LEFT TOP—Adventurer Ray Macke in his Cabin Skiff. BELOW—The popular Drift Boat. MIDDLE–The best-selling Squirt design. BOTTOM—The Glen-L 14 sloop.
in high school, I’d fill in for the ladies in the office when they went on vacation. In 1987 I started working part-time while my son Ryan was in school and then a couple of years later, started in full time. My brother Barry had worked for dad since the late 60s and
in 1996, my dad started giving us each shares of stock in the company. He gradually let us handle more and more but he was still in charge. In 2008, my brother retired and we hired my husband John in 2007 to fill his shoes. Dad was still in charge, but had no hand in the actual running of the business for many years, particularly when the company became com- puterized in the late 90s. He didn’t actually walk away from the business until 2014, when he turned the reins over to me… when he was 96!
Which design or designs are your bestsellers? (Which sailboat, which powerboat, which rowboat?) Our number one best-selling design is our 10' Squirt outboard runabout. Our number one sailboat is the Sabotina, an 8-foot- pram, and the most popular rowboat would be the Driſtboat which is 12'–16' with several variations.
Which design is your personal favorite and why? Te Riviera, which is a 20-foot inboard mahogany runabout. I like the looks of it and this was the first mahogany boat my dad designed aſter I started working for Glen-L. Also, I really love the line drawing of our 15-foot outboard design called the Malahini. My dad’s drawings are really pretty, but this one really stands out and every time I see the profile drawing it just makes me happy.
We know you sell plans for things other than boats, too. What others are popular? I’d say our most popular non-boat designs are our Boat Trailer Plans, for sure. Also, our Recreational Vehicle plans are pretty popular, particularly the camper designs. Tey were designed in the 1970s, so they look dated, but with current materials can be built to look like a manufactured one.
We know you offer full-size patterns with most plans—do you find including patterns results in more boats actually being completed? I would say so. Te full-size patterns save a lot of time, which is usually the number one obstacle to building a boat.
Any anecdotes about especially adventurous voyages or ex- tended cruises on a Glen-L design? Trough the years we’ve heard of many wonderful adventures in Glen-L boats from our builders. One builder who stands out is Ray Macke who built our 16-foot Cabin Skiff, a stitch & glue design that he lengthened to 18 feet. Ray traveled over 27,000 miles in this boat, all through the Intracoastal Water- way. Tat was his dream. He’s since built a larger one of our designs so his wife could cruise with him in more comfort.
22 SMALL CRAFT ADVISOR
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