1928 to 1999
– George Anton Hinterhoeller
Reception at
C&C during the heyday must have had a tough time
cause if someone called in and asked if they could
speak with George….. there would have been a pause…
which one ? There was a third George instrumental in
the founding of C&C Yachts. George Hinterhoeller
was born in Austria in 1928, apprenticed as a
shipwright and then moved to Canada in 1952, he
shortly found work at Shepherd Boats in Niagara on the
Lake, Ontario. Being an entrepreneur spirit, he left
after 5 years and stated his own boat building
company. Now he says his first yacht sank, well he did
build that one when he was 4, by 1959, he had
perfected his own designs and started construction on
the first Shark. It was a success for him and his
partner Gordon Brinsmead and eventually over 2000
Sharks were built. Hinterhoeller also designed and
built the HR 25 and 28.
In 1963, GAH
contacted Cuthbertson and Cassian Limited to design
the Invader class. The first being built of cold
molded mahogany and owned by David Howard and John
Hilton, who named her Invader. This was used as a plug
to build the first fiberglass boat of C&C design.
Sadly that summer she was wrecked, as the lights of
the Toronto Island Airport at the Toronto Harbour
western gap were “misinterpreted” by Mr. Hilton. The
remains of her can now be found as the bar at the NOTL
Sailing Club. The first fiberglass hull was then
commissioned as Invader II ( not to be confused with
any of the 8 meters ) and hull #2 RIP II was bought by
Al. Mason who would later marry Bernice Telford, widow
of Dick Telford, who had given GHC his first….. oh
there I go again )
At Shepherd,
Hinterhoeller had learnt about production line boats,
taking this knowledge he set pits up in his every
increasing in size plant. The boats would be lowered
in to the pits so the decks were at floor level. This
allowed the craftsmen to not have to climb up and down
ladders to work on the boats, saving time and
potential injuries. By 1969 he had 5 lines running
including the Redwing 30 and a staff of 57 producing
181 boats a year.
That year Bob
Sale, suggested that George Hinterhoeller and 3 other
companies join forces to form C&C Yachts. Each
division would keep their autonomy but by combining
design, management, marketing and supply chains they
would become a force to recon with.
The plant
quickly grew and would provide the basic C&C
product line: C&C 25, 27, 30, 35, and 39
1972, C&C
Yachts experienced growing pains at the top as Ian
Morch left as President succeeded by George
Hinterhoeller. GAH was a boat builder and freely
admitted he was not a president of a corporation so
after 10 months missing the shop floor he stepped
down.
1974 sees 571
boats built at the Niagara plant.
By late 1975
George Hinterhoeller had enough of the being part of
C&C Yachts and left the company. He forms
Hinterhoeller Yachts in 1977 with his son and begins
building the Mark Ellis designed Nonsuch line. A
series of cat boats that reached a production # of
975.
George opted
for retirement in 1988, noting that the boat business
was saturated with used boats. The boat building
business didn’t do well in the late 80’s. By 1989 the
company had entered receivership and was completely
gone by November 1995
George Anton
Hinterhoeller passed away in March 1999 from a stroke
left behind Nona his wife of many years.
In October,
the Canadian Sailing Hall of Fame with induct George
Hinterhoeller in to their "Builders" catagory.
If you'd like
to read other articles I've posted on the history of
GHC, C&C yachts and a few reproductions of
promotional items, go to www.candcyachts.com
JohnKelly
Cuthbertson
