40 years and going strong!

RCR Yachts
named after
Robert,
Charles,
Reese,
has been
servicing both
sides of
Lake Ontario
since 1972
40 years and going strong!
It doesn’t seem like 40 years, actually
closer to 41, time flies when you are
having fun! We can honestly say that
most of our history has been truly
enjoyable. When we hit the 40 year mark
last winter, the achievement really sunk in
as we recalled the many companies that
have come and gone during our tenure,
yet we are still here and doing what we
love to do.
RCR began operations in the
fall of 1971 as a successor to the
Youngstown Boat Company, (YBC)
owned by Beek & Margaret
Fairbank. The Fairbanks were
getting close to retirement, so they
sold two-thirds of their business to
their key employee Bob Reese. Bob
ran the boatyard and handled boat
sales, and those were the parts of the
business that they sold to Bob. The
Fairbanks retained the Ship’s Store
and the YBC name. I had just begun
36 working for YBC a few months
before, after completing University
and a tour in the US Army (those
were the Viet Nam war years). Bob
asked me to join him in his new
venture, which sounded like fun!
I was crazy about boats and sailing
and had no idea what I wanted to do
with my life. Little did I know at the
time that 41 years later I would still
be in the same job today.
The first challenge for the new
corporation was to come up with
a name. It actually took us about
five months before RCR officially
became a corporate reality, which
happened in early 1972. Months
went by as we had tried to obtain
approval from NY State for the
company name, trying several
different ones without success.
Finally our lawyer told Bob to “just
use your initials and we’ll get this
done”. So RCR Yachts, Inc. was
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By Don Finkle
officially born using the initials of
Robert Charles Reese. We did not
realize it at the time but this has been
a blessing, as there are no other boat
companies with similar names to
RCR in North America, unlike all
those that are “Sailing So-and-So”.
We started out with three
employees, Bob, Jane (his wife at
the time), and me, only hiring other
part-time helpers for the busy spring
launch and fall haul-out seasons. We
operated the boatyard on the Lower
Niagara River for the Youngstown
Yacht Club, where we were also
members ourselves. Working side
by side, we did everything including
selling boats, fixing boats, outfitting
boats, commissioning them, painting
bottoms, installing gear, rigging,
and even picking up new boats at
the factory and trucking them home.
Although I had grown up with
sailing and knew boats and rigging,
Say you saw it in GAM
Bob had to teach me about selling
and the workings of the boatyard.
We implanted and removed the
moorings for Youngstown Yacht
Club each year, hauled and stored
the boats for the winter, did the
winterizing, and re-launched them
in the spring. I fell in love with
every aspect of the business and
gave up any ideas of grad school and
corporate America.
In the earliest days we ran the
boatyard using what we called
“the Flintstone method”, which
meant with a lot of manual labor
and antique machinery. All of our
equipment was a “hand-me-down.”
Instead of a Travelift we had an
A-frame overhead rail with a couple
of chainfalls to lift the boat. We
would tie a line to the bow of the
boat when it was clear of the water
and pull it over the land using an old
Jeep. Once the boat was set in the
RCR partners Robert Reese and Don Finkle at the helm
cradle it was jockeyed into position
for storage using rollers and prybars.
Bob was 33 years old and I was 24
so we had a lot of youthful energy
and strong backs. Over the years we
gradually upgraded the equipment
until we had a Travelift, which ran
on rails and steel pilings that we
drove ourselves. We bought a well
used fork truck from a lumberyard.
The old surplus cable crane was
replaced with a hydraulic crane. We
eventually improved the safety and
efficiency of yard operations. As
we got older, our bodies certainly
appreciated the reduced wear and
tear! They say timing is everything
and that was certainly true of our
early history.
The decade of the 1970s saw
explosive growth in the sailing
industry. I say “sailing” because
at that time we were true to our
slogan “Exclusively Sail”, dealing
solely with sailboats. We could not
have picked a better time to get into
Open year round, RCR Yachts Buffalo Marina on City Ship Canal is RCR’s most valuable asset with 120 wet slips and over 300
boats stored on land
Say you saw it in GAM FALL 2012
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a place for you
the business as there were very few
used boats to compete with. Selling
new boats was far easier then than
it is now. Fiberglass was relatively
new and the idea that you could
own a boat that did not require
the extensive maintenance of the
wooden boats, meant that new
people were getting into sailing at a
furious pace. We were successful in
growing the business for a variety of
reasons: we knew boats, we loved
what we did, we worked hard, and
we took care of all aspects of the boat
ownership experience. If you bought
your boat from us, we would outfit
it, store it, moor it, fix it, and so
forth. Plus we were very fortunate
to be doing it at the right time; we
were far from the only people selling
lots of boats.
Speaking of selling, another lucky
break for us was being located right
across the Lower Niagara River
from George Hinterhoeller’s plant,
which became the main production
facility for C&C Yachts. YBC had
been a dealer for Hinterhoeller, and
subsequently for C&C when that
company emerged. At that time
C&C was building a line of boats
that were perfect for our clientele
and here they were, right across the
River from us! It wasn’t long before
we were in and out of the plant in
Niagara On the Lake (NOL) on
a regular basis, taking customers
through to see their new boats in
production. It was a simpler time, no
hard hats, no safety glasses, no need
to sign in with the receptionist. We
had the run of the place and knew a
great many of the employees there.
If we had a problem we knew right
where to go and who to speak to.
The border was a lot less of an issue
then too, we could hop in the work
boat and motor right across and be
at the plant in short order. Yes, we
38 George
Hinterhoeller
George Hinterhoeller, a co-founder of C&C Yachts,
and founder of Hinterhoeller’Yachts, was a talented
designer. The most sucessful of his creations was
the SHARK 24 of which many thousands were built.
Other Hinterhoeller boats of the early 1960s included
the Niagara 30, the Hinterhoeller 25 and 28, the latter
his own designs. When he decided to commission an
outside designer for his next boat, he selected C&C.
The design they delivered was named the Invader 35,
their first boat in fiberglass. About two dozen were
built, followed by the more popular Redwing 30 and
35. (The latter was never sold as the Redwing 35,
rather as the C&C 35, because it came along just as
C&C Yachts was being formed.)
certainly miss those days, it was the
best time to be in this business for a
lot of reasons.
It wasn’t long before George
Hinterhoeller was tired of the big
corporation that C&C had become
and he moved down the road a few
miles and started up Hinterhoeller
Yachts all over again. We were
naturally thrilled to be invited to
become one of his first dealers.
Immediately we had the run of
his plant and his line of cruising
boats complemented the C&C line
that we still represented in a big
way. Together they were a killer
combination. George was a brilliant
boat builder with many talents,
including design and a uniquely
inventive streak. He was one of our
all-time favorites in this business,
along with Bill Shaw from Pearson
Yachts.
Being relatively young and with
next to no business background
we made our share of mistakes, we
were not the best businessmen by
any stretch. They say hard work
and enthusiasm make up for a lot,
and that was obviously true for us
because we survived our missteps.
One thing we were guilty of was
getting involved in selling too many
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different boat brands. Looking back
on it now, I doubt (if we had ever
had the proper financial systems in
place to know) that some brands
were just not profitable! However,
we had a good excuse, we were
avid racers and ended up selling a
number of boats because we wanted
to race them ourselves! We had
also inherited the C&C, Cal,
Grampian, O’Day and Cape Dory
lines from YBC. Within a year we
added Pearson Yachts, followed by
Sabre and a number of boats we sold
because of our racing activities: San
Juan, Solna Scampi, North Star (for
the Farr 727), and J/boats.
Our relationships with J/boats
is a story in itself. When the J/24
came out in 1976 RCR already had
more boat brands than we needed,
and who had ever heard of a J/24
anyway? But Bob Johnstone was
very persistent and wore me down,
so we got one of the very first J/24s.
I can still recall him phoning me
at home at odd hours pestering
me to take on the sale of his new
design. That was another one of
those fortunate breaks for us as we
are now one of the two oldest J/boat
dealers in the network. RCR has
sold several hundred of the various J/
Say you saw it in GAM
Say you saw it in GAM Gizmo #177 – 1st Overall LO 300 2-Handed Spinnaker Division
boat models over the ensuing years and owned quite a
few ourselves.
It is appropriate that we mention the impact sailboat
racing has had on our history and success. From the
very beginning Bob and I were active racers and that
helped us considerably, having met many sailors through
racing who became long time friends and customers.
“Being able to pick up racing boat lines to represent
allowed us the opportunity to sail different boats and
furthered our general knowledge of sailing and various
types of rigging.”
We have long sponsored regattas, classes and events.
which eventually raised our profile and image within the
sailing community. Frankly we enjoyed doing it, and
really did not put much thought into the benefits to the
company. While Bob has slowed down his involvement,
I am still very active in racing and regatta organizing and
would be even if I was no longer in the business.
We mentioned that we have outlasted many other
companies in our industry, and that is certainly true
for boat brands that we have represented at one time
or another. Most were good outfits that fell prey to
either poor management or failed ownership, or most
commonly an inability to change with the economic
times and the maturing of the boating industry (read too
many used boats). RCR has represented the following
brands at one time or another during our history, and I
am probably forgetting a few: C&C, Cal, Cape Dory,
Hinterhoeller, North Star, Olympic Dolphin, Tanzer,
Sabre, Pearson, Solna, J/boats, O’Day, Endeavour,
Tartan, San Juan, Hunter, Beneteau, Sonar, Alerion,
Aloa, Aquarius, Balboa, Corsair, Gemini, Nowak &
Williams and Freedom. You will note that many of
them are no longer in business. It may seem like we
were out to collect as many boat lines as possible, but
that was not the case. As the dominant company in our
area we had first choice of brands to sell so at any given
point in time we offered the lineup that we felt covered
the various segments of the marketplace best. Some of
these names represented only one model, and that model
filled a market need. You also have to keep in mind that
this list covered many years and as builders fell out we
would pick up a replacement brand.
Currently we sell Beneteau, J/boats and Sabre, leaders
in their respective market segments and all of which
RCR has represented for long time, the latter two
for at least 35 years. In today’s world there are fewer
builders, and dealers carry fewer brands. It is much
easier for us to manage for sure. Up to this point we
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FALL 2012
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have talked about new boats, because
in our early years that is what we
predominantly sold. After all, there
were no 30 year old fiberglass boats
in 1972, in fact there were few used
fiberglass boats period. That sure
made selling new ones a heck of a
lot easier. Over time we have gone
from being a new boat sales outfit
that sold a few used boats on the side,
to a used boat brokerage house that
sells new boats whenever we can. A
typical year for us might mean 150
boats of all types and size sold, of
which now maybe only 20 are new.
These numbers rise and fall with the
economy as you might expect. One
sea change to our industry has been
the Internet, which has broadened
our market substantially. We now
sell all over, with sales in recent years
to Australia, New Zealand, Europe,
the Middle East, and to all parts of
North America and the Caribbean.
Our business in Canada has steadily
increased to the point that in some
months it accounts for half our sales.
Being located on the Canada-US
border has proven to be another bit
of good fortune for us and certainly
one of the reasons for our success.
RCR has always been a full-service
operation from the start. Currently
in addition to the two boatyard/
marina operations in Buffalo and
Youngstown we also have sales
offices in five locations: Erie, PA,
Buffalo, Youngstown, Rochester
and Sodus Point. All but the Sodus
offices are year-round. We stuck our
toes in the water in 1980 when we
bought the Harborview Marina in
Henderson Harbor, NY. We wanted
that for our new bareboat charter
operation and sailing school. We
also tried charter and sailing school
operations here in Western NY but it
was not too long before we realized
that this type of venture did not
Say you saw it in GAM work well in our shorter season (see
the aforementioned note about our
occasional lack of business sense). We then rented out the Henderson
Harbor Marina, eventually sold it,
had to take it back when the buyer
defaulted, and subsequently sold it
again. Nobody can ever say that our
business is boring.
Our history would not be complete
without a period of dealing with
government agencies, and we had
a few. We ran the Buffalo Small
Boat Harbor for four years for the
Niagara Frontier Transportation
Authority. Eventually they realized
that they were overstaffed in their
other operations and did not know
what to do with their excess people
so they decided to run the marina
themselves…not as well and with
many more staff than we had used of
course. We also operated the Erie
Basin Marina for the City of Buffalo
for one year, however, politics being
what they are, someone else ended
up running it the next season. Those
two experiences were enough to
convince us that in the future we
would stick to ventures where we
had more control of our destiny.
We are proud of the fact that we
are still in business after all these
years, when few others have been
able to stick around this long…and
we are far from finished. We have
plenty of ideas for the future and
the fire is still in the belly. We are
most fortunate to be making a living
doing what we love to do. Yes, we
have worked hard, however, there
are many others are responsible for
RCR Yachts being what it is today,
which is one of the older, larger
and most respected outfits in the
industry. We have been blessed with a very
loyal and supportive customer base,
and many wonderful, talented
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employees who deserve a great deal
of the credit. We regret not being
able to name them all here, as there
have been too many key contributors
and we would surely leave someone
out.
It has been a privilege to be
associated with some of the best pros
in the industry which is small
enough to get to know them on a
first name basis. Often the role of
the supplier network is overlooked,
but not in our case. We have been
honored to represent some of the
classic brands in sailing, and now
power too. Good fortune has smiled
upon us. If we keep doing things the
RCR way, there is no reason why we
won’t be celebrating our 50th
Anniversary next.
RCR Partner Don Finkle is nothing if
not a humble man. His name has been
synonymous with the boating industry
for many years. He has also been an
avid racer since his youth. Not only a
successful participant most recently
on his Beneteau 36.7 “Seaweed”, Don
founded the famous Youngstown Level
Regatta in 1972 and has been at the
helm of this phenomena ever since.
How many regattas can you think of
that made it to the front cover of Rolling
Stone Magazine? Don has served on
many marine industry boards as well as
an Executive Board Member of the Lake
Yacht Racing Association.
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