Hinckley’s current line of yachts includes seven powerboats ranging in length from 29 to 55 feet and two sailing vessels from 42 to 50 feet (each boat’s length is represented by the number preceded by its name). The acquisitions added two boat building facilities and one additional yacht yard which are all continuing operations. Hinckley acquired Hunt Yachts in August 2014 and Morris Yachts the following year. By May 2017, The Hinckley Company employed 685 workers in its boatyards, boat building and corporate facilities in the U.S. Due to economic forces the company reduced its workforce in mid-2008 to 305 at the end of August 2009. Hinckley currently conducts operations in twelve U.S. In 2001 Bain, Willard Companies sold a 51% controlling interest in The Hinckley Company to Cambridge, Massachusetts based Monitor Clipper Partners for $40 million in debt and equity. The company also developed more advanced fiberglass construction techniques dubbed "Dual Guard", which aimed to create a stronger hull. Under the new ownership, Hinckley began to market power boats equipped with jet drives. ![]() William Bain, Ralph Willard, and Alexander Spaulding took over operations. The company again fell under new ownership in 1997 when it was purchased by The Bain, Willard Companies for approximately $20 million. Also in 1994, the company first used its jet propulsion technology. Hinckley became the first American boat company to use SCRIMP technology (a method of making composite material with nearly no volatile organic compound emissions) in its yachts, for which Hinckley was awarded the United States Environmental Protection Agency’s Environmental Merit Award in 1994. The last of the Bermuda 40’s was produced in 1991, bringing the total number of B40’s produced to 203 over its 32-year lifespan. The two released Hinckley’s first fiberglass powerboat christened “Talaria” in 1989. In 1982, Henry’s son Bob bought the company back with the help of his business partner Shepard McKenney. Due to the recession of the early 80’s, the luxury sail boat market fell on hard times and Tucker made the decision to sell the company. Tucker hired William Moyer to run the company where he oversaw the development of the Sou’wester 42. In 1979 Henry Hinckley sold the company to Richard Tucker. The last Hinckley-built wooden boat was the 1960 “Osprey.” Throughout the 1960s the company provided navigation systems along with auto-pilot and electric-powered furling mainsails. His first fiberglass sailboat, the Bermuda 40, was launched in 1960. During the 1950s, Hinckley began experimenting with the use of fiberglass to construct his yachts’ hulls by building small runabouts. 62 original Sou’Westers were built, making it the largest fleet of single design cruising boats of its time. In 1945 the Sou’wester sailboat was created. Hinckley’s production of pleasure boats began soon after the war. At the end of the war Hinckley’s contributions totaled nearly 40% of all war boats built in Maine, for which the company was awarded two Army-Navy “E’s” for excellence in 19. ![]() Īt the start of World War II, Hinckley turned to manufacturing war-designed boats. Straying away from boatbuilding, Hinckley opened Manset Marine Supply Company in 1940 for which he designed many fittings for fuel tanks, stanchions, deck plates, and the like that are still utilized today. Hinckley would go on to produce 20 of these sloops, making them the company’s first mass production line. Five years later, in 1938, Hinckley came out with its first sailing vessel, a 28-foot Sparkman & Stephens sloop. A 36-foot “fisherman motorboat” dubbed “Ruthyeolyn” built in 1933 was Hinckley’s first boat. Hinckley, an engineering graduate from Cornell, took control of the company. Hinckley after he purchased a small boatyard in Southwest Harbor, ME. ![]() Hinckley was founded in 1928 by Benjamin B.
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