It is with a heavy heart that we inform you of the passing of M Fuad Jacobs (May the Almighty have mercy upon him). We wish to thank family, friends, the sailing community and boat building industry for the countless messages of condolences, well wishes, tributes and great stories shared about Fuad.
Many knew him in different circles, but few got to see all of him. Fuad was extremely passionate and driven about his work, his craft and to his commitments. He was disciplined, dedicated, hard working, resourceful, pragmatic, ingenious and had made many sacrifices.
A carpenter by trade, Fuad could build almost anything, he even built the family home. He did his apprenticeship with a construction company, and then got to experience building the breakwater wall at the Simon's Town Harbour. Thereafter, his foray into boat building began. With his brothers, they built the aluminium Namakura patrol vessels for the SA Navy, at the time a top secret project. Fuad then went on to work at Ton Cup Yachts, building the Lavranos 26, 1/4 ton and 3/4 ton racing yachts, and then John Robertson Yachts where he worked on the moulds for the Holiday 23.
Alongside all this, in the time of apartheid South Africa, it was his eldest brother Ismail who got the inspiration to build his own yacht Equation and involved all five brothers to build it in their spare time over four years. Equation was then sold and they built their next one, Double Vision, a beautiful 47 foot yacht, which their family enjoyed sailing for 12 years. This marked the beginning of Jacobs Bros Boat Builders. The two brothers went on to build custom aluminium yachts together, some of which have circumnavigated the globe.
Until Ismail's retirement they had built quite a remarkable legacy. And it is in the last decade that Fuad got the inspiration, coupled with client demand, to take Jacobs Bros to the next stage. He built a new facility, achieving a great milestone and securing Jacobs Bros for the future. Fuad himself would be on site by 5am every morning building in the scorching heat of December 2020 and showing the youngsters what it takes.
After boat building became his vocation, Fuad introduced his children to sailing at Zeekoevlei and they enjoyed travelling across the country and abroad to various sailing regattas. While his sons made their own mark in the sailing circuit, Fuad enjoyed sailing in the Mirror dinghy class and competed in five Mirror World Championships. He was an International Class Measurer and also built many (winning) boats for this class which are still sailing today.
He was a family man and always maintained family ties. Fuad leaves behind his wife, children and grandchildren. He will be sorely missed. He has nurtured a number of protégés who have worked with him for many years, and his sons Sieraj and Taariq will now take the baton and continue the legacy into the future.