Silverton Marine Corporation
Silverton Marine Corporation was formed in 1969 by two brothers, John and Warren Luhrs, who had learned the boatbuilding business working with their father, Henry Luhrs, in his boatbuilding business, also in New Jersey, the Luhrs Sea Skiff Company. That business built mostly small wooden boats but had begun building some boats in fiberglass. But then in 1965 Henry Luhrs sold his business to a large company.
Henry's sons, John and Warren, purchased another small New Jersey boatbuilding company in 1969, the Silverton Sea Skiff Company, which would become Silverton. They directed the company toward fiberglass production, which they had begun working with before their father sold his company. They introduced their first model in 1971, a 34 foot Convertible, not too different than the 32 footer produced by Luhrs.
In 1985 John and Warren Luhrs were able to re-acquire the Luhrs name. They created Luhrs Corporation to also build boats, and moved that company to St. Augustine, Florida. The Luhrs Corporation builds the Luhrs line of boats in Florida and Georgia. It also controls Silverton and the related lines of Mainship and Hunter sailboats. Silverton Marine Corporation has remained in New Jersey.
The Luhrs brothers' vision for Silverton Yachts was to produce affordable cruising and fishing boats. Toward that end, most of their models have been powered by gas with limited diesel options, until recently in their larger models. This allowed them to build yachts lighter and less expensive. Their sportfishing models, though generally of the Jersey Design, did not compete with other builders for high power and speed. Perhaps they have not wanted to compete directly with the related Luhrs Yachts sportfishing models.
Silverton has also developed more variety in their model lines than any other New Jersey builder. In addition to Express and Motoryacht designs, offered by some other builders, their recent Sport Bridge and Sport Coupe designs offer new concepts. And their full-beam cabins, which provide foredeck access from the flybridge are novel.