Vincent Valdes, President and CEO
Vincent Valdes is responsible for strategic planning, product development, marketing, and operations.

Vince Valdes is the son of Richard Valdes, the original founder of Columbia Yachts, who built the company into an industry-dominating firm. Vince Valdes' upbringing developed a passion for sailing and boat building. His father's enthusiasm allowed him to develop his knowledge of the art of boat building and business management from a very early age. As Vince Valdes grew up, he worked with his father in his various boat-building firms at boat shows, running product demonstrations, and teaching new owners the ways of their purchase.

Sailing and boat building are integral to Vince Valdes' life story. During his youth, he was rigger/commissioner for Lancer Yachts (another of Richard Valdes' successful sailboat ventures). Later, he worked with Mediterranean Yachts teaching clients piloting and seamanship skills.

Mr. Valdes regularly serves as a skipper or crewmember on a variety of cruising and racing sailboats, and most recently sailed the 2001 Trans Pacific Yacht Race from Los Angeles to Honolulu aboard "Bull," winning first in class and first overall.
He has completed "bow to stern" restorations on three of his own sailboats, two of which were Columbia 5.5 meters. He is an active member of the Newport Harbor Yacht Club.

Vince Valdes felt that a strong background in finance and the careful planning and assessment skills that accompany the finance profession would be crucial to any future personal business venture. With this in mind, he honed his skills during the past 10 years in the structured finance industry at Bankers Trust, Deutsche Bank, and most recently at KPMG.

Mr. Valdes holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from University of California at Los Angeles.

Richard "Dick" Valdes, Principal Director
Dick Valdes was the founding investor in the Columbia Yacht Corporation, bringing unparalleled experience and skills to the company. He was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Mediterranean Yacht Corporation. Mediterranean Yachts manufactured a line of luxury sport fishers until his retirement in 2008. Two 38’ models and a 54’ model ranging in price from $250,000 to $1,000,000. These boats were sold factory direct to the consumer and shipped to more than 22 countries.

Dick Valdes founded the original Columbia Yachts in 1958, and built the company into the world’s largest fiberglass sailboat manufacturer by the late 1960s. He sold the company to Whittaker (listed on the NYSE) at that time, but retained his position as President of Columbia Yacht Corporation and was instrumental in the development of the Whittaker Marine Group, which ultimately included Bertram Yachts, Trojan Yachts, Riva (Italy), Desco Marine (Florida), Kettenburg (San Diego), and Balboa Marine (Newport Beach). Total sales of the Whittaker Marine Group reached between $250 to $300 million in the early 1970s during Valdes’ tenure.

In 1974, following his departure from Whitaker Marine Group, Dick Valdes established the Lancer Yacht Corporation, which manufactured a line of sailing yachts and high-speed motorsailers ranging in size from 25’ to 65’ (14 models). Lancer Yachts was sold to Bally (listed on the NYSE) in 1983.

Dick Valdes has established a reputation for market intuition, timeless designs and best of breed engineering/production practices. Under his direction, Columbia developed and perfected the one-piece unitized fiberglass interior production method for large sailboats and pioneered the use of balsa sandwich construction in large boats. Dick Valdes’ engineering and production methods allow him to build vessels of superior quality that can be sold at a lesser cost to the consumer than the competition.

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