O.E. Schuppe of Rochester NY, built 9 fibreglass Dragons in the early 1980s. The Spocé Dragons were part of an ongoing attempt to build Dragons in North America that would be less expensive than importing from Europe. The hulls were manufactured by John Westerhof in Bloomfield ON in a fibreglass shop previously owned by Nye Yachts for Paceships. Fittings were completed in Rochester NY and all Spocé Dragons had US sail numbers, although many were sold to Canada. Building hulls in Canada was chosen because of more favourable US import Duty and Sales Tax rates. In 1980, a new Børresen, landed in the US, cost about USD$35,000. Spocé Dragons were marketed at USD$20,000. Shuppe leased molds from Marty Godsil of Seattle who had bought the molds from Kelvin Savell of Santa Barbara CA, who launched the initial attempt to build fiberglass Dragons in North America. Schuppe called his Company Spocé Enterprises. Spocé was an acronym of the initials of his family – Sue, Peter, Orion, Cindy, and Eddie. It was also the name of his first Dragon. The corporate logo was a mermaid.
USA273, Venture was built jointly by Godsil and Spocé in 1978; she had a Godsil hull built in Seattle, with the deck built by Spocé in Ontario and the fittings completed in Rochester NY. In 1979, Spocé built their first complete Dragon USA275, Numero Uno. Both were measured by the AIDA and anomalies were found at Station 12. The two boats were altered and re-measured successfully in 1980 and the molds were adjusted appropriately.
Several differences from Dragon Class Rules had been noted on a Godsil Dragon at a UK Gold Cup, so the IDA investigated. Subsequently, 24 Dragons were grandfathered (accepted as built) by the IYRU/IDA with the condition that no more were to be made from that mold until the infractions were corrected. Specifically, there was no separate internal liner, and the hull construction was balsa-core. As a result, some deck Station measurements were out of tolerance and some hulls showed noticeable tumblehome. The missing liner weight was compensated for by increasing hull thickness. Schuppe returned the molds to Godsil who, together with Miller, made four more Dragons with the IDA-required alterations. The molds were then sold to Lowell Chang in Hong Kong. Chang modified them further, including a new liner mold, and built 24 Chang Dragons. He later sold the molds to a builder in Turkey, but they were damaged in shipment and later destroyed.
The bow logo is an ornamental letter “S”, on the cove line and it appears on all Savell / Godsil / Spocé / Miller / Chang Dragons. Dr. Orion Edwin Schupp III Ph.D.(Chem) died in his sleep in Paul Phelan’s locker during an RCYC Regatta August 17, 1990. He was 58.
| Country | USA |
| Locations | Rochester NY |
| Years in Operation | 1978-1981 |
| Boats Built | USA 273 (CAN137) 275(CAN124) 277 278 279 281(CAN138-USA300) 282(CAN125) 283(CAN126) 284(CAN127) |