Vector Yacht Services continues to expand after 21 years with the construction of a new 80 by 100-foot structure that will serve as the hub of its industry for years to come.
Vector Yacht has been a staple of the Harbour Road marine community in Sidney since Frank Austin founded the company in 2003. Now, his son Ryan helps manage the place and his son works in the yard, too.
It started with just mechanical work and a rented Atco trailer. Since those early days, though, Vector moved into a permanent shelter and expanded into haulout services and fabrication. Each building was added over time to fulfill the needs of the moment.
“With the old buildings that were there,” said Ryan, “you could just tell that stuff was built without the 40-year plan.”
Ryan Austin pointing out the early worksheds on the Vector property.Now, Vector is redesigning the yard to streamline its efficiency. The last permanent structure added to the facility was in 2019. Called the Molson Building, it’s insulated for temperature and humidity control. This has allowed the company to accept contracts from Zodiac Hurricane and the Canadian military when their rigid-hull inflatables need repair.
“It was a huge, huge advantage for Vector,” said Ryan. “To do this work at a much more professional level, being able to secure these kinds of contracts with the military, it made a big difference.”
Ryan says the success of that structure helped to see the potential for another. Of course, the Molson Building at 40 by 60 feet cost less than a tenth of the price of the new structure. This is because it’s not just a workshop.
The new building will also house a parts shop, desks for service and general managers, a new lunchroom, offices upstairs for Ryan and his dad and a new training room for employees.
“We want to help keep the whole marine industry here, and if we build something that is bigger than just us, that has training potential, that has bigger space, the hope is that more marine industry starts to come to this area and it becomes an even bigger hub.”
Ryan says once the new building is operational, the old buildings will come down to give them even more working space: “We have the capacity to do more, we don’t have the space for it.”