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HATTERAS YACHTS 1960's PROMOTIONAL VIDEOS
As a young boy in the 1950's, Jerry Whittington
worked at his father's service station in High Point, NC.
Willis Slane brought his vehicles to the station to be washed and serviced where
Jerry worked. "Willis always
talked about how he was going to start a boat company one day", said
Whittington. "But nobody really thought
he was serious".
When Willis did make good on his promise to start
a different kind of boat manufacturing company, he asked Jerry
if he would like to come to work for him in 1960. Jerry was there when the first
Hatteras, the 41' Knit Whits was loaded aboard
the trailer for its maiden voyage to the coast of NC. He was one of Hatteras'
first employees.
Whittington worked in Research & Development
(Tooling). "I worked with Ed Baldwin and Don Mucklow. We started from the
blue prints to make the plugs for the hull, super structure and all the other
parts - even down to the gas tanks and bathroom sink.
We did everything that way starting with the very first hull".
While Jerry was indeed passionate about Hatteras
and the first fiberglass boats being produced, it wasn't long before his
first love, that of film making and production, soon made itself known. "I
convinced Willis to spend a little money and let me
make some videos back then. I shot them using 16mm color film and did the
editing myself", smiled Jerry.
Whittington finally took a leave of absence from the company to concentrate on
film making and never returned to Hatteras.
He worked on many projects in Hollywood and the east coast and eventually
started his own production company in High Point, NC.
More on Jerry can be found at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0926543/
Not until just recently did we know these early
videos even existed. Jerry posted the 53 Motor Yacht promotional video on You Tube and
someone
posted the link on the Hatteras Owner's Forum sponsored by Sam's Marine. I was
fortunate enough to make contact
with Jerry and we met and exchanged Hatteras memorabilia and stories one
afternoon in March of 2010.
We hope you enjoy these classic and historical
videos from the early sixties which Jerry has so graciously allowed us to
share at this celebrated time in the manufacturer's history - Doug Langley, Sam's
Marine