Robert Newton

Robert J. Newton (c. 1900–1970s) was an American expatriate entrepreneur and pioneering boatbuilder who founded American Marine Ltd. in Hong Kong in the late 1950s, transforming a modest woodworking venture into a global yacht-building powerhouse that birthed the iconic Grand Banks trawler line. Originally a manager of Bireley's soft-drink bottling plant on Mok Cheong Street ("Woodworkers' Street") in Hong Kong, Newton—lacking formal training as a marine engineer or naval architect—spotted an empty lot and enlisted his sons, John and Whit, to launch a custom boatyard in 1956, crafting heavy-displacement sailboats and motor yachts to designs by luminaries like Sparkman & Stephens, William Garden, Nat Herreshoff, and Ray Hunt. By 1962, the operation had relocated to Junk Bay (now Tseung Kwan O), where Newton commissioned Kenneth Smith to create the 36-foot diesel-powered "Spray" prototype in 1963, shifting focus from bespoke builds to production trawlers that emphasized seaworthy lines, teak joinery, and 8-knot efficiency—pioneering the modern long-range cruiser genre. Though not a designer himself, Newton's vision for affordable, durable vessels like the Grand Banks 36 (over 1,100 built) and early models such as the Chantyman 34 and Grand Banks 22 sailboat revolutionized the industry, leveraging Hong Kong's skilled labor to export to the U.S. and Europe; his legacy endures through Grand Banks Yachts, now a Malaysian-owned brand producing over 90 hulls annually, with well-preserved Newton-era classics commanding premiums for their timeless craftsmanship and adventure-ready ethos.