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Guest Interview – Tony Fleming of Fleming Motor Yachts and his boat, Venture

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About Tony Fleming

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Interview with Tony Fleming

Over the years Tony Fleming has been asked many of the same questions by prospective buyers and journalists about his yachts. Recently he found the time to compile a list of these questions and answers, and the attached document highlights what he feels to be the most important features of "the ultimate cruising yacht.

Videos have been made of Tony Fleming's journeys in the Venture and Venture II. Some of the most recent Venture trips include extensive travels to such places as Antarctica, the North Pole, Sahara Desert and a train ride across Siberia.

Tony's memoirs, Riding the Tide , are now available both as a printed book and on Kindle. Neither version contains photos but, being an inveterate photographer all his life, Tony has created short videos containing photos and film which make a compelling visual companion to the written word. These videos can be accessed through the Vimeo link listed above and are still an ongoing work in progress.

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Tony Fleming: Back in Alaska on Venture

Tony Fleming, the founder of Fleming Yachts, is one of the most experienced, and capable, cruising people I know. Over the years, Tony also has developed a worldwide following for the writing, photos and videos based on his voyages on Venture , his personal Fleming 65. Here’s his latest, starting in Auke Bay, near Sitka, Alaska.

June 24th Friday

We arise just after 0600 and leave for the fuel dock at 0735. We take on 475 usg @ $5.52 per gallon. We depart Auke Bay fuel dock at 0810. We pass the small town of Hoona which has three cruise ships moored at its docks. We also notice new facilities such as a cable car with gondolas rising high up into mist-shrouded mountains and what has been billed as the fastest zip line in the world. We continue past Hoona into Port Frederick and anchor in the North Bight of Neka Bay. During the day the clouds dissipate and turn into a beautiful evening with distant peaks reflected in still waters.

June 25th Saturday

Up anchor 0833. We retrace our route out of the anchorage and over the glassy waters of Port Frederick towards Hoonah.

(Seen below: Drone shot of Venture underway in Frederick Sound.)

Chris suggests this would be a good opportunity for a drone shot of Venture proceeding through mirror still waters but the surface is ruffled by the time the drone takes to the air. We have cell phone coverage off Hoona but not sufficient to connect to the internet. We turn left into Icy Strait and need to cross to the other side to stay out of the way of a small cruise ship. We have distant views of the magnificent coastal mountains. We pass Lemesurier Island and are heading for Dundas as our evening’s destination when Chris suggests we take advantage of the rare calm conditions and head instead to Lituya Bay.

After some discussion we decide to at least take a look at the sea conditions in the Gulf.  We could already just see Cape Spencer light house in the distance through binoculars. So…. sharp left turn into Cross Strait and we head towards the open waters which are already within line of sight from our present position. When we reach the open sea, the sky is a clear blue but the wind is gusting to 20 knots from the north-east – our direction of travel!

We decide to proceed but we will arrive too early at the tricky entrance into Lituya Bay some forty miles away so we turn into Dick’s Arm which appears on the chart to be dramatically narrow with steep contours on either side. It turns out to be a lovely spot extremely peaceful compared the boisterous conditions outside its narrow rock-strewn entrance.  We anchor at the end of the inlet and enjoy an early afternoon tea while we wait so that we will arrive off the entrance to Lituya bay at around slack water at 2200. On the way back out of the Dicks Arm we spot a mother brown bear with two cubs. One stood up to get a better view of us but his mother paid us no attention and continues browsing on sedge grass.

(Seen below: Mother brown bear with cub in Dick’s Arm inlet.)

The weather is against us and the seas are choppy with volumes of wind-blown spray hurling itself against the windshield. A commercial fish boat also heading north behind us calls on radio. He is heading to Valdez in Prince William Sound so he has a long way to go. The coastal mountains are staggeringly beautiful and dominated by Mount FaIrweather which rises 15,300 feet straight up from the sea.

We pass LePerouse glacier – named after the French Admiral who in 1786 suffered a calamity in Lituya Bay. It is hard to stop taking photos and video. Finally we arrive off the entrance to Lituya Bay marked by a couple of conical hills named The Paps. The seas are somewhat rough and the far range marker is not visible but we have no problems following the course on the chart. We drop anchor at 2200 just ahead of sunset officially listed at 2223. Read more:

https://www.flemingyachts.com/tonys-adventures/venture-blog-2-from-auke-bay-to-close-by-sitka?fbclid=IwAR2pQokZzpY7_Eb-WOGg4inBxPwjFd1eZ0kbyjVblpJxnOdutJqqkFGXVvc

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A Single Step: Part 1 – The Story Of Venture And Her Voyages

During this time of Sheltering at Home, I decided to produce a series of videos portraying the story of Venture and her voyages from the time of her conception – The Single Step. Much of the footage has been posted before but I hope that presenting it in this new context will make it fresh and introduce it to new viewers. – Tony Fleming

Greetings to the entire Burr Team, All we can say is WOW!!!!! Carole and I have officially begun our journey as Fleming owners. We are traveling home to NY after our 10-day training session in Puerto Rico, where the boat was located, with Kevin Altoff. To say we are on information overload would be an […]

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Fleming Yachts Shipyard History

Construction of Fleming Yachts began at the Tung Hwa boat yard in southern Taiwan in 1985 under the personal supervision of Tony Fleming. Today, all Fleming Yachts continue to be built by Tung Hwa and are sold through a network of authorized dealers in the United States, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, Asia, and Japan

A Timeline of Milestones

Tony Fleming served as the technical director of American Marine in Hong Kong, builder of the Grand Banks line of trawler yachts. He was largely responsible for the development of these well-known yachts and later organized the company's new yard in Singapore, becoming its General Manager.

Tony left American Marine and, with his business partner Anton Emmerton, worked with an American naval architect, Larry Drake of San Diego, California, to develop an all-new pilothouse design. Tony and Anton visited Taiwan in the summer of 1985 to research the best boat yard to build what would eventually become the Fleming 55. The Tung Hwa facility located near Kaohsiung was selected, and work on hull number one began. Although the original mold was built for a 55-foot yacht, the first boats were 50-feet - having a shorter cockpit but otherwise similar to the later 53's and 55's.

Starting with hull number 9, the length was extended to 53-feet and eventually to 55-feet. By 1997 over 100 Fleming 55s had been delivered, and customer demand for a larger model led to the development of the Fleming 75. The first Fleming 75 was launched in 2000. In 1998, Tony Fleming's nephew, Adi Shard, a young graduate engineer from England, joined the company and moved to Kaohsiung to work side by side with his uncle.

In 2001 Duncan Cowie joined the company, his background in aviation engineering and previous experience as a yacht captain proved to be of great value. The popularity of the Fleming line continued to grow and, again driven by customer demand, this led to the development of another new model - the Fleming 65. Launched in 2005, hull number one was spoken for by Tony himself, and he began to turn over the day-to-day operation of Fleming Yachts to his management team which included his nephew, Adi Shard, Duncan Cowie, and his daughter, Nicky Fleming. Tony named his new Fleming 65, VENTURE, and embarked on a series of adventures which he refers to as his "voyages of personal discovery." By 2006, Fleming Yachts had delivered 170 Fleming 55s, 12 Fleming 75s and five 65s.

With well over 200 Flemings cruising the world, the company continued to focus on refining and improving its three models. In 2007 Tsai Chan joined Fleming Yachts as the QC Manager responsible for carrying out stage checks, testing, and final inspection on all new Fleming's. His can-do attitude and attention to detail have made him a key member of our small team. A year later in 2008 the team was once again added to when Simon Culling joined Fleming Yachts as the QA Manager. His responsibilities include product compliance, technical documentation and after sales service/support. Simon has vast ocean going experience and was a navigator in the British Army for 20 years running 75 meter landing craft, and later worked as principle at the largest powerboat training school in UK. Boating journalists and owners have lauded Fleming as "the ultimate cruising yacht" and Tony Fleming proved them correct. From her homeport of Newport Beach, California, Tony's VENTURE explored British Columbia, Alaska, Mexico, and the Galapagos Islands before transiting the Panama Canal. She then traveled up the East Coast to the St. Lawrence Seaway by way of Lake Ontario. After visiting Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, she made her way down the East Coast to winter in Annapolis, Maryland. This 20,000 mile voyage has been called the world's most extensive sea trial, as it allowed Tony to test and refine many new ideas and equipment. After completing this exciting voyage, Tony decided to commission an all-new Fleming 65, VENTURE II, which incorporated several new, innovative features resulting from his extensive cruising experience. After appearing at the Southampton Boat Show in England, Tony cruised VENTURE II extensively throughout Europe and in the summer of 2010 completed an exciting circumnavigation of Iceland. He continued to cruise extensively in the original VENTURE and, during the summer of 2011 took her to the Queen Charlotte Islands in the Pacific Northwest.

2011 also marked the 25th Anniversary of Fleming yachts and coincided with the publication of the second edition of Fleming's magazine, VENTURER. Described as "A Fleming Publication for Cruising Enthusiasts," it has received rave reviews from Fleming owners throughout the world. While the global economy had a negative effect on sales, the Fleming brand enjoyed continued success and with special interest in both Australia and New Zealand. All three models continued to benefit from evolutionary refinement with new features and layouts being offered. Responding to feedback from loyal Fleming owners and dealers, Fleming Yachts embarked on a completely new design, the Fleming 58. With everything the 55 had to offer plus, being 30% larger in displacement, considerably more space. Plans were drawn and redrawn, a model was tank tested and the lengthy tooling process was followed by construction of the first boat which was completed in Summer 2013. By mid-2014, Fleming had completed and shipped 58-005 and had secured retail orders up to 58-011 - thus proving the success of the new design and demonstrating continued faith in the brand. Tony continues his travels and, in 2012, took VENTURE to Glacier Bay in Alaska and the following year even further north to Prince William Sound.

2016 - 2018

In 2016, Tony revisited Prince William Sound and traveled further afield to Kodiak and Dutch Harbor. This year Tony is cruising to Idaho on Venture, up the Columbia and Snake rivers. His blogs can be found on the main website here . Australian Laser sailor Tom Burton, sponsored by Fleming Yachts, wins the gold medal at the Rio Olympic Games. 2017 saw the launch of the Fleming 78 "Classic." This new version of our flagship model has the same hull and deck as the original 78, but has an entirely new single level, low profile flybridge design. Among the many improvements on the flybridge include more comfortable seating, a BBQ, fridge, icemaker, freezer and entertainment center. The davit is positioned aft so that the tender can launched over either side or off the stern. The systems have all been upgraded to include the latest technology for safety and convenience. The Tung Hwa yard in Taiwan has made significant upgrades and investments in new equipment and buildings to better facilitate production for the expanding Fleming line. This commitment to Fleming has helped speed up production times with better accessibility and storage for inventory and parts.

2019 - Present

Fleming Yachts continues to sponsor Australian Laser sailor Tom Burton and is also sponsoring USA Laser sailor Leo Boucher. At the time of writing the 250th Fleming 55 is under construction and there are now over 340 Fleming's cruising worldwide.

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Within the boating community, the name Grand Banks has become synonymous with the romance and luxury of long-distance cruising – a far cry from its humble origins on a vacant lot in a far-flung land.

AN UNLIKELY BEGINNING

Our story begins some seventy years ago in what was then the British colony of Hong Kong. Robert Newton, an American expatriate, was the manager of Bireley’s soft-drink bottling plant located on a street called ‘Mok Cheong’ – a somewhat prophetic name, given the initiative that would soon transform his life, Mok Cheong translates as ‘factory that works on wood’!!

Robert had no experience as a marine engineer or designer. But, already in his late 50s and with no desire to retire, he suggested to his two sons – John and Whit – that they establish a boat building yard on the empty lot where his company’s trucks were parked every night.

And so, in the random fashion of so many great ideas, the seeds of Grand Banks were sown!

By 1962, Robert had moved the flourishing enterprise to Junk Bay. Under the name ‘American Marine’, he and his sons were building heavy sailboats and big motor yachts.

THE BIRTH OF AN ICON

As the company’s reputation grew, they attracted some of the world’s most renowned marine architects – Sparkman and Stevens, William Garden, Nat Herreshoff and Ray Hunt.

They reached a seminal moment in their evolution in the early ‘60s with the launch of ‘Chantyman’ – 34’6” in length and diesel-powered, it had a raised pilothouse, high bulwarks and softer hull lines. While bearing scant resemblance to the elegant lines of a contemporary Grand Banks, this boat was certainly the design that introduced the concept of a production style trawler to the world.

Its success led to a fundamental change in the company’s strategy. In 1963, designed by Kenneth Smith, ‘Spray’ was launched and became the prototype of a category that would take the marine world by storm – the finely built, 8 knot trawler.

A BREAKTHROUGH DESIGN

The immediate appeal of this 36-foot, diesel-powered cruiser led the Newtons to abandon their custom yacht building business to concentrate on the production line that would eventually become Grand Banks. Since 1965, when the first models were launched, 1,136 GB36s have been built.

In 1968 the factory was moved from Hong Kong to Singapore and five years later a very progressive decision was made – all hulls thereafter would be made of fiberglass, not wood. Fearing the skepticism of traditional yachtsman, the company didn’t notify dealers, buyers or the general public. But, as history attests, it was a decision that has more than proved its value in terms of strength, weight, durability and ease of maintenance.

The GB42, conceived shortly after the GB36, was retired in 2005 after 1,560 had come off the production line.

Along with the GB32 and GB49, these four boats became the ‘Heritage Series’ that created the trawler category within the recreational boating industry. Forty years later, you’ll find many of them still on the water, cruising gracefully along the coastlines and out on the oceans.

Evolution and reinvention.

Such was the continuing success of the company, it attracted other illustrious names from the world of nautical design. Harvey Halvorsen led the team until he established his own firm in 1975.

And throughout the 1970s, Tony Fleming was our Technical Director and helped introduce the iconic range of raised pilothouse boats before founding his own business.

But perhaps the most significant sea change in the fortunes of Grand Banks occurred in 2014 when our parent company acquired the Australian-based, Palm Beach Motor Yachts. This boutique brand, owned and designed by ocean-racing champion Mark Richards, had built a reputation for producing the most exquisitely styled and crafted boats.

Now, with Mark appointed CEO of Grand Banks, the combined expertise and experience of the extended team has led to a fundamental reinvention of our boats and our brand.

THE PAST MEETS THE FUTURE

The new range of Grand Banks Motor Yachts retains all the virtues of its glorious heritage – style, luxury and the capacity to take families and friends on extended cruises to new and exciting locations.

In 1995 our production facility moved to Malaysia. The expanded and revamped factory now employs the most sophisticated systems and technology in the boat-building industry.

These new models are the fastest, most stable, most comfortable and most fuel-efficient cruisers that you’ll see in any marina today.

This is truly the reinvention of an icon.

OUR RACING DNA

With mark now at the helm of the company, his pioneering spirit and story of ocean racing success have become important themes in both the narrative and the future of grand banks..

HISTORY IN THE MAKING

Back in the late 90s, Mark first collaborated with Australian businessman, Bob Oatley, to develop a series of 60ft racing yachts. This teamwork culminated in the sloop ‘Another Duchess’ which proved to be the star performer in the 2003 Race Week at Hamilton Island. With Mark at the helm, she was described by competitors and pundits alike as ‘Unstoppable!’

However, it was the arrival of Wild Oats IX in the same year that cemented Australia’s most successful racing partnership. Named after one of Bob’s vineyards in the country town of Mudgee, she was the first yacht equipped with a hydraulic canting keel and took Mark to victory in the Admiral’s Cup in England.

Her successor, the 66ft Wild Oats X, also enjoyed great success and won line honours in both the 2005 and 2007 Sydney Gold Coast Yacht Race.

ONCE IN A LIFETIME!

But it is Wild Oats XI that will go down in history. This 100ft maxi yacht was completed only two weeks before the 2005 Rolex Sydney to Hobart yacht race and yet went on to win the ‘treble’ – line honours, handicap and race record.

And that was just the start of her story. Since then, Mark has skippered Wild Oats XI to victory a further eight times, winning the Treble a second time and repeatedly breaking all records in this most gruelling of races.

It’s the stuff of legend.