APRIL/MAY 2018 15“trying to determine how strong to make this boat,” Velt-
man told him to talk to designer Alberg and “ nd out what
the loads are, make up some pieces, and we’ll test them.”
W.R. Grace’s test lab provided Pearson with data that was
used to engineer a minimum 3:1 safety factor on most of
the structure for the boat falling o a wave, and 5:1 for the
ballast. “We spent the time to test our laminates,” Pearson
said. “But I can honestly say that 90% of the other boat-
builders had no idea. ey were just slopping this stu in
and building the boats up.”
Grumman Aircra Engineering Corp. bought controlling
interest in Pearson Yachts in 1960. Clint le in 1964 and
Everett in 1966 to partner with latex king Neil Tillotson to
form Tillotson-Pearson Industries in a new facility in War-
ren, Rhode Island. When his ve-year no-compete clause
expired, he turned again to boat production: Garry Hoyt’s
Freedom line of sailboats with unstayed rigs, Rampage sport-
shermen, J Boats (beginning with the hugely successful J/
of which more than 5,000 were built), Alden sail yachts, and
cruising catamarans for the French Lagoon brand.
Not one to put all his eggs in one basket, Pearson diversi-
ed into industrial and unusual products: 27'–65' (8.2m–
19.7m) wind turbine blades for Kenetech Windpower,
atbed tractor trailers, bus bodies, airport people movers,
Disneyland car rides, lighting poles, electric car bodies,
bridge components, test torpedoes, and one of his favorites,
the Swimex hydrotherapy pool that functions as a water
treadmill. It’s a mix unmatched by any other boatbuilder.
In 1993 Pearson partnered with Seemann Composites of
Gulfport, Mississippi, and Hardcore Composites of New
Castle, Delaware, to promote and license the SCRIMP (See-
mann Composites Resin Infusion Molding Process) closed-
mold method of infusing berglass, carbon ber, Kevlar,
and other fabrics with resin. e high reinforcement-to-
resin ratios of around 70:30 were impossible with hand
layup; and perhaps even more important, VOCs (volatile
organic compounds) were captured and exhausted from the
workplace. He once said one of his proudest achievements
was making the laminator’s job cleaner and healthier,
boosting employee morale.
Pearson also is one of several persons who claim to have
been rst to orient balsa wood on the end-grain for use as a
core material. He publicized an experiment in which he sank
a sandwich panel of glass and balsa o his dock for a lengthy
period, a er which he showed that water migrated little
beyond a super cial penetration. End-grain balsa became a
commonly utilized core in hulls and decks for its light weight,
sti ness, and superior stability over some foams.
While not the rst person to build production berglass
boats, as some believe, he and his cousin Clint were cer-
tainly prominent at the dawn of the new industry. Everett’s
foresight and innovations earned him the admiration and
respect of more than one generation of boatbuilders.
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