ABOUT THE DORAL

In 1972, Doral built its first boat in the historic town of Grand Mère, Quebec. The building wasn't’t much  - but the vision and dream was there. With a team of specialized technical and naval designers - Doral set out to develop a line of high quality pleasure boats with an unyielding dedication to the principles that only the best is satisfactory. 

The small but dedicated Doral team first began building the 153, quickly followed by the 147 - 156 - 166 and their flagship 178! It was to be the beginning of a long, hard but satisfying journey for a company wanting to make their mark in the boating business in Canada. The vision of growing continued and four new models were created - the TRX, 164, 190 and 227. Now, with a fully operational “production line” - it soon became apparent that the employees on the floor were true craftsmen - artists in fact, capable of building some of the finest boats in the industry - from concept and design to the cabinetry and fit and finish. 

Soon the employees of Doral wanted more of a challenge. They wanted to produce bigger boats - they wanted to build cruisers. The timing couldn't’t have been better ... In the early 1980’s, the Canadian boat building industry was booming  - many were exporting both power and sailboats around the world and Canada was becoming well known as builders of quality boats.

Consequently, the first ever Doral cruisers arrived on the market - two 22’ - the Tara and Cavalier as well as the 25’ luxury cruiser Citation. With these three boats, Doral became a nationally recognized brand. Unfortunately, in the late 80’s, North America was in the middle of a deep recession. The Canadian boating industry was poorly prepared and many manufacturers were forced to close their doors. Doral - insistent on weathering out the recession, survived by amalgamating their operation with two other well-known boat builders - Thundercraft and Canot Cadorette. By the late 1980’s, Doral was known as the premier boat builder in Canada. Now it was time to crack the American market. In 1989, Doral acquired a building at 3rd avenue in Grand Mère, Quebec - the present location of the cruiser plant. With everything in place, Doral was capable of building larger cruisers and not long after the move they introduced the Prestancia 300, Monticello 270 and the Boca Grande 350.

In 1996, Erwin Zecha purchased Doral from the French boat builder Jeanneau and continues to oversee the direction of the company today. With Erwin, a new vision was born - redesign the line of cruisers with a very distinctive Doral style and to continue the quest to build the best boats possible. The mission was accomplished - from the Monticello to the flagship sport yacht Alegria - the theme throughout is consistent - a European flare with the North American need for comfort and roominess. Doral has seen a multitude of changes over the past four decades - but through it all - the commitment to produce a boat built by only the highest standards was never forgotten.