A few weeks ago I had the pleasure and humbling honor of being inducted into the Wisconsin Maritime Museum Hall of Fame along with some true legends including Carl Kiekhaefer and Mike Kelsey. Both were inducted posthumously. Kiekhaefer founded Mercury Marine. Kelsey captained Palmer Johnson Yachts, building two stellar designs by Tom Fexas, my predecessor on this page, and Sparkman & Stevens of NYC back when Americans built many of the world’s most prominent custom yachts.
The ceremony lasted two days. While I did not get a gold sportcoat like the much more prominent Wisconsin hall of famers Brett Favre and Curly Lambeau, nor a bronze bust, I did get asked a question that I hadn’t pondered in a while: “Can you name the best American boat builders you’ve designed for?”
Hmmm. That depends on the definition of boats “you’ve designed” because I spent 11 years working for Ted Hood and Michael Peters (my only other predecessor on this page) before I hung my own shingle 19 years ago.
And I’ve also designed boats for some shitty American builders, too, when I was a younger man. But we’ll leave them off the list to protect everyone’s image, shall we?
So in alphabetical order, here is something you didn’t know about each of these great American boatbuilders I’ve worked with over the past 30 years. This will be a two-part series so we’ll get as far as Huckins this month. And onto Magnum and Van Dam next time.
Brooklin Boat Yard: When Steve White owned BBY he built Legend my re-creation of Ernest Hemingway’s famous Pilar. The client was Wes Wheeler, great grandson of the founder of Wheeler Yacht Co. Serendipitous twist: Steve’s grandfather was author E.B. White, of “Charlotte’s Web” and “Stuart Little” fame. So we had two of America’s most famous authors and two of America’s most storied yacht builders tied together by one legendary boat.
Burger Boat Co.: I first visited Burger as an engineering student in 1995. Back then they were using Civil War-era wood wagons to haul sheets of aluminum around the sawdusty yard. Today they’re building the largest yacht in North America in a thoroughly modern facility. One could have walked the yard in 1995 as I did, and today, witnessing 150 years of tangible boatbuilding history firsthand.
Chris-Craft: I worked for Peters when he got the contract to create the new generation Chris-Craft Launch series, from 22 to 28 feet, in 1998. Those designs were so spot-on that Chris-Craft is still selling boats with those same design cues 28 years on. Besides the Mercedes G-Wagen, I can’t think of an automotive product which is likewise so little changed in more than a quarter century. Good design endures.
Cobalt Boats: Cobalt has built an inland lake empire from the tiny town of Neodesha, Kansas. They called us when they were ready to pay more attention to the saltwater market. The number of Cobalt employees equals 50-percent of the town’s population. Neodesha uncorked the first oil well west of the Mississippi and housed a POW camp for German and Italian prisoners of World War … Eleven.
Hinckley: I wrote recently that my paycheck came from Hinckley on September 11, 2001. The late Ted Hood was still in the office every day at the Portsmouth, RI facility. One day he and I were designing a 65-footer while the paint bay was spraying Awlgrip on a Hinckley hull. Only they forgot to tell the guy whose job it was to replace the paint bay air filters. On my lunch break I discovered my car coated in Awlgrip overspray. At least the top was up and Hinckley paid for it.
Huckins: Great people. I like to say that longtime CEO Cindy Purcell was the brains of the operation but her late husband Buddy was just as smart. Huckins invented the PT boat and I think they should offer a civilian version now. Order yourself a new Huckins PT boat today because it’s one of the last, real working waterfront boatyards in America and it deserves to stay that way.
Stay tuned for next month. Stories about the fastest boats are coming.
This article originally appeared in the October 2026 issue of Power & Motoryacht magazine.
