Hake Yachts, also called Seaward Yachts, was an American boat builder based in Carmel, Indiana. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats. The company was founded in 1973 by

boat designer A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size, shape, cargo or passenger capacity, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically found on inl ...

Nick Hake, a graduate of the Milwaukee School of Engineering.

History

After starting building sailing dinghies, the first keelboat design produced was the Seaward 23 in 1984. The company also took over the Starboard Yacht Company, also founded by Hake, which had been producing his Slipper 17 pocket cruiser design since 1981.

Throughout the 1980s and 1990s the company produced the Seaward line of sailboats, including the

Seaward 25 The Seaward 25 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Nick Hake a cruiser and first built in 1984.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 310. International Marine/McGraw-Hill, 2010. Productio ...

and

Seaward 22 The Seaward 22 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Nick Hake and first built in 1985.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 202. International Marine/McGraw-Hill, 2010. The boat was develo ...

. in his In a 2010 book, ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', Steve Henkel praised the construction quality of the boats the company built and their choice of high-end hardware.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', pages 56, 202, 203, 309, 310.

International Marine S&P Global Inc. (prior to April 2016 McGraw Hill Financial, Inc., and prior to 2013 The McGraw–Hill Companies, Inc.) is an American publicly traded corporation headquartered in Manhattan, New York City. Its primary areas of business are financ ...

/ McGraw-Hill, 2010. In 1993 Hake sold the company to a group of investors from Philadelphia. The new owners quickly ran into issues maintaining product quality and the boats suffered from poor construction. After two years they sold the company back to Hake. By 2005 the company was focused on two designs, the

Seaward 26RK The Seaward 26RK is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Nick Hake as a cruiser and first built in 2005. The boat is also sometimes referred to as the Hake 26RK. Production The design was built by Hake Yachts in the United ...

and the

Seaward Eagle The Seaward Eagle, sometimes called the Seaward Eagle 32, is an American sailboat that was designed by Nick Hake as a cruiser and first built in 1996. Production The design was built by Hake Yachts in the United States, starting in 1996, b ...

. In 2016, under the name Hake Marine, the company bought

Island Packet Yachts Island Packet Yachts is an American builder of blue water cruising sailing and motor yachts, based out of Largo, Florida. The incorporated name for the company is Traditional Watercraft, Inc. Production facilities are located on five acres of gro ...

and Blue Jacket Yachts and began combining operations at the Island Packet facility in Largo, Florida. In 2016 the company was producing three designs, the

, the

Seaward 32RK The Seaward 32RK is an American sailboat that was designed by Nick Hake as a cruiser and first built in 2006. The design is also sometimes called the Hake 32RK. Production The design was built by Hake Yachts in the United States, starting in ...

and the

Seaward 46RK The Seaward 46RK is an American sailboat that was designed by Nick Hake as a cruiser and first built in 2012. Production The design was built by Hake Yachts in the United States, starting in 2012, but it is now out of production. Design The ...

. In January 2017 the company was bought by Darrell and Leslie Allen. Nick Hake went on to found a new company, NH Designs, which specializes in powerboat and sailboat brokerage, transport, repair and consultation. By 2022 the Seaward Yachts company website redirected to the Island Packet Yachts website and that company no longer offered any Seaward series boats for sale.

Boats

Summary of boats built by Hake Yachts: * Slipper 17 - 1981 * Seaward 23 - 1984 *

Seaward 24 The Seaward 24 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Nick Hake as a cruiser and first built in 1984.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 309. International Marine/McGraw-Hill, 2010. Produc ...

- 1984 *

- 1985 * Seaward Fox - 1993 *

- 1996 *

- 2005 *

- 2009 *

- 2012

References

External links

Official website archives
on archive.org {{Hake Yachts Hake Yachts

History

Boats

See also

References

External links