The Sparkman and Stephens company has a superb history of great yacht designs and naval architecture. The company is located in their main offices on 5th Avenue, New York City in the USA and the second in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida, USA. It was formally established on the 11th of November 1929 along with its five partners: James and Drake Sparkman, Rod and Olin Stephens and James Murray. The Stephen brothers started in this career as self-taught sailors from Barnstable Bay in Massachusetts. These twin brothers entered marine at a very young age. Olin was an apprentice under Phillip Rhodes as yacht designer while Rod was working at Nevins Yard located in City Island in New York. Because of their father's support, Olin, made a partnership with Drake Sparkman thereby forming the Sparkman & Stephens.
However, the success of Sparkman & Stephens was hampered by several obstacles. A few months after Sparkman & Stephens was opened, the Great Depression hit the global market. This did not stop the Stephens' father. Even though many companies were already cost cutting, he still ordered a design to be used in building a racing yacht from a newly-started firm. The yacht that the company built was named Dorade. It was a gamble. Fortunately, the gamble the Stephens' father played paid off. On Dorade's first major test, it won the 1931 "Trans-Atlantic Race". This victory marked the rise of the design reputation of the company. This victory has also set a course for the boat builder to last for almost a century now.
Rod and Olin Stephens established a team that practically changed the history of yachting and sailing.
Their team has created good solid cruising and racing designs that aided in popularizing the yachting and sailing as sports. Since the Sparkman & Stephens was established, the company has already completed more than 2,600 assignments and designs in the commercial, military and pleasure sectors. The company has gained the reputation for the designs they have for luxury yachts as well as for motor yachts. The company has also branched out as it continues to grow and expand over the years. Nowadays, Sparkman & Stephen is organized and operated into two divisions: one focusing on the yacht design, marine engineering and naval engineering and the other one focusing on chartering, brokerage and yachts insurance handling.
Complete designing and engineering of vessels for different purposes like commercial, pleasure and military purposes, as well as ship brokerage are included in the primary operations of the company. Sparkman & Stephens offers similar engineering and design services for the optimization and enhancement of the performance of the company's existing motor yachts for sale.
The designs presented by Sparkman & Stephens won many major and prestigious international yacht races including the America's Cup. This company has held the first place in this international competition for several decades now. It also holds a string of victories in the Sydney to Hobart and Fastnet races.
The luxury yachts, motor yachts and super yachts for sale by Sparkman & Stephen are built by some of the most renowned ad respected boat builders. The designs of these yachts are highly regarded not only for their speed but also for their sea worthiness, sustainability and elegance which may be enjoyed when cruising. Currently, Sparkman & Stephen offers a number of custom-made yacht design projects. It also offers design services for many important production boat builders like Grand Banks, Nautor (Swan) and the Morris Yachts.
The tradition of Sparkman & Stephen continues up until today. The company's designers employ the use of advanced techniques like the velocity prediction programs, 3-D modeling as well as the finite-element analysis incorporated in time-honored methods such as real world sailing and model tank testing. Indeed, Sparkman & Stephen offer every sea lover an unparalleled expertise and experience in giving the vessel that is just perfect for any sea lover.
