page_title: Hacker-Craft
section_title: The birth of speed
hierarchical_section_title: Hacker-Craft / The birth of speed
caption_attribution_description: English: John Hacker’s 1911 Kitty Hawk, the fastest boat in the world between 1911 and 1915
context_page_description: Hacker-Craft is the name given to boats built by The Hacker Boat Co. It is an American company, founded in Detroit, Michigan in 1908 by John Ludwig Hacker and is the oldest constructor of wooden motor boats in the world. The company moved operations to New York State in the 1970s and continues to produce hand-built boats in Ticonderoga, near Lake George, with corporate offices, storage facilities and a marina lakeside in Silver Bay.
  Hacker was a naval architect and American motorboat designer. His major design and engineering accomplishments include the invention of the "V"-hull design and the floating biplane for the Wright brothers. The company was known for its runabouts, utilities, commuters, and tenders.
context_section_description: In 1911, Hacker designed and installed two floats on the Wright Brothers' biplane so that it could take off and land on water. This was the first use of twin floats on an aircraft.
  In the same year he designed Kitty Hawk, the first successful step hydroplane that exceeded the then-unthinkable speed of over 50 mph (80 km/h) and was then the fastest boat in the world. There followed a succession of Kitty Hawks, each building on the success of its predecessor and in the process breaking four sea-speed records.
  In 1914, Hacker moved to Detroit and the Hacker Boat Company opened at 323 Crane Avenue. His runabout designs for Gregory's Belle Isle Boat & Engine Company were soon to bring success to the firm. The boats, called Belle Isle Bear Cats, proved popular with prominent owners like J.W. Packard and Henry Ford. The company was thriving and in 1921, Hacker decided it was time to open a satellite facility in Mount Clemens, Michigan. Two years later, he moved the entire boat building operation from Detroit to Mount Clemens.
caption: John Hacker's 1911 Kitty Hawk, the fastest boat in the world between 1911 and 1915
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