I'm looking for information regarding Yorktown Yachts.
Thanks
Tony

I normally refrain from negative comments however, there is cause to be
concerned in this instance.

From what I know/remember, they were very cheaply built.. There was a
serious problem with the hull to deck joint that cause some boats to ship
water when sailed hard and 'rail down'. They were lightly/poorly built and
suffered after a few years of coastal service.

The only Yorktowns I am personally familiar with were 'marina queens' and
primarily liveaboard boats because they had a roomy interior.

If anyone would like to take exception to these observation, they are
welcome, but every boat has it's critic and the OP wanted info.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

As I recall, Yorkies were available either fully-finished from the factory,
or as kits in various stages of completion. A factory-finished Yorkie can be
a reasonable boat (depending on the intended use) assuming it has been kept
up and is in good condition -- with the kit boats, it's anyone's guess. They
do have a whole lot of freeboard and tend to be rather roomy for their size,
and can make good liveaboards. I have no idea at all how they sail. Marinas
in Southern California are full of them.

--
Karin Conover-Lewis
Fair and Balanced since 1959
klc dot lewis at centurytel dot net


"Steve" wrote in message
...
I normally refrain from negative comments however, there is cause to be
concerned in this instance.

From what I know/remember, they were very cheaply built.. There was a
serious problem with the hull to deck joint that cause some boats to ship
water when sailed hard and 'rail down'. They were lightly/poorly built
and
suffered after a few years of coastal service.

The only Yorktowns I am personally familiar with were 'marina queens' and
primarily liveaboard boats because they had a roomy interior.

If anyone would like to take exception to these observation, they are
welcome, but every boat has it's critic and the OP wanted info.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

Yorktown and it's founder, Hank McCune are quite a story. There are a
couple of web sites that tell different parts of the story.

Loved to play the ponies, built boats, television and movie actor. Bad
business man, creative with fiberglass and accounting. Passed away a
couple of years ago. The last time I ran into Hank, he was 76 year old
and was laying up a 42 foot hull by himself. While he was the nicest guy
you'll find, you needed to keep your hands on your wallet at all times.

Early Television star;
http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVTh...cCuneHall.html

There is a web site that explains the boat building, I couldn't find it.
Written by an exemployee. I'll keep looking.

There is a great story (if I remember it correctly) about how Frank
Butler bought his first boat from Hank had had to actually build it
himself when Hank was out doing other things, thus started Catalina Yachts.

Hank built a lot of boats, "homemade" and "factory built" have blurry
lines. Hank could do some fine work though.

Ok, Yorktowns, Olympics, Throughbreads, all his boats are among the
ugliest boats ever built. When you go to actual cruising areas, like La
Paz, what do you see? Yorktowns. Not good enough for the people who
think they need a Pacific Seacraft.

Hank was building boats with fin keels and spade rudders before anyone
else.

I'll try to find that web site that has the story of the boat building.

Jim




Karin Conover-Lewis wrote:
As I recall, Yorkies were available either fully-finished from the factory,
or as kits in various stages of completion. A factory-finished Yorkie can be
a reasonable boat (depending on the intended use) assuming it has been kept
up and is in good condition -- with the kit boats, it's anyone's guess. They
do have a whole lot of freeboard and tend to be rather roomy for their size,
and can make good liveaboards. I have no idea at all how they sail. Marinas
in Southern California are full of them.

Well I found the url, but it seems the page is no longer there. Here's
what I found:
__________________________________________________ _______
Also, check-out Yorktown Owners Page:

www.lmmc.com/yorktown/yorktoc.html

This page is run by Mark Brown who used to be the Yard foreman at
Yorktown Yachts. Fabulous resource!
__________________________________________________ _______
And, it was a fabulous resource. Hope it turns up again.

Jim


Jim wrote:

Yorktown and it's founder, Hank McCune are quite a story. There are a
couple of web sites that tell different parts of the story.

Loved to play the ponies, built boats, television and movie actor. Bad
business man, creative with fiberglass and accounting. Passed away a
couple of years ago. The last time I ran into Hank, he was 76 year old
and was laying up a 42 foot hull by himself. While he was the nicest guy
you'll find, you needed to keep your hands on your wallet at all times.

Early Television star;
http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVTh...cCuneHall.html

There is a web site that explains the boat building, I couldn't find it.
Written by an exemployee. I'll keep looking.

There is a great story (if I remember it correctly) about how Frank
Butler bought his first boat from Hank had had to actually build it
himself when Hank was out doing other things, thus started Catalina Yachts.

Hank built a lot of boats, "homemade" and "factory built" have blurry
lines. Hank could do some fine work though.

Ok, Yorktowns, Olympics, Throughbreads, all his boats are among the
ugliest boats ever built. When you go to actual cruising areas, like La
Paz, what do you see? Yorktowns. Not good enough for the people who
think they need a Pacific Seacraft.

Hank was building boats with fin keels and spade rudders before anyone
else.

I'll try to find that web site that has the story of the boat building.

Jim




Karin Conover-Lewis wrote:

As I recall, Yorkies were available either fully-finished from the
factory,
or as kits in various stages of completion. A factory-finished Yorkie
can be
a reasonable boat (depending on the intended use) assuming it has been
kept
up and is in good condition -- with the kit boats, it's anyone's
guess. They
do have a whole lot of freeboard and tend to be rather roomy for their
size,
and can make good liveaboards. I have no idea at all how they sail.
Marinas
in Southern California are full of them.

Well I found the url, but it seems the page is no longer there. Here's
what I found:
__________________________________________________ _______
Also, check-out Yorktown Owners Page:

www.lmmc.com/yorktown/yorktoc.html

This page is run by Mark Brown who used to be the Yard foreman at
Yorktown Yachts. Fabulous resource!
__________________________________________________ _______
And, it was a fabulous resource. Hope it turns up again.

Jim


Jim wrote:

Yorktown and it's founder, Hank McCune are quite a story. There are a
couple of web sites that tell different parts of the story.

Loved to play the ponies, built boats, television and movie actor. Bad
business man, creative with fiberglass and accounting. Passed away a
couple of years ago. The last time I ran into Hank, he was 76 year old
and was laying up a 42 foot hull by himself. While he was the nicest guy
you'll find, you needed to keep your hands on your wallet at all times.

Early Television star;
http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVTh...cCuneHall.html

There is a web site that explains the boat building, I couldn't find it.
Written by an exemployee. I'll keep looking.

There is a great story (if I remember it correctly) about how Frank
Butler bought his first boat from Hank had had to actually build it
himself when Hank was out doing other things, thus started Catalina Yachts.

Hank built a lot of boats, "homemade" and "factory built" have blurry
lines. Hank could do some fine work though.

Ok, Yorktowns, Olympics, Throughbreads, all his boats are among the
ugliest boats ever built. When you go to actual cruising areas, like La
Paz, what do you see? Yorktowns. Not good enough for the people who
think they need a Pacific Seacraft.

Hank was building boats with fin keels and spade rudders before anyone
else.

I'll try to find that web site that has the story of the boat building.

Jim




Karin Conover-Lewis wrote:

As I recall, Yorkies were available either fully-finished from the
factory,
or as kits in various stages of completion. A factory-finished Yorkie
can be
a reasonable boat (depending on the intended use) assuming it has been
kept
up and is in good condition -- with the kit boats, it's anyone's
guess. They
do have a whole lot of freeboard and tend to be rather roomy for their
size,
and can make good liveaboards. I have no idea at all how they sail.
Marinas
in Southern California are full of them.

Yorktown and it's founder, Hank McCune are quite a story. There are a
couple of web sites that tell different parts of the story.

Loved to play the ponies, built boats, television and movie actor. Bad
business man, creative with fiberglass and accounting. Passed away a
couple of years ago. The last time I ran into Hank, he was 76 year old
and was laying up a 42 foot hull by himself. While he was the nicest guy
you'll find, you needed to keep your hands on your wallet at all times.

Early Television star;
http://www.classicthemes.com/50sTVTh...cCuneHall.html

There is a web site that explains the boat building, I couldn't find it.
Written by an exemployee. I'll keep looking.

There is a great story (if I remember it correctly) about how Frank
Butler bought his first boat from Hank had had to actually build it
himself when Hank was out doing other things, thus started Catalina Yachts.

Hank built a lot of boats, "homemade" and "factory built" have blurry
lines. Hank could do some fine work though.

Ok, Yorktowns, Olympics, Throughbreads, all his boats are among the
ugliest boats ever built. When you go to actual cruising areas, like La
Paz, what do you see? Yorktowns. Not good enough for the people who
think they need a Pacific Seacraft.

Hank was building boats with fin keels and spade rudders before anyone
else.

I'll try to find that web site that has the story of the boat building.

Jim




Karin Conover-Lewis wrote:
As I recall, Yorkies were available either fully-finished from the factory,
or as kits in various stages of completion. A factory-finished Yorkie can be
a reasonable boat (depending on the intended use) assuming it has been kept
up and is in good condition -- with the kit boats, it's anyone's guess. They
do have a whole lot of freeboard and tend to be rather roomy for their size,
and can make good liveaboards. I have no idea at all how they sail. Marinas
in Southern California are full of them.

As I recall, Yorkies were available either fully-finished from the factory,
or as kits in various stages of completion. A factory-finished Yorkie can be
a reasonable boat (depending on the intended use) assuming it has been kept
up and is in good condition -- with the kit boats, it's anyone's guess. They
do have a whole lot of freeboard and tend to be rather roomy for their size,
and can make good liveaboards. I have no idea at all how they sail. Marinas
in Southern California are full of them.

--
Karin Conover-Lewis
Fair and Balanced since 1959
klc dot lewis at centurytel dot net


"Steve" wrote in message
...
I normally refrain from negative comments however, there is cause to be
concerned in this instance.

From what I know/remember, they were very cheaply built.. There was a
serious problem with the hull to deck joint that cause some boats to ship
water when sailed hard and 'rail down'. They were lightly/poorly built
and
suffered after a few years of coastal service.

The only Yorktowns I am personally familiar with were 'marina queens' and
primarily liveaboard boats because they had a roomy interior.

If anyone would like to take exception to these observation, they are
welcome, but every boat has it's critic and the OP wanted info.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

I normally refrain from negative comments however, there is cause to be
concerned in this instance.

From what I know/remember, they were very cheaply built.. There was a
serious problem with the hull to deck joint that cause some boats to ship
water when sailed hard and 'rail down'. They were lightly/poorly built and
suffered after a few years of coastal service.

The only Yorktowns I am personally familiar with were 'marina queens' and
primarily liveaboard boats because they had a roomy interior.

If anyone would like to take exception to these observation, they are
welcome, but every boat has it's critic and the OP wanted info.

Steve
s/v Good Intentions

There used to be a Yorktown owners section published monthly in Liveaboard Magazine, however I think that this publication is no longer. I made a copy of everything that was ever written in the mag. I can tell you that as an owner of a yorktown 33 that these aft cockpit boats suffer none of the larger center cockpit boats problems as far as looks or clean lines are concerned. I can tell you that Hank Mchune was way ahead of his time in the use of grp. If anything his hulls were overbuilt. There was hull to deck-joint problems with some Yorktowns that were not through-bolted, however this was optional. Hanks smaller Olympic line of boats did not suffer this problem. If shopping for a Yorkie Make sure the hull is through-bolted! As I have never heard of problems with these type of hulls. Frank was also ahead of his time in the area of kit boat building. You could buy his boats in various stages of completion ie: hulls only. hull and deck, compleated yachts. All Yorktowns are a pleasure to sail, they are fast and thrive on heavy weather. Yorktowns have many a ney sayer for sure but they just don't know what a capable boat a Yorktown really is. Hope this helps Capt, Greg