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Hatteras Yachts was founded in High Point, North Carolina by Willis Slane in 1959. The company currently operates as part of the Brunswick Boat Group, a division of the Brunswick Corporation. ^[1]

The firm is notable because, breaking with tradition, Slane chose to build his boats out of the then revolutionary material of fiberglass. Hatteras now specialises in sportfishing convertibles and motoryachts up to 100 feet (30 metres) in length.

Hatteras was one of the original users of fiberglass to build boat hulls in the 1960s due to the need of the founders to have a fishing boat capable of withstanding the frequently severe waves created around Cape Hatteras, near New Bern, NC. Their first boats were excellent and they decided to create a company to build and sell these solid fiberglass hull boats. As their product line expanded in size and complexity, they continued to use only solid fiberglass for the underwater portion of the hull, not jumping on the bandwagon of cored sandwich fiberglass, used by many boat manufacturers today. Due to this, Hatteras hulls have not de-laminated causing dangerous conditions or expensive repairs for their owners. As a result, Hatteras continues to be a much heavier boat than many boats currently on the market, though the original construction technique is proven to provide better quality and waterproofing. Many of Hatteras' boats produced for the first 25 years of the company's existence were designed by the famous American marine architect, Jack Hargrave. Many traditionalists consider the Hargrave-designed Hatteras boats to be American Classics.

[edit] References

1. ^ http://www.brunswick.com/brands/marine-boats/print.php