South Coast Seacraft
The South Coast Seacraft Company was an American boat builder based in Shreveport, Louisiana. The company specialized in the design and manufacture of fiberglass sailboats.[1][2]
| Type | Privately held company |
|---|---|
| Industry | Boat building |
| Founded | 1965 |
| Founder | Hollis Metcalf |
| Defunct | 1981 |
| Headquarters | , |
| Products | Sailboats |
The company was founded by Hollis Metcalf in 1965.[1]
History
The first two designs produced were Carl Alberg designs, the South Coast 23 and South Coast 21, both introduced in 1965.[1][3]
The company supplied completed, ready-to-sail boats and also kits for amateur completion.[2]
To adapt the South Coast 21 to become a trailerable sailboat for that emerging market in the late 1960s, Metcalf and his chief engineer, James Munroe, made changes to the South Coast 21 to create the South Coast 22, introduced in 1968. It incorporated a larger interior and a swing keel to facilitate trailer transportation. The boat became the company's best selling product, with more than 3,000 built.[1]
Hollis Metcalf was training his son, Warren Metcalf, to take over the company. Warren Metcalf actually designed the South Coast 25, but just as he was completing the design he died in a diving accident. As a result of Warren Metcalf's death, Hollis Metcalf decided to sell the company in 1975 to a Chicago-based group of three investors, Michael Hennessy, John Kleine and Don Weir, who named it the South Coast Seacraft Corporation. The new owners operated the company until it went out of business in 1981.[1][2][4]
By the time it closed, South Coast Seacraft had built over 4,000 boats.[1]
Boats
Summary of boats built by South Coast Seacraft:[1]
- South Coast 21 - 1965
- South Coast 23 - 1965
- Herreshoff Rozinante - 1965
- South Coast 22 - 1968
- South Coast 25 - 1969
- South Coast 26 - 1977
- Eclipse 6.7 - 1978
References
- McArthur, Bruce (2021). "South Coast Seacraft Co. 1965 - 1981". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 9 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
- Henkel, Steve: The Sailor's Book of Small Cruising Sailboats, pages 140, 204, 255 and 368. International Marine/McGraw-Hill, 2010. ISBN 978-0-07-163652-0
- McArthur, Bruce (2021). "South Coast 23 sailboat". sailboatdata.com. Archived from the original on 10 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
- Secretary of State of Louisiana (3 February 2016). "South Coast Seacraft Corporation". Bizapedia.com. Archived from the original on 13 June 2021. Retrieved 13 June 2021.