UMass Alumnus/Olympic Rower, Michael Vespoli '74G, Builds Rowing Shells for Olympic Teams
New Haven Register

NEW HAVEN, CT - Boat builder Vespoli USA is hoping the race for Olympic gold leads to sterling sales.

Vespoli USA, founded by former Olympic rower Michael Vespoli two decades ago, is the largest U.S. manufacturer of racing boats, or "shells."

For this year's Olympic Games, the Clinton Avenue company has supplied shells to teams from the United States, Great Britain, the Netherlands and the Games' host country, Australia. Those craft will be used in rowing competition beginning next Sunday.

Vespoli, a Guilford resident, was an Olympic athlete in 1972, an Olympic coach in 1980 (though the U.S. boycotted the Moscow games) and an Olympic television commentator for NBC in 1996.

This year, men's rowing celebrates its centennial as an Olympic sport, while women's rowing has been included since 1976. Vespoli USA shells have raced in Olympic competition since 1988.

The United States has qualified for all 14 rowing events - the only nation to do so. The highly favored U.S. men's and women's "eights" (eight-person shells with a coxswain, who guides the shell and directs the rowers) will try to race Vespoli USA shells all the way to the medalists' platform.

"It means everything to us," Dave Tround, Vespoli USA's senior sales representative, said about the prospects of winning a gold medal in rowing.

Tround said American companies like Vespoli USA are still relative newcomers to shell manufacturing and often must work harder to prove themselves against foreign, mainly European, competitors.

Concerns over shipping costs combined with foreigners' national pride have made U.S.-made shells a tough sell overseas.

"It's verification," Tround said of an Olympic win, "and it gives notice to the foreign market as well. The last place they want to look for anything is to the U.S."

The ripple effect sent out by an Olympic win for Vespoli USA also will reach colleges and local rowing clubs, Tround said.

Vespoli USA shells have already carried teams to medals in past Olympic rowing events, but Sydney will be the first Olympic test of the company's latest model, the Millennium.

There's no difference between any shell manufactured for the U.S. or other national team and those made for local or college rowing groups, Tround said.

"They could be rowing in the exact same boat that won the Olympics," he said of customers who buy a Vespoli USA shell.

In addition to national teams, Vespoli USA customers include college and high school rowing programs as well as private clubs and individual enthusiasts.

The New Haven Rowing Club, which rows on the Housatonic River, owns about 10 Vespoli USA shells, according to club president Mitz Carr.

Carr herself is awaiting delivery of a Vespoli USA one-person shell, which she said was a complete impulse purchase made after rowing a demonstration model brought down by Tround.

"I currently own two boats and didn't think I was shopping for another," said Carr, a New Haven resident. "I rowed about a mile (in the demo) and realized that I had to buy one."

Vespoli USA makes several models of shells, ranging from a single-seater priced at $4,700 to an eight-person model costing about $22,000.

The company employs 45 workers and expects to produce 500 shells in 2000. Although officials of the privately owned company won't release financial figures, Vespoli said sales have increased 20 percent in the first half of this year.

All Vespoli USA shells are made to order, which eliminates the need for large storage areas that Vespoli considers better used for production.

"Every time we take down a shelf, we feel we've accomplished something," said Vespoli, whose efforts toward "lean manufacturing" already have doubled the plant's capacity and recaptured 35 percent of total floor space for new equipment.

And that new equipment is needed to meet a growing demand for the company's Millennium shells.

The Millennium's hull is constructed using a unidirectional, woven carbon fiber material first introduced after the 1996 Summer Olympics in Atlanta. The material helps make the boats more rigid, boosting by 30 percent the shell's stiffness, Vespoli said.

"That led to an increase in the performance capabilities of the boat," Vespoli said of the new material, which previously was used in aerospace and yacht construction.

Company officials say the combination of the carbon fiber and lightweight honeycomb material produces "one of the stiffest, lightest and fastest shells on the market."

Unnecessary movement, such as twisting of the boat's hull, makes rowers work harder to keep the shell straight while propelling it forward. A sturdier hull means more rowing energy can be channeled into forward motion.

Vespoli said the design was also revised to provide "an almost seamless construction" using fewer pieces. New adhesives used in manufacturing also lend a "fail-safe" aspect to the design, he said.

The new material has served as a magnet for medals since its introduction. The U.S. Rowing Team in the 1997 World Rowing Championships used the new Vespoli USA models and captured the gold medal. The U.S. rowers later repeated their first-place performance in 1998 and 1999.

"With that (1997) victory came an interest from a lot of colleges," said Vespoli. The victory one year later sounded the call to a much larger customer base.

"Now the rest of the world started to wake up," Vespoli said.

One college that took interest was Yale University. Its men's lightweight varsity crew team switched to the Millennium this year after using a different brand.

The change brought Yale a victory in the prestigious Royal Canadian Henley championship against rival Columbia in July.

Vespoli USA officials hope the record of winning championships carries over to the land Down Under.

As Michael Vespoli waits in Australia tending to the shells that bear his name, his goal is to help the American teams with any questions or problems that might arise.

Though several Olympic teams will use Vespoli USA shells, Vespoli said he can't help but root for the home team when the first race begins.

"I'll do anything to make their equipment right," he said of the three foreign nations using Vespoli USA shells, "but I want the U.S. to win."

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Here's Vespoli's lesson for navigating success

Michael Vespoli is a disciple in the church of "lean manufacturing."

That includes maintaining low inventories and instead making products for "just-in-time" delivery.

That's probably the biggest key to his success.

Efficient manufacturing has kept the price of Vespoli USA rowing boats stable, he says. Until only recently, he had managed to avoid a price increase for 2½ years.

Also:

• By analyzing and refining designs, Vespoli USA has reduced the number of parts needed to build a scull. This means less time and work in the manufacturing process, which has been slashed from 20 days to seven.

• Making sculls, or "shells," to order keeps storage needs low, freeing up space for more manufacturing operations.

• To keep his manufacturing methods current and lean, and to create a "team culture" within the company, Vespoli is now recruiting a "director of continuous improvement.