It started when a pair of Kestrel Sailors were anxious about the future of their beloved boat and refused to let such a marvellous boat die. The decision was made to invest a considerable amount of money and time into the boat in an effort to re-design the interior and bring the boat up to today's standards.
In February 1998 Roswell and Morrison (in particular Phil Morisson) set about the task of re-designing the Kestrel to make it appealing to both existing and new generations of Kestrel Sailors. All modifications were discussed in great length with the Proctor family and the Kestrel Class Association and since then we have never looked back.
Since 1998 we have moved on a long way. We branched out to build the Supernova, which is now one of the biggest fleets in the UK with well attended open meetings and National Championships.
In 2005 we produced our first Mk4 Osprey which was overhauled by Phil Morisson to make it more appealing to the modern market yet, not changing it too radically so that it was still accepted by the original Osprey fleet, this was a storming success. The fleet continues to grow and it is holding its own against the newer high-performance asymmetric rivals.
Not ones to slow down, in 2006 our development was to take on the Wayfarer, Wanderer and Gull dinghies from Porters, later that year the Wayfarer was re-designed by Phil Morrison. Hartley Boats is very proud to still be building these boats here in Derby, UK and we continue the legacy of the Ian Proctor Designs.
2012 - 2015 saw the beginnings and launch of our range of rota-moulded training boats which, are some of the most stable sailing dinghies on the market. Our customers have said 'they are easy to control making them ideal for newcomers, resorts and training centres'. We supply training schools both here in the UK and overseas, the Navy use the H15 and the Army use the H12.2 as part of their training fleet, we also supply to holiday companies/resorts. Our rota-moulded boats have a modern and unique design and enable sailors more time gliding over the water, not swimming in it. The full range of these boats are the Alpha, H10, H12, H12.2 and the H15, all made in the UK.
2016 we took on the Blaze and working closely with Naval Architect Peter Hobson the Hartley Boats team re-designed and developed the all new Hartley Blaze. The stunning boat sports a host of great new features to enhance this already super-fast, high performance, single-handed, racked dinghy.
In 2017 we took on the UK build for the single-handed, super-fast Contender. We returned back to Naval Architect Peter Hobson who once again worked closely with the Hartley Boats team to understand our customer needs. The boat has been re-designed and developed into what we feel is one of the sleekest boats around.
Skip forward to 2021 and we have embarked on our biggest challenge to date, investing in the company with a whole new department. The Hartley Boats Sail Loft has been created to supply top quality Sails, Covers and Accessories to the Dinghy market and beyond. Headed up by one of the industries leading Sail Makers, Stephen Graham. Stephen brings over 20 years of expertise to the company, and we are very excited to see this department develop in the coming months and years.
