Luhrs Sportfish & Mainship Trawlers Move Production To N.J. Plant

Starting in June 2011, all boats and yachts in the Luhrs Marine Group will be produced in the company’s main factory in Millville, New Jersey. This means the Luhrs sportfishing boats and Mainship trawlers that had been made in St. Augustine, Florida, for years, will be produced in New Jersey along with the company’s popular Silverton convertibles and motoryachts and the Ovation luxury motoryachts.

Brett Marshall, V.P. of sales and marketing for Luhrs Marine Group, explained that the consolidation would make the company stronger and would ensure quality control on all models going forward. Marshall said, ” Everything other than the engines and the resin will be made in Millville.” Marshall also said the privately owned company would emerge from the recession with a full line of boats ready for dealers and customers around the U.S.

The Luhrs Group is one of the world’s largest sportfish and trawler producers in the world. In addition to Luhrs fishing boats, from 29′-50′, the company makes Silverton yachts, in the 30′-50′ range, 6 models of Mainship trawlers in the same range, and Ovation motoryachts, now in the 55′ and 52′ models.

Henry Luhrs, a German immigrant, started the company is the late 1800s. He built a chandlery and then shipbuilding yard in southern New Jersey. His two sons, John and Warren, now run the company.

In a sense, Marshall says, the consolidation in Millville marks a return to the company’s roots. The message is the boats are “Jersey tough,” he says, a theme that resonates across all 4 lines. The Luhrs Marine Group also makes Hunter sailboats in its St. Augustine factory.

The next boat out of the Millville factory will be a Luhrs 34 sportfishing boat that will launch in early June and will be ready to compete in fishing tournaments later this summer. The company will complete two orders for Mainship 45 trawlers and then turn to a new Mainship 35 Pilot. Across the lineup, Silverton will upgrade its interiors, offering wenge wood, for example, instead of cherry, and then move to a 42 Silverton convertible for the fall along with its series of 35′ and 40′ boats. Silverton will continue with its 36 convertible, a new version of its popular 34 classic, one of the most popular boats it has ever made.

Source: MotorBoating