Hughes Boats was founded in 1963 in Willowdale, Ontario, a suburb of Toronto, Canada, as a partnership of two brothers, Howard and Peter Hughes. The first boats the company built were dinghies up to 16 ft in length.
In 1965 the company relocated to the Toronto suburb of Scarborough and from 1965 to 1967 they built the Hughes 24 (using tooling purchased from Tanzer), the Hughes 27 (designed in-house by Howard Hughes), and the Hughes 38 (Sparkman & Stevens design #1903).
Hughes Boat Works Limited was incorporated on Feb. 23, 1967 for "the undertaking of the manufacture of pleasure boats". The company was registered as Ontario, Canada Corporation #200854.
In 1968 the company moved to Centralia, Ontario, a Royal Canadian Air Force Commonwealth Air Training Plan World War II fighter pilot training airport near Exeter, Ontario which was converted into an industrial park after the war and re-named Huron Park. The factory was in a large building near the centre of the groundside hangar buildings (now the site of Exeter Machine), with a test tank pool outside the building.
The Hughes 22, H25, and H29 (designed in-house by Howard Hughes) went into production in 1968, as did the H38 and H48 (designed by Sparkman & Stevens in conjunction with Hughes).
In 1969 the company was sold to US Steel. Both Hughes brothers stayed with the company until 1971, when US Steel changed the name of the company to Northstar Yachts Ltd. The Northstar line of sailboats were built to plans commissioned by Hughes Boat Works, most drawn by the famous design team of Sparkman and Stevens. From 1971 to 1974 the company built the Northstar 22 - 22 ft, Northstar 500 - 25 ft (Sparkman & Stevens design #2135 ) [?possibly this model won the 1/4 ton world championship], Northstar 1000 - 30 ft (Sparkman & Stevens design #2098-C6), Northstar 1500 - 35 ft (Sparkman & Stevens design #2166), Northstar 38, and Northstar 80/20 (Sparkman & Stevens design #2134). The 24 ft NS727 [? or possibly called the "747" - or perhaps the 747 was a later model] (which won the 1/4 ton world championship) and the 30 ft N900 (both designed by Bruce Farr) were introduced in 1973.
The retail price of a Northstar 500 with standard options in 1973 was $CAD11,004, FOB Huron Park. At that time the Canadian dollar was worth slightly more than a US dollar, so the price was essentially the same in both the US and Canada.
The annual information return of Feb. 23, 1975 lists 4 Canadians and 3 Americans as directors of the company. The 3 Americans who are named as the President, Secretary, and Treasurer respectively are J.T. MacKenzie, D.F. Tuthill, and D. M. McAvity, [possibly also directors of US Steel?]. The corporation profile report lists Dec. 10, 1975 as the cancel / inactive date.
The Hughes/Northstar dealer in Vancouver in 1975 was Small Craft of Canada Ltd. of 112 E. 6th Ave.
In 1977 Howard purchased Northstar Yachts and changed the name back to Hughes Boatworks Inc. The Northstar 600 was modified and named the H26. A new model called the H27 was introduced. The Northstar 1000 was stretched and fattened and renamed the H31. The Northstar 1500 was renamed the H35, and the Northstar 80/20 was renamed the H40.
In 1979 Hughes purchased Columbia Yachts and began building Columbia boats in Canada at the Huron Park factory under the name Hughes-Columbia. New models called the Hughes-Columbia 36, 8.3, 8.7 (motor sailer), 10.7, 11.8, 42, 48 and were introduced, while at the same time production of the Hughes H26, H31, H35, H38, and H40 (ketch) continued. All models were available fully finished or in kit form.
In 1980 John Melnyk of Ontario purchased a H35 at the Toronto Boat Show and was at the factory nearly every week while it was being built. He remembers that the factory was very busy then, and there was one secretary in an office upstairs in the factory.
In 1980 Hughes went into receivership and the factory was closed. Hughes sold Columbia Yachts to Aura Yachts, who built the Hughes 35. The Hughes 35 was also built by South Hants Engineering in Great Britain (called the S.H.E. 36). South Hants Engineering may also have built some North Star 1500s. The last hull number might have been 102.
In 1986 Howard Hughes purchased the remains of the company and began building boats in Orangeville, Ontario. A model called the H41 was built (or at least advertised) during that period.
A fire destroyed the factory in 1991, and no Hughes boats have been built since that time.
Hughes Boat Works Ltd. was the largest sailboat manufacturer in Canada for several years, building a total of approximately 3,500 boats. During the company's peak years it employed 250 to 300 staff.
Pacific Yachting did a test on the
Northstar 38 Mk II in the early 80's. Canadian Yachting did
a test on the Hughes 26 in the 1970's or 1980's. In 1980 they did
an article on Howard Hughes
Model
Designer/Design #
Year
Hughes 22
Sparkman & Stevens
19??
Hughes 48
Sparkman & Stevens
1970
Hughes 25
Howard Hughes
1973
Hughes Northstar 500 ( 25 ft)
Sparkman & Stevens
1973
Hughes Northstar 1000 (31 ft)
Sparkman & Stevens
1973
Hughes 29 ft
Sparkman & Stevens
1975
Hughes 38
Sparkman & Stevens
1975
Hughes 1500 (35 ft)
Sparkman & Stevens
1975
Hughes 80/20 (41 ft)
Sparkman & Stevens
1975
Hughes 26
Sparkman & Stevens
1976
Northstar
26
Sparkman & Stevens
1976
Hughes 31 ft
Sparkman & Stevens
1979
Hughes Northstar (35 ft)
Sparkman & Stevens
1979
Hughes Northstar (38 ft)
Sparkman & Stevens
1979