vol.8 iss.1 - Grand Banks Yachts

RAISED ON GB
SHING KONG GREW UP
ON JUNK BAY. THE SON OF
AN ENGINEER IN THE
EMPLOY OF AMERICAN
MARINE, SHING’S FATHER
WAS AlSO A FRIEND OF
GRAND BANKS FOUNDERS,
THE NEWTON FAMILY.
SHING SHARES A FEW
MEMORIES OF DAYS SPENT
AROUND THE YARD WHERE
HE BEGAN AN EARLY
ROMANCE WITH ALL THINGS
GRAND BANKS.
Hello GB Owners. I can honestly
say that I grew up with Grand
Banks yachts. Robert Newton
and his sons Whit and John founded
American Marine in Hong Kong, and
my father, Joseph H.H. Kong was one
of the first engineers hired by the Newton
family.
Robert Newton (fondly called “elder
Newton” by my family) hired my
father before Whit took time off from
U.C. Berkeley to work in the shipyard.
My father teased Whit about having
less seniority in the company. Teasing
aside, my family was very close to the
Newtons. They would invite us to join
them for Thanksgiving dinners and we
had them to our home to celebrate the
Chinese New Year. Whit and his wife
Marcia now live in Menlo Park, California,
not far from where I now live in
San Francisco.
My father eventually became the production
manager of American Marine’s
Hong Kong shipyard, so I guess you
could say that my father was at least
partially responsible for all the wooden
Grand Banks that were built in Hong
Kong (see Thoughts on Joe Kong, p.12
for more). And since my father always
took me out on new boat sea trials, I
may have even spent some time on one
of your wooden GBs.
A recent article claimed that American
Marine built its first boat in the parking
lot of the Coca Cola plant that Robert
Newton managed. That was only partly
correct. It was in a parking lot, but it
wasn’t Coca Cola. It was in the parking
lot of the now-defunct soft drink
company called Bireley.
The “elder Newton” loved my father’s
work. Through his years of dedication,
the Newtons gave my father a beautiful,
gold Omega watch for a bonus. I
still have this watch today.
When I was an infant, my parents lived
in a home that was near enough that it
overlooked the Grand Banks yard. Whit
and his family lived across the bay, and
every morning he would row a dinghy
across the bay to work. Every morning
my father would watch out the window
and hurry down the hill as soon as
he saw Whit begin his commute. I still
don’t know today if Whit ever found out
how my father consistently managed to
beat him to work.
As American Marine grew, the production
of the 32, 36, and 42 was moved
to the Singapore factory (as well as
subsequently switched from wood to
fiberglass). What remained in the Hong
Kong factory was the production of the
Grand Banks 48 and the up-and-coming
Alaskan — then, the 49 and 55 of the
raised pilothouse series.
The day American Marine moved the
manufacturing of the 42 to Singapore
was one of the saddest in my young
life. I loved the 42. At its peak, the
Hong Kong plant launched a brand
new one almost weekly, so my family
was able to go out almost every weekend
to test drive these beauties. That’s
me at the helm (photo, adjacent) of a
brand new Grand Banks. Yes, I piloted
a Grand Banks long before I could ever
drive a car.
continued on p.11
RAISED ON GB
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