Dorsett



History coming from Bill Roberts shortly.

Dorsett Plastics Corp.

845 Reed St.

Santa Clara, California

Later located at 1955 Lafayette St. and then 2550 Scott Blvd in Santa Clara. Additional location in 1010 Dewey St., Bremen, Indiana and also Cambridge, Maryland.

According to the history below, Dorsett Plastics Company began producing Endura Craft boats in 1955. In 1958, the line became Dorsett Boats. Richard W. Dorst, (Dick), company president was a US Navy veteran, University of California graduate engineer, and alumni of the Harvard Business School. Before co-founding the company, he had seven years experience in reinforced plastics and the chemical industry. At the time of the article, Leonard L. Epsich was general manager and James D. Maloney general sales manager of the Bremen plant; James Hansen general manager of the Santa Clara plant, and John B. Moore Jr. general manager of the Cambridge, MD plant. John B. Moore Jr., a naval architect, worked eight years for Owens Corning before coming to Dorsett. In 1960, Dorsett was acquired by Royal Little's Textron, Inc. in 1960 for 115,000 shares of common stock in Textron, valued at $2,616,250 (New York Times, June 13, 1960). According to the same article, 1959 Dorsett sales totaled $2,800,000 and were projected to sell $3,000,000 for the 1960 fiscal year ending Aug. 31. The company was retained as the Dorsett Marine division with all management. Advertising was now through the San Francisco office of Foote, Cone, & Belding Inc. (New York Times, June 28, 1960). In 1964, Dorsett became independent once again when Textron sold the Santa Clara Division of Dorsett Marine to an entity known as The Dorsett Plastics Co. and headed by Richard W. Dorst as president (Marine Digest 1964, Vol. 42). American Marine Industries (AMI) acquired Dorsett in 1968, keeping Richard Dorst as manager (Yachting, 1968, Vol. 123). AMI had previously purchased the Sabre Craft and Bell Boy brands. However, AMI liquidated the Santa Clara plant in 1970. Sierra Performer Boats of Oroville, California reportedly acquired some molds and produced both outboard and I/O models of Dorsett boats. A similar firm in the Pacific Northwest region also produced copies, perhaps from the same molds, and marketed as Marlin Boats.

Some Documentation:

Relevant Links:

Endura Craft - Where Dorsett Boats began

Dorsett Boats in Use

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