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Tiffany Yachts, located in Burgess, Virginia.
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Tiffany Yachts Team (l to r): Laura Shackleford, Becky Jones, Tiffany Cockrell (seated), Randy Cockrell and Taylor Cockrell.
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Tiffany Yachts founder Tiffany Cockrell cruises in a custom pleasure boat.
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Godspeed midway through the painting process.
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Tiffany Yachts team poses behind the completed Godspeed.
Taylor Cockrell is a fourth generation boatbuilder. His grandfather, Tiffany, started building boats in the 1930s. An oyster fisherman with his father, Odis, Tiffany spent summers under the cover of trees constructing Chesapeake Bay deadrise work boats from pine, mahogany, cedar and oak for oystering. It didn’t take long for Tiffany to find he had found a new love.
“My grandfather got more interested in the boat building part of it, so he quit oystering and started building,” recalled Taylor Cockrell, production manager of Tiffany Yachts.
They continued to build work boats into the 1940s, pausing during World War II when Tiffany served in the United States Navy. Once Tiffany returned from active duty, the pair resumed building in the summer and oystering during the winter. In 1949, Odis turned over the business to Tiffany, and not long after Tiffany formed Glebe Point Boat Company. With wife, Betty Lee, they added a line of pleasure boats to the business.
Shifts in building and construction technology ushered in fresh materials for boatbuilding during the 1960s and 1970s. The company rebranded as Tiffany Yachts and joined the upscale boat building market, replacing all-wood construction in favor of mixed construction using classic and modern materials.
“It evolved into [using] cold-molded construction for hulls. Cold molding was easier; it was lighter. Boats were constructed with laminated plywood and fiberglass on the outside, and that kept them strong. It was a good combination,” said Cockrell. “But now, we use all fiberglass. It lasts a long time if it’s built right.”
During this decade, Tiffany’s children, Randy Cockrell and Rebecca Jones, became part of the business.
In the 1980s Tiffany Yachts began crafting bigger yachts ranging from 36 to 62 feet featuring designed interiors. By the time the 1990s hit, the popularity of yachts among those with expendable income led to even bigger, flashier watercraft.
“Everything then was bigger and better, and everybody wanted bigger. In the ‘80s and ‘90s a 50-foot boat was a big boat,” he said. “Now, a big boat is 90 feet.”
By the 1990s, they were overseeing day-to-day operations, and in the early 2000s Randy’s son, Taylor Cockrell, and Rebecca’s daughter, Laura Shackleford, joined the business as the fourth generation. Laura runs the Interior Design and Marine Canvas division of the business.
“Tiffany Yachts is truly a family run business and we hope to continue with another generation. My daughters have already started to become part of the operation, filling in where needed,” said Shackleford.
Fire in the Boatyard
According to eyewitnesses and reports, plumes of black smoke could be seen from as far as 15 miles away on February 2, 2010. A fire had broken out in the building complex used for boat construction and spread to two other buildings on the property. While no one was injured, a reported 100-plus firefighters from multiple jurisdictions were needed to contain and extinguish the blaze that lasted from 2 pm to 7:30 pm.
Among the boats lost was a nearly finished 38-foot Tiffany valued at about $700,000, a 46-foot Tiffany Yacht built in 1969 and a 38-foot Little Harbor.
“The fire started on one of the boats in the building. The wooden ceiling quickly caught and the fire spread. The place was pretty much gone in a couple of hours. The fire department did the best they could to keep the boats in the yard wet. Nobody got hurt, and we were able to rebuild in the next two years,” said Cockrell.
When Tiffany Yachts rebuilt the structures, it gave the company incentive to pivot into the direction in which it has spent the better part of the last decade–repairs. The new building, complete with heated concrete floors, is taller and can handle nearly all of Tiffany Yachts’ repair work from within.
“The new setup allows us to work on boats up to 80 feet long and 36 feet tall, inside. We also upgraded our Marine Travelift, allowing us to haul boats up to 88 tons,” said Cockrell.
“The old shop was more designed for building boats with railways. Build them, send them on the railway, send them down the water. We rebuilt this building for more or less service work.”
Today, yachts and other vessels enter the shop through an enormous bay door where crews repair vessels from the top down–from removing barnacles to painting, restoring and refinishing.
“We have historically been known as a boatbuilder, but in recent years, have moved to more service work. Our boat building experience helps a great deal when refitting other vessels,” he said.
The Godspeed Project
Tiffany Yachts’ expertise in working with large vessels and its reputation for high end repairs landed the company a winning bid in 2019 with the Jamestown Settlement to work on the ship Godspeed, a recreation of the vessel that brought some of the first settlers from England in 1607 into the New World.
The ship, a newer version built in 2006, arrived at Tiffany Yachts where it was dry docked for repairs and refurbishing.
“Every other year, Godspeed goes to a local boat yard for repairs,” said Eric Speth, Maritime Program Manager, Museum Operations and Education Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.
Speth said these repairs include a complete marine inspection (like a home inspection), repainting above and below the waterline and removing marine growth and barnacles from the bottom.
“We had an excellent experience with Tiffany Yachts,” said Speth. “Their staff worked at a high level of quality.”
For Cockrell and his crew at Tiffany Yachts, it’s a project they took great pride in and one they won’t soon forget.
“We had 30 days to do it and we got it done in less than 30,” he said. “The crew really got into it. They did a fantastic job on it. And Eric and Todd and everyone at Jamestown Settlement were good to work with. They appreciated the work.”
Visit tiffanyyachtsinc.com or follow them on social media for updates on their latest projects. 804-453-3464