Hinterhoeller Yachts was a Canadian

boat builder This is a list of boat builders, for which there is a Wikipedia article. Motorboats (<50 feet)

based in St. Catharines, Ontario. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of

fiberglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass ( Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

sailboat A sailboat or sailing boat is a boat propelled partly or entirely by sails and is smaller than a sailing ship. Distinctions in what constitutes a sailing boat and ship vary by region and maritime culture. Types Although sailboat terminolo ...

s. The company was originally founded by

George Hinterhoeller George Anton Hinterhoeller (1928–1999) was a Canadian boat designer and builder, a significant contributor to the Canadian sailboat industry for almost forty years. Early life Hinterhoeller was born in Mondsee, Austria on March 16, 1928. He fi ...

as Hinterhoeller Limited in Niagara-on-the-Lake, when he started boatbuilding in 1956. It was absorbed into

C&C Yachts C&C Yachts was a builder of high-performance fiberglass monohull sailboats with production facilities in Canada, Germany, and the United States. C&C designed and constructed a full range of production line cruiser-racer boats, as well as custom ...

when he helped found that company in 1969. He sold his C&C shares in 1975 and restarted his own company in 1977. The company was wound-up in 1995 and Hinterhoeller died in 1999.

History

The first design produced was the Y Flyer, which Hinterhoeller built in his spare time while building power boats at Shepherd Boats in Niagara-on-the-Lake. He finished 40 Y flyers starting in 1956. The next was Hinterhoeller's original design, the

Shark 24 The Shark 24 is a Canada, Canadian-designed 24 Foot (length), ft sailing yacht which has earned itself a reputation of extraordinary reliability and longevity among sailors both in North America and Central Europe. Having been designed by George ...

. It was first built in 1959 of wood and later in

fibreglass Fiberglass (American English) or fibreglass (Commonwealth English) is a common type of fiber-reinforced plastic using glass fiber. The fibers may be randomly arranged, flattened into a sheet called a chopped strand mat, or woven into glass clo ...

and attained racing success. The company went on to build designs such as the Redwing 30,

Invader 36 The Invader 36 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by C&C Design specifically for Hinterhoeller Yachts and first built in 1965. The Invader 36 design was developed into the Frigate 36 in 1968, by shortening the long keel into a stub lon ...

, Douglas 31/32 and the

Frigate 36 The Frigate 36 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by C&C Design and first built in 1968. It is named in honour of the Frigate warship class. The Frigate 36 is a development of the 1966 C&C-designed Invader 36, with a stub long keel and ...

during the late 1960s. The company was absorbed into

when that company was formed in 1967, with Hinterhoeller as a founding partner. By 1975 Hinterhoeller had grown tired of working in a large corporate environment, sold his shares and retired. Two years later, in 1977, he reformed his old company in a purpose-built facility in St Catharines, Ontario, on

Lake Ontario Lake Ontario is one of the five Great Lakes of North America. It is bounded on the north, west, and southwest by the Canadian province of Ontario, and on the south and east by the U.S. state of New York. The Canada–United States border ...

. The reformed company engaged yacht designers Mark Ellis for cruising boats like the

Niagara 35 The Niagara 35 is a Canadian sailboat that was designed by Mark Ellis as a cruiser and first built in 1978.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 272-273. Houghton Mifflin Company, 1994. ...

and the Nonsuch line and

Germán Frers Germán Frers, Sr. (born July 4, 1941, in Argentina) is a naval architect renowned for designing successful racing yachts. He designed his first yacht in 1958. There is a design team consisting of Germán Frers and his son Germán Frers, Jr., su ...

for racing boats like the Niagara 31. The Nonsuch boats achieved notable commercial success, with 975 built. They are noted for their distinctive hull shapes, large interiors and unstayed

catboat A catboat (alternate spelling: cat boat) is a sailboat with a single sail on a single mast set well forward in the bow of a very beamy and (usually) shallow draft hull. Typically they are gaff rigged, though Bermuda rig is also used. Most are fi ...

rigs. Richard Hinterhoeller, who was George's son and a partner in the reformed Hinterhoeller Yachts explained the company's operating concept. "The business plan was to operate a shop with two production lines. The two models were to be a 30' club racer/cruiser and a 35' bluewater cruising boat. Both were to be sensible, timeless models. George had been impressed by the Aurora 40 from Mark Ellis and contracted him to design the Niagara 35. For the smaller boat, George sat on his C&C 30 and made a list of the 10 items which would take an already great boat and make it better. In his typical down-to-earth fashion, George added up the necessary lengths of berths, head, cockpit and galley, and ended up with a target length of 31 feet." In 1986 much of the production was moved to the Halman Manufacturing Company in Beamsville, Ontario. In 1989 the company entered

receivership In law, receivership is a situation in which an institution or enterprise is held by a receiver—a person "placed in the custodial responsibility for the property of others, including tangible and intangible assets and rights"—especially in c ...

and was bought by Strategic Associates Inc. in 1990. In 1993 that company consolidated its production with C&C Yachts. Then, in 1994, a fire destroyed much of the C&C facilities and Hinterhoeller moved into what was left. Hinterhoeller Yachts closed down in November 1995. The Hinterhoeller trademarks expired in 1998 and George Hinterhoeller died from the complications from a stroke in the spring of 1999.

Boats

Summary of boats built by Hinterhoeller Yachts: * Y flyer 1956 *

1959 * Cygnus 20 1965 *

1965 * Douglas 31/32 1967 * Hinterhoeller 28 1967 * HR-28 (Hinterhoeller) 1967 * Niagara 30 1967 * Redwing 30 1967 *

1968 * Hinterhoeller 25 1969 * Hinterhoeller 30 1969 * HR-25 (Hinterhoeller) 1969 * Redwing 35 1969 * Niagara 26 1975 * Aurora 40 1976 * Niagara 31 1977 *

1978 *

Nonsuch 30 The Nonsuch 30 is a Canadian sailboat that was designed by Mark Ellis and first built in 1978. It was the first the series of Nonsuch sailboats and was scaled upwards and down, to form a complete line of boats, from the Nonsuch 22 to the N ...

1978 *

Hinterhoeller F3 The Hinterhoeller F3 (or F 3) is a Canadian sailboat that was designed by Argentine naval architect Germán Frers as a racer-cruiser and first built in 1981.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', ...

1981 *

Nonsuch 26 The Nonsuch 26 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by Mark Ellis and first built in 1981. It is one of the series of Nonsuch sailboats. The Nonsuch 26 is a development of the larger, 1978-designed Nonsuch 30. Production The Nonsuch 26 ...

1982 * GT-26 (Hinterhoeller) 1983 *

Nonsuch 36 The Nonsuch 36 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by Mark Ellis Design and first built in 1983. The Nonsuch 36 is a development of the Nonsuch 30, which was the first design in the series of Nonsuch sailboats. Production The design was ...

1983 * Niagara 35 Encore 1984 * Niagara 42 1984 *

Nonsuch 22 The Nonsuch 22 is a Canadian trailerable sailboat, the smallest of the series of Nonsuch sailboats. It was designed by Mark Ellis Design and first built in 1984.Henkel, Steve: ''The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats'', page 185. Inter ...

1984 *

Nonsuch 33 The Nonsuch 33 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by Mark Ellis Design and first built in 1988. The Nonsuch 33 is a development of the Nonsuch 30, which was the first design in the series of Nonsuch sailboats. Production The design wa ...

1988 *

Nonsuch 324 The Nonsuch 324 is a Canadian sailboat, that was designed by Mark Ellis Design and first built in 1994. It was the last of the series of Nonsuch sailboats built. The Nonsuch 324 is a development of the Nonsuch 30, with the same hull desig ...

1994

References

{{Hinterhoeller Yachts Hinterhoeller Yachts

History

Boats

See also

References