| Marlow-Hunter LLC | |
| Type: | Limited liability company |
| Foundation: | 1973 |
| Founder: | Warren Luhrs |
| Hq Location City: | Alachua, Florida |
| Hq Location Country: | United States |
| Key People: | President: David E. Marlow (since August 2012) |
| Industry: | Boat building |
| Products: | Sailboats |
Hunter Marine was an American boat builder, now known as Marlow-Hunter, LLC, owned by David E. Marlow. The company did produce the Mainship powerboat brand. Marlow also owns and manufactures the Marlow Yachts brand consisting of long range power cruisers in the 37 to 110 foot range. The company is based in Alachua, Florida.
The first boat design was a 25-foot (7.6 meter) long sloop, and another noted design was the Ocean racing sailboat the HC 50.[1]
In the 1800s Henry Luhrs, a German immigrant, outfitted trading ships and owned a chandlery. His grandson, Henry, continued the family heritage on the New Jersey coast, building and repairing recreational and fishing boats. By the early 1960s Henry and his sons, John and Warren, were building over a thousand powerboats a year. Hunter was started in 1973 in Alachua, Florida, as a sailboat manufacturer. The early Hunter boats were designed by John E. Cherubini.[2]
In 1988 the company ran into trouble, as the founder, Luhrs, engaged in protected ocean racing and left the company in the hands of management. The result was production of low-quality boats backed by a short warranty and poor customer service, leading to trouble with dealers and unhappy owners. Luhrs was forced to suspend his racing career and return to directly run the company, carrying out a restructuring, creating new work teams, extending the warranty from one year to five years and hiring Canadian designer Rob Mazza in 1991 to take over design and coordinate the production process. Mazza designed the Hunter 29.5 and its larger follow-up, the 336.[3]
Hunter then utilized the design service of Glenn Henderson and its in-house team until 2010. Hunter is responsible for several market innovations, including their trademark stainless steel cockpit arch and their use of the B&R rig. Hunter also began the construction of sailboats whose hulls make use of bow hollow and stern reflex, marine architecture design elements that maximize thrust under sail.
In 2012 Hunter Marine entered Chapter 11 bankruptcy.[4] The company was sold in August 2012 to David E. Marlow, owner of Marlow Yachts and the name changed to Marlow-Hunter, LLC.[2]
Examples of models made by Marlow-Hunter in the 2010s include the Marlow-Hunter 31, 33, 37 and 40 models.[5] The new 31-foot was developed under Marlow-Hunter under guidance from longtime Hunter marine consultant and naval architect Glenn Henderson. The 31 has increased interior space compared to older models, and is actually wider (increased beam) than the 33 foot long boat in the range.
Hunter boats and year first produced:[2] [6]