Lake Minnetonka Magazine shares Brad Robinson's story

Brad Robinson and "The Price of Victory" were recently featured in the December issue of Lake Minnetonka Magazine, a monthly magazine for the community of Lake Minnetonka, Minnesota:

"In The Price of Victory and the Fear of Innovation, author Linda Tedford tells the story of longtime Deephaven resident Brad Robinson, who passed away in October at age 78. 'The book is about Brad’s innovation in the world of competitive sailing and how his creative genius was rejected to protect the interest of one boat builder,' Tedford says.

According to Tedford, Robinson used his engineering skills to correct design flaws in the A Scow sailboats at the Inland Lake Yachting Association. When he presented his newly designed Victory boat as a gift to the organization, it was seen as a threat to the monopoly holder in boat designs and eventually led to a court case."

"The Price of Victory" featured in Edina Magazine

Brad Robinson and "The Price of Victory" were recently featured in the November issue of Edina Magazine, a monthly magazine for the community of Edina, Minnesota:

"Growing up on Lake Minnetonka, Brad Robinson had a passion for competitive sailing and decided to use his engineer's mind to create an innovative sailboat as a gift to the Inland Lake Yacht Association. Despite Robinson's attention to A Scow sailboat building rules, the fleet denied his gift; they saw it as a threat to one boat builder's monopoly and refused to sail Robinson's boat. The conflict ended with a lawsuit and settlement, and Robinson felt his side of the story deserved telling."


Brad Robinson featured in Deephaven Life magazine

"Brad Robinson's first glimpse of an A Scow sailboat was when, as a child playing along the shores of Lake Minnetonka, he saw Gene Gluek and his son, Bob, sail by on Shypoke. It seemed to Robinson that the boat sailed over the water rather than through it – and that image stayed with him. Many successful sailing seasons on smaller scows later, Robinson began racing A Scows in 1980 when he joined Jud Dayton, Edmund and David Chute, and Jock Pillsbury to crew on their boat Incredible. With a length of thirty-eight feet, a flat bottom and top speeds of over twenty-five knots, A Scows require experience and precision from their six-member crews. Robinson learned much from his time on Incredible and soon bought his own A Scow, which he named Victory. Successful seasons on Victory, however, were colored by Robinson's concern over flaws in the A Scow's hull and deck design."

Goetz Custom Boats Helps Bring The V38 To Life

Story from Goetz Boats

Brad Robinson lives in the Lake Minnetonka area, just on the western outskirts of Minneapolis. He is an engineer, sailor and dreamer, holding a number of patents in all three, well at least the first two, realms. Being an innovator by nature, Brad has contributed a number of ideas to various inland class scows that have made them easier and safer to sail. He became fascinated with applying better engineering and modern materials to the A Scow, the class in which he has been active for the past 27 years.