewed interest in classic boats from a new generation of boaters, and continuing investment in commercial craft, it's anything but game over for the enduring business.

"Our biggest challenge has been keeping the business going because it’s very difficult now with cheap imports and the high cost of labour and manufacturing," Bill told a local Brisbane newspaper in August last year.

Since then things have taken a turn for the better.

BUSINESS IS FLAT STRAP
Although the substantial landholding and boat yard at Bulimba have been sold, Norman R. Wright & Sons is "flat strap" and has no thoughts of throwing in the towel or torture board just yet.

"We currently have 45 people on site building boats. We're flat out building boats for the Darwin Port Authority. They're fully infused, vinylester, like we've have been building in the last 10 years," Bill told us.

"We've got big refits on, with Laura J [a luxury 90 foot superyacht and charter boat], and there are four yachts also now being refitted. Then there is all the day-to-day maintenance."

Bill was quoted in a local newspaper saying that Bulimba was a working-class suburb that was full of boatbuilders, painters, dockers when he moved in, but that it has transformed in his lifetime.

The sale of Norman R. Wright & Sons' sprawling 3200sq m site prompted boat lovers and boat aficionados [including this author] to ponder if this is the end of an era for one of Australia's most loved and respected boat brands.

But with a new freehold site just down river and plenty of work on the go, the sale marks the beginning of a new era.

NEW BOAT TRENDS
Bill says some interesting things have been happening in the boating industry, with a resurgence of interest in classic craft from younger 30-40 years olds.

"We have also reinvented ourselves as little-boat builders in recent years," Bill adds, "we've built a 19-20ft centre console, we have a neat 15ft all-purpose boat that was designed as a tender, which is proving popular as a bay boat, and we're working on a new 23ft centre console."

NORMAN WRIGHT HISTORY
The Wright tradition started in 1909 when Norman Wright opened his own business in Newstead, Brisbane. His first commission was Superb, a shallow draught gaff-rigged centreboard yacht, built for James Hogan Smith.

The yard’s prestige grew rapidly as a stream of exquisite vessels poured forth from its slipways. Following the outbreak of war in 1939, and particularly after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbour in 1941, the building of recreational craft was suspended in the wake of a wholesale diversion of resources towards the military effort.

After the return to peace in the late 1940s, there was a great demand for workboats such as trawlers, luggers, and vessels for the tourist resorts. During this period, the yard built boats for the Barrier Reef islands of Lindeman, South Molle, Orpheus, Magnetic and Hayman.

By the 1950s, Norman Wright’s sons had increasingly assumed responsibility for the day-to-day operation. The Sixties saw the departure of the younger Norman from the company but also heralded an onslaught of innovation in design and construction, as Ron took on more and more of the designing and management roles. The yard produced yachts at the cutting edge of technology during this period, epitomised in the Beryl May (later renamed South Pacific II) in 1961 and Bali Hai in 1964.

With the passing of Norman Senior, Ron’s two sons entered the business, working their way up through the yard. The 1990s heralded a renaissance of boat building at Norman Wrights. In recent years, the company has been constructing multiple new generation City Cats, completing refits and continuing to produce pleasure and commercial crafts of the highest quality.

Bill and Ian Wright continue to strive to maintain this success and uphold the prestigious reputation their family business has built over more than a century of history. Additionally, the yard has produced a vast variety of boat builders who in turn established their own businesses.

We look forward to clinking glasses at the new Norman R. Wright & Sons boatyard near Rivergate when it is expected to open later this year. Meantime, more at www.wrightsons.com.au.