Hacker-Craft

Hacker Boat Co.
Company type	Private Limited Company
Industry	Boatbuilder
Founded	12 August, 1908
Founder	John L. Hacker
Headquarters	Silver Bay, Lake George, NY, United States of America
Area served	Worldwide through The International Hacker Boat Co.
Products	Motor Boats, Runabouts, Tenders, Racers
Website	hackerboat.com

Hacker-Craft is the name given to boats built by The Hacker Boat Co., the oldest builder of wooden motorboats in the world today. It is an American company, founded in Watervliet, New York on 12 August 1908 by John Ludwig Hacker (known as John L. Hacker or just "John L."). It continues to produce hand-built boats in Silver Bay, on the shores of Lake George (New York), the scene of many of John Hacker's water speed records and racing triumphs.

John L. Hacker (1877-1961) is considered to have been one of the world's pre-eminent naval architects and the greatest American motorboat designer of the 20th century. His major design and engineering accomplishments include the invention of the 'v-hull' design and the floating bi-plane (for the Wright brothers).

John L. Hacker, The Early Years

John L. Hacker was born on May 24, 1877. For four years, while working at his fathers business as a book-keeper, he attended night school and took a correspondence course in order to become an accredited marine designer. Once qualified (at the age of 22) he set about solving a number of problems which inhibited speed and performance in motor boats of the time. Pleasure boats of the 1900 era were all narrow, round bottomed launches which ploughed through the water instead of planning over it as boats do nowadays. Hacker’s first major task in boat design was to try and solve the problem of “squatting,” which occurred with all the canoe-stern shaped powerboats of the 1900’s. His theory was that if his boats were going to go fast, they would have to “plane” rather than plough through the water, but the tendency to plane was considered a highly dangerous mode which was to be avoided at all costs. Nonetheless, he built a test craft to prove his new theories - a 30’ runabout - which incorporated a significant number of innovations: the boat had its prop mounted under the transom as well as its rudder and a strut was used to position the shaft into place. The boat also featured Hacker’s revolutionary ‘V’-hull design which produced stunning speed and efficiency at low horsepower. In 1904, he designed ‘Au Revoir’, the fastest boat in the world at the time and on August 12th 1908, building on this success, he founded the Hacker Boat Company in Watervliet, New York. Coincidentally, this was the same day on which the first ever 'Model T' Ford automobile was produced by his great friend, Henry Ford.

His designs led to many advances which today’s boat owners take for granted, but John Hackers’ unique combination of design flair and engineering brilliance led him to create the shape and style which was to become the signature look of American speedboats.The list of his successes would easily make a who's who list of the greatest wooden boats ever built: Pardon Me, the Minute Man, Thunderbird, El Largarto, Bootlegger, Peerless, Dolphin, Kitty Hawk, Tempo VI, the Belle Isle Bear Cats, My Sweetie.

The Birth of Speed

In 1911, Hacker designed and installed two floats to the Wright Brothers’ biplane so that it could take off and land on water. This was the first ever use of twin floats on an aircraft. In the same year he designed the ‘Kitty Hawk’, the first successful step hydroplane which exceeded the then-unthinkable speed of 50mph and was at that time the fastest boat in the world. There followed a succession of Kitty Hawks, each building on the success of her predecessor and in the process breaking four sea-speed records.

In 1914, Hacker moved to Detroit and the Hacker Boat Company opened for business at 323 Crane Avenue. His runabout designs for Gregory's Belle Isle Boat & Engine Company were soon to bring great success to the firm. The boats, called ‘Belle Isle Bear Cats’ proved popular with prominent owners like J.W. Packard and Henry Ford. The company was thriving and in 1921, John L. Hacker decided it was time to open a satellite facility in Mount Clemens, Michigan. Two years later, he moved the entire boatbuilding operation from Detroit to Mount Clemens.

The Newly Founded Hacker Boat Company Flourishes

The boat works on the Clinton River in Mount Clemens continued to expand and by 1928 the provided 35,000 sq ft of floor space for the handcrafting of fine mahogany runabouts. That year the influential ‘Pageant of Progress’ reported that the Hacker Boat Company employed sixty-eight men with demand growing rapidly - the innovative and ingenious Hacker designs were developing an increasingly large following. Sales for that year were $450,000 (the equivalent today of $30m). His gleaming mahogany runabouts captured the public imagination with their elegant design and record-breaking speed and in the process quickly became the must-have play thing for the rich and famous - a reputation which they continue to enjoy. Past and present owners include Guy Lombardo, President Calvin Coolidge, Canadian Prime Minister Mackenzie King, movie mogul Louis B Mayer, HRH King George II of Greece, Aristotle Onassis, Guccio Gucci, Tommy Hilfiger, Donald Sutherland and Jon Bon Jovi.

In 1930, HRH the King of Siam ordered a custom-built 40' Landau top runabout powered with an 800-horse Packard engine. Errol Flynn bought a Hacker, as did his movie-star friend Humphrey Bogart. Captains of industry, studio bosses, stars and politicians quickly followed. Business was booming. Only four authorized dealers offered Hacker boats to the public during this period. The company did most of its business through factory-direct orders from the customer, and excelled in custom-built craft. A Hacker Craft in the 1920s and 30’s, especially the bigger models, could always be spotted by their long front decks, three-piece sectionalized windshield and shiny chrome.

1930-1960

File:Hacker postage stamp 2007.png

The US Postal Service's 2007 commemorative stamp featuring the Hacker-Craft Thunderbird, dubbed 'the most beautiful boat in the world'.

The Great Depression had a devastating effect on the pleasure-boat market, but in 1935 John Hacker wisely took on a business partner, John Mcready, who quickly assumed day-to-day control of the company. Meanwhile, John L. Hacker focused on designing boats in what was to become his golden period: he was responsible for a remarkable number of racing winners including El Lagarto (which won the Gold Cup in 1933, 1934 and 1935), Scottie, Scottie II, My Sweetie, Miss Pepsi – all record breakers. In all John Hacker was responsible for over 20 water-speed records, 5 Gold Cup winners^[1] and 4 President’s Race winners.

Meanwhile, back in Mount Clemens, Hacker Boat Company rebounded from the Depression with popular ‘utility’ HackerCraft runabouts priced for the ordinary consumer. In 1935, the 17-foot utility could be had for $975.00. In 1939 Hacker was commissioned by legendary property tycoon George Whitell to build what was to be one of his masterpieces and is now a national historic treasure, a 55ft commuter called Thunderbird. Considered to be one of the most beautiful wooden vessels of the 20th century, Thunderbird was commemorated in 2007 by the US Postal Service on a postage stamp^[2]. Business was strong, and in 1952, Hacker Boat was awarded a government contract for the construction of 25 ocean-going picket boats for the U.S. Navy and 112 40ft+ crash boats, 20ft sedan utility and target boats^[3]. John Hacker’s designs included patrol boats, air sea rescue boats and cruisers.

Hacker Boat Company Revitalized

In 1959 Morgan Marine, a large boat-builder from Silver Bay, acquired a controlling interest in Hacker Craft with the aim of revitalizing the company's historic legacy. Having completed around 60 Hackers which were already on the order books, they decided to increase production considerably. Morgan Marine made significant structural and engineering modifications and the use of new technologies, unavailable to John Hacker, allowed for improvements of the boats in a few subtle but important ways. First, engines were bigger. Where John Hacker had used 110hp engines, Morgan Marine was able to power these hulls with 350hp or 454hp Crusader engines which could eclipse more than 50 miles per hour. To accommodate these improved engines, Morgan Marine had to make the supports stronger than those used in the original designs. Morgan's biggest accomplishment, however, was improving the handling of the Hacker Crafts. If the old Hackers were run at top speeds, the bow could come out of the water and block the driver's view. By reworking the bottom design, Morgan insured that the nose would remain level in the water. At this time many of the original jigs had been lost. So, where necessary, they made new sand castings for the chrome and hardware but the craftsmanship was unaltered and they were building the boats exactly as they had been since the 1920s, albeit with significant improvements. In all, Morgan made several significant concessions to improved technology: dual exhausts, rather than the original single exhausts, for enhanced engine performance; the use of stainless steel fittings and hardware throughout so that pitting was no longer a problem; state-of-the-art epoxy encapsulating and bonding techniques; triple planked bottoms completely encased in epoxy; double planked sides and deck also totally saturated in epoxy; 25% more frames; double the number of floor timbers; up to 15 coats varnish; the use of renewable-resourced Honduras mahogany; new improved steering for more manoeuvrability; and laminated windshields with either blue or green tints. By the time the great John L. Hacker died in 1961 he knew his boats were flourishing.

Hacker Boat regains independence

In the 1990s the Hacker Boat Company regained its independence from Morgan Marine when it was acquired by CEO Lynn Wagemann. Hacker's existing master boatbuilders were kept on and the company has continued to build wooden motor boats in Silver Bay, on the shores of Lake George NY - the scene of so many of John Hacker's racing triumphs. In 2008 the company expanded its facilities considerably in order to increase capacity and their standard models now range from John Hacker's classic runabouts through to their most recent boat, the Sterling which was launched in April 2010. Hacker also regularly builds custom boats to order and all their boats can now house either fuel injected, diesel or hybrid engines.

In October 2009 the International Hacker Boat Co. was formed in Europe with the purpose of distributing Hacker-Craft throughout Europe, the Middle East and the Far East.

Hacker Craft at the movies

Hacker Craft have featured in Hollywood movies in every decade since the 1930s. According to MoviePlacement.com, Hackers have been used by the main characters in films such as The Palm Beach Story (1942), A Place in the Sun (1951), The Godfather II (1974), On Golden Pond (1981)^[4], Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade^[5] (1989) and many others.

Models

The classic 3-cockpit Hacker-Craft Runabout, 2010
2010 Extended Triple-cockpit Runabout at sea

References

Notes

External links

Template:Companies portal

hackerboat.com - official site
The Mariners' Museum, John L. Hacker Collection The largest single archive of material relating to John Hacker and Hacker Craft
Hacker Boat Co. to expand production facilities — Boating Industry, 12 May 2008

[1] Gold Cup winners

[2] ttp://www.usps.com/communications/newsroom/2007stamps/downloads/newrates/USPS07STA020E.jpg

[3] ttp://www.acbs-bslol.com/Porthole/Warshipslist.htm

[4] ttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/On_Golden_Pond_(1981_film)#Production_notes

[5] ttp://ca.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20091202203117AAOsnVu

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