Calixas Yachts

Luxury yacht manufacturing has come to Texas. Calixas Yachts was founded in 2003 by Montie Twining, and is based in Austin, Texas. Wait. Austin? That’s 200 miles from the Gulf coast. How can a luxury yacht manufacturer be 200 miles from the coast? Easy. Can you say internet? Mr. Twining can. He uses his lengthy background in the computer software industry to coordinate a world-wide yacht building team. The Calixas C2, a 105 foot dreamboat, was designed by naval architect Gregory Marshall, working out of Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. The interior is manufactured by SMI in New Zealand, then shipped to the Premier Shipyard in Taiwan where the hull is built and final construction takes place. Using what he describes as the most advanced 3D engineering and manufacturing techniques in the yacht building industry, Twining has produced a boat where all the parts are computer designed. Interior wood panels are even inscribed with a code to show exactly where they are to be installed. The first C2 was completed in 2007 and has sold. Its price tag was just under $11 million. The second C2 is about half way through construction and is expected to be completed in 2009. “Yacht building is terribly labor intensive,” said Twining. “For a C2, it takes 75 man-years to complete. That’s 75 men working for one year, or one man working for 75 years.”

Calixas also has plans to built larger yachts, with plans for a C3 (130 feet long) and a C4 (145 feet). The yachts are all designed for serious deepwater travel, something Twining refers to as an expedition boat. They are designed for long voyages and have long, heavy keels for stability, a large bow for handling waves, and low fuel consumption that allows for a range of 3000 miles. The C2 is also hailed as a “green” yacht.

“I certainly wouldn’t say a super yacht is especially green,” said Twining, “but we can build it as responsibly as possible. We use renewable and recycled components when whenever feasible, and we intentionally chose the cleanest burning engines and generator sets we could find. And our gas mileage, 40 gallons per hour, is about one fourth of some of the other similar sized boats. Our hull manufacturing uses a process called vacuum infusion, which emits very few vapors into the atmosphere.”

Additionally, the boat’s waste water is filtered by an industrial water treatment unit before it is discharged. Looking at the C2, you first notice the height of the crow’s nest. It sits nearly 50 feet above the water and houses full helm controls, which provides excellent visibility when docking. Two huge round portholes with a center support beam are found amidships on both port and starboard sides, and serve as natural illumination for the interior, and have also become the trade symbol of Calixas. The yacht has three deck levels, and includes a flying bridge complete with Jacuzzi, bar and barb- que pit. The interior is stunningly beautiful, and features a Skylounge with a sofa and love seat, game table and bar, and an enormous round skylight. The main salon features a large sitting area and a pull down movie screen. The dining salon has doors for privacy and a drop down screen and projector. The master suite has a king bed, desk, settee, Jacuzzi tub, separate his and her wardrobes, and private access to the foredeck veranda. There is a VIP bedroom, and two guest bedrooms and crew’s quarters. The galley is a marvel, complete with gas stove and two ovens, and a double fridge/freezer. The bridge is clean and uncluttered with exceptional views.

The C2 will accommodate eight guests and six crew members. It provides 3000 square feet of luxury, and as you would expect, has all the latest and greatest electronics and navigation gear. It has a davit for lifting its launch, and a stern garage, large enough to house a Mini Cooper.

Twining, a Texan who spent his childhood on the water in Galveston, teamed with Marshall, a friend of 20 years, to come up with the idea for Calixas. Marshall is from California, so the name of the company became a mix of those two states and is pronounced by using the first half of California, Cal-ee, and the second half of Texas, ex-as. Cal-ee-ex-as. Rolls off the tongue with a little practice.

“We’re still a start-up company and will probably be one for the next ten to fifteen years. Yacht producers are not easy start-ups. It takes a lot of capital,” said Twining. One of his goals is to establish a production factory in the U.S. “Other states have luxury yacht manufacturers, and I think Texas needs one,” said Twining with the usual Texas pride.

With his own shop, Twining says they could be manufacturing several boats at once, rather than one at a time as is required now. To that end, Twining has been in talks with Ingleside, Texas, just north of Corpus Christi and on Corpus Christi Bay. Twining and Ingleside are looking for land where Calixas could build a plant. The U. S. Navy has announced closure of the Ingleside Naval Station, and will withdraw operations from Ingleside by 2010.

The loss of jobs in Ingleside is estimated at 7000, which is devestating. Some of the Naval Station land is attractive to Twining. The sites Twining is considering have deep water access and are located along the La Quinta Ship Channel. The Ingleside City Council voted in support of the project, and would consider tax abatements. The project would require an initial investment between $25 million and $50 million, and would create 250-500 jobs with average salaries of $50,000. It would seem to be an ideal fit; a yacht company in need of a plant and skilled labor, and a town who is losing thousands of naval jobs.

Let’s keep our fingers crossed.