September 17, 2007

Berkeley Marine Center, while known for boat repair and maintenance, now holds the distinction of being the Bay Area's only builder of custom yachts. In Fall 2006, the yard became the construction site for the Antrim 40, XL, commissioned by Nick and Antony Barran. The sleek racing yacht was launched in Summer 2007.

Cree Partridge, the yard owner/manager, is no stranger to yacht building. In a previous business with partner John Palmer, Cree built some 50 custom IOR racers, mostly Gary Mull designs. Local boat design legends Carl Shumacher and Jim Antrim both worked for Mull at the time.

Building XL was a team effort, and the team was comprised of players from throughout California. Jim Antrim, the boat's designer is a Bay Area product. Ballenger Spars built the rig in their Watsonville shop. John Palmer cut the mold's framing at his Grass Valley company. Harry Pattison of E/P Sails in Newport Beach was the sailmaker. Even XL's owners, based in Southern California, and their crew lent a hand in some of the construction activities.

Among the innovations in managing the project with so many different players involved, Berkeley Marine Center installed a high-resolution webcam which updated two views of the construction every 15 minutes. The still images were ultimately used for a time-lapse movie of the entire project.

Time-lapse movie of the construction

Press regarding the construction of XL

Latitude 38's article on the building of XL.

Sailing Anarchy's first article about the building of XL.

XL Co-owner Antony Barran's perspective on having a new yacht built (published in Sailing Anarchy).