George Hinterhoeller
Encyclopedia
George Anton Hinterhoeller was a boat designer and builder. Hinterhoeller was born in Mondsee, Austria
on March 16, 1928. He develop his trade as a master boat builder before eventually emigrating to Canada
in 1952, where he was employed building powerboats at Shepherd Boats in Niagara-on-the-Lake
, Ontario. Hinterhoeller designed sailboats in his spare time.
In 1959, Hinterhoeller built a 22-foot plywood sloop
called TEETER-TOTTER, which he hoped would "go like hell when the wind blew". It did exactly that, and there was demand from others to buy copies of the racer. He increased the design by two feet and called the new boat the Shark 24. Though the first few were plywood, an early customer insisted his be built with fiberglass
and the design was changed to the cheaper material, helping to spur the growth of sailboats for "the masses".
In 1969, Hinterhoeller merged his operation with three other companies: Belleville Marine Yard, Bruckmann Manufacturing, and the design partnership of George Cuthbertson and George Cassian, to form C&C Yachts. Hinterhoeller was in charge of "production shop" and Bruckmann the "custom shop". The new company took over manufacturing of the Shark 24 along with numerous other new designs including the very popular C&C 27. Hinterhoeller left C&C in 1976, and refounded Hinterhoeller Yachts which created, among other designs, popular series of catboat
called the Nonsuch, of which there are nearly 1000 in existence.
George Hinterhoeller died of a heart attack in Niagara-on-the-Lake
on March 18, 1999. His legacy lives on primarily in many, many thousands of sailboats. The largest number of any one design is the Shark, of which there are more than 2500 vessels primarily in the Great Lakes
region and in Europe.
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
on March 16, 1928. He develop his trade as a master boat builder before eventually emigrating to Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
in 1952, where he was employed building powerboats at Shepherd Boats in Niagara-on-the-Lake
Niagara-on-the-Lake
Niagara-on-the-Lake is a Canadian town located in Southern Ontario where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region of the southern part of the province of Ontario. It is located across the Niagara river from Youngstown, New York, USA...
, Ontario. Hinterhoeller designed sailboats in his spare time.
In 1959, Hinterhoeller built a 22-foot plywood sloop
Sloop
A sloop is a sail boat with a fore-and-aft rig and a single mast farther forward than the mast of a cutter....
called TEETER-TOTTER, which he hoped would "go like hell when the wind blew". It did exactly that, and there was demand from others to buy copies of the racer. He increased the design by two feet and called the new boat the Shark 24. Though the first few were plywood, an early customer insisted his be built with fiberglass
Fiberglass
Glass fiber is a material consisting of numerous extremely fine fibers of glass.Glassmakers throughout history have experimented with glass fibers, but mass manufacture of glass fiber was only made possible with the invention of finer machine tooling...
and the design was changed to the cheaper material, helping to spur the growth of sailboats for "the masses".
In 1969, Hinterhoeller merged his operation with three other companies: Belleville Marine Yard, Bruckmann Manufacturing, and the design partnership of George Cuthbertson and George Cassian, to form C&C Yachts. Hinterhoeller was in charge of "production shop" and Bruckmann the "custom shop". The new company took over manufacturing of the Shark 24 along with numerous other new designs including the very popular C&C 27. Hinterhoeller left C&C in 1976, and refounded Hinterhoeller Yachts which created, among other designs, popular series of catboat
Catboat
A catboat , or a cat-rigged sailboat, is a sailing vessel characterized by a single mast carried well forward ....
called the Nonsuch, of which there are nearly 1000 in existence.
George Hinterhoeller died of a heart attack in Niagara-on-the-Lake
Niagara-on-the-Lake
Niagara-on-the-Lake is a Canadian town located in Southern Ontario where the Niagara River meets Lake Ontario in the Niagara Region of the southern part of the province of Ontario. It is located across the Niagara river from Youngstown, New York, USA...
on March 18, 1999. His legacy lives on primarily in many, many thousands of sailboats. The largest number of any one design is the Shark, of which there are more than 2500 vessels primarily in the Great Lakes
Great Lakes
The Great Lakes are a collection of freshwater lakes located in northeastern North America, on the Canada – United States border. Consisting of Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario, they form the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth by total surface, coming in second by volume...
region and in Europe.