We’re Hiring!

A growth mindset has been essential to the success of Moore Brothers, and we currently need to grow our staff!

“We’ve worked hard to expand our staff with leading talent in recent years, and we are immensely proud of our team. At Moore Brothers we can offer a career and we consider all of our positions long-term. As we evolve as a company, the personal development and advancement of our employees is an important part of maintaining a healthy organization,” said Moore Brothers co-founder and Director, Oliver Moore, noting, “The more we grow our team the more quality work we can do.” 

If you are interested in working at Moore Brothers Company, email us at office@moorebro.co to set up an interview or apply directly to one of our open positions.

Moore Brothers Company Aims to do More Aerospace Prototyping

Not everyone can immediately see the similarities between the aerospace and marine industries, but there are more than one might think.

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“In the marine industry, we benefit not only from unique and original ideas but also the expectation of producing composites at a very rapid pace,” says Oliver Moore, co-owner and co-founder of Moore Brothers Company.  From experience, the Moore Brothers team appreciates their agility is an asset when pitching to prototyping in other industries such as aerospace.

Specifically, what Oliver is referring to is the marine industry’s ability to build the lightest, fastest boat possible that won’t break under extreme pressure. Sailing teams that race in the America’s Cup have three years to create that boat: from starting with an idea to having a vessel that can reach speeds well over 40 knots. “The aerospace industry looks at that and thinks it’s impossible.” Says Oliver. “Each competition has a new design rule and teams have 3 years to design, build and learn to sail their best effort to challenge for the Cup on a set date.”

By using a tried and true model, the team at Moore Brothers is well equipped to produce a range of one-off composites within specific tolerances - and fast. “We’re never building the same thing twice.” Says Oliver, “which means our team has to be agile, creative and of course, highly-skilled.”

For the most part, America’s Cup boats and rockets are made out of the same materials these days, but, according to Oliver, many of the aerospace factories just aren’t built to produce prototypes on the schedule that some companies want them.

Due to the countless certifications that a company needs in order to manufacture aerospace parts, most companies take on bigger and multiple contracts in order to cover the costs of certification, production and workforce. That means long wait times for companies that are trying to get funding for their ideas. For prototyping, that just doesn’t work. Companies want their prototypes ASAP.

“In the marine world we are processing fully custom composite system jobs from design through install on the order of 6 to 12 weeks.  Be they masts, rudders or ballast systems.  You need to have very strong but flexible systems in place to be able to do that at a high level.  The marine industry gives us the opportunity to build and hone those systems which are directly transferable to the industrial/aerospace world.” 

The U.S. aerospace industry is the largest in the world and is expected to have a Compound Annual Growth (CAGR) of 2.4% between 2023 and 2028. 

The green race in aerospace

Many people might think of your traditional airplanes and rockets when the word “aerospace” is brought up, but with the push to reduce carbon emissions to combat climate change, the amount of companies focusing on building electric planes and helicopters is also growing. These companies need innovative composite companies to help them build prototypes. “We were already very creative in how we approach problems,” says Oliver, which is why it felt like a natural fit to start working with aerospace companies. 

Recently, Moore Brothers Company helped design and build a quarter-scale model of the wing-in-ground effect vehicle for REGENT that flew over Narragansett Bay last year. Although REGENT’s electric seaglider is not considered to technically be an aircraft (it is a maritime vessel), it will fly just above the water utilizing the reaction of air against the surface of the water. That being said, it does fly and REGENT has signed aviation contracts worth billions of dollars with companies around the world.

In April, Moore Brothers Company built a full-scale mock up of what will ultimately be a passenger carrying glider. The following month, REGENT announced that Moore Brother Company will be the main partner in creating the necessary components for the 65-foot carbon composite wing and hull for the company’s full-scale seaglider prototype. Oliver said that they most likely got the contract because they could produce what REGENT wanted at a reasonable price and on the company’s timeline (they want to have passenger-carrying vessels in operation by 2025).

Moore Brothers Company currently employees over 40 design engineers, composite and machine techs and management staff. Beyond that, there is plenty of talent to pull in for larger projects. When it came to the REGENT Project, Moore Brothers was contracted to produce the majority of the components for the company’s first full-scale prototype. Oliver brought in additional talent and manpower by contracting Zack Parent and the team at Ocean State Composites to manage fabrication of the vessel’s hull - a 55ft fuselage - by working onsite with the Moore Brothers Team. “We are excited to be part of these projects with Moore Brothers Company,” said Zack, noting that crucially, “we all work well together as a team.” Their experience in fabrication within leading America’s Cup syndicates and other racing programs made Zac and Ocean State Composites a crucial part of delivering high-quality components on time and at the required scale. 

“We work with our community in a collaborative way” says Oliver, which, he says is more similar to how larger contracts are fulfilled in Europe: utilizing sub-contractors when needed. 

Not forgetting their maritime roots

Although the Moore brothers plan on continuing to expand their business in the aerospace sector, they are not forgetting their roots. “Maintaining our marine industry business and progressing alongside valued clients will only strengthen our ability to service those in other industries.” Says Oliver.

Custom Spar Package for Baltic 52 JULES

Collaboration and creative solutions result in new, streamlined rig system for racer-cruiser Jules

Baltic 52 Jules

Henry Maxwell, project manager at Moore Brothers, climbs the rig during fit-out of a new spar and rigging package, delivered May 2024 ahead of the Newport Bermuda Race.

At Moore Brothers, we take pride in delivering top-of-line products on time and in accordance with the client’s performance goals. In the case of Jules, a 52.5-foot monohull built in ‘96 by Sparkman & Stephens, the product was a mast, boom and rigging package, delivered in time for the 2024 Newport Bermuda Race.

After Jules lost her mast in 2023, program manager Jason Black contacted Moore Brothers to collaborate on a system re-vamp. Black has been working with Jules and its owner since 2018, focusing on boat optimization and upgrades.

“They had a fitting failure last August, which caused the mast to actually come down,” said Henry Maxwell, project manager at Moore Brothers Company. “Jason has a great relationship with the Moore Brothers team,” he continued, noting that the company delivered a bowsprit for Jules in April 2021, as well as a number of custom components for the 59ft classic, Hound, also managed by Black.

For this project, the owner of Jules wanted to get more competitive in racing, while maintaining the ability to switch to cruising mode and enjoy the boat with his family and friends. “The boat was set up as more of a cruising boat originally, by the owner that had it before him,” said Black. “This project required more than the typical cruiser-racer because we wanted to do both of them very well, which is usually a pretty big challenge.”

Ultimately the request was for a complete replacement package: new mast, new standing rigging, new racing boom.  The Moore Brothers team saw an opportunity to do what they do best: create. “With a clean slate like that, we’re able to optimize all the pieces because everything fits together properly, as opposed to working with older parts or pieces,” said Maxwell. The end result was a simplified rig that could be easily set up and dismantled depending on what was needed out of the boat. “Anytime you can simplify the setup like that, I think it's better. It's easier to tune, less windage.”

The project’s engineering phase took place toward the end of 2023 and lamination began in January. With the Bermuda Race start in June, the build process was swift, but not without complexity.

“It’s one of the reasons that I continue to go back to them [Moore Brothers] because the projects that I work on are never straightforward, cookie cutter projects,” said Black. “I really enjoy having a team. And when I say team, it’s that the whole team is willing to join in the problem solving, and I just get that from these guys on a continual basis.”

— Jason Black, Jules Program Manager

The parts were installed at Jamestown Boatyard the first week of May and Jules was able to complete sea trials before entering the Newport - Bermuda Race on June 21st, 2024. “All the pieces, the rigging lengths, all those parts and everything came together really nicely,” said Maxwell. “I think we delivered early in the morning and actually stepped [the mast] the same day. It's a lot of parts to put together– to assemble a rig that size and actually have it all come together– but with careful planning and the team we have, we were able to do it.”

Was Maxwell nervous? “Whenever you deliver a new spar package like that, you're always a little nervous,” he said. “It's a full on custom part that you're trying to fit to another essentially custom boat.”

Jules completed the Newport Bermuda race in 2 days, 19 hours and 39 minutes. The owner, who captained the boat to Bermuda, seemed happy with the performance of the new system.

"We appreciate Moore Brothers' quality of work and the overall smooth and enjoyable process, from conception to installation,” said Jules’ owner, Thomas Dunn. “Thanks to the team's hard work we were able to install everything with plenty of time to prepare for the Newport Bermuda Race."

The boat can now be converted from cruising to racing mode in about two days, according to Black, which includes the time needed to convert the interior as well. Thanks to the new spar package this is done with relative ease when it comes to the rig, which is why Black keeps coming back. “The parts, they are going to go together the way that you designed them or expect them to,” he said about working with Moore Brothers. “Just the amount of experience that's there... I'm always confident that things are going to work out.”