David Irish

David Irish acquired a derelict marine construction waterfront site in Harbor Springs, Michigan in 1961 and started the Irish Boat Shop. He designed, and built the full service facility, with dockage, storage, service, and sales for boats to about 55’ in length, and has operated the company to present.

In 1971 a second site was acquired in Charlevoix, a waterfront property that had been a beet sugar factory, and another full service facility was designed and built, with capacity to handle boats over 70’ in length and 55 tons displacement.  In 1978, another Charlevoix site, a former petroleum terminal and tank farm, was added, and developed into a pleasure craft marina.  The development of each marina, as a reclaimed industrial site, involved extensive dredging, bulkheading, and hoist and dock construction with the numerous attendant regulatory and permitting procedures. Water level challenges through his business life include the record lows in the mid ‘60’s, to record highs, and everything in between.

Through the decades in the recreational boating industry, he has been a member, director, presentor, and participant in regional and national industry organizations. The Irish marinas are certified under the Clean Marina program.

Irish has been a passionate sailboat racer since his youth, has competed in all the Great Lakes, and in salt water on both coasts, the Pacific, trans Atlantic, the Caribbean, and in Europe. This interest led to involvement in governance and regulation of the sport, locally, nationally, and internationally, and he is now a Vice President of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). Other sport and competitive interests include Nordic and Alpine skiing, and triathlon.

Irish served 6 years as mayor of his home town of Harbor Springs, and as an activist was involved in environmental litigation and was a founder and president of the regional Land Trust, the Little Traverse Conservancy.