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Yorktown Yachts

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Yorktown Yachts

Yorktown Yachts was the business name used by actor Henry 'Hank' McCune of television's The Hank McCune Show when he began building sailing yachts in the early 1960s.

In 1965, Mr. McCune met Douglas B. Baker at a restaurant, and the two formed a loose partnership. Working together in the same yard, each man would take orders for his own sailboats, but they would all be sold under the Yorktown Yachts name.

Mr. McCune's specialty was fiberglass. His were some of the first fiberglass boats to be built in the Long Beach area (Wilmington). He also built the first of the Victory 21 class of boats and the "All-American" 28-foot (8.5 m) boat which in 1962 had arguably the first fin keel with spade rudder on a fiberglass boat used for offshore racing.

McCune also constructed unfinished hull kits which were then sold to and completed by the customers themselves.

Mr. Baker focused on wooden boats. He also helped McCune in the construction of his fiberglass boats.

The two men constructed sailboats ranging in length from 20–46 ft., with the majority of Baker's wooden vessels being produced in the 30 ft. range. Together they built the Yorktown 39 series of yachts in the late 1960s.

As the business grew, McCune and Baker each hired several workmen to assist in construction of the boats. At its peak, Yorktown Yachts' combined production (from both its wooden and fiberglass divisions) reached the level of more than 5 boats per day.

In 1970, upon the death of Henry McCune, Yorktown Yachts closed for business. No formal paperwork was ever processed to give Mr. Baker an ownership stake in the enterprise, so assets from the business belonged to the late Mr. McCune's estate and Baker was forced to discontinue operations.

References

Yorktown Yachts Wikipedia