Hunter Marine sailing yacht Owner'S Manual Download

Page: 7 / 180

HUNTER MARINE

’

S OWNER AND FOUNDER

WARREN R. LUHRS

BRIEF BACKGROUND

PAGE 4

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

depression. 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

personally

“

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
seaworthiness.  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

construction.

Inspired by Henry Ford, Henry Luhrs

’

aimed  to  give  the  average  man  the
opportunity  to  enjoy  the  luxury  of
boating  by  building  an  affordable  and
reliable boat. He was both designer and
engineer,  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
Jersey.  It  was  here  that  Luhrs

’

Alura

fiberglass division was located. In 1965,
Henry  sold  his  company  to  Bangor
Arrostook  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

Silverton

Marine,

Mainship

Motor

Yachts, and Luhrs Fishing Boats with its
Alura division, as well as Hunter Marine,
which

exclusively

manufactures