Company type | Privately held company |
---|---|
Industry | Boat building |
Founded | 1960 |
Founder | Johannes "Jopie" Helsen |
Headquarters | , |
Products | Sailboats |
Universal Marine was an American boat builder based in Saint Petersburg, Florida. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats. [1] [2] [3]
The company was founded by Johannes "Jopie" Helsen in 1960 as the Helsen Yacht Corporation. [1] [3] [4]
The company was founded as a marina management business and later expanded into boat design and building as a side-business. The first design produced was the Helsen 22 in 1971, followed in 1974 by the Helsen 20. The swing keel Montego 19 and its fixed keel derivative, the Montego 20 were produced first in 1976. [1] [2] [5] [6]
The final and largest boat built, the Montego 25, started production in 1980 and was produced until 1985, with 80 boats completed. In a 2010 review, Steve Henkel wrote about Helsen's Montego 25 design, "this one may have been his best effort ... properly sailed will give good performance on the race course ... We used to race against a Montego 25 in our Morgan 24/25 ... and although we won the season trophy once or twice based on the average of our scores, we were never able to beat the Montego, either boat for boat or on corrected time. She is fast, we observed, both light and heavy air ...." [1] [2] [7]
Boat production ended in 1985 and the company is now listed as "inactive". [1] [3]
Summary of boats built by Universal Marine: [1]
The Santana 22 is an American trailerable sailboat, that was designed by Gary Mull and first built in 1966.
The Watkins 23 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Johannes "Jopie" Helsen, modified by Watkins Yachts and first built in 1973.
The Cal 21 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by C. William Lapworth as a cruiser and first built in 1969.
The Coronado 25 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Ed Edgar and Frank W. Butler as a cruiser and first built in 1966.
The Mystic Mini-Ton, also called the Mystic Mini-Ton 21, is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Canadian Bruce Kirby as an International Offshore Rule Mini Ton class, Midget Ocean Racing Club (MORC) and club one design racer and first built in 1977.
The Lancer 25 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by W. Shad Turner as a cruiser and first built in 1975.
The Montego 19 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Johannes "Jopie" Helsen as a pocket cruiser and first built in 1976.
The Montego 20 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Johannes "Jopie" Helsen as a pocket cruiser and first built in 1976.
The Montego 25 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Johannes "Jopie" Helsen as a racer-cruiser and first built in 1980.
The Helsen 22 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Johannes "Jopie" Helsen as a cruiser and first built in 1971.
The Helsen 20 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Johannes "Jopie" Helsen as a cruiser and first built in 1974.
The New Horizons 26 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Sparkman & Stephens as a cruiser and first built in 1958. It was Sparkman & Stephens design #1235.
The O'Day 22 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by C. Raymond Hunt & Associates as a cruiser and first built in 1972.
The O'Day 240 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by C.R. Hunt & Associates as a cruiser and first built in 1988.
The Pacific Seacraft 25 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Henry Mohrschladt as a cruiser and first built in 1976.
The Mustang 22 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Martin Bludworth as a Midget Ocean Racing Club racer and first built in 1969.
The Quickstep 24 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Edward S. Brewer as a cruiser and first built in 1976.
The Santana 25 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by W. Shad Turner as an International Offshore Rule Quarter Ton class racer and first built in 1973. The boat was Turner's first design.
The Wavelength 24 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Paul Lindenberg as a Midget Ocean Racing Club (MORC) racer and first built in 1982.
The Sovereign 20 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by the Sovereign Design Group as an daysailer and cruiser and first built in 1982.
{{cite web}}
: |author=
has generic name (help)