Relative Success
Newcastle Herald
Saturday August 29, 1998
IT was 1898 and 20-year-old John Joseph Savage returned to Melbourne after spending several years trawling for pearl shells on Thursday Island. He decided to build boats instead.
A wide range of vessels subsequently flowed from his hands ? Olympic sailing classes; motor yachts for the rich and famous; craft used in World War II; fishing boats of all descriptions.
So highly respected was `JJ' by his contemporaries, in fact, that when his boat shed was swept away by floods in 1934, members of yacht clubs took up a collection and presented him with #200 to rebuild.
This was a princely sum, coming in the days when the Savage letterhead stated that craft could be built `from #40'.
Eventually John Joseph was joined in the business by his sons Jack and Tom Savage. Jack is now retired, living in Sydney and practising marine art. And with his father, uncle and grandfather being boatbuilders, it was inevitable that current managing director John Savage should follow them into the business.
The company is now celebrating its centenary ? that makes it just 47 years younger than Victoria and nearly half as old as Australia. They've survived depression, recessions, floods and fires, an achievement in itself.
Over the years the Savages have pioneered numerous construction techniques, most notably being the first boatbuilders to employ fibreglass in Australia, and also the first to build aluminium welded boats. Today it's one of the few companies to still build both alloy and 'glass boats, offering more than 60 models.
John Savage believes the family connection is the reason for its continuing success. `I was born into the business,' he said. `From the minute I could walk I was over there under the feet of the workers.'
Boats were an irresistible attraction for the young Savage. His earliest recollection is placing one of those new-fangled outboard motors on to an 8ft Hydracraft hull and racing flat out under the jetties of Port Phillip Bay.
When he was seven he began sailing a 10ft International Cadet which father Jack had built in fibreglass. Grandfather John Joseph was one of his tutors.
`He had a trick where he'd leave the rudder and tiller behind, balance the boat and sail off and come home at will,' John Jnr recalled. `One of the first times I went sailing I was pushed off without the tiller and rudder, but I eventually got back.'
In his teen years John lived in Sydney and competed against such luminaries as Jamie Wilmot, Ian Brown, Iain Murray, Andrew Buckland, Greg Johns and Gary Gietz.
He began sailing Etchells with his father in Sydney in 1976, placing seventh in the world championships on Pittwater in '77 and beating five-times world champion Dave Curtis in the process.
Then, with Andrew Buckland and Steve Wheeler crewing, Savage went to Toronto, Canada, and beat Curtis to win the '79 Etchells worlds. A second title followed 10 years later, off Pittwater.
On the powerboat scene, John has also been an innovator. He was the first to incorporate toe-room under cockpit side pickets so fisherman had a more secure grip when standing. He also introduced rolled decks in the under-20ft size range to make it more comfortable to brace against the side of the boat.
With an output of 147 aluminium boats a week, and an annual turnout of 350-400 fibreglass boats, there's plenty of work to keep the 70-strong Savage staff active. The company seems soundly placed for the next century.
Mark Rothfield is Editor of Modern Boating.
© 1998 Newcastle Herald
Share This