February 2016 MAINE COASTAL NEWS Page 9. Waterfront News The Hinckley Company Announces Acquisition of Morris Yachts


TRENTON – Rumours had been swirling along the Maine coast and beyond since mid-summer that Morris Yachts of Trenton had a potential buyer. There were even ru- mours as to a tie with the Hinckley Company and just after the fi rst of the year, Hinckley announced that they had purchased Mor- ris Yachts. They said in the press release, “Hinckley acquired the assets of the sailboat builder on January fi rst and plans to continue Morris’ boatbuilding and service operations in Downeast Maine under the name of Mor- ris Yachts, LLC. Both companies build fi ne quality yachts within a quarter mile of each other in Trenton and with the new arrange- ment about 380 craftsmen, engineers and technicians will provide a deep pool of talent for the building of world-class yachts.” This announcement raised more ques- tions, but the press release was extremely brief and did not address future plans. The biggest question was how were they going to combine the two companies, but maybe


the questions had not yet been answered. The Hinckley Company was found in Manset on Mount Desert Island by Henry R. Hinckley in 1928. It began as a storage yard, but soon would begin building boats on a limited basis. During World War II they built a number of small boats for the war effort and after the war they began to make a name in building fi nely-fi nished sail yachts. In 1960 they ushered in their fi rst fi berglass model with the William Tripp designed Bermuda 40, which they produced for more than three decades. Quickly their reputation grew as they added more high-end sailboat models. In the 1970s, Henry sold out to a Canadian fi rm, but in the following decade, his son Robert and Shep McKenney would buy the company back. They operated the company for more than two decades produc- ing a number of noteworthy sailboat models, while doing a power boat from time to time. The reputation of the company continued to grow and then one of the owners decided


A C A D E M Y N E W S


Training Ship State of Maine Departs Sat- urday, January 2, 2016 for St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands


CASTINE – Maine Maritime Academy stu- dents, offi cers, and crew departed Castine on Saturday, January 2, 2016 at approximately 10:30 a.m. on the Training ship STATE OF MAINE (TSSOM) for a two-week training evolution to St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands. The ship will carry 210 students and crew and is due to arrive on January 8. Under the direction of Captain Leslie B. Eadie III, master of the Training Ship STATE OF MAINE, the educational voyage will commence in Castine on Wednesday, De- cember 30, 2015 for pre-sailing preparation. Captain Eadie, of Brewer, a 1976 graduate of the Academy, assumed command of the vessel in 2011. Well-wishers were welcomed and en- couraged to view the vessel departure and return from the Maine Maritime Academy waterfront or via webstream at www.maine- maritime.edu/streaming. Friends, family, and fans were invited to follow the ship’s journey through the cruise blog at cruise. mainemaritime.edu and the cruise Facebook page (www.facebook.com/mainemaritime- cruise). The training ship departed St. Croix on January 11 and returned to Castine on January 17. Training activities will continue in port through Tuesday, January 19, 2016. In response to an increase in sea time and instruction required by STCW (Stan- dards for Training, Certifi cation and Watch- keeping) as of the admission of the Class of 2017, the summer cruise was lengthened to 90 days. During transition to the new 90- day / 45 + 45 model, the winter cruise was planned to include 2/C students (juniors) for a 15-day training cruise in January 2015


and January 2016 in order to make sure those students could satisfy their sea-time requirements.


Students pursuing an offi cer’s license from the U.S. Coast Guard as a third mate or third assistant engineer are now required to train at sea for at least 300 days during their fi rst three years at the Academy. Freshmen and juniors sail aboard the MMA vessel while sophomores are assigned to merchant ships worldwide. In past years, MMA train- ing cruises have taken students to Aruba, Bermuda, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Esto- nia, France, Germany, Iceland, Italy, Malta, Poland, Puerto Rico and Russia, as well as other European and Caribbean countries. The 500-foot, 16,000-ton Training Ship


STATE OF MAINE, originally commis- sioned as the USNS TANNER, served as a Navy oceanographic research vessel before being converte d in 1997 to accommodate the training needs of the college. The fourth vessel to bear the name State of Maine, the ship is a modern, technologically advanced training vessel.


Maine Maritime Academy is a co-ed- ucational, public college on the coast of Maine offering 18 degree programs in en- gineering, management, science, and trans- portation. The college serves approximately 950 undergraduate and graduate students in career-oriented programs of study. Maine Maritime Academy was ranked the #1 Best Public College on Money magazine’s Best Colleges lists released in 2014 and 2015. The college’s persistence, retention and gradua- tion rates are well above national averages, and the job placement rate is in excess of 90 percent within 90 days of graduation. For more information, visit mainemaritime.edu.


to create a very different powerboat model, the 36 Picnic Boat. With this, sales went through the roof. With the success of the powerboat models they released, sailboat sales declined. Bob and Shep sold out to Bain Willard Companies, who would sell the company again to Monitor Clipper Partners four years later. During this time The Hinck- ley Company acquired other boatbuilders and yards up and down the East Coast. Then in 2010 they were again sold this time to their present owner, Scout Partners of New York, New York, whose chief executive offi cer is David Y. Howe. They are a subsidiary of Peterson Partners LP. This is an investment fi rm that focuses on technology, media and outsourced business processes and usually stays invested for fi ve to ten years. Since purchasing The Hinckley Company, Scout Partners next purchased Hunt Yachts in 2013. Hunt continued building boats in Rhode Island and Taiwan and The Hinckley Company in Maine. Hunt looked to add new models and they would retain their exclusive relationship with C. Raymond Hunt Associ- ates.


Presently the Hinckley Company offers in their power boat lines the T29C, T29R, T34, T34R, Picnic boat MKIII, T38R con- vertible, T43, T48 MY, T48 FB, T55 MKII MY and T55 MKII FB. Their sailboat lines consists of the DS42, Sou’wester 42, Ber- muda 50, Sou’wester 51, Sou’wester 52, Sou’wester 59 and Sou’wester 70. Morris Yachts was founded by Tom Morris of Philadelphia, PA in 1972. The Morris' had spent their summers on Mount


Desert Island since the late 1800s and Tom developed over the years a strong love for sailing. He turned his passion into a business as he began fi nishing off fi berglass Friend- ship sloop hulls. He would then turn to yacht designer Chuck Paine of Camden for a number of small cruising yachts and opened a shop on the Clark Point Road in Southwest Harbor. The quality and size of his models grew over the years until they were one of the most prestigious sailboat builders in the world. In 1999 Morris purchased the Bass Harbor, Marine facility in Bass Harbor and the following year they took over the Able Marine facility in Trenton. At this point they had the option to produce a powerboat line, which had been offered by Able, but they decided not to. Five years later they opened a service yard in Northeast Harbor. Unfor- tunately in 2008 Tom passed away after a long battle with cancer. At the same time the economy took a turn for the worst and new boat sales began to slump. Presently they offer in their Modern Classic line (M-Series) designed by Sparkman & Stephens: M29, M29X, M36, M36X, M42, M42X, M46, and M52. They also added a line called the Ocean Series, which were performance cruisers. These models are the 45 RS, 48 GT, and 52 RS.


Over the next couple of months how this acquisition by The Hinckley Company of Morris Yachts, will be instituted. Morris Yachts can regain their status in the sailboat world and it will be interesting to see just how Scout Partners does this.


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A peapod being repaired at Eric Dow's Boat Shop in Brooklin.


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