The first production fiberglass boat

Hatteras' first boat, the first production fiberglass boat went by me today. Hatteras just finished a total restoration and she is stunning. It was a huge risk for Hatt to build out of glass. Glad things turned out!

Fiberglass is "cool" (appropriate) but not necessarily for a low-production boat like the steel coot.

Daddyo said:

Hatteras' first boat, the first production fiberglass boat went by me today. Hatteras just finished a total restoration and she is stunning. It was a huge risk for Hatt to build out of glass. Glad things turned out!...

Click to expand...

Mark: Wow! What year? Anymore details?

I'm convinced more everyday that an old Hatt or Bertram is in my future. Great looking boats.

Here you go, Larry. She was named Knit Wits because that was the builders business----textiles.

http://www.hatterasreunion.com/uploads/Knit_Wits.pdf

Knit Wits is one sharp looking boat.

One use to come into MCYB frequently. It was named SeaBee, and belonged to a WWII SeaBee veteran. It had the SeaMaster gas engines that were big industrial Ford blocks. They were relatively low rpm, high torque, and were 275 hp.

That's wonderful. Mark where was the restoration done?
I recently read that the new owners of Bertram are planning to go back to their roots and produce the classic 31 again.

Do not think the Hat was a first production FG boat. I believe Ray Greene in Toledo and the Pearson people were the early pioneers. Certainly the Hat you point out was an early boat but not first. I have been on some of the early FG Pearsons both sail and power never on a early Hatteras.

Wow-glad to see that Knit Wits has been restored. She is still a beautiful boat! I used to see her many years ago on the East Coast/Bahamas marlin tournament circuit. I had the pleasure as a very young man to be a mate one summer for Willis Slane's son on the original Hatterascal. Was lucky enough to go to one Hatteras/Bertram shootout at Walker's Cay. There is be nothing like seeing over 100 Hatterases and Bertrams leaving the cut heading for deep water for marlin.

I believe the Airo Marine Bill Trip Bounty 41 ft sail boat was the first large US production boat.

These sail well, have zero pox problems and are super strong.

They used glass cloth & polly resin (not mat and roving ,) as that was what radar domes were created out of.

Moonstruck said:

Here you go, Larry. She was named Knit Wits because that was the builders business----textiles.

http://www.hatterasreunion.com/uploads/Knit_Wits.pdf

Click to expand...

Thanks Don. What a boat!


We had a 27' 1966 Chris Craft "Weekend" Commander, hull number 14, that was made out of fiberglass. I can attest to the early quality of the FB builds. They don't make em like they use to.

eyschulman said:

Do not think the Hat was a first production FG boat. I believe Ray Greene in Toledo and the Pearson people were the early pioneers. Certainly the Hat you point out was an early boat but not first. I have been on some of the early FG Pearsons both sail and power never on a early Hatteras.

Click to expand...

It appears that 1959 saw a lot of progress in Fiberglass production. The Pearson Triton was introduced at the 1959 boat show. One of the earliest glass boats built... Who's to say who was really first production boat...? Several hundred Pearsons were built and many still in use. It's a classic in the sailboat community.

Pearson Triton - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

eyschulman said:

Do not think the Hat was a first production FG boat. I believe Ray Greene in Toledo and the Pearson people were the early pioneers. Certainly the Hat you point out was an early boat but not first. I have been on some of the early FG Pearsons both sail and power never on a early Hatteras.

Click to expand...

You are quite correct about that. What set Knit Wits apart was it was probably the first larger boat designed for offshore sport fishing. The sport fishing boats on the coast at that time were heavy and slow. The Hatteras moved the sport ahead light years. Having started boating in NC, aka Hatteras country, we got to watch the evolution of the breed.