CNN to profile Hinckley Co.

SOUTHWEST HARBOR – The Hinckley Co. will be featured on CNN’s “Business Unusual” this Sunday, May 19. The popular magazine-format show is set to air three times, at 2:30 p.m., 6:30 p.m. and 3 a.m.

Focusing on the 75-year history and evolution of Hinckley, the show was shot last summer on location at the company’s new jet boat facility in Trenton and at its headquarters in Southwest Harbor. The New York-based crew filmed Hinckley employees building the company’s Picnic Boat, a 36-foot craft that uses water jet propulsion instead of conventional propellers. Several jet boats, as well as two 70-foot sailboats, were also under construction during the day’s filming.

In addition to touring the company’s carpentry and metal shops, the crew filmed a lengthy segment in the composite shop to show how Hinckley hulls are built using composite construction.

Ralph Willard, president and CEO of The Hinckley Co., was also interviewed for the CNN business show on the company’s dramatic growth during the past few years.

The Hinckley Co., which employs about 700 people in Maine, Rhode Island and Florida, was founded in 1928 and is thought to be one of the oldest yacht builders in the United States.