Cheoy Lee Yachts History & Heritage
The Lo family who own and operate Cheoy Lee established their first shipyard, Cheoy Lee Yiu Kee, in Shanghai in 1870, building and repairing steam-powered vessels.
The family moved south to Hong Kong in 1936 and established Cheoy Lee Shipyard. During the Second World War, its main focus was on converting sailing ships to engine power, enabling them to outrun the Japanese blockade.
In the 1950s, Cheoy Lee’s core business shifted to building sailing and motor yachts in teak. Most of these yachts were exported to the United States where the Cheoy Lee brand became highly esteemed. Production line building was introduced in 1957 and by the 1960s, leisure craft accounted for 90 per cent of the shipyard’s production. 1964 was its most prolific year with 252 vessels launched.
Cheoy Lee was a pioneer of glassfibre boatbuilding in the 1960s and and of foam sandwich composite construction in the 1970s. Towards the end of the ‘60s, the shipyard outgrew its original premises and moved to Penny’s Bay on Lantau Island, now the site of Disneyland Hong Kong. The shipyard never had road access so all materials, equipment and the entire workforce had to be transported there daily by sea.
In 1977, Cheoy Lee built the world’s largest fibreglass yacht to date, the 130ft Shango II and in 1979 it launched the world’s first all foam-cored production motor yacht, the Cheoy Lee 48 Sport, using vacuum-bagging – which was then cutting-edge technology – to laminate the hulls.
In 1990 Cheoy Lee stopped producing sailing yachts (apart from the odd full custom commission), focusing on large motor yachts instead. The 1990s also saw a strong resurgence of Cheoy Lee’s commercial shipbuilding business, which has continued to grow. By the end of the ‘90s, Penny’s Bay had been sold to Disney and the whole production shipyard had moved out of Hong Kong to its current site near Macao in mainland China.
