President Yachts, a Taiwan Yard Known Through Its American Importers

A Taiwan yard that built for American buyers

Taiwan's boatbuilding boom was fueled by orders from overseas importers, and President Yachts is one of the yards that rose on that trade. Unlike Grand Banks or Ocean Alexander, it never turned its own name into a consumer brand, because much of its output went out under dealer programs and contract arrangements. When Yachting magazine toured the yard's work for its President 47 review, the writer noted that President had also produced the earliest WhisperJet 44s and the bigger Offshore Yachts designs, and said the era of leaking teak and sloppy Taiwanese joinery was over, with this yard's finish comparable to respected builders in North America and Europe.

Eddie Yeh ran the company as managing director during those years, and his interior brief was simple, light and then more light. Boats Yachting examined were constructed to ABYC standards and showed excellent gelcoat, polished stainless welding and frameless ports. No source we trust gives a founding date, a founder or confirmation that the yard still builds today, so be wary of listings that state those points as fact.

Two boats called President 42, and the 47 that followed

The name President 42 is attached to two unrelated designs, which is the first thing any shopper should sort out. The older one is an aft-cabin flybridge cruiser from the late 1980s, and the 1989 boat we traced was powered by a pair of Caterpillars. The newer one is a trawler that appeared in 2001, the idea of three brokers at Yacht Haven Yacht Sales in Annapolis, Bob Hoffman, John Stewart and Clarence Blackwell, who felt buyers wanting a trawler under 40 feet had few good choices. With Robert Noyes on their team, they brought the concept to President to build.

That trawler led directly to the President 47. When a 42 prospect asked for the same boat in a bigger size, the group went back to President, and the first 47 reached Annapolis less than a year later, around 2002. Yachting's test boat ran optional twin 420 hp Caterpillar 3126B diesels, a $23,000 upgrade over the standard 330 hp Cummins, for a 16-knot cruise and just over 20 knots flat out.

Values, support and surveying a President

Presidents are value buys. Used 42s generally ask about $90,000 to $280,000, well below better-known trawler brands of similar size, but there is no factory support network in the US, specification sheets are scarce and few boats were tested by magazines. Resale is driven by condition and paperwork rather than the badge, so a well-documented boat is worth a clear premium.

Buy with builder documentation in hand and a surveyor who knows Taiwan-built boats of the era.

• Establish whether the boat is the 1980s flybridge cruiser or the 2001 trawler design
• Moisture-survey the hull, decks and any cored areas
• On older hulls, check teak decking, its screws and seams
• Ask about the tanks, how they can be reached and whether any were replaced
• Sample engine oil for lab analysis and test both engines under real load
• Look for leaks around windows, hatches and the flybridge