Marinette yachts were a line of aluminum-magnesium alloy yachts manufactured by Aluminum Cruisers Inc. from 1954 to 1991 in

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

. History In 1954 George Garcia, owner of Falls City Flying Service, introduced the ‘Marinette’ which was an aluminum houseboat initially built as a twin-hulled cruiser. Choosing to use an aluminum-magnesium alloy, whereas previous attempts at an aluminum watercraft had mainly involved small row boats made of a copper-aluminum alloy, the same metallic blend used on aircraft. According to George Garcia, “copper and aluminum together are disastrous in the marine industry and they gave aluminum a terrible name we had to overcome.” Marinettes were manufactured under the marine division of Falls City Flying Service, whose main business was fueling and servicing aircraft at Louisville’s Bowman Field and later at

Standiford Field Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport , formerly known as simply Louisville International Airport, is a civil-military airport in Louisville in Jefferson County, Kentucky. The airport covers and has three runways. Its IATA airport code ...

. Eventually the marine division was incorporated into Aluminum Cruisers Inc. In addition to the trademark Marinette, the company also assembled 50 to 60 foot custom boats with a catamaran hull. Even though George Garcia sold the company in 1984, Aluminum Cruisers Inc. continued production of the Marinette until 1991 when the company was finally liquidated. The manufacturing rights were later purchased by the individual John Althouse with the intention of restarting production. No new boats are currently being manufactured. The yachts varied in length from 26 to 44 feet,An Unofficial Website of Repair Tricks and Techniques for Marinette Owners
/ref> and included express, sport fisherman, sedan and dual cabin models on a semi- planing

hull Hull may refer to: Structures * Chassis, of an armored fighting vehicle * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a ship * Submarine hull Mathematics * Affine hull, in affi ...

. The series was made of

welded Welding is a fabrication process that joins materials, usually metals or thermoplastics, by using high heat to melt the parts together and allowing them to cool, causing fusion. Welding is distinct from lower temperature techniques such as braz ...

aluminum Aluminium (aluminum in American and Canadian English) is a chemical element with the symbol Al and atomic number 13. Aluminium has a density lower than those of other common metals, at approximately one third that of steel. It has ...

. Most Marinettes today are used on inland rivers and lakes, although some are found in saltwater locations. They are, due to their light weight, relatively shallow

chine A chine () is a steep-sided coastal gorge where a river flows to the sea through, typically, soft eroding cliffs of sandstone or clays. The word is still in use in central Southern England—notably in East Devon, Dorset, Hampshire and the Isl ...

angle, flat

transom Transom may refer to: * Transom (architecture), a bar of wood or stone across the top of a door or window, or the window above such a bar * Transom (nautical), that part of the stern of a vessel where the two sides of its hull meet * Operation Tran ...

and broad beam, relatively fast and economical for boats of their size.

References

External links

Marinette, Inc.Marinette forum
on Delphi
Great Lakes Marinette ClubNational Marinette AssociationFast Jeff
*

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on maintenance of aluminum-hulled boats Boats Companies based in Louisville, Kentucky {{ship-type-stub