Colin A. Roberts (Kim)
158 Narragansett Ave. 4V, Newport, RI 02840 USA, Cell 401-864-2531
June ’09 to March ‘15 – Marine Consultant, client list: Victory ’83, USA, and Defender, three 12 Metres, Project Manager, racing and boatbuilding campaigns, Victory won World Championship ‘09, North American Championships ‘10, ‘11, ’12, ‘13, and ’14; Derecktor Shipyard’s Launch Team for America’s largest motoryacht, 285′ LOA, 2,400 tons, 4,000,000 lbs., successfully moved out of building, 1,400 ft. to the water, transferred to drydock and launched in Bridgeport, CT on August 8, 2010.
Feb ‘07 thru June ’09 – Derecktor Shipyard, Bridgeport, CT USA, Planner and Special Projects Manager, maintain all project schedules, develop and implement build strategies, assist Estimating, design special needs in production of America’s largest motoryacht, Cakewalk, 285’.
’85 – ‘06 Merrifield-Roberts, Inc. (MRI), Partner, then sole proprietor, in a Custom Boatbuilding Shop in Bristol, RI. I was the master craftsman, responsible for contract management; production engineering, bill of materials, shop drawings, quality assurance, estimating and measurement rule management. My role widened when John Merrifield died. The size of the company ranged from 10 to 35 people with annual sales of $2 to 3 million. John left me with some difficult problems and I decided to close the doors December 15, 2006, twenty-one years to the day after incorporating.
MRI built custom aluminum racing sailboats, starting with Buddy Melges’ America’s Cup 12 M, 65’, Heart of America. Other yachts included a German Frers’ maxi, Congere, 80’, a cruising sailboat designed by Maclear & Harris, Alyconne, 90’, and a vacuum bagged fiberglass cruising yacht Chance 52’, called Wind Star V. We also built boats for the first professional racing circuit called, ProSail, building four high tech. composite Formula 40 catamarans. We even built a flying boat, a Flarecraft, an all carbon fiber ground-effect craft, which traveled at 125 mph, 10 feet above the water with five people. We brought it through production design, pattern making, mold making and the first of seven production craft.
‘84 –‘85 C & C Yachts, RI, Head of Production Engineering for a Canadian mass producer of 25’ to 45’ fiberglass sailboats. Solved start up problems with four (4) new production lines, mold errors, finishing details, hardware selection, documentation maintenance. We produced 42 boats during my stay.
‘80 – ‘84 Newport Offshore, Ltd., Design and Project Management for the Newport boatyard. We built 16 offshore racing sailboats, using the highest technology of the day. We were the first in the marine field (globally) to employ carbon fiber, titanium, high temperature cure prepregs 350 deg.F, and honey comb cores. We built four America’s Cup Yachts all 12M, Clipper, Defender, Spirit of America and Liberty. Liberty lost the Cup after the New York Yacht Club had it for 135 years. For the 1983 America’s Cup in Newport, I was Yard Manager servicing seven foreign teams, and no one could have been busier. After the loss of the Cup that year the company bought Newport Shipyard turning it into a Yacht Yard and I served as Yard Manager for a year and a half more.
‘79 – ‘80 Crew member for an America’s Cup Team, the yacht Independence, 12M, and served as the team’s Construction Manager for the building of the new boat, Clipper, 12M, at Newport Offshore, Ltd. This is where I met and worked with John Merrifield. We liked each other instantly. I launched and raced onboard her in the 1980 America’s Cup Defenders Trials, finishing a two year program in the semi-finals.
’76 – ’79 Cruised the Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea on board my custom made 37’ sailboat. Lived in France for three years and while there, I helped build a 40’ fiberglass sailboat.
’74 – ’75 Broward Marine, Ft. Lauderdale, worked as an aluminum fabricator on three Broward 80’s.
’69 – ’73 Northeastern University – BA in Mathematics
I hold one patent, I am AutoCAD and Rhinoceros literate, and speak French. I race sailboats, and was the National Measurer for the Shield One Design Class from ’02 to’08.