Elco is America’s historic electric boat and motor manufacturer, with a pedigree that can be traced back more than 130 years to the Chicago World’s Fair of 1893.
The Fair requested bids for supplying fifty 34-foot boats to be “propelled by power of any description, and to be able to carry thirty people”. Kevin Desmond, in his excellent book, “Electric Ships and Boats, A Brief History”, chronicles how the Electric Launch & Navigation Company went on to win the contract and made 66,975 trips during the six and a half months of the exposition, carrying 1,026,346 passengers 200,925 miles (323,357 km).
During the first World War the renamed Electric Launch Company built boats for both the British and U.S. navies and throughout WWII supplied more of the 80 foot PT (patrol torpedo) boats than any other manufacturer, including the famed PT-109 of future US President John F. Kennedy.
In 1952 the company got out of consumer boats and merged with several other navy and air force contractors under the General Dynamics corporation. The dormant Electric Launch Company (Elco) name was acquired from Dynamic in 1987 to re-manufacture the company’s classic boat designs and in 2009 Elco started to focus exclusively on electric boat motors.
Whaly Boats was founded by two Dutch sailing brothers – experienced in the plastics industry – who decided to create an affordable, durable small boat that could handle the rough waters of the North Sea. Twenty years later, the company has a range of 9 recreational boats and 10 workboats, with more than 30,000 of their polyethylene hulls now cruising waters worldwide.
Polyethylene has always given Whaly boats the advantage of being tough, durable, low maintenance and 100% recyclable at the end of their long life. In a vivid demonstration of the circular economy, some of their hulls are now made of polyethylene that is 100% recycled itself.
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