 | |
| Company type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Boat building |
| Founded | 1958 |
| Founder | William "Bill" D. Schock |
| Headquarters | , |
Key people | President: John O'Donnell |
| Products | Sailboats |
| Website | www |
TheW. D. Schock Corporation (usually styledW. D. Schock Corp) is an Americanboat builder originally based inNewport Beach, California,[1] later inCorona, California and currently located inSanta Ana, California. The company was founded by William "Bill" D. Schock in 1958 and specializes in the design and manufacture offiberglasssailboats.[2]
Bill Schock built his first boat at age 13, aSkimmersailing dinghy constructed in the family garage inHollywood, California. After his time as a crew chief in the military in theSecond World War, he returned home to live in a small beach house inNewport Beach and started a boat repair business there. Among his early customers was an amusement park, who had a rental fleet of boats.[3]
Schock's first boat built and sold was anInternational 14 that he intended to sail himself and constructed using a cold-molded wood method. Another sailor saw the boat while it was under construction and bought it from Schock. This led to the formation of the company, initially calledW. D. Schock Boat Building and Repair.[3]
In 1955 Schock bought out Barney Lehman's company,PlastiGlass and its designs.[4][5]
The first design mass-produced was theLehman 10dinghy. TheLehman 14 was updated to become theLido 14 and proved a commercial success, propelling the company to become one of the biggest boat builders on the USPacific Ocean coast.[2]
In the 1960sSeymour Paul was the company's in-house designer and he drew boats such as the 1960Catalina Catamaran and the 1969Santana 21.[6][7][8][9][10][11]
In the late 1970s the company hired a number of designers to create a series of sailboats in the Santana series. Early designs byGary Mull include theSantana 22 in 1966. Yacht designerW. Shad Turner later designed the company's early racing keel-boat line that including theSantana 25-1,Santana 25-2 in 1973, the commercially successfulSantana 20 in 1976 and theSantana 28 in 1978. TheSantana 228 followed in 1978, theSantana 23 D the same year, with theSantana 35 in 1979,Santana 23 K in 1980 and theSchock 35 in 1984.[12]
Eventually Bill Schock passed the company to his son Tom Schock and Tom's wife Jane. Son Steven Schock was also involved in the design of some of the sailboats, drawing and designing theHarbor 20.[2][13]
In 2011, after 53 years in business, the company was sold to Alexander Vucelic von Raduboj, who became the new president, while Tom Schock remained on the company's board of directors.[2] In 2014, the company was sold to John O'Donnell, who had formerly been the general manager.[2]
In 2018 the company was producing four designs, theHarbor 20,Harbor 25,Harbor 30 and theUS Sabot.[14] By 2020 the company was only building the Harbor 20.[15]
Summary of boats built by W. D. Schock Corp:[2]
