Dolphin- Builder and Owner History

Consolidated Shipbuilding Company Inc. ~ Morris Heights, New York ~ 1939

Specifications: Built: 1929 - Type: Speedway - LOA: 66’ - Beam: 12' 6" - Machinery: Twin Speedway Sixes - Tankage: Fuel/Water 400/200 - Hull: Cedar Oak Keel & Frames - Number: 2938 - Tonnage: 19.11

Builder History: Consolidated Shipbuilding Corporation, located in Morris Heights, New York, was formed in 1896 as a result of a merger between the Gas Engine and Power Company and Charles L. Seabury and Company. From 1900 to 1930, Consolidated was possibly the largest custom yacht builder in the world. Between 1917 and 1933 the company built more commuters, by a wide margin, than any other firm. Many considered the Speedway series the finest express yachts of their time. Consolidated, like the other premier boat builders of this era, experienced difficulty during the postwar years. The last recorded launch at the Morris Heights facility
occurred in 1948 whereupon the operation relocated to City Island. In 1956, fire destroyed the complex, a disaster from which the company never recovered.

Vessel History: “Dolphin” was built in 1929 and as of mid-2011 only two sisters of her design survive. “Mohican” located in Italy and “Ragtime” currently owned by Boothbay Region Boat Yard, Inc. “Dolphin” was purchased in 1929 by Joseph A. Simard, founder of Marine Industries, Canada’s most important ship builder. Impressed by both the quality of the yacht and the builder, he eventually purchased Consolidated Shipbuilding Corporation. Under his management and during WWII, the firm moved to City Island and produced wooden mine sweepers for the war effort, thereafter reverting to the construction of pleasure craft. Over the years, this rare and elegant vessel has been impeccably maintained by Gosselin de Saint-Paul-d’ile-aux-Noix, has seen continuous service and remains in the Simard family to this day. Fying the Canadian ensign, her home port is Sorel, Quebec Canada.