Dutch-built
Hurley yachts
The following
account of the history of Hurley yachts has been provided by Mr Hans
Keller of Hurley UK the official importer of Hurley Yachts from Holland.
The Dutch agent for Hurley Marine was a company called Triba of Edan.
"When
Hurley Marine Ltd went out of business in 1974 the Hurley Marine agents
Triba bought a set of Hurley 22 moulds and the rights to use the Hurley
name. (This statement is not confirmed or proved). Nothing was done
with the moulds until the late 1980's when a company called Jachtbouw
Twente bought the rights just to use the name and commissioned Borghen
of Denmark to design an 8.3metre sailing cruiser in the Hurley spirit
building them in Holland they were an instant success. The result
was a beautiful sailing cruiser with enclosed ballast. When I decided
to move to Wales in 1997 I purchased one for myself to sail around
the UK. I started what we called Hurley UK Ltd as a subsidiary of
Jachtbouw Twente.
The hulls
were constructed by Coniplex of Contest fame and later Jachtbouw Twente
bought the rights to the Contest 34, which was discontinued by Coniplex.
They called it the Hurley 1050.
The owner
of Jachtbouw Twente fell ill and later after a family row he sold
the moulds and Hurley name to Jachtwerf De Eemhof who still build
the Dutch Hurley's. The new owners sadly did not want to market the
vessel in the UK.
Hans Keller."
www.jachthaven-eemhof.nl
I have not seen
any copy of any agreement whereby the Hurley name was sold to the Dutch
company. I'm not sure how many of the Hurley 700 yachts were built.
Could anyone please tell us?
Nick Vass
HOA
|
|
|
Hull
Number plate from a Hurley 700 (Hurley 22)
|
To see what can be achieved on these remarkable boats
please see the following document from Jens Feddern. It is very impressive. Click here.
|
The Hurley 800 and 830 were built in Holland by Yachthaven De Eemhof. The Hurley 800 started out as the Contest 28 which was introduced in 1981. The Contest 28 was a development of the older Contest 27 which was introduced in 1969. The Contest 28 was built in Holland by Conyplex NV and designed by Dick Zaal. The Hurley 800 was developed into the 830 by adding a sugar scoop stern. Just like many Moody yachts of the eighties.
| Examples of Hurleys 800s |
 |
 |
 |
Click on images for full size |
