The company was founded by C. Raymond Hunt and John Deknatel in 1966. Deknatel remains the chairman, while the current president is Winn Willard. In 2023 the company had seven employees.[1][2][3][4]
Hunt and his firm are noted as being the only designers of that period that achieved international success in both powerboat and sailboat design.[1]
C. Raymond Hunt was born in 1908 and completed his formal education only as far as two years at Phillips Andover prep school. He had no formal training in naval architecture.[1][3][5]
The Hunt family were members of the Duxbury Yacht Club (DYC) in Duxbury, Massachusetts in the 1920s. In 1923, Hunt was the captain of the DYC Junior Sailing Crew, leading it to victory in the 1923 Sears Cup in Marblehead, Massachusetts. This was the first sailing championship for the DYC since its establishment in 1875 and a victory over the principal yacht clubs of Massachusetts and New York.[6] Hunt competed as captain of crews representing the DYC in the Sears Cup in 1925 and 1926, winning his second championship title in the event in 1926.[6] Upon his successes in these competitions, Hunt was invited to tea with US President Calvin Coolidge, who at the time was vacationing in Marblehead, Massachusetts.[6]
Hunt also won the DYC junior golf championship in 1926.[6]
Prior to founding the firm in 1966, Hunt had already established a name by designing the Concordia yawls in 1938, the International 110 in 1939 and the 1958 America's Cup12 Meter defender Easterner. He designed a number of 5.5 Meter sailboats, including the boats that won the 1960 Summer Olympic Games. His captained his own 5.5 meter design, Chaje II to the 1963 5.5 Meter World Championships. He also designed the Boston Whaler.[1][3][5]
He invented the "deep vee" powerboat hull design, which uses a high-deadrise. This proved successful in offshore racing through the 1960s. The deep vee was never patented, as a small sailing magazine had published an article describing it the year before his patent application, making the design public domain.[1][3][5][7]
His business partner, Deknatel, said of him, "Ray was a self-effacing, quiet guy—the antithesis of any of that snooty, yachty stuff."[5]
The company was founded in 1966 by C. Raymond Hunt and John Deknatel with the concept of applying the "deep vee" hull concept to a wider range of boats. The firm started designing for the production and custom markets. Powerboat manufacturer that produced Hunt designs included Bertram, Boston Whaler, Robalo, Cruisers, Chris-Craft Corporation, 4 Winns, Southport, Grand Banks, SeaArk, Regal and Wellcraft. The company has designed all the hulls used by Grady-White Boats since the 1990s. The company also designed custom yachts for Burger, Palmer Johnson, Hinckley, Lyman-Morse, Nautor and Royal Huisman.[1][4][7]
In the 1970s the firm entered the commercial boat market and the military market. They produced designs for several navies, coast guards and police departments as well as for fire departments. Among his naval designs was a 34-foot patrol boat for the US Navy as well as several destroyer hull designs.[4][5]
The company started its own boat building subsidiary in 1998. Called Hunt Yachts, it built high-end powerboats in the 25 to 29 ft (7.6 to 8.8 m) size range. It was building about 30 to 40 boats per year in 2013. The division was sold to Hinckley Yachts in 2013.[4]
