Hunter Marine 2004, Owner'S Manual

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HUNTER MARINE
’
S OWNER AND FOUNDER
WARREN R. LUHRS
BRIEF BACKGROUND
PAGE 3
Warren Luhrs was born in East Orange,
New Jersey in 1944 into a family with an
established tradition in the maritime and
transportation industries. His great-
grandfather, Henry, was a railroad and
clipper-shipping pioneer in America,
while his great-uncle John helped build
the famous St. Petersburg to Moscow
railroad for Czar Alexander II.
Henry Luhrs owned shares in twenty-
two different ocean-going vessels
–
barks, brigs, and schooners - and was
the principal owner of the bark
Sophia
R. Luhrs , named for his wife. He was
also a partner with Albert Sprout, who
managed the shipyard where the
Sophia
R. Luhrs was built in Melbridge, Maine.
Warren Luhrs
’
father Henry worked at a
small boat manufacturer in Morgan,
New Jersey, and later started his own
company, continuing the Luhrs
’
family
sea tradition during the great depres-
sion. During World War II he repaired
boats and installed ice sheathing on
their bows for the Coast Guard.
After the War, Henry built 27-foot fishing
boats and in 1948 began to construct
custom-built pleasure craft. He then
turned to skiffs and in 1952 incorporated
as Henry Luhrs Sea Skiffs, where he
constructed lapstrake sea skiffs using
assembly-line techniques. Henry per-
sonally
“
shook down
”
his prototypes on
family trips up the Hudson River to Lake
Champlain.
The sea skiff is a class of boat that has
been very popular, owing to its seawor-
thiness. It features a sharp bow, which
reduces pounding in surf or
choppy seas, and a hull whose forward
section is rounded below the waterline
to increase stability in rough water or a
following sea. Such skiffs can either be
smooth sided or of a lapstrake construc-
tion.
Inspired by Henry Ford, Henry Luhrs
’
aimed to give the average man the op-
portunity to enjoy the luxury of boating
by building an affordable and reliable
boat. He was both designer and engi-
neer, and his progressive new models
exhibited his talent for innovation. He
successfully changed the line of the bow
from straight to curved at a time when
the industry trend was a straight square
effect, and he is believed to be the first
designer-builder to popularize a small
boat with a fly bridge.
In 1960, Luhrs acquired the Ulrichsen
Boat Company of Marlboro, New Jer-
sey. It was here that Luhrs
’
Alura fiber-
glass division was located. In 1965,
Henry sold his company to Bangor Ar-
rostook Railroad, which was to become
the recreational conglomerate Bangor-
Punta. It was also during this period that
Silverton of Tom
’
s River, New Jersey
was purchased by John and Warren
Luhrs.
Today, Warren R. Luhrs and his brother
John own the Luhrs Group of marine
manufacturers, which consists of Silver-
ton Marine, Mainship Motor Yachts, and
Luhrs Fishing Boats with its Alura divi-
sion, as well as Hunter Marine, which
exclusively manufactures sailboats.
In January of 1996, the Luhrs family
transferred a portion of the Luhrs Group
to its employees through an ESOP pro-
gram.