Com-Pac Yachts is an American brand of sailboats, made by the Hutchins Co., Inc., a boat builder based in

Clearwater, Florida Clearwater is a city located in Pinellas County, Florida, United States, northwest of Tampa and St. Petersburg. To the west of Clearwater lies the Gulf of Mexico and to the southeast lies Tampa Bay. As of the 2020 census, the city had a populat ...

. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats. Over time the brand and the company have become synonymous. The company was founded by W.L. "Les" Hutchins Sr. in 1957 and started building sailboats in 1970.

History

Les Hutchins had started as a farmer and trained

tool and die maker Tool and die makers are highly skilled crafters working in the manufacturing, manufacturing industries. Variations on the name include tool maker, toolmaker, die maker, diemaker, Moldmaker, mold maker, moldmaker or tool jig and die-maker depending ...

, but became an inventor, designing many automotive accessories and parts and even a folding

high chair A high chair is a piece of furniture used for feeding older babies and younger toddlers. The seat is raised a fair distance from the ground, so that a person of adult height may spoon-feed the child comfortably from a standing position (hence t ...

. He established his first company in St. Louis, Missouri, doing metal-stamping and fabrication work, making parts of the automotive industry under subcontract. Hutchins ended up owning a number of patents and registered trademarks. In an attempt to diversify his company's interests and also to move into a field he personally enjoyed, Hutchins decided to enter boat building in 1970. Focusing on the smaller end of the boat market, Hutchins's goal was "to build a small but highly efficient sailboat that would appeal to people who didn't want to invest too heavily in a boat, yet one they could easily trailer behind a compact car." His intended customer was retirees moving to Florida, who would want a small, inexpensive boat that could be kept at home in a garage on a

boat trailer A boat trailer is designed to launch, retrieve, carry and sometimes store boats. Commercial boat trailers Commercial hydraulic boat trailers are used by marinas, boat yards, boat haulers, boat dealers and boat builders. Generally this type ...

. The first design produced was the Clark Mills designed Com-Pac 16 in 1972, followed by another Clark Mills design, the

Com-Pac 23 The Com-Pac 23 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Clark Mills as a pocket cruiser and first built in 1978. The boat has undergone design changes over time resulting in a series of improved models.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sai ...

in 1978. The Com-Pac 16 was originally marketed as "The Com-Pac Yacht", but was later given its length designation to differentiate it from the rest of the product line. The boat building enterprise became Com-Pac Yachts. The Com-Pac 19 was designed by Bob Johnson of

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 ...

in 1979. The largest boat built by the company was the

Com-Pac 35 Com-Pac Yachts is an American brand of sailboats, made by the Hutchins Co., Inc., a boat builder based in Clearwater, Florida. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats. Over time the brand and the company ha ...

, a 1990 Charley Morgan design. In 1999 the company started making small catboats and discovered an untapped market. The newer designs incorporate

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

centerboard A centreboard or centerboard (US) is a retractable hull appendage which pivots out of a slot in the hull of a sailboat, known as a ''centreboard trunk'' (UK) or ''centerboard case'' (US). The retractability allows the centreboard to be raised t ...

s and use a unique mast, sail and

boom Boom may refer to: Objects * Boom (containment), a temporary floating barrier used to contain an oil spill * Boom (navigational barrier), an obstacle used to control or block marine navigation * Boom (sailing), a sailboat part * Boom (windsurfi ...

folding system that allows quick transition from the road transport trailer to the water and back again. The company has its fiberglass hulls and its spars both built by subcontractors. When Les Hutchins retired, his sons, Gerry and Richard Hutchins took over the company. The company remains a small-scale producer, building only a few hundred boats a year. By 2021 the company was producing 12 designs. There were 11 sailboats: the

Com-Pac Picnic Cat Com-Pac Yachts is an American brand of sailboats, made by the Hutchins Co., Inc., a boat builder based in Clearwater, Florida. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats. Over time the brand and the company ha ...

Com-Pac Sun Cat The Com-Pac Sun Cat, also called the Com-Pac Sun Cat 17, is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Clark Mills as a pocket cruiser and first built in 2000.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page X ...

, Com-Pac Sunday Cat,

Sun Cat Daysailer The Sun is the star at the center of the Solar System. It is a nearly perfect ball of hot plasma, heated to incandescence by nuclear fusion reactions in its core. The Sun radiates this energy mainly as light, ultraviolet, and infrared ...

, Com-Pac Horizon Cat, Com-Pac Horizon Day Cat, Com-Pac Legacy, Com-Pac Legacy Sport,

Com-Pac Eclipse The Com-Pac Eclipse is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by the Hutchins Design Team as a pocket cruiser and first built in 2004.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 28. International Marin ...

CP 23 Pilothouse The Com-Pac 23 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Clark Mills as a pocket cruiser and first built in 1978. The boat has undergone design changes over time resulting in a series of improved models.Henkel, Steve: ''The S ...

, Com-Pac 23/IV and the Com-Pac 27/3. They also produced one powerboat, the

Com-Pac Launch Com-Pac Yachts is an American brand of sailboats, made by the Hutchins Co., Inc., a boat builder based in Clearwater, Florida. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats. Over time the brand and the compa ...

. In a company profile for ''Small Craft Advisor'' magazine, writer Dennis Boese described the company, "Com-Pac Yachts has endured and prospered through lean and boom times of the sailboat-building industry. The Hutchins Company's unique ability to meld classic design and high quality with new and innovative technology virtually assures its continued success."

Boats

Summary of boats built by Com-Pac Yachts: * Com-Pac 16 - 1972 *

Com-Pac 16 Mark 2 The Com-Pac 16 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Clark Mills as a small cruiser and first built in 1972.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 80-81. Houghton Miffl ...

- 1975 *

- 1978 *

Com-Pac 23 Mark 2 The Com-Pac 23 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Clark Mills as a pocket cruiser and first built in 1978. The boat has undergone design changes over time resulting in a series of improved models.Henkel, Steve: ''The S ...

- 1979 * Com-Pac 19 - 1979 *

Com-Pac 19 Mark 2 The Com-Pac 19 is an American trailerable sailboat, that was designed by Robert K. Johnson and first built in 1979.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 138-139. Houghton Mifflin Company, ...

- 1979 *

Com-Pac 25 The Com-Pac 25 is an American Trailer sailer, trailerable sailboat that was designed as a cruiser.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 336. International Marine/McGraw-Hill, 2010. The Com-Pac 25 is a developm ...

- 1979 *

Com-Pac 23 Mark 3 The Com-Pac 23 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Clark Mills as a pocket cruiser and first built in 1978. The boat has undergone design changes over time resulting in a series of improved models.Henkel, Steve: ''The S ...

- 1984 * Com-Pac 27/2 - 1988 *

- 1990 * C-Cat 3014 - 1992 *

- 1998 * Com-Pac 33 - 1999 *

- 2000 *

Com-Pac Horizon Cat 20 The Com-Pac Horizon Cat, also called the Horizon Cat 20, is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Halsey Herreshoff as cruiser and first built in 2002.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 29. I ...

- 2002 *

Com-Pac Horizon Day Cat 20 Com-Pac Yachts is an American brand of sailboats, made by the Hutchins Co., Inc., a boat builder based in Clearwater, Florida. The company specializes in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats. Over time the brand and the company ha ...

- 2003 *

- 2004 * Com-Pac Legacy - 2006 * Com-Pac Sunday Cat - 2008 *

Com-Pac 23 Pilothouse The Com-Pac 23 is an American trailerable sailboat that was designed by Clark Mills as a pocket cruiser and first built in 1978. The boat has undergone design changes over time resulting in a series of improved models.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sa ...

- 2011

References

External links

* {{Com-Pac Yachts Com-Pac Yachts

History

Boats

See also

References

External links