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A Look at the History of Skagit Boats

By Marty Loken

In the early 1950’s, when it appeared there might be a future in fiberglass boats, the owners of LaConner’s Dunlap Towing Company thought they’d get into the glass-boat business. One of the tugboat operator’s first moves ws to study their neighbor to the north, Bellingham Shipyards, which had started producing Bell Boy fiberglass boats in 1952.

Sometime in 1954, Dunlap approached Art Nordvedt, who had started Bell Boy production as a division of Bellingham Shipyards. Prior to 1952, the shipyard had been quite successful building larger vessels, ranging from minesweepers to commercial fishboats, tugs and yachts. They knew how to build a good boat, and with Nordvedt’s help they learned how to design and manufacture smaller fiberglass fishing boats, runabouts and cruisers. (Amazingly, after only three years of operation, Bell Boy had built 5,000 boats in three plants around the country—the largest being their Bellingham headquarters.)

Dunlap wondered if Nordvedt might want to help launch a competing company, Skagit Plastics, to be based in LaConner. Since Nordvedt was happy working on the Bell Boy enterprise, he declined. Shortly thereafter, the towboaters approached one of Bell Boy’s most talented employees, Howard Roberts, suggesting he could head up the new company in LaConner—an offer he quickly accepted.

As chief designer and production manager, Roberts was able to start Skagit Boat production within a year. In its July, 1955 issue, SEA magazine published a story on Skagit Plastics, featuring the new 20-foot express cruiser designed by Roberts, which was available in either inboard or outboard models.

In addition to the now-famous 20-foot express model, Skagit offered other designs starting with an 8-foot dinghy and including small fishing boats, runabouts and hardtop sedans…and a few years later the largest fiberglass cruiser ever built—the dramatic 31-foot Skagit Saratogan.

The Skagit 20 became the company’s best-known model, with perhaps 500 hulls produced between 1955 and 1960. There were three 20’s—the Offshore (bigger cockpit), the Express (more cabin area) and the Tyee (a convertible, with hardtop option), offered primarily in outboard configurations.

Here’s a summary of models produced over the years of Skagit production:

· 8-foot dinghy
· 12-foot Fisherman (open utility)
· 13-foot Sneakbox (duck-hunting boat)
· 14-foot Fisherman (open utility)
· 14-foot Sportster runabout
· 14-foot Runabout
· 15-foot Utility
· 15-foot Runabout
· 15-foot Sportster runabout
· 16-foot Utility
· 16-foot Ski-Master runabout
· 17-foot Utility
· 17-foot Convertible
· 17-foot Express Cruiser
· 17-foot Sleeperette (hardtop)
· 18-foot Express Cruiser
· 18-foot Utility (with hardtop option)
· 20-foot Express Cruiser (known as the Chinook in 1955 and ’56)
· 20-foot Offshore express cruiser
· 20-foot Tyee (convertible, with hardtop option)
· 20-foot Sedan (a later hardtop model)
· 20-foot Convertible (a later open model)
· 24-foot Express Cruiser (1959)
· 25-foot Express Cruiser (1960)
· 31-foot Saratogan express cruiser (three built)

According to Jack Henriot, former chief engineer for Skagit Plastics, the company may have built a total of only about 1,000 boats between 1955 and early 1961. By his recollection, they finished about twenty Skagit 20-footers in the first year, 1955. In 1956 the company built 25 to 30 of the 20-footers, including a few Tyees. In 1957 they constructed more 20’s and added 12-, 14- and 17-footers—and built the first 31-footer. In 1958 they increased production and built the full line of boats, and by 1959 Skagit was offering all models in two plants with a total of 110 employees. (1959 and 1960 were Skagit’s biggest years in terms of production, although for some reason we seem to notice more 1958 17- and 20-foot express cruisers these days.

Here’s an approximate breakdown in production numbers for the years Skagit built boats:

1955 – 20 boats
1956 – 30 boats
1957 – 150 boats
1958 – 250 boats
1959 – 300 boats
1960 – 250 boats

In 1958 Skagit licensed production rights to some of their designs to two other companies—Thermolite in British Columbia (which had previously made Styrofoam coolers), and a boatbuilder in New Jersey that produced 14- and 20-footers under the name of Guy Lombardo Boats. Neither company did well or lasted long building Skagit designs, apparently, although it appears that Thermolite produced more hulls than the small Guy Lombardo shop, which was owned by the famous bandleader and raceboat driver.

The Skagit company folded abruptly in early 1961. Jack Henriot was in charge of liquidating the assets, and at that point Howard Roberts took over one of the two Skagit plants to build a few Skagits to fill remaining 1960 orders. (Plant No. 1 burned in about 1965, and Plant No. 2, the R.V. Moore Building, remains in LaConner.)

Howard Roberts is credited with design of the Skagit 14, 17, 20 and 31-footers. Lloyd Lindberry designed the 12-foot Fisherman and the 16-footers, and did work on other models. The Seattle naval-architecture firm of Spaulding & Associates designed the 24- and 25-footers.

Additions and corrections to this brief history are invited, since there is much more to be learned about the company’s brief but colorful history. If you have anything to share—photos, drawings, old brochures or historical information—please contact the author via e-mail: Marty@islandboatshop.com.