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July 8, 2008

Doyle's: sailmakers to the rich and famous

By Chris Cassidy

SALEM — Before they end up on the boats of the rich and famous, the carefully engineered sails of Doyle Sailmakers start out in Salem.

Inside a newly renovated factory on Swampscott Road, Doyle's designs and manufactures the sails that guide Ted Turner's yacht as well as the Maltese Falcon, one of the world's largest private sailing yachts, which was featured last fall on "60 Minutes."

How did Doyle's do it? We caught up with CEO Robbie Doyle.

Q. How did your company become the sailmaker for the Maltese Falcon?

I met (Maltese Falcon owner Tom Perkins) on a plane by chance. We got to talking and he had heard of Doyle Sailmakers from someone. So basically, it was by chance. I talked to him for a while, he gave us a chance, and the sails worked out very well. We've been their sailmaker ever since.

Q. What other yachts have you supplied?

The Mirabella V, the world's largest sloop, which is owned by Joe Vittoria, the former owner of Avis. Basically, the wealthiest people in the world, the largest private boats in the world — not all, but a good percentage — use our sails.

You do a good job and you have a little luck. Someone notices you and says you do a good job. They talk to someone else and it goes from there.

Q. At a time when businesses are dealing with a slower economy, your company is actually expanding its Salem factory. How do you account for the good business?

Partly, the low dollar is helping. We do a lot of work in Europe. We're busy. A lot of orders take two to three years. These are big, big sails that take a lot of engineering. We work with builders and designers. It's like building a big building. It takes a lot of designing and planning to make these things work.

We're looking to hire people right now. We probably need a half-dozen people.

Q. How has the work changed over the years?

It's become a very scientific process now. When I first started, I was an applied physics major in college. I took a very scientific approach, which is probably one reason we did as well as we did. I'd say the whole basic industry has gone that way. It's very engineering-oriented, whereas before, they were very craft-oriented.

Q. Your company moved to Salem from Marblehead just over a year ago. How do you like it?

It's working out very well. Honestly, the mayor was very, very helpful. Without some of her assistance, we probably wouldn't have done it. ... The land and the building we needed was available at the right price, but long range what does worry us is the business tax rate here. It's quite a bit higher than Marblehead and other towns.

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