Hunter Marine

Last updated

Marlow-Hunter LLC
Company type Limited liability company
Industry Boat building
Founded1973 [1]
FounderWarren Luhrs
Headquarters
Alachua, Florida
,
United States
Key people
President: David E. Marlow (since August 2012)
Products Sailboats
Website www.marlow-hunter.com

Hunter Marine was an American boat builder, now known as Marlow-Hunter, LLC, owned by David E. Marlow. The company did produce the Mainship powerboat brand. Marlow also owns and manufactures the Marlow Yachts brand consisting of long range power cruisers in the 37 to 110 foot range. The company was based in Alachua, Florida, and is now closed.

Contents

The first boat design was a 25-foot (7.6 meter) long sloop, and another noted design was the Ocean racing sailboat the HC 50. [2]

History

Hunter 33-2004 Hunter 33 2004 sailboat at sunset in Toronto Ontario.jpg
Hunter 33-2004
Hunter 306 Hunter 306 sailboat 2857.jpg
Hunter 306

In the 1800s Henry Luhrs, a German immigrant, outfitted trading ships and owned a chandlery. His grandson, Henry, continued the family heritage on the New Jersey coast, building and repairing recreational and fishing boats. By the early 1960s Henry and his sons, John and Warren, were building over a thousand powerboats a year. Hunter was started in 1973 in Alachua, Florida, as a sailboat manufacturer. [1] The early Hunter boats were designed by John E. Cherubini. [3]

In 1988 the company ran into trouble, as the founder, Luhrs, engaged in protected ocean racing and left the company in the hands of management. The result was production of low-quality boats backed by a short warranty and poor customer service, leading to trouble with dealers and unhappy owners. Luhrs was forced to suspend his racing career and return to directly run the company, carrying out a restructuring, creating new work teams, extending the warranty from one year to five years and hiring Canadian designer Rob Mazza in 1991 to take over design and coordinate the production process. Mazza designed the Hunter 29.5 and its larger follow-up, the 336. [4]

Hunter then utilized the design service of Glenn Henderson and its in-house team until 2010. Hunter is responsible for several market innovations, including their trademark stainless steel cockpit arch and their use of the B&R rig. Hunter also began the construction of sailboats whose hulls make use of bow hollow and stern reflex, marine architecture design elements that maximize thrust under sail.[ citation needed ]

In 2012 Hunter Marine entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy. [5] The company was sold in August 2012 to David E. Marlow, owner of Marlow Yachts and the name changed to Marlow-Hunter, LLC. [3]

Examples of models made by Marlow-Hunter in the 2010s include the Marlow-Hunter 31, 33, 37 and 40 models. [6] The new 31-foot was developed under Marlow-Hunter under guidance from longtime Hunter marine consultant and naval architect Glenn Henderson. [6] The 31 has increased interior space compared to older models, and is actually wider (increased beam) than the 33 foot long boat in the range. [6]

Boats

Hunter 23 Hunter 23 sailboat 3941.jpg
Hunter 23
Hunter 25-2 Hunter 25 September Song 0885.jpg
Hunter 25-2
Hunter 26 Hunter 26 sailboat Bebob 2504.jpg
Hunter 26
Hunter 32 Hunter 32 sailboat 3980.jpg
Hunter 32
Hunter 34 Hunter 34 sailboat Sharon Rose 2665.jpg
Hunter 34
Hunter 35.5 Legend Hunter 35.5 Legend sailboat Midnight Sky 3404.jpg
Hunter 35.5 Legend
Hunter 356 Hunter 356 Osprey 0632.jpg
Hunter 356
Hunter 44 Hunter 44 sailboat Dragonfly II 0560.jpg
Hunter 44
Hunter 45 DS Hunter 45 DS sailboat with spinnaker 1137.jpg
Hunter 45 DS

Hunter boats and year first produced: [3] [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

J&J Design is a naval architecture, design, boat and production-process engineering company, mainly for high-volume production sail and powerboat builders. It introduced the carbon-epoxy technology from the America's Cup into cruising sailboats with the Shipman line. J&J also designed and engineered the first serial production hybrid powerboats, the Greenline Hybrid range.

The C&C 37 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by Robert W. Ball of C&C Design and first built in 1981.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunter 33-2</span> Sailboat class

The Hunter 33-2, also referred to as the Hunter 33-2004, is an American sailboat, that was designed by Glenn Henderson and first built in 2004.

The Nonsuch 33 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by Mark Ellis Design and first built in 1988.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viking 33</span> Sailboat class

The Viking 33 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by Cuthbertson & Cassian and first built in 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Endeavour 33</span> Sailboat class

The Endeavour 33 is an American sailboat, that was designed by Bruce Kelley and first built in 1983.

The Marlow-Hunter 22 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Glenn Henderson as daysailer and racer, first built in 2010. It is a development of the 2003 Hunter 216, but with the hull built of fiberglass, instead of thermo-plastic

The Hunter 280 is an American sailboat that was designed by the Hunter Design Team in conjunction with Rob Mazza, as a cruising boat and first built in 1995.

The Hunter 33 is an American sailboat that was designed by John Cherubini and first built in 1977.

The Marlow-Hunter 33 is an American sailboat that was designed by Glenn Henderson and the Hunter Design Team and first built in 2012.

The Hunter 33.5 is an American sailboat that was designed for cruising and first built in 1987.

The Moorings 335 is an American sailboat that was designed for Moorings Yacht Charter and first built in 1988.

The Hunter 336 is an American sailboat that was designed by Rob Mazza as coastal cruising boat and first built in 1995.

The Hunter 340 is an American sailboat that was designed by the Hunter Design Team as cruising sailboat and first built in 1997.

The Hunter 37 is an American sailboat that was designed by John Cherubini for bluewater cruising and first built in 1978.

The Hunter 37 Legend is an American sailboat that was designed by Hunter Marine founder Warren Luhrs and first built in 1986.

The Hunter 40.5, also referred to as the Legend 40.5, is an American sailboat that was designed by the Hunter Design Team as a cruiser and first built in 1991.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hunter Passage 42</span> Sailboat class

The Hunter Passage 42 is an American sailboat that was designed by the Hunter Design Team as a cruiser and first built in 1989.

The Marlow-Hunter 31 is an American sailboat that was designed by Glenn Henderson as a cruiser and first built in 2015.

C. Raymond Hunt Associates is an American naval architecture design firm, based in New Bedford, Massachusetts. The company specializes in the design of fiberglass sailboats and powerboats.

References

  1. 1 2 "Hunter Marine Corp". USCG Manufacturers List.
  2. ↑ "Hunter Marine - A glance at the historical roots of Hunter Marine". www.essermanyachtsales.com. Esserman Yacht Sales. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 Browning, Randy (2018). "Hunter Marine". sailboatdata.com. Retrieved 19 October 2018.
  4. ↑ Staff Report (13 April 2003). "Hunter 336: A Nice Package Sans Backstay". boats.com. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  5. ↑ Blue Water Sailing (21 February 2013). "Blue Water Boats - Hunter 40". www.bwsailing.com. Archived from the original on 14 December 2018. Retrieved 10 December 2018.
  6. 1 2 3 "Marlow Hunter 31" (PDF). marlow-hunter.com. May 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2018.
  7. ↑ Marlow-Hunter. "Our Fleet" . Retrieved 13 December 2018.
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