About Us
Sea Spirit has established itself among the leading manufacturers of large semi custom and custom yachts in North America. The company produces very high quality motor yachts for the cruising, sport fishing and the cruising/fishing markets. Sea Spirit works closely with established high quality boat builders to provide production management, financing, marketing, and technical and post delivery support to construct its yachts and work boats in carefully selected shipyards in North America, Taiwan and China.
Sea Spirit's current range includes luxury yachts models ranging in size from 51 ’ to 88’, and now together with Sea Sprit is building its new Passagemaker series.
Throughout the markets it serves, Sea Spirit enjoys superior brand recognition as a builder whose yachts are at the top of their categories in terms of design, performance, seaworthiness, integrity and finish, and for overall quality and reliability.
Dan Fritz
President and CEO
As Sea Spirit's founder and CEO Dan is a hands on operator with day to day involvement in all the company’s activities, but with particular emphasis on improving Sea Spirit’s management systems, and spear heading a Company wide quest for constant product improvement always with emphasis on developing the Sea Spirit Brand and all aspects of customer service.
A builder at heart, Dan was able to combine his deep passions for building and the sea when he founded Queenship in January 1992. His past business activities are diverse and after spending his younger years in the construction industry, working on tug boats and as a bush pilot on Canada’s North and West Coast he starting his own as house building company before focusing on much larger commercial real estate and hotel developments. During these years he also built projects with replacement value in the hundreds of millions while building up a hotel management company with as many as 13 properties under management at one time.
Dan’s business activities in the Orient began in 1981 when he brought the fabled Mandarin Oriental Hotel Company to North America and built their first North American hotel in Vancouver.
With too little time left over to fish in the cold deep waters of Northern British Columbia’s that he loves best, Dan divides his time between China helping his team build the boats, and brand and market building activities in North America and Europe.
For a list of Boats Dan has built, click here
Tee Tzer Yu
Vice President of Production
As Sea Spirit’s Vice President of Production and Chief Representative in China, Tee oversees the day to day production and quality control of Sea Spirit's yacht construction in China and acts as the primary liaison with the Uni Shine Shipyard.
With dreams of circumnavigating the globe, Tee left his native Malaysia to attend the National Taiwan University, where he played varsity volleyball while earning a degree in Naval Architecture. After graduation, Tee began his career in the yacht-building industry working in several shipyards in Taiwan and then China where over the past 11 years has been promoted to ever more responsible positions progressing from Site Engineer / ISO Representative to being the manager with senior responsibly for Quality Control & Design Development with one of the finest and most progressive yacht builders in China.
Before joining Sea Spirit in 2007 Tee has directed and overseen the construction of nearly one hundred yachts. Now with more than a decade of operational, engineering and management experience in yacht construction, Tee has proved to be an invaluable resource for technical expertise in a vast number of disciplines. His extensive multicultural experiences also enable him to successfully navigate the cross-cultural interactions and processes that result the customers desires flowing from so many parts of the world and the production floor at the shipyard in China.
Greg Matthes
General Manager, Sea Spirit's West Coast Dealership
Greg, who is one of the best known and respected yacht sales executives in the Pacific Northwest, is General Manager of Sea Spirit’s West Coast Dealership operating from our office on Lake Union in Seattle, Washington.
After graduating with a BS from Portland State University in 1971 Greg held various sales and management positions in a variety of industries including the freight forwarding and hospitality. In 1984 he joined Sundance Yachts in Portland Oregon where he began his career as yacht broker selling well known boats like Carver, Californian, and Regal between 16’ and 48’, as well as used brokerage boats.
In 1989 Greg moved to Seattle Washington to become general manager of the Sundance dealership in the Northwest’s Emerald City where he established the operation as the number 1 Carver dealer worldwide, two years running.
With this success under his belt in 1992 he and partners opened their own dealership and yacht brokerage representing well known brands in the 30 to 50 foot range, which over time increased in terms of both size and quality. Over the years representation focused on higher end brands and from 1998 to 2005 Greg’s company represented Kadey Krogen (which is now one of Sea Spirits main competitors) and from 2005 to 2009 was the dealer for Grand Banks yachts where he established his company as their the top regional dealership in 2005, 2007 and 2008.
After a brief respite from the industry Greg joined Sea Spirit in the fall of 2009 to open their Seattle office and head up the company’s sales in the West.