North Palm Beach entrepreneur setting up yacht building venture in China

 
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The self-deprecating 49-year-old doesn't fit the image of a fast-talking, brassy entrepreneur. Wearing shorts and boat shoes rather than a suit and tie to a recent business lunch, he was blunt about the obstacles ahead.

"I can't say the timing is perfect," Adams said, admitting it's an audacious move when the U.S. economy is on the skids. "It's a chore. It's hard work. It's a risk. ... But right now the market is in the larger yachts."

Adams has teamed up with Greek venture capitalist Christos Livadas, who is footing the estimated $12 million bill for the yard, along with another promised investment of $9 million over the next decade.

The duo plans to build megayachts up to 180 feet long, both production and custom-made.

The Tricon Marine shipyard is going up near the city of Zhuhai, near Macau and Hong Kong. Adams and Livadas say it will be the first North American-owned and operated shipyard in China - packaging their business acumen of the Western world with the low costs of land and labor in Asia.

"Our value is better pricing over an American or European yard but better service and quality than other Chinese yards," Livadas said.

Adams has been on the water since he was a boy.