History
Uniflite (United Boat Builders) was started in Bellingham, WA, by Art "Papa" Nordtvedt in October 1957. The first Uniflite boat an all fiberglass 17' outboard. Uniflite soon added a 14', an 18' and a 20' outboard and inboard/outboard boats, followed by a 25' express cruiser followed by a 31' and a 34' boat. Uniflite was the only boat builder exclusively using fire-retardant resins in the production of pleasure boats. In January 1959, the plant and office moved into the old plywood plant in Fairhaven, Washington (in Bellingham). This became Uniflite's permanent home. In 1962, Uniflite became a public company trading on the New York Stock Exchange, thus becoming eligible for Navy contracts. In 1965, the Navy awarded Uniflite with a contract to build Patrol Boat, Rivers (PBRs). The PBRs were powered by twin Detroit 6V53's with water jets and they cruised between 25 and 31 knots. There were approximately 718 PBRs built, at least 418 of which were built by Uniflite. At the height of production two PBRs were rolling off the assembly line along with one 36' landing craft each day. In addition to the Navy contracts, in the 1960s and early 1970s Uniflite had numerous other military contract building 14' and 50' boats: patrol craft, landing craft, and personnel boats. Uniflite also built commercial fishing boats, and sailboats besides the more widely recognized pleasure boats. In 1977, Uniflite acquired boat molds from Pacemaker Boat Co. Pacemaker Boat company was founded in 1949 by Charles Platt (C.P.) Leek in New Jersey from his company C.P. Leek & Sons, Inc. who also later established Egg Harbor boat company. It was at this time that Uniflite started a second Uniflite plant inReferences